HABITS OF FLYING-SQUIRRELS 
Our own flying-squirrels are scattered all over North America 
south of Hudson Bay, and are numerous, but so secretive and 
nocturnal as to be rarely seen. They lodge in Flying- 
holes and crannies of decaying tree trunks,— ‘dWitrel. 
often in old woodpecker nests, — where they make warm beds 
of soft materials, including much of their own shed fur. Fre- 
quently they come into the garrets of houses built near woods, 
and are likely to gather 
into communities. Their 
food is the smaller sorts of 
nuts and berries, together 
with many insects, and they 
have a strong taste for meat, 
catching and killing birds 
and robbing their nests. 
Whether or not they hiber- 
nate seems to be determined 
in each case (or with many 
other animals) by the cir- Baek 
cumstances as to a winter FLYING-SQUIRREL AT HOME, 
supply of food. At any rate, 
while the smaller, more southerly, variety seems usually to sleep 
in winter, even where the climate is not excessively cold, those of 
Canada and the Adirondacks will remain active throughout the 
much colder winter whenever they live in forests yielding beech- 
nutsand similar provenderinplenty. They are almost the softest, 
“cutest” animals in creation; have too little intelligence to show 
much fear of man, often, indeed, seeking his hospitality ; 
cuddle in one’s pocket or bosom with loving content; and 
exhibit the most charming activity in a spacious cage, or when 
turned loose in a room in the evening. Nevertheless, they are 
likely to be mischievous and destructive unless kept well under 
control. Entertaining accounts of their tricks and manners 
wild and tame have been written by Audubon,” Kennicott,™ 
447 
