Habits of the American Flying Squirrel. 569 



Art. III. On the Habits of the American Flying Squirrel 

 (Pteromys volucella Cuv.). By D. W. C. 



For the last few years I have kept the American flying 

 squirrel in captivity, and consequently have had some op- 

 portunity of watching the habits of this interesting little 

 animal, an account of which I send you ; hoping that you 

 will only insert it in your Magazine, if you think it suf- 

 ficiently interesting to deserve a place in that very amusing 

 publication. 



The first pair of flying squirrels I had, I obtained from 

 my brother in Liverpool ; and when I received them they 

 were perfectly tame, as they had been in my brother's pos- 

 session for some time ; and he had often amused himself with 

 them in an evening, when they were playing about the room 

 in which he was sitting. 



They are almost always asleep during the day, curled 

 round, with their tails covering their noses ; but, in the 

 evenings, and through the whole night, they are in constant 

 motion. The moment I opened the door of their cage they 

 jumped upon me, and generally crept into my waistcoat or 

 coat pocket : indeed, more than once, after I had roused and 

 fed them in the day time, I have found, to my surprise, some 

 hours afterwards, that I had been carrying one in my pocket- 

 handkerchief; sometimes even when on horseback I have felt 

 one there. 



It" was my amusement to let them out every evening to run 

 about the room ; and I had constant opportunities of seeing 

 them jump, or (as it has been called)^ across the room: 

 there is, in fact, no flying motion of the expansion of skin 

 from the fore to the hind legs. 



When about to spring, they jerk the head up and down 

 three or four times, as if to take their distance, and in- 

 crease the power of rising. They generally sprang from 

 some height down to an object they had selected to reach. 

 Their power of rising appears to be very limited, as, in- 

 deed, will be obvious, when I state that the expansion of 

 skin only acts as a parachute. They gradually fall, forming 

 a curve in the air, the body being kept perfectly horizontal. 

 They do not descend headlong or sideways, as Landseer's 

 spirited etching in the Fauna Borealis would lead one to 

 suppose. Their legs are stretched out, and the under part 



his answer was, as might be expected, in the affirmative ; and, on my en- 

 quiring if he thought the parent birds liked this treatment, " Yes," was 

 again his reply. This was an intelligent lad, about twelve years of age. 



