FLYING SQUIRRELS 261 



let me put my hand on him ; but as I ap- 

 proached within three or four yards he 

 scrambled up the tree into the small branches 

 at the top. He was going to take another 

 flight, if the emergency seemed to call for it, 

 and the higher he could get, the better. The 

 oak was too big to be shaken, but a smaller 

 tree stood near it. This my companion 

 shook in the squirrel's face, and again he 

 took flight. This time he passed squarely 

 over my head, showing a flat outspread sur- 

 face sailing through the air, looking not the 

 least in the world like a squirrel or any 

 other quadruped. Again he struck against 

 a trunk, and again he ran up into the tree- 

 top. And again he was shaken off. 



Four times he flew, and then I protested 

 that I had seen enough and would not have 

 him molested further. We left him in a 

 maple-top, surrounded by handsome red 

 flower clusters. 



The flight, even under such unnatural con- 

 ditions, is a really pretty performance, the 

 surprising thing about it being the ease and 

 grace with which the acrobat manages to 

 take an upward turn toward the end of his 



