264 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



no bigger than a mouse." All of them live 

 among tall trees and keep hidden in the 

 branches till evening, when they become very 

 active in search of the fruits, leaves, and insects 

 on which they feed. Their flight, too, is of the 

 parachute order, but it is much more effective 

 than that of the flying lizard. They have a fold 

 of skin covered with hair extending from the 

 fore-legs to the hind-legs, and, when they 

 launch themselves into the air from the top of 

 a tree, the outspread skin bears them up for a 

 considerable distance, and even enables them to 

 change their direction a little while in the air. 

 They cannot, however, move the fold of skin 

 up and down, and therefore they can only " fly " 

 to a lower level than they started from. 



The "flying squirrels," mostly found in Asia, 

 have a somewhat similar arrangement, and 

 they are able to leap a distance of 20 yards. 

 The curious " flying lemur " or Colugo of 

 the Indian Archipelago has an even more 

 effective parachute, for its fold of skin does not 

 stop at the hind-legs but fills the space between 

 them, the long tail passing down the middle. 

 Mr. Wallace, the naturalist, observed the flying 

 lemurs in their native haunts, and he thus 

 describes their flight : " Once in a bright twilight 



