THE MAMMALS OF NEW JERSEY. 85 



The true Hudson Bay red squirrel (Sciurus hudsonicus) , is re- 

 stricted to the far north, from Labrador and Hudson Bay to 

 Alaska. From Maine and Canada south through the Alleghanies 

 occurs variety vS". h. gymnicus, the southern red squirrel, and on 

 the Atlantic slope to- Virginia the southern form ,S*. h. loqiuix. All 

 the New Jersey examples seem to belong to the last though some 

 of those of the extreme northwest may tend toward the duller 

 grayer, gymnicus, which, in the winter, has the lower surface 

 tinged with gray. 



Sciurus hudsonicus Abbott, Cook's Geol. of N. J., 1868, p. 

 756. — Abbott, A Naturalist's Rambles, 1885, p. 450. — Beesley, 

 Geol. of Cape May Co., 1857, P- i37- 



Sciurus hudsonicus loquax Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., 1897, p. 30. — Rhoads, Mam. Pa. and N. J., 1903, p. 57. 



Genus SciUROPTERUS F. Cuvier. 



Plying Squirrels. 

 Sciuropterus volans (Linnaeus). 



Southern Flying Squirrel. 



Plate 38- 



Length 9.40 inches. Fur soft and dense like that of a mole. 

 Drab above irregularly tinged with russet, slightly brighter in 

 summer, under parts pure white. 



During the daytime some hollow tree or some crevice or cranny 

 under the eaves of an old house shelters the flying squirrels, and 

 only at dusk do we see them come forth ; running up the trunk of 

 a tree and launching forth with legs extended, they sail gracefully 

 downward to alight on another trunk and again begin the ascent. 



Large numbers usually occupy the same hollow tree, and by 

 rapping upon it they may often be driven out even though it be 

 daytime. 



Flying squirrels seem to be pretty well distributed over the 

 State, though I am not sure of their occurrence in the heart of 



