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Length from occipital plane to anterior end of premaxillæ,... 3. from inferior margin of foramen magnum to do.,...... Greatest breadth across zygomatic arches,

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Breadth of brain case at posterior termination of zygomatic

arches,

Least breadth of brain case behind post-orbital processes,
Length of suture between nasal bones,

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of bony palate from opening of posterior nares to incisors,

Breadth between posterior molars,

Length of mandible from angle to symphysis,

Height of ditto,.....

073 1.5 ·038

1. *025 0.45 0115

0.62 015

1.4 035

053 ·013

2.05 0515

0.8 020

The stuffed skin was most carefully set by Mr. Davison himself, the dimensions being made exactly the same as those taken on the body before skinning. The present measurements are-nose to insertion of tail 19 inches, tail with hair 161⁄2 in., total 35, nearly the same as in the specimen in spirit. It is probable that this skin also has contracted a little in drying.

This species appears well distinguished from P. gracilis and P. pardicolor by its larger size, and by the much greater prevalence of dark colour on the upper surface generally. In external characters P. maculosus is nearer to the Malay species, P. gracilis, the Himalayan P. pardicolor

* Measured from the posterior foot pad to the top of the back between the shoulders, the leg boing straight.

having the upper parts covered with comparatively small spots, and more numerous rings on the tail.* With P. gracilis I am only acquainted by description and figures. Judging by these, the principal difference in the colouration is that, in P. gracilis, the pale tint prevails very much more. than in P. maculosus, the upper parts of the former being marked by irregularly shaped blackish spots on a pale ground, whereas the upper surface of the latter is dark, with a few white streaks dividing the colour into patches. On the tail of P. gracilis the dark rings are represented as narrower, and, towards the tip, much narrower than the white rings, and there is a long white tip. In P. maculosus the dark tail rings are nearly twice as broad as the light, and the white tail tip is very short, shorter than the last dark ring. The distribution of colour on the head also appears different, the whole nasal region in front of the eyes being dark in P. maculosus, but not in the figure of P. gracilis. The more important dimensions of P. gracilis as given by Horsfield are; length of the body from the extremity of the nose to the root of the tail 1 ft. 3 in., length of tail 1 ft. in. It is probable these measurements are from a stuffed specimen, but the much smaller size of P. gracilis is shewn by the dimensions of the skull given by Dr. Gray whose measurements of the two species P. gracilis and P. pardicolor are the following. Those of P. maculosus are appended for comparison. P. pardicolor. P. maculosus.

Length of skull,

Width at brain case,

Width of zygomatic arch,

P. gracilis.
2" 7" S

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This gives the idea that the skull of P. maculosus is longer and that the breadth across the zygomatic arches is greater in proportion to the width of the brain case than in the other two species, and judging from an imperfect skull of P. pardicolor in my possession, this is the case. I think it probable that P. maculosus is a much more powerful animal than either of the other species. The nose is proportionally narrower, more pointed and shorter in P. pardicolor, and the bony palate extends a shorter distance behind the posterior molars. From the opening of the posterior nares to the anterior palatal foramina the distance is 0·93 inch in P. pardicolor, 1·27 in P. maculosus, the form and position of the foramina being similar in the two.

* Jerdon, Mam. Ind. p. 124, says cight or nine. I count ten palo rings besides the whitish tail tip on two Sikkim specimens, received from Mr. Mandelli. The rings near the base and tip of the tail are narrower than in the middle.

+ Felis gracilis, Horsfield. Res. in Java. This work is not paged, and the plates are not numbered. The animal is described and figured, and the head, feet and dentition are separately represented on another plato.

Cat. Carn. &c., Mam. Brit. Mus. 1869.

§ In tho original 1" 7" but this is, I think, clearly a misprint for 2′′ 7′′”.

The first specimen of this species (a very beautiful and perfect skin) was obtained by Mr. Davison at Bánkasún in Southern Tenasserim. The animal was caught in a trap. The second specimen was procured by Mr. Limborg to the East of Moulmain.

Martes flavigula.

Blyth, J. A. S. B., XXVI, p. 316; XLIV, Pt. 2, extra number, p. 29:-Jerdon, Mam. Ind. p 82.

A skin belonging to the Malayan race, distinguished from the Himalayan form by the crown of the head and nape being brown instead of black, by wanting the white chin, and by the fur being shorter, was obtained at Bánkasún in Southern Tenasserim by Mr. Davison. The Himalayan form is recorded from Arakan by Mr. Blyth, so that both are found in British Burma.

RODENTIA.

Sciurus rufigenis, Pls. VII, VIII.

