VERTEBEATA. 
RED squirhbl. chip-squirrel. cat-squirrel. migratory squirrel. 
moving its tail in spasmodic jerks. It lives singly or in pairs, though, several are usually found 
on the same grounds; it occupies alike the forests, the fields, and orchards, and occasionally 
the streets of the villages. It has a sort of impertinent familiarity in its Avays toward mankind, 
sometimes coming upon the trees near the houses, and if set upon by the dog, or watched by the 
cat, or assaulted "with a stone from a boy, it is likely to commence a chattering salutation or ora- 
tion, consisting of "chickaree-chickaree-quilch-quilcli-chickaree-chickaree," continued for twenty 
minutes, during which time it seems to exhaust the whole vocabulary of abuse and vituperation. 
During this performance it keeps jumping about in the tree, its tail jerking, its head downward, and 
its gleaming eyes looking upon the object of its denunciation with a droll mixture of fun and 
fierceness. All this -while it leaps and jumps and flies fi-om place to place, seeming to consider it 
all a frolic himself, while he desires the object of his addresses to look upon it as a terrific display 
of threatened vengeance. The general reputation of the animal is that of a sharp Yankee squirrel, 
full of conceit, vivacitv, impertinence, and selfishness; he harms nobody, yet is not a favorite; 
when taken into captivity, he does not become tame; he manifests attachment to nobody, and 
seems constantly absorbed in tvyo desires: one for food, and one to get away and enjoy his lib- 
erty. His flesh is not much esteemed, and he is generally permitted to pass by unharmed by the 
sportsmen. Nevertheless, the chickaree, at liberty and sporting in his native haunts, is always an 
object of interest, for he is really a beautiful example of that combination of grace, vivacity, and 
energy which characterize his genus. He also maintains his active habits through the whole year, 
alike in spring, summer, and autumn, and even amid the snows of winter; certainly, it would not 
be easy to name another vagrant of the field or forest which contributes more to enliven the land- 
scape than the chickaree. He is often, during the cold season, the only living thing that is seen 
in the woods ; but for him all nature would often seem to have been entombed beneath the snow. 
In looking closely at the economy of this ammal, we find many things to admire. Ho is exceed- 
