The Flying Squirrel is the smallest of all the squirrels in New England, and in some respects the most interesting. He is not as well known as the other three kinds I have described, principally on account of his nocturnal habits; that is, he generally sleeps during the day, and is in motion during the night. He is not so beautiful in his colors and markings as the chip squirrel. His general color is a brownish ash or gray on the upper part of the body, and white underneath, with a yellowish margin which unites with a dark stripe that borders the gray color of the upper parts. His form and attitudes are beautiful, however; his hair very soft and silky, and his eyes, which are black, are large and prominent. But what makes him the greatest object of curiosity, is, that the skin on each side of his body is dilated and attached to both his legs, nearly or quite down to the claws, so that when he extends his legs horizontally it forms a kind of wings or parachute, by which he is enabled to sail obliquely through the air a considerable distance. He cannot, however, rise, as he never flaps his wings; but by taking a leap from the top of a tree and spreading his sails, he reaches the body of another tree several rods distant, and running to the top of the latter, he again makes a similar flight, and in this way passes rapidly through the forest. His tail is flattened horizontally, and doubtless answers the purpose of a rudder. His food is similar to that of the other squirrels, consisting of nuts, grain, &c. They make their abode in hollow trees, from which they will frequently run out, when the tree is struck with an axe and smartly jarred, to see what is the matter. They frequently enter human dwellings. Last winter I caught, in succession, seven, in the upper chamber of my house, and kept six of them shut up till spring, when I carried them to the woods near by and released them. They also became pretty familiar, and would eat and gambol in my presence and that of my family in their box. In the course of last summer, I again saw one in my house, probably one of the same. Three other instances have come to my knowledge in which they were found in dwelling-houses. In the animals we have been considering, we see an interesting specimen of that wonderful variety and beauty which constitute the charm of the great world of life. The study and contemplation of the works of God, animate and inanimate, will be attended with continued and increasing admiration, and if the mind is properly attuned to the harmonies that pervade them, it will be made better and better, and will be led, in the words of the poet, “from nature up to nature’s God.” SCIURUS. Our Correspondence.