Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia - Edward Ellis Morris

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.:

"The flying squirrels are of a beautiful slate colour, with a fur so fine that, although a small animal, the hatters here give a quarter dollar for every skin."

1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 37:

"The squeal and chirp of the flying squirrel."

1850. R. C. Gunn, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 253:

"In the year 1845 I drew the attention of the Tasmanian Society to the interesting fact that the Petaurus sciureus, or Flying Squirrel, of Port Phillip, was becoming naturalized in Van Diemen's Land. . . . No species of Petaurus is indigenous to Tasmania. . . . It does not appear from all that I can learn, that any living specimens of the Petaurus schireus were imported into Van Diemen's Land prior to 1834; but immediately after the settlement of Port Phillip, in that year, considerable numbers of the flying squirrel were, from their beauty, brought over as pets by the early visitors."

1851. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 78:

"The flying squirrel, another of the opossum species of the marsupial order, is a beautiful little creature, and disposed over the whole of the interior of New South Wales: its fur is of a finer texture than that of the opossum."

1855. W. Blandowski, `Transactions of Philosophical Society of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 70:

"The common flying squirrel (Petaurus sciureus) is very plentiful in the large gum trees near the banks of a creek or river, and appears to entertain a peculiar aversion to the high lands."