104 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 80, 1888. 



roundabout, ami regardless of rivers, roadways, or any 

 other impediment, pass in a body across the country, often 

 lor miles, to other forests and other scenes, where thoy 

 again disperse. The districts passed over by this host 

 are absolutely stripped of everything that a squirrel will 

 consume. While many of them are drowned in their 

 attempts to swim broad rivers, and they are preyed upon 

 night and day by hawks, owls, foxes, lynxes and other 

 enemies, still on they march to their destination. To 

 complete such an inexplicable crusade they should march 

 into the sea, as do the lemmings of northern Europe. 



One writer in describing such a migration says that 

 •'these creatures, on coming to the water, after some little 



hesitation and running to and fro, launch into the waves, 

 and paddle across as they may. They are poor swim- 

 mers, sink deep, and advance with considerable difficulty. 

 In October, 1833, as I was descending the Ohio in a steam- 

 boat, one of these migrations — though not remarkable for 

 the extent of the numbers — was in progress. When we 

 were in the region of Marietta, we saw hundreds — per- 

 haps thousands — of these creatures in the water, making 

 for the southern or Kentucky shore. In all cases we 

 only saw the nose above water; many were dead and 

 drifting down the stream; many were on the Ohio side, 

 hesitating upon the banks, where, sad to relate, were men 

 and boys with clubs ready to dispatch them. Similar 

 accounts have often been given; the march of far greater 

 numbers has often been witnessed, but the cause of such 

 strange movements is hidden in mystery." 



Although I have never seen it suggested elsewhere, I 

 sometimes wonder whether or no this may not be an in- 

 herited impulse on the part of these gray squirrels and 



Eastern Striped Spermouhilc (&. Irhleviuilim-dtMn tri4et-ifnUnoalw): 

 adult male (reduced). Drawn by tlio author. 



lemmings, in some way associated with what animals 

 may have perforce have had to undertake during the 

 glacial period in former periods of the earth's geologic 

 revolutions. 



In a former contribution to these columns, I gave a 

 brief sketch of the Arizona squirrel (S. arizotwuxix), 

 wherein I remarked that sometimes a glance at one of 

 this species as it scrambles up the rocks in New Mexican 

 cafions, leaves the impression on your mind that its coat 

 is of an ochrish color all over. This is not always the 

 case, and I am inclined to think that a certain amount 

 of seasonal change in color of pelage is taken on in this 

 squirrel. Be this as it may, I have since shot specimens 

 in the same locality, and have a skin before me, made up 

 by my eldest son, which is a bright steel gray for the 

 under parts, except the throat and forelimbs, which are 

 of a light grayish brown. Above, the posterior moiety 

 of the dorsum is conspicuously grizzled gray, tawny and 



black, due to the barred markings of the individual hairs 

 with these colors, while anteriorly, where the hair is 

 much shorter and finer, tins grizzling still obtains, but is 

 not nearly so pronounced. It has a long and handsome 

 tail, where again we find each hair to be barred, some- 

 times four-barred, often six, but usually being grayish 

 white as it lea ves the skin, then black, then grayish white 

 again, black once, more, and finally terminating with a 

 grayish white tip (See Fig. 1). The ears of this squirrel 

 are not tufted, but its whiskers are long and pronounced. 

 In the paper I referred to above, I gave a few notes on its 

 habits, and would add here, that although it is not nearly 

 as vivacious an animal as the Eastern gray squirrel, nor 



as restless perhaps, yet its study is full of interest for the 

 na t uralist, who is quite content to take nature as he finds 

 her, beautiful as she is under all aspects, view her endless 

 stores as we may. 



Chickarees or red squirrels I have shot, skinned, col- 

 lected and studied ever since I could, or did, raise a 

 single -barreled, muzzleloading, cherry-stocked shotgun 

 to my shoulder, but I have little worthy of record in the 

 Way of facts that would be new to my present readers, 

 in addition to those numerous published accounts which 

 I have before me of these, the most saucy of all the small 

 squirrels that enliven our forests and glens. Several 

 years ago when collecting in southern Louisiana, Profes- 

 sor Bau-d wrote me that either Audubon or Bachman 

 had described a small red squirrel for that region, "red 

 all over" that had never since been captured, and lie was 

 very desirous of securing specimens if possible. But all 

 my own efforts to find it failed, and a reward outstand- 

 for nearly a year of twenty-five dollars for each speci- 

 men, also failed, and I ani quite sure no such variety 

 exists there. Still, Louisianian forests are broad, and 

 they may yet yield us specimens which we hardly think 

 exist there, and the fauna of that State needs work- 

 ing, in some particulars, more than does the fauna of 

 Montana. 



Fox squirrels I have both shot and eaten, but reckon 

 theu meat poor, and their chase pales as compared with 

 an old-fashioned gray squirrel hunt of a frosty October 

 morniug in the Mckory woods of northern Connecticut. 



