169

FLYING SQUIRREL.

Tuts singular and pretty little animal is a native of
the midland regions of North America. The length of
the body, including the head, is from four inches and
a half to five inches; and the tail is about three inches’
and three-quarters long; the ears are rather pointed,
and the eyes are surrounded by a broad circle of black.
Underneath, the lesser flying squirrel is nearly white;
and above, it is of a bright mouse-colour, with a shade
of yellowish buff. The membranes between its legs, by
which it performs what is called its flight, are of a
fawn-colour, with a black band; and the tail is of the
same colour as the rest of the body, but dusky beneath.

Mr. Bennett gives the following description of the
membrane above alluded to, as ‘“‘a folding of the skin
along either side, so as to form broad lateral expansions,
supported before and behind by the limbs, between
which they are extended, and by peculiar bony processes
arising from the feet. These expansions are not naked
aud membranous, like those of the bats, but are actual
continuations of the skin, clothed externally by a dense
fur, similar to that which invests every other part of
the body. Neither do they serve the purpose of wings,
their functions being limited to that of a parachute,
giving to the animal a considerable degree of buoyancy,
and thus enabling it to take leaps of almost incredible
extent, through which it passes with the velocity of
an arrow. The name of “flying squirrel’ is consequently
founded on an erroneous assumption, but it may, never-

theless, be admitted as a metaphorical expression of
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