THE AMERICAN FLYING SQUIRREL.*

The American Flying Squirrel, which is a native of most parts of North America, has large black eyes, round naked ears, and a hairy membrane, extending nearly round the body. The tail, which tapers to a point, has its hairs disposed flatways on its sides. The upper parts of the body are of a cinereous brown the belly is white, tinged with yellow. The membrane passes the fore and hind legs to the tail; on the fore legs it adheres as far as the toes, and includes a peculiar bone which is attached to the wrist, and helps to stretch it out in flying; and on the hind legs it extends to the ancles.†

These Squirrels inhabit hollow trees, where they sleep during the day, and from whence they only make their appearance in the night, when they are very lively and active. They associate in flocks, several living in the same tree, which they never willingly quit, to run upon the ground, but almost constantly reside among the branches.

By means of their lateral membranes they are able to make astonishing leaps of ten or twelve yards, from tree to tree. In these efforts they extend their hind legs, and stretch out the intervening skin, by which they present a greater surface to the air, and become more buoyant. They are, however, still under the necessity of taking

* SYNONYMS.--Sciurus Volucella. Linn.-Flying Squirrel. Catesby. -Quimichpatlan. Fernand.-Polatouche. Buffon.-American Flying Squirrel. Shaw. ↑ Kerr, i. 267.

advantage of the lower branches of the tree to which they leap, for their weight prevents them from keeping in a straight line. Sensible of this, they always take care to mount so high as to insure them from falling to the ground. This extended skin acts upon the air somewhat in the manner of a paper kite, and not by repeated strokes like the wings of a bird. The animal being naturally heavier than the air, must of course descend; the distance, therefore, to which it can jump, depends on the height of the tree on which it stands. When it is at rest, the skin is wrinkled up against its sides.

These animals are generally seen in flocks of ten or twelve, and, to persons unaccustomed to them, they appear at a distance, in their leaps, like leaves blown from the trees by the wind. "When I first saw them, (says Catesby), I took them for dead leaves blown one way by the wind, but was not long so deceived, when I perceived many of them to follow one another in the same direction: they will fly fourscore yards from one tree to another."*

They produce three or four young at a time; use the same food, and form their hoards in the same manner as others of the Squirrel tribe. They are easily tamed and soon become familiar. They love warmth, and are very fond of creeping into the sleeve or pocket of their owner. If thrown upon the ground, they instantly shew their dislike to it by running up and sheltering themselves in his cloaths.t

* Catesby, ii. 77.

Penn. Arct. Zool. ii. 120.

THE EUROPEAN FLYING SQUIRREL.'

The European Flying Squirrel differs from the last species principally in having its tail full of hair, and rounded at the end; and, in the colour of its body, the upper part of which is a fine grey, and the lower white. Its whole length is about nine inches, of which the tail occupies five.

It is found in the birch-woods of Siberia, Lapland, and other northern regions, on whose young branches, and those of the pine, it principally lives.

Its nest is formed of moss, in the hollows, high among the branches; and, except during the breeding season, it is always solitary. It always sleeps during the day-time, and seldom appears abroad in bad weather. It is active the whole winter, being frequently taken, during that season, in the traps laid for the Grey Squirrels. Like the last species, it can leap to vast distances from tree to

tree.

The females have two, three, and sometimes four, young at a time. When the mother goes out in search of food, she carefully wraps them up in the moss of her nest. She pays them the utmost attention, brooding over them, and sheltering their tender bodies, by her flying membrane, from the cold. When taken from the nest, it has been found very

*SYNONYMS.-Sciurus Volans. Linn.-Flying Squirrel. Penn.Polatouche. Buffon. Shaw's Gen. Zool. pl. $49.-Bew. Quad. 361.

difficult to keep them alive, owing probably to the want of proper food

Their skins are not very valuable in a commercial view.*

THE DORMICE.

THESE animals live in holes in the ground, where they always continue in a state of torpidity during the winter. Their pace is a kind of leap; in which, like the Jerboas, they are assisted by their tails. They feed entirely on vegetables, and eat only in the night. In this act they sit upright, and carry the food to their mouth with the paws, When they are thirsty, they do not lap like most other quadrupeds, but dip their fore-feet, with the toes bent, into the water, and thus carry it to their mouth.t

There are two front-teeth in each jaw; the upper wedge-shaped, the lower compressed; and in each jaw there are four grinders. The whiskers are long. The tail is cylindrical, hairy, and thickest towards the end. The legs are nearly of an equal length; and the fore-feet have each four toes.‡

* Pennant.

+ Kerr, i. 270.

Linn. Gmel. i. 155.

This animal is about the size of a Mouse, but more plump or rounded, of a tawny red colour, with a white throat and full black eyes.

It lives in woods, or thick hedges, forming its nest of grass, dried leaves or moss, in the hollow of some low tree, or near the bottom of a close shrub.

The Dormice have not the sprightliness of the Squirrel, but, like that animal, they form little magazines of nuts, acorns, and other food, for their winter provision The consumption of their hoard, during the rigour of winter, is but small; for, retiring into their holes on the approach of the cold, and rolling themselves up, they lie torpid nearly all that gloomy season. Sometimes they experience a short revival in a warm sunny day; when they take a little food, and then relapse into their former

state.

--

They make their nest of grass, moss, and dried leaves; this is six inches in diameter, and open only from above. Their number of young, is generally three or four.

* SYNONYMS. Myoxus Muscardinus. Linn. Gmel.-Mus Avellanarius.-Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. xii.-Dormouse, or sleeper. RayMuscardin. Buffon. Shaw's Gen. Zool, pl. 154-Bew. Quad. 360