s never caressed by the mother without first looking in her face
for the drops, which it had been accustomed to remove.

These animals have a large bushy tail, the hair of which spreads out on
each side like a feather; and by it they are guided and supported when
they leap. The flying squirrels, as they are called, have an expansion
of the skin of the sides, which extends between the hind and fore legs,
by which they are suspended in the air when passing from tree to tree,
and by it are enabled to go to greater distances without being actually
able to fly, as their name would imply. The general colour of the
English squirrel is red in summer; but in winter they often assume a
grayish tint, at which time they have long pencils of hair at the top of
their ears. This grey becomes more decided in more northern climates;
and occasionally they are black. They always live in pairs, and
sometimes are gregarious, inhabiting burrows. They lay up stores of
provisions in different places; but they sleep the greater part of the
cold months, their tail turned over them to keep them warm, having
beforehand made a very elaborate nest of moss, leaves, and interlacing
fibres in the hole of a tree, or the fork of two branches. They
exclusively eat vegetable food, and are occasionally themselves eaten by
the larger birds of prey.

Sir Francis Head gives us the following account of his meeting with a
squirrel in Canada. "I was waiting the approach of a large flock of wild
fowl; but a little villain of a squirrel on the bough of a tree close to
me, seemed to have determined that even now I should not rest in quiet;
for he sputtered and chattered with so much vehemence, that he attracted
the attention of my dog. This was truly mortifying; for he kept his eyes
fixed on the squirrel. With my hand I threatened the little beast; but
he actually set up his back and defied me, becoming even more passionate
than before; till, all of a sudden, as if purposely to alarm the game,
he dropped plump within a couple of yards of Rover's nose. This was too
much for the latter to bear, so he gave a bounce and sprang upon the
impertinent squirrel; who, in a second, was out of his reach, cocking
his tail and shewing his teeth, on the identical bough where he had sat
before. Away flew all the wild fowl, and my sport was completely marred.
My gun went involuntarily to my shoulder to shoot the squirrel; but I
felt I was about to commit an act of sheer revenge on a