78 
NATURAL HISTORY 
SQUIRREL. 
The Squirrel is a beautiful little animal, 
which, by its gentleness, its docility, and 
even the innocence of its manners, might 
deserve to be exempt from the present class. 
It is neither a carnivorous nor an injurious 
animal, though it sometimes seizes on birds. 
Its general food consists of fruit, almonds, ! 
hazel-nuts, beech-mast, and acorns. 
The Squirrel is neat, cleanly, alert, lively, 
anil industrious. Its 'eyes are fiery ; its 
countenance is sharp ; its body is nervous, 
and its limbs are supple. The beauty of its 
form is further embellished by a spreading 
tail, in shape like a plume of feathers, which 
it raises above its head, and forms into a 
kind of canopy to defend him from the rays 
of the sun, and as a parachute to secure him 
from dangerous falls when leaping from tree 
to tree. 
