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mens, however, assigned to Nepal, are enumerated in Mr. Gray's Catalogue of the mammalia in the British Museum. A very fine example, procured (or the skin purchased) at Simla by Capt. Thomas, 39th Regt. B. N. I, and by him presented to the Society. This is perhaps an excessively stretched skin of Pt. magnificus; but, in new pelage, the white tips to the fur are very little developed, and there is no pale colour upon the shoulders, nor on the sides and membrane above: under-parts throughout rufescent-white. Tail tipped with black as in Pt. magnificus, which is not represented in Hardwicke's figure of Pt. albiventer, though the tail of the latter is so short that it looks as if it had been mutilated of its black tip, as was doubtless the case with the original.*

4. Pt. magnificus, (Hodgson,) J. A. S. V, 231. Specimen from Nepal, purchased of a Bhootea. Inhabits also the hill ranges of Assam, from whence Major Jenkins has favoured the Society with (imperfect) skins, entirely resembling those from the Himalaya proper.

5. Pt. nobilis, (Gray,) Ann. Mag. N. H. 1842, p. 263: Sciuropterus chrysotrix, Hodgson, J. A. S. XIII, 67. Very fine specimen, with the pale dorsal streak complete, presented by Willis Earle, Esq.; another, with dorsal streak between the shoulders only, and merely a slight trace over the croup, presented by Dr. Campbell; both from Darjeeling: a third, without a trace of dorsal streak, purchased of a Bhootea. Neither of these has any whitish tips to the fur, as in Pt. magnificus; but, in all other respects, the last especially approximates Pt. magnificus so very closely, that I cannot but doubt its distinctness as a species.

6. Pt. nitidus, Cuvier. Adult and young, from Malacca, presented by the Rev. F. J. Lindstedt. Hab. also Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, apud Schinz.

The remaining species, with shorter and distichous tail, appertain to the division Sciuropterus, F. Cuv.; and all of them are well defined as species.

7. Sciuropterus caniceps, Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H, X, 262: Pteromys senex, Hodgson, J. A. S. XIII, 68. Two specimens from Darjeeling: one presented by the lady of W. H. Oakes, Esq. C. S.; the other procured by exchange. 8. Sc. fimbriatus, Gray, M. N. H. n. s., Vol. I, p. 84. Two specimens: one from Simla, presented by L. C. Stewart, Esq., now of H. M. 29th Regt.; the other in the Museum when I took charge of it. Inhabits the N. W. Himalaya. The colour of the upper-parts of this species resembles that of an English wild Rabbit.

N. B. A species seemingly allied to Sc. fimbriatus, but one-fourth larger, was figured by Sir A. Burnes as the Moosh i baldar of the mountain districts of Nijrow, and identified by him as the " Flying Fox" of the translation of Baber's memoirs (p. 145). A length of 2ft. is assigned to it; whereas I doubt (from examination of several specimens) if Sc. fimbriatus would ever exceed 19in, at the most. The colour of the upper-parts is represented as pale fulvescent ashy-brown, darker on the limbs; tail broad and bushy, and tipped with blackish: under-parts dull white, with a ferruginous margin to the membrane underneath. If verified, it might rank as Sc. Baberi, nobis. 9. Sc. alboniger, Hodgson, J. A. S. V, 231: Sc. Turnbullii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 68; M. N. H. n. s. I, 68. Inhabits Nepal, Sikim, Bootan ; common at Darjeling. Three specimens, presented by C. S. Bonnevie, Esq., Mrs. Saxon, and J. Shave, Esq.

10. Sc. villosus, nobis, n. s. referred to Sc. sagitta in Mr. Walker's Catalogue of Assamese mammalia, Calc. Journ. N. H. III, 266. Two speci

*The Pt. melanotis, Gray, M. N. H., n. s. I, 584, and originally assigned to Nepal, is referred to Java in Mr. Gray's subsequent catalogue of the British Museum collection of mammalia, and there identified with Pt. Diardi, Tem., and with the Pt. nitidus apud Gray of Hardwicke's Illustrations.'

