THE FLYING SQUIRREL 



F all the mammals that it has been my 

 pleasure to know a little about, there is 

 none other so confiding, so gentle, and 

 so graceful as the flying squirrel. There is nothing 

 striking about him in the way of color, although the 

 dense silky fur of a grayish brown above and white 

 beneath, rivalling in softness and beauty that of the 

 chinchilla, renders him one of the most beautiful of 

 our squirrels. The eyes are very prominent, large, 

 dark, and peculiarly expressive. 



The flying squirrel is a specialized type of his 

 family, possessing a peculiar hair covered membrane 

 of skin on each side of the body between the fore and 

 hind legs, and attached to both as far as the wrist 

 and the ankle. When in a sitting posture or in the 

 ordinary movements of the body, the flying mem- 

 branes are drawn, by their own elasticity, close to the 

 body, like little curtains, and do not detract from 

 the delicate proportions of the graceful animal. But 

 when the squirrel is about to fly it spreads its "wings" 



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