808 
SCIURUS. 
choice in their food, always preferring the superior grain, as 
wheat to rye or barley. They are very wild, and not easily 
reconciled to a state of captivity, continuing extremely timid, 
and manifesting no symptoms of attachment to their owners. 
They are caught merely on account of their skins, which are 
highly esteemed by the Chinese. It has been doubted, 
whether those found in America be really of the same species 
with the European and Asiatic kind. 
22. Sciurus aestuans, or Brazilian squirrel.—Body grey 
above, beneath yellow; a white stripe along the belly; the 
tail is round, annulate, black, and yellow. A variety is 
described, as having a body mixed dusky and yellow; the 
sides marked with white stripes; the tail is black.—It is a 
native of Brazil and Guiana. It is eight or nine inches long, 
and the tail is still longer; the ears are roundish and plain; 
the fur is soft. 
23. Sciurus dschinschious, or Carnatic squirrel.—Body 
brick-dust colour; lateral stripes and orbits white; the tail is 
black.—It inhabits the Indian Carnatic, and is larger than 
the Sciurus vulgaris. 
24. Sciurus variegatus, or varied squirrel.—Body above 
variegated with black, white, and brown ; belly yellow.—It 
is a native of New Spain. Burrows and collects stores of 
grain under the roots of trees, and is twice as large as the Sci- 
urns vulgaris. Of this species the ears are short, plain, white; 
the mouth is also white; the head is orange-colour, mixed 
with the other colours; the whiskers are long and black; and 
the claws are black. 
25. Sciurus degus, or Chilesesquirrel.—Body is of a dusky 
yellow, with a black line on the shoulders.—It inhabits, as 
its trivial name imports, Chili, in large societies. Burrows 
and lays up stores of fruits and roots for winter provision. It 
does not become torpid. The flesh is sometimes eaten by the 
natives. It is larger than the black rat. 
26. Sciurus Mexicanus, or Mexican squirrel.—The body 
of this is of a brownish ash, with from five to seven whitish 
longitudinal stripes. This animal is known only from the 
figures and description of Seba. It is much smaller than 
the vulgaris, and is of a mouse-colour, with seven white 
lines or streaks on the back, extending to some distance 
down the tail. The female has only five streaks.—It inhabits 
New Spain. There is a variety of this species, in which 
the body is uniform in colour: the scrotum is large and pen¬ 
dulous. 
27. Sciurus Bancrofti, or Guiana squirrel.'—Body above 
is of a pale yellowish-brown; the sides and belly are 
white ; the tail is long, hairy, and spotted.—It is native of 
Guiana. 
28. Sciurus Guajanensis, or Cayenne squirrel.—Body red¬ 
dish, and very small.—It inhabits Cayenne; lives solitary on 
trees; feeds on seeds; it is naturally very fierce, but may be 
tamed; it brings forth two young ones once a year; it is the 
size of a rat. 
29. Sciurus Madagascarensis, or Madagascar squirrel.— 
Middle toe of the fore-foot naked, very long; thumb-nail of 
the hind-feet rounded.—This species is found on the eastern 
side of the island of Madagascar; it lives under ground, is 
slothful, timid, slow; it feeds on worms, which it extracts, 
by means of its claws, from the hollows of trees. 
80. Sciurus Capensis, or Cape squirrel.—The body above 
is of a pale rusty colour, mixed with black; it has a white 
line from the shoulder down each side; the tail is black in the 
middle, the sides are hoary; the ears are scarcely visible.— 
This species inhabits the northern mountains beyond the 
Cape of Good Hope; it lives in burrows; never climbs; 
feeds on bulbous roots, and is very tame. 
II.—Squirrels with a flying membrane. 
31. Sciurus volucella, or Virginian flying squirrel.—The 
membrane is of a moderate size; the tail is long and hairy. 