mens, presented by Mr. F. Bonynge, who procured them during his stay in Upper Assam; and as the same gentleman gave one to Mr. Walker at the time of that naturalist's visit to his station in 1842, there can be no doubt of the identity of the species with that referred to sagitta by Mr. Walker. This animal presents a still nearer approach than does the last to the Malayan Sc. Horsfield, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 87 (vel Pteromys aurantiacus, Wagner); but the tuft of long fine hair surrounding the ears readily distinguishes it,* also the smaller and clad ears, the brushes of hair impending the claws more especially of the hind-feet, and the last are much more densely covered-with hair: the fur of the upper-parts is besides less fine, and more grizzled; and the blackish (or it might be termed black) base of the fur is more apparent on that of the lateral membrane; in Sc. Horsfieldii the fur is not blackish at base, but of a dusky-grey colour. Of the same size and form as Sc. Horsfieldii and Sc. alboniger, the present species is further distinguished from the latter by the bright ferruginous colour, with some pale tips intermingled, of its general upper surface; by its strongly rufescent tail, pale towards the base, and the deep ferruginous tinge of the fur of the under surface of its lateral membranes, which also more or less imbues the entire under surface of the body. Length (of a large specimen) 16 inches, of which the tail measures half; of the ear posteriorly & inch; and tarse to end of claws 14 inch. Mr. Bonynge favored me with an interesting notice of the crepuscular habits of this little animal, in common with the rest of its tribe; and which recalled to mind Catesby's account of the little Flying Squirrel of the United States (Sc. volucella), by the remarks that "in the dusk of the evening, when making their downward" (i. e. gradually descending) "leap, they look more like falling leaves than anything else." He adds " They are very difficult to be got, though plentiful enough. Whenever the Singphos can catch and kill them, they do so."

(Sc. fuscocapillus, Jerdon. This is an undescribed species, from S. India, a notice of which may be introduced here. Length 71⁄2 inch., of tail (vertebræ) 6 inch., the hair reaching inch further: fore-foot proportionally large, measuring with claws 1 inch: hind-feet wanting in the only specimen examined. Ears small, and almost wholly naked, of an ovate form, and measuring inch long posteriorly. Tail very bushy, and but indistinctly distichous. Moustaches long and black. Fur rather long (the hairs measuring fully inch on the back), porrect, of extremely fine texture, the individual piles sinuous, and those of the upper-parts fuscous to near the tips, which are of a rufescent-fulvous hue, or dark brownish-isabelline, forming the surface colour; on the croup the fur is shorter and more dense, somewhat as in Sc. genibarbis, (Horsf.); and upon the head it is much shorter, and the basal dusky hue predominates over the greyish-brown tips: above the volar membrane also the blackish hue is chiefly apparent. Under-parts rufouswhite, extending to the cheeks and under-lip; the lateral fur margining the membrane rufo-fulvous. The hairs of the tail measure 1 inch and upwards, for its basal half or more, becoming gradually rather shorter towards the tip; their colour pale at base, then darker, producing an ensemble nearly of the colour of the back; but underneath, the tail is fuscous or blackish-brown, and the extreme tip is whitish.

11. Sc. spadiceus, nobis, n. s. pl. XXXVI, fig. 1. A diminutive species from Arracan, about 5 inch. in length, minus the tail, which measures 4 inch. ; tarse to end of claws 1 inch. Upper surface bright ferruginous-bay in old specimens, with the membranes, limbs, and tail, dusky, and the basal fourth of the latter pale rufous underneath under-parts dull white, with fur of a somewhat In Sc. genibarbis, Horsfield, the tuft below the ear is more marked and circumscribed.

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woolly texture that of the upper-parts dusky except at tip. Three specimens, presented by Capt. Phayre.

Zoologists who profess the opinion that nearly allied races of animals, respectively inhabiting different localities, and presenting constant differences of colouring and other trivial distinctive characters, should be set down as permanent local varieties of the same rather than as distinct allied species,leaving it quite optional, however, which should be considered a species and which a variety, and who, with M. M. Temminck and Schlegel, thus regard the Indian Sciurus purpureus as a permanent local variety of Sc. bicolor, or rather both as races of the same Sc. maximus, might well incline to reduce the whole series of restricted Pteromydes to the rank of varieties only of a single widely distributed species, however true they may be and are to their distinctions of colouring, and although two such marked races as Pt. nitidus and Pt. punctatus inhabit together in the Malayan peninsula-both occurring in the vicinity of Malacca. But be this as it may, such various permanent races require discrimination: and the analogy of the Sciuropteri inhabiting the same countries, which are well distinguished apart by good specifical characters, and are even more numerous than the Pteromydes, would point to the conclusion that the latter are alike distinct and independent of each other, at least in the generality of cases, however closely they may resemble; and that theories on the geographical range of particular species, founded on the alleged specifical identity of what can only be presumed to be varieties of the same, rest upon a very insecure and disputable foundation. I add a summary of the distribution of the Indian Flying Squirrels, with those of the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, as far southward as the Straits of Malacca.-Those of Ceylon remain to be identified. In the Indian peninsula generally, from the jungles of central India to Travancore, there have only been observed the Pteromys petaurista, and Sciuropterus fuscocapillus lately discovered (I believe in the Nilgherries). In the Himalaya, Pteromys albiventer, Pt. magnificus, and Pt. nobilis, would seem to appear successively, as we proceed from the N. W. to the S. E.; and Sc. Baberi (?), Sc. fimbriatus, Sc. alboniger, and Sc. caniceps, present apparently a similar succession, the two latter alone certainly occurring together, in Sikim. In the Assam ranges, Pt. magnificus re-appears, which would argue its existence in the intervening country; and, indeed, it remains to ascertain whether Pt. albiventer and Pt. nobilis are really different from Pt. magnificus. Sc. villosus has been observed hitherto only in Assam. One or two species are found in Sylhet that I have not yet seen. In Arracan, there appear to be only the Pt. petaurista (?), var. cineraceus, which extends southward to the Tenasserim provinces, and the diminutive Sc. spadiceus. Lastly, the Malayan peninsula yields Pt. nitidus and Pt. punctatus, and Sc. Horsfieldii and Sc. genibarbis. From the great eastern archipelago the Society does not possess a single specimen.