I have many notes on other squirrels, but find that my 

 space is nearly expended, so will reserve them for the 

 future, as I have just a word to say here about flying 

 squirrels-. 



Viewed as a whole, the flying squirrels of all parts of 

 the world are divided by systematists into two genera, 

 Pteromys and Seiuropterus. Pteromys includes a num- 

 ber of large and brilliantly colored flying squirrels of 

 Asia, J ava and some of the off -lying islands of the East 

 Indies. They are as yet but slightly known, being noc- 

 turnal in their habits', and confined to regions not thor- 

 oughly explored. This genus has the dermal-parachute 

 very perfectly developed, and by its aid the animal can 

 make flying leaps of fifty yards or more, wherein it at 

 first descends by a long gentle curve from the point of 

 starting to rise by a far more abrupt curve to alight upon 

 the point toward which it directed itself. 



Turning to our "List" we find that the U. S. National 

 Museum quotes but two flying squirrels for this country, 

 a northern and a southern form, both included in the 

 genus Schtrop/eriix. These beautiful little creatures 

 stand among the gentlest and most winning of our smaller 

 animals; they are easily tamed, too, and become the 

 fondest of pets. With then* large, prominent, dark eyes, 

 their chubby noses, broad silky tails, exquisitely soft 

 pelts, and their lively and engaging attitudes— one never 

 tires of studying them or admiring the loveliness of their 

 forms. These little creatures are quite nocturnal in their 

 habits, remaining curled lip during the glare of the 

 day in then 1 nests, usually situated in the hollow of some 

 great tree in the forest. Here, too. they bring forth their 

 young, the period of gestation being about one month, 

 and as many as half a dozen may be produced at a. birth. 

 In the North they rarely have more than a Jitter a year, 

 while in the Southern States two is the rule. These squir- 

 rels, structurally, are quite nearly related to the true 

 squirrels, there being some differences in their dentition, 

 and the possession of the lateral integumenta! folds form- 

 ing their volant parachutes. 



The time to study the habits of this species in nature is 

 shortly before nightfall, when one must repair to the 

 woods where they are known to exist and occur in abund- 

 ance. You will not have long to wait, for very soon a 

 dozen or more will be seen sailing through the air about 

 and above you, leaving the uppermost limbs of one tree 

 to glide down, spread out like a little mat of hair, to 

 alight on the side of the trunk of another tree, some dis- 

 tance beyond where you stand. They seem to be actually 

 alive with the sport and to be enjoying themselves to a. 

 great extent. Flying squirrels seem to subsist on pretty 

 much the same kind of food as the tree squirrels, being | 

 very partial to beechnuts, large seeds and chestnuts. 



About a year ago, Mr. H. K. Coale, of Chicago, kindly 

 presented me with an embryo of this species, and in it I 

 found the lateral skin folds which constitute its wings 

 notably well developed, yet the tender little mite had not 

 the sign of a hair anywhere on its body. This specimen 

 is now in the collection of Prof. W. K.'Parker, F.K.S., of 

 London, to whom I presented it. for the skull it contained 

 as material illustrating that part of the skeleton in an 

 interesting representative of the Rodentia. 



In my next paper I trust to take up other forms from 

 other families of rodents, to illustrate the "List" we have 

 under consideration. In the present essay, my own notes 

 extending over many years, have been materially re- 

 freshed and amplified by my perusal of some of the' able 

 papers in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of Lon- 

 don, especially those contributed by Dr. Giinther, F.R.S.; 

 by Prof. W. H. Flower's scientific works and memoirs: by 

 the writings on the Seiuridoe, by Mr. Oldfield Thomas, F. 

 Z.S., of theBritish Museum: by the contributions of Baird 

 and others in the Pacific Railroad Reports (1859); by some 

 very excellent popular works in Goodrich's Natural His- 

 tory, collected from reliable sources; and by the morpho- 

 logical and systematic works of Huxley, Prof. Parker, 

 both father and sons, Mivart, Claus, Oegenbaur, Owen, 

 and a number of others. 



R. W. Shtjfeldt, M.D., C.Z.S. 



FRESH-WATER MUSSELS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I can now report upon the edibility of the Unio or mus- 

 sel of our fresh- water streams. A youth of sixteen, known 

 to me by the name of Davidius giganteus h u ldeus (because 

 he is of gigantic size and greatly in love with a maiden 

 named Huldah), having heard that I was much interested 

 in these creatures, went into the Clear Fork a few days 

 ago and captured sixty-two specimens, which he brought 

 me in a sack. As you may well judge, with such a gift 

 I felt like a lucky man. I put thirty-eight in a pond for 

 safe keeping, and sent twenty-four to a lady living near, 

 who had desired to cook the first I should get. 



