THE FLYING-SQUIRREL. 57 



amining the matter more closely, it will be found that 

 pleasant weather in midwinter, when squirrels rouse from 

 their prolonged sleeping, is usually followed by late 

 springs ; a record of the past one hundred winters show- 

 ing clearly that the more uniformly cold winter is, the 

 sooner and more evenly spring commences. If, there- 

 fore, these singing-squirrels could be relied upon, it would 

 be as bearers of unwelcome news that spring would be 

 tardy in arriving. It is scarcely necessary to add that 

 all such "sayings," so far as based upon the habits of 

 animals, are, as yet, valueless to the student of meteoro- 

 logical science. 