Of the ordinary Squirrels (Sciurus), we may commence with a group of large species, or (more or less?) permanent races, peculiar to S. E. Asia and its islands; the whole of which are but local varieties of a single species, in the opinion of some zoologists.

1. Sc. purpureus, Zimmerman: Sc. maximus (in part), Schreber; Sc. bombayensis, Baddaërt; Sc. indicus, Erxleben; Sc. Elphinstonii, Sykes. These synonymes, copied from Mr. Gray, and to which may be added Sc. malabaricus, Schinz, I believe to be correctly assigned to the common great Squirrel peculiar to the peninsula of India. So far as I have seen, it varies chiefly in the development of the black on the shoulders and fore-limbs, and that of the croup and thighs, which last is very commonly wanting, the former rarely more than reduced; the tail also has more or less black or

maronne-red above, with usually (if not always) a pale tip; the under-parts are more or less deep-coloured; and the relative proportion of the colours of the head is subject to variation, its dark portion being generally maronne when little developed, blackish when more extended: the line proceeding downward from the front of the ear is of very constant (if not invariable) occurrence; and may be presumed to exist in the black variety mentioned by Mr. Elliot (Madras Journ. X, 217), distinguishing it from the black race so common in the countries eastward of the Bay of Bengal. The great development of the fur upon the ear seems always to characterize this Indian race or species, and in a less degree the Himalayan and Assamese specimens of our No. 3; while in Arracan, Tenasserim, and Malayan specimens of the latter, and in the Cinghalese and Javan races, the ears are clad with very short hairs, as in the generality of Indian and Malayan Sciuri.* I have retained three specimens for the Museum of Sc. purpureus, all set up while fresh by the Society's taxidermists.

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2. Sc. macrourus, Forster (nec Say): also White-legged Squirrel, Pennant, Quadrupeds,' II, 407; and Sc. ceylonensis, Boddaert. Pl. XXXVI, fig. 2. Mr. Gray refers this name to a Javanese race or species; and certainly Dr. Horsfield's figure assigned by him to Sc. bicolor, in the Zoological Researches in Java,' approximates the Ceylon animal considerably. In general, it has been placed as a synonyme of the preceding species; but the race has at least as good a claim to rank separately, as have either of the two next. The ears are clad with short hair, instead of being densely tufted: and the colouring is remarkably different. The Ceylon specimen figured (presented by Dr. R. Templeton, of Colombo,) measures about 2ft. long, of which the tail is half, its hair reaching in. further. Colour of the upper-parts dull maronne-black, much grizzled with whitish tips on the sides, croup, and haunches, and slightly on the back and shoulders; the croup having numerous buffy-white hairs intermixed: basal three-fifths of the tail black, with long white tips to the hairs, and a white median line underneath (or behind); the rest or terminal portion brown with less conspicuously developed white tips, except at the end, where these gradually disappear: cheeks, under-parts, and limbs, almost pure white, with a slight fulvescent tinge; but there is an abruptly defined blackish patch on the upper portion of the fore-limbs externally, passing upward to the shoulder, a corresponding grizzled patch on the hind-limbs continuous with the colouring of the croup and haunches, and the toes of all the feet are blackish: there is also a blackish patch on the crown of the head, and a few blackish hairs on the white cheeks; a dull whitish occipital band behind the ears; and the short fur upon the outside of the ears is whitish, excepting a slight black pencil anteriorly.-The only other specimen I have seen was procured in Travancore, and sent to me on loan by Walter Elliot, Esq.; and I took of it a minute description, which I here subjoin.†

Upon the whole, the variation I have observed in different individuals of this race, from distantly separated localities, is, after all, but trifling, and does not appear to be influenced by locality.

