THE GREY SQUIRREL
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sra,—I am emboldened to strike a blow on behalf of thii, much-abused little mammal. The red squirrel is admittedly', more beautiful, but then it is so retiring that only a small' proportion of our people has the chance of seeing it. Is it not a strong point in favour of the grey squirrel that it is accessible, and on the most familiar terms, to Londoners t, It is quite true, as some of your correspondents complain; that it has reached Oxford. I have seen it in a friend's garden and in our own, also braving the terrifying traffic of the Banbury Road. Well, what a delightful thing to see T. And none the less delightful because of the existence in other places, but never in these, of a still more beautiful squirrel.
I can never forget to be grateful for the welcome extended! to a stranger visiting America for the first time, when, crossing. Central Park on the morning of our arrival in New York,. a grey squirrel, in response to a gesture of friendliness, ran up: my leg, evidently willing and expecting to be fed. It was here that I observed the cunning way in which this squirrel lessens. the shock of a fall in dropping from a bough—flattening its body and meeting the air with as broad a surface as possible,; thus displaying for our benefit a first step in the evolution of " flying " squirrels and Marsupials.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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