THE FLYING SQUIRREL 
pleasure to know a little about, there is 
none other so confiding, so gentle, and 
so graceful as the flying squirrel. There is nothing 
striking about: him in the way of color, although the 
dense silky fur of a grayish brown above and white 
beneath, rivalling in softness and beauty that of the 
chinchilla, renders him one of the most beautiful of 
our squirrels. The eyes are very prominent, large, 
dark, and peculiarly expressive. 
The flying squirrel is a specialized type of his 
family, possessing a peculiar hair covered membrane 
of skin on each side of the body between the fore and 
hind legs, and attached to both as far as the wrist 
and the ankle. When in a sitting posture or in the 
ordinary movements of the body, the flying mem- 
branes are drawn, by their own elasticity, close to the 
body, like little curtains, and do not detract from 
the delicate proportions of the graceful animal. But 
when the squirrel is about to fly it spreads its “‘ wings” 
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