+ Length about 21 inches, of which the tail measured 9 inches, or with its hair 10 inches. Fur of the upper-parts coarse and rigid at tip, a little waved, or not lying even and smooth; the basal two-thirds fine and soft, of an umbre-brown colour, as is also the first portion of the thicker extremity; the tips being of a pale straw-colour, imparting a grizzled appearance: crown of the head, and base of the anterior limbs, darker; rest of the head, with the occiput, throat, breast, and the four limbs, pale isabella-brown, or dirty straw-colour, the hair along each side of the belly conspicuously longer (as likewise in the Ceylon specimen); that of the under-parts, and beneath the fore-limbs, short and much frizzled, and tinged with ferruginous: the toes of all the feet are blacksh-brown above: tail coloured like the back at base, the brown colour predominating

3. Sc. bicolor, Sparrman, apud Horsfield, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 151; also apud Schinz, and Cantor, J. A. S. XV, 246: Sc. affinis, Raffles (the pale variety, which is also Sc. aureiventris, Is. Geoffroy); Sc. giganteus, McClelland, described in P. Z. S. loc. cit.; Sc. macrouroides, Hodgson, enumerated (not described) as new in J. A. S. X, 915 (1841). That Sparrman's brief Latin diagnosis applies very well to the present race or species is undeniable; but as it was founded on a Javanese specimen, and there would appear to be some doubt whether the race under consideration inhabits Java, Mr. Gray refers the name bicolor to another and well known Javanese race, placing it as a synonyme of Sc. javensis, Schreber; while for the animal here treated of, he adopts the name macrouroides, Hodgson, which yields precedence to giganteus of McClelland, as applied to the same dark variety of the race. Regarding, however, (with Dr. Cantor,) the pale variety common in the Malayan peninsula as, without doubt, specifically the same as the ordinary dark variety, the rejection of the name bicolor for this race would render it necessary to adopt the name affinis, Raffles, for the normally coloured or dark variety as well as for the pale variety, and notwithstanding that Raffles alludes to the former by the name Sc. maximus, under which Schreber comprehends what are here provisionally regarded as different species of these great Squirrels. But it remains to ascertain, upon sufficient authority, whether it be true that the present race does not mhabit Java. Schinz, who describes it correctly, gives Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Ceylon, as habitats-the last named locality doubtless following from his mal-identification of Sc. macrourus of Ceylon with the race under review. In the Malayan peninsula it abounds (and there alone it would seem that the pale variety occurs); also, proceeding northward, in Tenasserim, Arracan, Sylhet, Munneepore, and Assam, as well as in the S. E. Himalaya, as especially about Darjeeling. In specimens from all this range of territory, the dark variety exhibits no variation worth mentioning, (certainly no local variation,) except that the ears of Himalayan and Assamese specimens are pretty densely tufted (though less so than in Sc. purpureus), while this is not the case with those from Arracan, Tenasserim, and the Malayan peninsula. In adults, the upper-parts seem to be always deep black in the new pelage, becoming bleached and oftentimes very rusty as the fur gets old, especially upon the back towards the croup; and this faded fur may be commonly seen to be succeeded by deep black fur in specimens that were changing their coat. The young would seem to be always thus rusty above, and when small are very pale about the croup. The under-parts are more or less deep-coloured in different individuals. A black band on the cheek, descending backward from before the eye, is of very regular occurrence; and above this, the yellowish-white colour is more or less continued forward; the sides of the upper lip are sometimes black, sometimes white, or with black and white hairs intermixed. The following specimens have been retained for the Museum. One from Darjeeling, presented by the late Mr. Webb of that place; one from Arracan (with some pale hairs intermixed along the tail), presented alive by Capt. J. R. Abbott; one from Amherst (remarkably fine), presented by E. O'Ryley, Esq.; another, from Mergui, presented by the Rev. J. Barbe; and one from Malacca, by the Rev. F. J. Lindstedt. Also two specimens of the pale variety, from Malacca, presented by Mr. Frith and Mr. E. Lindstedt.

4. Sc. javensis, Schreber, var.—Mr. Gray, in his catalogue of the mammalia in the British Museum, still admits three Javanese races of these large Squirrels, as distinct: adopting the name hypoleucos, Horsfield, for one of about the middle, and whitish at the end.-This description does not exactly tally with the Ceylon specimen; but the species is the same, beyond all question, and the general similarity of the two specimens is considerable.

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