scirKoi'TKKrs \()i,rci:i.i.A iiuDsoxirs. 207 



owl should lurk hard hy, glides silently to a nci^^hborino- tree, and 

 starts forthwith upon his niohtl)- tour in cjuest of food and sport. 

 Prompted either by hunger or curiosit\\ or 1)\- a combination of the 

 two, he examines e\er)- unusual object with scrupulous care, and as 

 one result is always getting into traps st't for valuable fur — and this 

 whether they are baited with mamnial, bird, or fish. Indeed, the 

 nature of the bait seems to be a matter of the most tri\-ial con- 

 sequence, as it often consists of red and M\ing Squirrels that have 

 previous]}- been taken in the trap. Kven in this case another Idying 

 Squirrel is as likely to be the next thing caught as any animal in the 

 Wilderness. Hence it happens that the trapper comes to look upon 

 him as an immitigated nuisance. 



These handsome Squirrels are ver)- fond of Ijeechnuts, and during 

 "nut years" feed largely upon them. They are thirsty creatures 

 and in the earl)' spring, when certain of the woodsmen are engaged 

 in making maple sugar, man)- are found dead in the sap buckets — 

 drowned in their efforts to obtain the sweet fluid. 



They breed al)out a month later than their smaller relative. 

 June i8th, 1883, Dr. A. K. Insher and the writer found the nest of a 

 Northern Flying Squirrel at West Pond, near Big Moose Lake. It 

 was in the last year's nest of a three-toed woodpecker (Picoidcs 

 arc/ic?is) in a tamarack [Lan'x .iDicricana) and the entrance hole 

 faced the east, about ten feet above the ground. On cutting down 

 the tree the nest was found to contain thrc;e nursing )Oung. not yet 

 one-third grown ; the)- were estimated to be about a month old. 

 They were {it<\ on condensed milk diluted with water until we left 

 the woods, and afterwards on frc:sh milk and vegetal)les. One of 

 them grew very rapidly, attaining nearly two-thirds the size of its 

 parent b)- the 10th of Jul)-, when it was accidentall)- killed. They all 

 were perfecdy tame and acted much like the )-oung of the common 

 Flying Squirrel {S. volnccUa) already described. 



In searching the scanty literature relating to this animal, which has 

 not i^reviously been recorded from the State of New York, I have 



