460 



REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



twigs and dead leaves, or on beechnuts and acorns which they dig 

 out of the snow. In summer, when food is plentiful, they prefer 

 the succulent grasses of the lowlands, and also frequent ponds, 

 where they eat the aquatic vegetation. 



Order GLIRES. 



GNAWING ANIMALS. » 



Characters of the order. — Lower incisors, 2 ; upper incisors, 2 

 or 4, chisel shaped and adapted for gnawing, growing throughout 

 life from persistent pulps ; canines lacking ; a fold of skin turned 

 inward at the sides of the jaws and separating the mouth into two 

 divisions. 



The animals belonging to this order are all of small size. Dr. 

 Coues says of them: "Though a feeble folk, comparatively insig- 

 nificant in size and strength, they hold their own in legions against 

 a host of natural enemies, rapacious beasts and birds, by their fe- 

 cundity, their wariness and cunning, their timidity and agility, and 

 their secretiveness, each after the means by which it is provided 

 for exercising its instinct of self-preservation, among which insig- 

 nificance itself is no small factor. ' ' 



Family SCIURIDAE. 



SQUIRRELS. 



Upper incisors two; molars three on each side of upper and 

 lower jaws; premolars one or two on each side above and two be- 

 low ; frontal bone with a post orbital process. Tail long and hairy, 

 very often bushy. Toes four on the front foot and five on the hind 

 foot. 



Squirrels are medium sized rodents with generally arboreal or 

 fossorial habits. They are found in all parts of the world except 

 Australia. The family contains many genera and there are more 

 species belonging to it than to any other family of mammals ex- 

 cepting rats and mice {Muridae). 



Genus Sciurus Linnaeus. 

 Sciurus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, Vol. I, p. 63, 1758. 

 Dental Formula.— I, ] ']; C, ^"i;; Pm, Iz-L^ifzi; m, 1=^-20 

 or 22. 



Generic characters. — Tail long and })ushy. Ears well developed. 

 j)ointed, hairy. Feet adapted for climbing. 