She made a soup of them in this manner: The two 

 dozen animals, taken from their shells, were put in three 

 pints of clear water and stewed fifteen minutes, with a 

 little salt. Then three pints of fresh milk were added: 

 whereupon crackers were put in, and a lump of fresh, 

 sweet butter. All these were stewed together about ten 

 minutes, and the soup then served smoking hot on the 

 table. There rose a savor from it which was very pleas- 

 ing and appetizing, insomuch that a couple of my back- 

 woods friends who sat near could not refrain from 

 smacking their hps. On going into the soup I found it 

 delicious. I never ate any that was better, and I doubt, 

 indeed, if I ever ate any that was half so good. It was 

 rich, well-flavored, and without any objectionable qual- 

 ity. A little lemon juice squeezed into each plate added 

 to the charm of it. Therefore, I write mussel soup down 

 on my list as a most choice viand; shall eat a good deal of 

 it in the future, and greatly deplore my ill-luck in having 

 lost so much good eating in the past through ignorance. 

 Had I only known it, how blest I might ha ve been! How- 

 beit, I hope I have many good years yet, and there are 

 lots of mussels in the creeks. 



One of my friends who partook of the feast said that 

 the soup under the treatment it had from the cook, 

 would have been fine even if stones had been boiled in 

 it instead of mussels. That may be, but the excellent 

 flavor of the mussels would not have been there. 



As for the mussels themselves, they were tough indeed, 

 in part. Davidius gig cm lens hujdem, who also ate of the 

 feast, has a pair of jaws which I should take to be fully 

 as strong as a boar's, but they failed to grind the mussel; 

 he stating that the more he chawed the bigger it grew 1 

 To me it seemed like chewing a thick piece of new India 

 rubber: at least a part of each mussel did. 



However, the lady who made the soup, hearing so 

 much complaint of the toughness of the animals, was 

 provoked to say that she believed she would overcome 

 their obstinacy and would do so next time. Therefore, 

 the remaining thirty-eight were turned over to her. At 

 dinner next day, mussel soup was again served, but I 

 fished it in vain for the mussels. But in due time a dish 

 heaping-full of fried mussels, brown and crisp, were 

 placed on the table, looking exceedingly nice under 

 sprigs of parsley and sliced lemon. On tasting I found 

 they were good, and that their toughness had indeed 

 been conquered. She had first made soup of them, then 

 dipped them in batter and fried them in butter. They 

 were not as good as oysters, but still they were passably 

 good; not such as one would greatly hanker for, but 

 such as he would eat occasionally with much relish, and 

 generally with comfort. Treated right they are. no mean 

 dish. 



It is likely that the mussels of the Clear Fork of the 

 Brazos are the best in the world, and not to be compared 

 with those on which "Awahsoose" has been accustomed to 

 be fed. In the frigid zones they are probably but miserable 

 and stunted dwarfs. In the Clear Fork they are great, 

 fat and joyous fellows. I have the right valve of one 

 before me on my table now which is 1 1 in. long and over 

 t> in width. The animal taken out of it would have filled 

 an ordinary breakfast plate. The tough part of them is 

 their foot. 1 presume the mussel of the frigid zones is all 

 foot. Here his foot is delicate for a monster of so great 

 size. The lady who cooked them for me says if you want 

 a really elegant dish, as tender as the oyster, cut the foot 

 oil' and throw it away. The water of the Clear Fork is 

 slightly saline; just enough so to give you a taste of it 

 without being disagreeable. Some of the ladies about 

 here pound the pearly inside of the unio — aragonite — into 

 powder, and say it makes an incomparable starch for fine 

 dresses. N. A. T. 



CATTHONnALE, Tex. 



A Dining CjLu Line to the Pacific Coast.— The completion of the all rail 

 line between Portland, Ore., and San Francisco gives the Pacific coast trav- 

 eler an opportunity to patronize the famous Dining Car and Yellowstone 

 Park Line, the Northern Pacific Kailroad. The sportsman traveling In the 

 West, whether a lover of the rod or gun. naturally seeks this road, pene- 

 trating as It does the lake park region of Minnesota, and running through 

 the valleys of such trout streams as the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Hell Gate, 

 Clark's Fork, Spokane, Yakima and Green Rivers, for a distance of fully 

 1,500 miles, as well as lying immediately contiguous to the finest hunting 

 grounds in the United States, viz., The Big Horn, Snowy Belt, Bitter Root, 

 Coeur D'Alene and Cascade Mountains. Information in regard to this 

 region can be obtained by addressing Charles S, Fee, General Passenger 

 and Ticket Agent, N,R. R., P. St. Paul, Minn- -Adv. 



A group of Flyinu Squirrels <Srtvr»uteru« rolucclUt- hudmnim). Reduced. Taken from the Standard Natural History. 