W. Blanf. Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, March 1878, p. 93.

S. medius, S. atridorsalem canicepemque magnitudine subæquans, sed caudâ corpore cum capite paullo breviore, rostro longo; superne fusco-olivaceus, punctiunculis minutis nigris fulvisque variatus, subtus albus, maculaque alba post aurem utram signatus, fronte rufescente, genis ferrugineis, mystacibus nigris, caudâ distichâ, superne canâ, pilis nigris albo-terminatis atque semel annulatis indutâ, subtus castanea. Long. corporis a rostro ad anum 8, caudæ, pilis ad extremitatem non inclusis 6·5, plantæ sine unguibus 1.8.

Hab. in sylvis densis, ad latera montis Muleyit dicti, in provinciá Tenasserim Burmaniæ, (Davison, Limborg).

This squirrel is nearly the same size as S. caniceps and S. atrodorsalis, but the tail is much shorter, its length, without counting the hairs at the end, being always considerably less than that of the head and body; it is distinctly distichous below. Fur soft throughout.

Upper parts dark olive, frizzled, checks ferruginous, a small white spot behind the ear, lower parts white, tail hoary, black with white rings and tips above, chesnut below.

The colour of the back and sides resembles that of specimens of S. caniceps in which there is no yellow or rufous tinge, being a fine mixture of black and pale yellow, the sides rather paler. The fur on the back, as in several allied species of squirrel, is of two kinds, the finer and shorter hairs being dark leaden colour at the base, pale yellowish grey at the tips, and about a quarter of an inch long in the middle of the back, the longer hairs arc coarser, about half an inch long, and black with a pale yellow ring near

the end, the tips being black. As usual the longer hairs are most abundant near the middle of the back, less so on the sides. Forehead rufous mixed with black, the sides of the head are dark ferruginous above, paler below, shading off gradually into the colour of the face and throat. Ears rounded, covered thinly inside and out with short hairs; a little patch of silky white hair behind each ear is concealed by the ear conch when the ears are laid back.* Whiskers black. The hairs of the lower parts are dark grey at the there is a tinge of rufous on the fore neck and Fore limbs yellowish olive outside, like the sides, whitish inside, hind limbs also whitish within, but more rufous outside. Tail clad above with black hairs, having a white ring near, but not at their base, and white tips, so as to produce a very beautiful hoary appearance, lower surface of the tail chesnut, the longer hairs on the sides with black and white tips

base, white at the ends, throat in some specimens.

The following dimensions in inches were taken by Mr. Davison on fresh specimens :

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Length of hind foot from heel without claws, 1.75
Height of ear outside,

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0.5
0.8 0.8 0.8

The skull (Plate VII) differs considerably from those of S. lokrioides, S. atridorsalis, S. caniceps, S. phayrei, S. blanfordi and all other allied species with which I have been able to compare it, in the narrow and singularly elongate nasal portion, in which character the present species. shews an approach to Rheithrosciurus of Gray.

The following are the dimensions of the skull of the present species, compared with those of some of the other Himalayan and Burmese forms.

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Four specimens of this squirrel were obtained by Mr. Davison at the end of January and beginning of February 1877; all were procured in dense forest, at an elevation of above 5000 feet, on the sides of Mooleyit, a lofty mountain east of Moulmain on the range separating the Houngdarau from the Thoung Yin valley. A single specimen was subsequently procured in the same locality by Mr. Limborg and this was the first to reach me.

None of the other Burmese or Himalayan squirrels resemble the present form, nor am I acquainted with any Malay species with similar colouration. The nearest approach is perhaps made by S. pernyi, found at Sechuen in China.* This species has a yellow spot behind the ear, the lower surface of the tail is ferruginous, and the belly white, but it wants the ferruginous cheeks, it has no white tips to the hairs in the upper surface of the tail, and it is more rufous above, the latter character being, however, of little or no importance.

The Himalayan Sciurus lokriah also possesses, I find, the small whitish tuft behind the ear, though less developed than in S. rufigenis; the colouring of the lower parts and tail are, however, conspicuously distinct in the two forms. The presence of the white spot in S. lokriah affords an excellent character for distinguishing this species from S. lokrioides.†

* Milne Edwards, Rev. et Mag. Zool. 1867, p. 230, pl. 19.

† According to Gray, A. M. N. H. Ser. 3, XX, pp. 274, 281, the true S. lokrioides of Hodgson is the species with a black tail tip, S. assamensis of McClelland and Blyth. The species called S. lokrioides by all Indian naturalists is re-named Macroxue similis by Gray. As Hodgson's types are in the British Museum and are quoted by Dr. Gray, he may be right, though it is very remarkable that he should be, because the species commonly referred to S. lokrioides abounds in Nepal, where Hodgson of course collected it, whilst I doubt if S. assamensis be found there. Dr. Anderson has especially examined the British Museum specimens, and will I believe clear up these difficulties.

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