THE AMERICAN GREY SQUIRREL IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 201
been got well under there. For most of the above Scottish
information I am much indebted to Mr. John Paterson.
Mid and West Lothian.—A solitary grey squirrel which
made its appearance at Dalmeny was probably from a number
that escaped about the year 1913 from an enclosure in the Park
of the Scottish Zoological Society at Corstorphine, near Edin-
burgh. They did not remain long in the park and seem to have
disappeared.31
Fifeshire.—At the Dunfermline Public Park, Pittencrieff
Glen, grey squirrels were kept in cages for some years, but set
free about 1919. They appear to have increased in numbers
and spread, as odd individuals have been reported at Pitfirn and
Rosyth, some miles away from Dunfermline.32
Ireland.
The only settlement in this part of the British Isles is in
County Longford. At Castle Forbes, the Earl of Granard,
some twelve years ago, received about a dozen grey squirrels
from Woburn, and since then they have increased so greatly
as to have become a pest. About four years ago over three
hundred were killed in the year, but the difficulty of having fire-
arms in Ireland at present, revives the squirrels' chances. It
has spread from Castle Forbes to places over ten miles away,
passing in its journey some miles of bog without a single tree.
Mr. Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S., has kindly placed this information,
communicated to him by the Earl of Granard in 1922, at my
disposal.
Summary.
The preceding account shows that the grey squirrel occurs,
in more or less numbers, in twenty-seven counties in the British
Isles. These may be classified into three categories:—
1. Fifteen counties where there are one or more places
in which the grey squirrel has established colonies and continues
to maintain its footing or increase in number, viz.:—
London. Hertfordshire. Cheshire.
Middlesex. Buckinghamshire. Yorkshire.
Surrey. Bedfordshire. Dumbartonshire.
Kent. Northamptonshire. Ayrshire.
Sussex. Huntingdonshire. County Longford.
31 fide Mr. T. H. Gillespie, 18 January, 1923.
32 Dr. James Ritchie, Scottish Naturalist, 1923, p. 93.