THE SUGAR SQUIRREL. 



365 



formed with great powers of grasp, and their structure is intended to fit them for procuring 

 their food among the branches of the trees, on which they pass the greater portion of their 

 existence. 



These creatures fall naturally into three subdivisions — namely, the Petaurists, or those 

 which are furnished with a parachute-like expansion of the skin along the flanks, much 

 resembling a similar structure in the colugo, or flying lemur, which has been already described ; 

 the Phalangists, or those which are devoid of the parachute, and are furnished with a long 

 prehensile tail ; and the Koalas, or those which are devoid of both parachute and tail. Accord- 

 ing to many excellent authorities, these three subdivisions are, in fact, three genera, which 

 comprise the whole of the Phalan- 



gistines, and which render any fur- ^ ^^ 



ther separation into genera entirely !<» 



unnecessary. > ~ -..,.., . 



The animal which is represented 

 in the accompanying engraving is 

 known by several popular names, 

 the most common of which is the 

 Sugar Squirrel. It is also called 

 the Norfolk Island Flying Squir- 

 rel, and the Squirrel Petaurus. 



It is only sixteen inches in total 

 length, of which measurement the 

 tail occupies one moiety. 



The fur of the Sugar Squirrel is 

 very beautiful, being of a nearly 

 uniform brownish-gray, of a pecu- 

 liarly delicate hue, and remarkably 

 soft in its texture. The parachute 

 membrane is gray above, but is edged 

 with a rich brown band, and a bold 

 stripe of blackish-brown is drawn 

 along the curve of the spine, reach- 

 ing from the point of the nose to 

 the root of the tail. The head is 

 somewhat darker than the rest of 

 the body. The under parts of the 

 body are nearly white. 



Its long and bushy tail is covered with a profusion of very long, full, soft hair, grayish- 

 brown above, and of a beautiful white underneath. The extremely long tail with which these 

 animals are furnished appears to be of exceeding service to them in balancing their bodies as 

 they make their desperate leap through space, and may also be useful in aiding them to modify 

 the original direction of their sweep through the air. 



This supposition is strengthened by the fact, that many long-tailed animals employ that 

 member for the same purpose when they are perched in any critical position where an accurate 

 balance is needful. I have seen a large spider-monkey employ her long prehensile tail for the 

 same purpose. She was seated upon a loose horizontal cord, holding as usual by her hands 

 and tail. But when I gave her an apple, she removed both her hands from the cord, grasping* 

 it firmly with her hinder feet, and then permitted her tail to hang its full length, so that she 

 could balance herself by swinging it from side to side, according to the necessity of the moment. 



This was the more remarkable, as the animal is noted for the pertinacity with which it 

 grasps any neighboring object with its tail, and never likes to move without securing itself by 

 its tail to the various objects as it goes along, or even to the string by which it is led. 



The Sugar Squirrel, like the other Petaurists, is a nocturnal animal, and is seldom seen 



SUGAR SQUIRREL, OR SQUIRREL PETAURUS.- Petaurus sciureus. 



