370 



CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



his nose as far as possible. His manoeuvres to get a nut which he has 

 placed in this manner under a fireguard, or other moving article, are 

 sometimes extremely diverting ; for though he may be close to the desired 

 morsel, he almost invariably retires when he finds the pressure upon him 

 increasing, and returns to the trial again, again to be defeated. Though 

 he is generally careful of placing the thing hidden out of sight, I have 

 known him to put it in the shadow of my boots, or that of a book, or 

 even of a smaller article, as a pair of snuffers, and be quite content. 

 In his cage he sometimes drops it in the water, and as I have seen him 

 do this repeatedly with sugar, I presume that he relishes the water more 

 afterwards. If he is allowed to climb on the table during a meal, he 

 seems perfectly satisfied, and pries into every thing, hoping to find 

 either milk or sugar, laps the tea or coffee, if not hot, and is very 

 partial to butter. Fearing that I am becoming tedious, I shall here 

 conclude with mentioning that, if thwarted, he, like many rational 

 creatures, loses his temper, and seems nearly wild, but this ebullition 

 soon ceases, and he is as quiet as ever. 



June Wih, 1833. William Fowler. 



Squirrels. — A very marked variety, if not a distinct species, of 

 squirrel exists in England, which I do not find noticed by any author. 

 It is, I think, generally, when full grown, rather larger and stronger 

 built than the common squirrel, and the fur is much coarser, and of a 

 very red colour ; the tail also is more bushy and handsome, and the 

 ears are rounder, and not furnished with those long hairs which adorn 

 the ears of the common squirrel. It is now three or four years since I 

 have seen one of these animals, so that this notice of it is merely written 

 from memory. It may be procured occasionally in the London markets, 

 where, at different times, I have seen upwards of a dozen of them ; I 

 once saw a nest of these round-eared squirrels, containing five young, 

 in which the above mentioned characters were all as decided as in the 

 adult animals. 



Tooting. E. Blyth. 



Tree and meadow pipits. — In the writings of the earlier British 

 naturalists, much confusion prevails respecting these two birds ; it 

 having been generally supposed that there were three species, which 

 have been described under the names of the tree-lark, the titlark, and 

 the pipit-lark. The true origin of this confusion has never yet been 

 pointed out, although it has been long shown that one of these birds 



