d from
swimming across the river that the boys killed many with clubs. He
counted 30 in one small tree near the water's edge.

_Sciurus niger rufiventer._ Western Fox Squirrel.--When Michigan was
first settled the species was rare and was confined chiefly to the
southern part of the state, where it occurred in the oak openings, which
seem to be its favorite habitat.[3] With the cutting of the heavy timber
it has gradually extended its range, occupying all of the more open
forests, and it has become very common, even entering the cities, where
it has become semi-domesticated.

[Footnote 3: Robert Kennicott, _U. S. Patent Office Report_, p. 56,
1856].

W. J. Beal[4] states that in Lenawee County there were no fox squirrels
in the early days, but later they came in from the south. At my home in
Lodi Township I never saw one until about 1875, and they were rare for
several years after that.

[Footnote 4: _Mich. Pioneer Coll._]

This is our largest squirrel, furnishing sport and food for hunters. One
albino taken in the county is in the collection of the Museum of
Zoology; and one partly melanistic individual, taken near Ann Arbor,
November 12, 1910, has the whole underside jet black.

The call is hoarser than that of the gray squirrel, but although not so
high in pitch may be heard for some distance. It occasionally swims; I
know of one which swam across a part of Portage Lake, one-half mile, on
a hot summer day, about 1910.

_Glaucomys volans volans._ Southern Flying Squirrel.--This species may
still be found in some numbers in suitable habitats in the county. They
are usually found in woods, although I have found them in houses both in
Ann Arbor and at Portage Lake. They nest and live in tree cavities, and
in winter are gregarious. In late December, about 1890, in Lodi Township
I found 20 or more in a hollow butternut stub. The call is a high,
bird-like chirp or long squeak, which I have often heard from the tree
tops while in the woods on moonlight nights.

_Castor canadensis michiganensis._ Woods Beaver.--The first settlers of
this county found this species to be nearly extinct, although dams and
old beaver meadows were very common. It probably became scarce about
1800. Hon. Henry S. Dean, of Ann Arbor, told me that in 1837 at "Gravel
Run," a few miles north of Ann Arbor, he saw a dam in good shape,
although not used at that time. Remains of other dams still exist. S. D.
Allen, of Ann Arbor, told me that in 18