SQUIRRELS.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:"]
SIR,—I hope it will be some comfort to your correspondent, Mr. W. J. Stillman, to learn that the squirrels, which, according to his observation, are diminishing in Surrey, are on the increase here. When I came into possession of this property, twenty-six years ago, a squirrel was very rarely seen. So numerous are they now, owing to the growing up of the Scotch fir-wood around my house (planted in imitation of Weybridge, where I formerly resided), that my gardener informed me this very morning that he bad seen four squirrels on the lawn running off with our apples. As he was himself engaged in picking off the ground, with the view of giving to the horses and pigs the apple small-fry blown off the trees, I was only too glad to hear that the squirrels had helped themselves to a share of the spoil. I never caught a squirrel in the act of stealing fruit from a tree, and entirely sym- pathise with his sagacity in asserting his right to share in a windfall.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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