@ 
112 ; 
The food of the gray squirrel is like that of most of the family. They 
are very fond of blackhaw berries and mulberries. Four to six young 
are brought forth at a birth; two and three litters are produced annu- 
ally, the first usually in March. They are somewhat social, several 
sometimes feed together, and many will take up with the same tree 
in winter. : 
Various species of Squirrels are infested with the larval forms of a 
species of wstrus. These grubs are found, growing in the skin, in the ab- 
cesses formed by the irritation of the growing grub. They are most fre- 
quent about the shoulders and buttocks, where the Squirrel cannot destroy 
them with its teeth. The writer has observed them in the buttocks of 
about every fifth Ground Squirrel, collected in the vicinity of Menomonee, 
Wisconsin. “That a fly really emasculates the Striped Squirrel (Tamas 
striatus), seems certain from Dr. Fitch’s observations. The Doctor reared 
the fly from the grubs found in the testes, which were completely eaten 
out.” Professor A. R. Grote, on Squirrels and Hmasculation, in “ Forest 
and Stream, March 21, 1878, says: “There is a belief prevalent among 
hunters that the Red Squirrel habitually castrates the Black and Gray, 
also, that the old Gray Squirrel emasculates the young of the same spe- 
cies. This popular but fallacious opinion, is based, doubtless, in part, 
on errors in examination of supposably emasculated individuals, mainly in 
overlooking the testicles, which are small, except in the breeding season, | 
as well as destroyed by the undoubted work of the larve of cestrus, and 
accidental castration in the combats of pugnacious individuals.” 
ScruRUS NIGER linn. 
Var. ludovicianus Allen. 
WESTERN Fox SQUIRREL. 
ao 
1806. Sctwrus ludovicianus, Custis, Barton’s Med. and Phys. Journ., ii, 
1806, 43.—Harlan, Fn. Am., 1825, 186—H. Smith, Griff. Cuv. 
An. King., v, 1827, 254.—Lesson, Man., 1827, 234.—Fischer, Syn. 
Mam., 1829, 351.—Baird, Mam. N. Am., 1857, 251.—Hayden, 
Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. Phila., xii, 1863, 144.—Allen, Proc. Bost. 
Soc. Nat. Hist., xiii, 1869, 188. 
1822. Sciurus rufiventer, “Geoffroy, Mus. Par.;” Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., 
x, 103.—Desmarest, Mam., il, 1822, 8332 —Harlan, Faun. Amer., 
1825, 176 (New Orleans).—Lesson, Man. Mam., 1827, 233.— 
Fischer, Synop. Mam., 1829, 351.—Schinz, Syn. Mam., 11, 1845, 
6 (specimen from Missouri).—Maximilian, Weigm. Arch. f. 
Naturg., 1861, 70. 
1823. Sciurus macroura, Say, Long’s Exped. R. Mts., i, 1828, 115 (Kansas). 
