THE LITTLE BTJGAE SQUIKEEL. 47 



I fancy the opossum is more partial to the peppermint 

 and gums, and perhaps the same localities do not suit 

 both. The large squirrel is of a dirty brown and white 

 colour, the fur much coarser than that of the little sugar 

 squirrel ; the body itself is not very large, but I have seen 

 them two feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail, 

 and about a foot broad when the wings are spread out. 

 These wings are nothing more than a fine flap of skin, 

 which extends the whole length of the body on each side, 

 and expands when stretched out to the toes of each foot. 

 They certainly cannot fly, but they can float through the 

 air for a long distance, always in a downward direction ; 

 and this is how they puzzle the dogs ; for while they are 

 barking under the tree, the squirrel floats out on the 

 other side to the bottom of the next tree, which it soon 

 runs up, and thus gives its enemy the slip. The cry of 

 the big squirrel is a loud piercing scream. 



The little Sugar Sqturrel is not at all uncommon 

 among the honeysuckle and small gums in all the forests, 

 but is very difficult to shoot, on account of its small size 

 and the thickness of the trees it generally frequents. It 

 is a pretty little animal, about six inches long in the 

 body, and the tail, which is flat and brushy, nearly the 

 length of the body. The colour is light gray, white un- 

 derneath, and the fur is beautifully soft and valuable, 

 being a real chinchilla. They live by day in the holes of 

 trees, and, like the opossum, come out at night to feed. 

 The wing is about an inch and a half broad on each 

 side. The little squirrel has foiu' young ones at a birth. 



