27 JULY 1934, Page 15

A Various Diet

The grey squirrel, as we all know, is almost omnivorous ; but its fondness for grain has been little noticed in England. It was certainly not known by the Duke of Bedford when he, among others, introduced this alien. Yet it should have been ; for in the earliest account that I know of concerning this species Buffon gives a description of the serious harm it does, both by destruction as well as consumption among the corn crops of America. Grain, greenhouse peaches, nuts, young birds and eggs are among the various articles of diet that I have personal knowledge of ; and it shares with the jackdaws in New College, a passion for stripping the bark from trees.