56 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



numerous, and it is probable that they never were as abun- 

 dant as the other species of Sciuridce. Even so long ago 

 as 1749, Kalm refers to them as " met with in the woods, 

 but not very frequently " ; and again, that they " are so 

 tamed by the boys that they sit on their shoulders and 

 follow them everywhere." 



Gabriel Thomas refers to these animals, in his quaint 

 little history of New Jersey, as follows : " There is also 

 that Remarkable Creature the Flying Squirrel, having 

 a kind of Skinny "Wings, almost like those of the Batt, 

 though it hath the like Hair and Colour of the Common 

 Squirrel^ but is much less in Bodily Substance / I have 

 (myself) seen it fly from one Tree to another in the 

 Woods, but how long it can maintain its Flight is not 

 yet exactly known." 



The most interesting feature connected with the fly- 

 ing-squirrels of this neighborhood is, I think, the fact 

 that they are slowly adapting themselves to an altered 

 environment, as shown by their constructing nests of 

 leaves, which probably, a century ago, they did not do ; 

 and by their willingness, so to speak, to occupy accessible 

 nooks in the dwelling-houses to which they can gain ac- 

 cess from tall trees growing sufficiently near to enable 

 them to reach these artificial quarters by means of their 

 limited flight-power. I believe these squirrels never 

 take journeys, however short, by simply running on the 

 ground. Unless they can pass from tree to tree they 

 stay at home. 



This pretty mammal figures, I find, in American 

 animal weather-lore, but not to any important extent. 

 In " Signal-Service Notes," No. IX, the compiler of that 

 interesting volume writes, "When the flying-squirrels 

 sing in midwinter, it indicates an early spring." As a 

 lover of early spring, I heartily wish this were true. Ex- 



