THE SQUIRREL.

These little animals are admired for their beauty, and for the sport they afford in hunting them among the trees; they are about the size of the stoat or cain, with a tail as large as their body, which they always turn up when they sit still, to keep their bodies warm; they are of a reddish colour, except under the belly, which is white; they make themselves nests or lodging places, commonly called drays, in a very neat manner, with small sticks, leaves, and moss, in the tops of the trees, where they hoard up nuts to serve them in the winter; but besides these, they make a reserve of nuts, acorns, and other things of a similar 116nature in retired and bye places, which they know where to find, in case the other should be taken away, which often happens; they are chiefly hurtful in destroying wall-fruit, for they will run along the top of the wall, taking the first choice of the fruit, whether nectarines, peaches, apricots, &c. and do prodigious mischief; I have caught them on the wall with a small steel trap, covered nicely, and in wood-walks I have seen them take the eggs out of birds-nests and break them, by that means destroying their nests. Their flesh is reckoned a great dainty by some persons, and is said to be superior to venison in flavour.

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