ORDER OF RODENTIA. 
479 
tree ; or, again, they jump to the ground from elevations which 
seem to threaten their destruction. But these acrobatic feats do 
not at all injure them, and immediately afterwards they will 
begin to gambol about in every conceivable manner. Their tail 
is in truth of the greatest assistance in these perilous flights, 
in which they often clear distances of twelve or fifteen paces. 
Fig. 206. — European Squirrel {Sciurus europeus). 
Carried horizontally during the j ump, it presents a wide flattened 
surface to the air, and, with the extended members, offers a resist- 
ance to the atmosphere. 
The Squirrel chiefly lives upon hazel-nuts, beech-nuts, acorns, 
almonds, chestnuts, and fruit. However, on occasions it will 
become carnivorous, for when it finds a bird’s-nest it cleverly 
sucks the eggs, or devours the tenants. In northern countries 