This species is much smaller than the volans, from which it 
differs in colour, being of an elegant brown, or sub-ferrugi¬ 
nous mouse-colour above, and yellowish-white beneath; the 
edges of the flying membrane, as it is called, are of a darker 
or blacker tinge than the rest of the fur, contrasting with the 
white border of the under part; a few dusky undulations 
are found about the back and shoulders; the tail is of a 
flattened shape, or with the hair spreading towards each side, 
and the extremity somewhat sharpened; the eyes are large, 
and the ears rather short, almost naked, and slightly rounded. 
It is not more than five inches long to the tail, and the tail 
itself measures four inches.—It is a native of the temperate 
parts of North America, and has been found also in some of 
the southern parts of the American continent. It is an animal 
of great beauty, and is frequently kept in a state of captivity, 
being readily tamed, and shewing a considerable degree of 
attachment to its possessor. It is naturally of a gregarious dispo¬ 
sition, and they may be seen flying, it is said, to the number 
of ten or twelve together, from tree to tree. It is chiefly a 
nocturnal animal, lying concealed during the day, and 
commencing its activity in the evening. It prepares its nest 
in the hollow of trees, with leaves, moss, &c.; several of 
them will inhabit the same nest. These animals reside con¬ 
stantly on the upper parts of trees, and never willingly quit 
them for the ground. They are capable of swimming, in 
case of necessity, in the same manner as other quadrupeds, 
and after leaving the water, can exert their power of flight as 
readily as before. They produce three or four young at a 
time. A variety has its membrane including the chin and 
ears; the body above is reddish; beneath of a yellowish-ash 
colour.—It is a native of Virginia. 
32. Sciurus Hudsonius.—The membrane of this does not 
include the fore-legs; the body above is reddish-brown $ 
beneath it is of a yellowish-white; the tail is flat and hairy. 
—It is found in North America, about Hudson’s bay. 
33. Sciurus volans, or Lapland flying squirrel.—.This has 
a large membrane, extending to the base of the fore-feet; the 
tail is rounded at the hairy end. This is the European flying 
squirrel of Pennant, and is the only one of the kind that has 
been discovered belonging to this quarter of the globe ; and 
this is extremely rare, being found chiefly in the more nor¬ 
therly regions, as in Finland, Lapland, &c. It also occurs 
in some districts of Poland. It is more common in many 
parts of Asia, and abounds chiefly in the birch and pine 
woods of Siberia. It has, by some authors, been confounded 
with the Sciurus volucella, but is a totally distinct species. 
On the upper parts it is an elegant pale or whitish-grey, and 
on the under parts milk-white. It is not so large as the Sciu¬ 
rus vulgaris, is thickly furred, of a slightly flattened form, 
and rounded at the extremity. Previously to the observa¬ 
tions of Dr. Pallas, little more was known of this animal 
than its general form and manner of flight, or rather of 
springing, which is performed by means of an expansile 
furry membrane reaching from the fore-foot to the hind. 
For the better management of this part, the thumb of the 
fore-feet is stretched out to a considerable length within the 
membrane, so as to appear in the skeleton like a long bony 
process on each of the fore-feet. The flying squirrel gene¬ 
rally resides in the hollows of trees towards the upper parts, 
and it prepares its nest of the finest mosses. It is a solitary 
animal, and is seen in pairs only during the breeding season. 
It rarely makes its appearance by day, emerging only at the 
commencement of twilight, when it may be seen climbing 
about the trees, and darting with great velocity from one 
to the other. It feeds chiefly on the young shoots, buds, 
and catkins of the birch, as well as on those of the pine. 
In winter it remains in its nest, coming out occasionally in 
mild weather; but it does not become torpid during that 
season. This animal is said to spring to the distance of full 
twenty fathoms, and by this motion to convey itself from 
the top of one tree to the middle of another, to which it 
directs its flight, which is always with a declination. It 
seldom descends to the surface, and, when taken and placed 
on the ground, it runs or springs aukwardly, with its tail 
elevated, and as soon as it gains a tree, instantly begins to 
climb with great activity, sometimes elevating, and some¬ 
times depressing the tail. The young are produced about the 
beginning or middle of May; they are at first blind, and 
almost entirely void of hair; and the parent fosters them by 
covering 
