THE SUGAR SQUIRREL 
excellent book;”* he raised a captive to be a most engaging 
pet and says: — 
“Tt holds a raisin or almond in its forepaws, licking and nibbling it. 
It is often seen lying on its back at the bottom of the cage when feeding, 
and when drinking milk holds the small vessel containing it between its 
forepaws, lapping like a kitten. It is evident from the fondness of this 
animal for sweets that, when the eucalypti are in flower, it subsists upon 
honey, which the blossoms yield in very large quantity (the honey is in 
such abundance as to afford subsistence to honey-eating parrots and other 
birds, as well as to these animals, and also to myriads of insects of various 
species). When these have disappeared it lives upon nuts and young 
foliage, and, probably, as is usual with honey-eating animals, also upon 
insects.” 
Seen and loved everywhere in New South Wales is another 
species, the sugar squirrel (Petaurus sciureus), one of the most 
beautiful of mammals, as may be seen by the colored plate 
herewith. It is only about nine inches long, plus nine or ten 
inches of evenly bushy tail; and its fur has so exquisitely soft 
and silky a quality that it is superior even to chinchilla. Many 
are the stories told of its astonishingly long and graceful flights 
in the moonlight among the honeysuckles, which are its favor- 
ite haunt; and the people are satisfied that it has power to 
change its course to a certain extent in mid air. They relate 
how, on one occasion, one which had the run of a ship at sea 
leaped from a masthead just as the vessel gave a great lurch. 
The squirrel’s course would undoubtedly have landed it over- 
board, but it was seen to swerve in mid flight and alight safely 
on deck. All this sounds very much as if said of American 
flying-squirrels; and the two kinds of animals look and be- 
have as nearly alike as possible, though developed on opposite 
sides of the globe and in separate groups. The “‘flying-mice’” 
(Acrobates) are miniature volant phalangers, no larger than 
house mice. 
Equally striking is the resemblance of their smaller cousins, 
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