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them, and macrourus, Forster, for another but the latter, as we have seen, must be reserved for the Cinghalese race; and the former was subsequently considered by Dr. Horsfield as a mere variety of Sc. Leschenaultii,” (i. e. javensis). A single specimen in the Society's collection, presented by the Batavian Society, is of a uniform fuscous-brown above and along the upper surface of the tail; the sides rather paler and obscurely grizzled with a lighter hue; the anterior part of the head whitish, passing off gradually in whitish tips on the crown: shoulders more distinctly grizzled; and the entire underparts and limbs externally sullied white, inclusive of the anterior portion of the outside of the thigh; ears pale and rusty, as are also the cheeks and sides of the neck and the tail underneath is whitish throughout its length, bordered externally (i. e. the hairs tipped) with the hue of the upper-parts: whiskers long and black. The structure is absolutely as in the preceding

race.

5. Sc. Rafflesii, Vigors: Sc. Prevostii, Desm., apud Schinz: Sc. rufogularis et rufoniger, Gray, apud Cantor (who expresses his suspicion that Sc. redemitus, Van der Boon, will prove to be another variety of the same). Two Malacca specimens ; one presented by R. W. G. Frith, Esq., the other procured by exchange: and a remarkable variety, according to Dr. Cantor, (nearly allied to that termed rufoniger by Mr. Gray,) with no white anterior to the shoulder, which is replaced by black mingled with rufous on the face, and by rufous on the neck and humerus: there is also a broad lateral band of greyish-white tips to the fur above the ordinary white lateral band; the fur of the haunches is tipped with albescent-brown; and the tail is clad with broadly white-tipped hairs, except at its extreme tip and base above. Dr. C. has a variety, from the Malayan peninsula, in some degree intermediate to this and to the ordinarily coloured Malayan individuals. The specimen here described is doubtless from the Archipelago, having been presented by the Batavian Society: Schinz states it to inhabit Borneo and Malacca.

The following four races (and seemingly others) have the same claim to be considered local varieties of a single species, as have the various great Squirrels exemplified by Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4: but each would seem to be always true to its particular colouring (in its own proper habitat); and it is difficult to conceive that local causes should exercise so much influence in modifying the coloration, or that variable species should continue so very true to their colouring over a great extent of country as is the case with the several races under consideration.

6. Sc. hippurus, Is. Geoff. Sc. rufogaster, and probably Sc. castaneoventris, Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1842, p. 263. From the Malayan peninsula. Body above, from occiput to base of tail, fulvous-brown picked with black, continued a little way on the tail; rest of the tail black: head, sides of neck, and limbs externally, grizzled dark ashy, contrasting strongly with the fulvous hue of the back: under-parts, and inside of limbs, deep rufo-ferruginous, and generally an admixture of the same upon the ears. Two specimens: one presented by R. W. G. Frith, Esq.; the other procured by exchange.

7. Sc. rufiventer (?), Geoffroy :* Sc. erythrogaster, nobis, J. A. S. XI, 970; Sc. hypopyrrhus (?), Wagler, Schinz (No. 34). From northern Assam and Munneepore. Throughout dusky-ash above, picked with fulvous, nearly as upon the head and limbs of the preceding race below deep rufo-ferruginous, as in the latter: hairs of the tail annulated black and fulvous, with long black tips occupying more and more of each hair to the end, where they become wholly black, and the terminal two-thirds of the tail appear to

This was supposed to be N. American: but the species inhabiting N. America are now tolerably well known, especially since Dr. Bachman's researches; and none correponding with the description of Sc. rufiventer has been there discovered.

be thus almost wholly black externally. Specimen from Munneepore, presented by Capt. C. S. Guthrie.*

8. Sc. erythraus, Pallas. From Lower Assam and Cherra Poonjee. Resembles the last, but is more fulvescent, and the sides of the neck and outside of the limbs tend to be a little more ashy than the rest, but not contrasting strongly (as in the Malayan race): terminal three-fourths of the tail of the same deep rufous as the under-parts, with a pale and sometimes whitish extreme tip. Ears also red. Two specimens from Cherra Poonjee, presented by F. Skipwith, Esq.; and two small young, from Assam, presented in spirit by Major Jenkins, and since stuffed; these latter have much black towards the base of the tail, especially underneath.

9. Sc. Keraudrenii, Lesson, Cent. Zool. pl. I.; Sc. ferrugineus, Cuv. (M. S. ?), apud Schinz. From Arracan and Pegu. Entirely of a deep rufoferruginous colour, rather darker above than below, the fur of the upper-parts somewhat glistening: toes of all the feet blackish, as in the three preceding; and the extreme tip of the tail yellowish-white. Two specimens from Arracan, presented by Capt. Phayre.†

10. Sc. vittatus, Raffles: Sc. bivittatus, Desmarest. This retains the rufous belly of the preceding species, but the colour is weaker; there is also a rufous tip to the tail: the size is smaller, and a new feature of colouring presents itself in the two contiguous lateral stripes, the upper white and the lower black, which separate the grizzled colouring of the back from the rufous of the belly. It abounds in the Malayan peninsula, Sumatra, &c.; and numerous specimens have been presented to the Society, of which three are retained for the Museum.

11. Sc. nigrovittatus, Horsfield: Sc. griseoventer, Is. Geoffroy. This differs chiefly from the last in having the under-parts albescent greyish instead of rufous, and there is no rufous at the tip of the tail, but a little at its base underneath; terminal half of the tail obscurely ringed: the upper lateral stripe is tinged with fulvous; and there is a rufous tinge on the cheeks. Specimen from Malacca, presented by C. Huffnagle, Esq. Hab. also

Java.

12. Sc. atrodorsalis (?), Gray, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1842, p. 263 : Pl. XXXVII, fig. 2. Size of Sc. vittatus, with an exceedingly fine bushy tail. Upper-parts golden-fulvous grizzled with black; the former predominating, especially upon the head: a broad longitudinal deep black patch on the back and croup, commencing behind the shoulders, and becoming evanescent posteriorly: breast and under-parts light rufescent, deepening towards the tail, the hairs of which are black with long pale ferruginous (or rufous-isabelline) tips:

Very close to this must be Sc. pygery thrus, Is. Geoff. (in the Zoology of Belanger's Voyage), "from the forests of Syriam in Pegu." Colour brown picked with fulvous above, below bright rufous, extending up the base of the median line of tail, which latter is coloured like the back and indistinctly annulated.-Specimen a, assigned to Sc. erythræus in Mr. Gray's catalogue of the mammalia in the British Museum, seems referrible to this.

† Specimen b, from Bhotan, assigned by Mr. Gray to Sc. erythræus (Brit. Mus. Catal.), is described to have the "tail-end black, top of the head bright rufous; throat grey, grizzled; belly duller red." His specimen c has the "tail-end, bright red :” India only being given as the locality. The bright rufous top of the head shows a gradation towards Sc. Keraudrenii.

Prof. Schinz refers this to the subsequently described Sc. flavimanus, Is. Geoff. (in the Zoology of M. Belanger's Voyage): the latter is stated by M. Is. Geoffroy to be very closely allied to Sc. vittatus, but to be distinguished by having the upper surface of the feet, front and outside of the fore-arm, and above the muzzle, fulvous: tail not tipped with rufous, but annulated to its extremity; and there is no white line along the flanks. Hab. Ceylon or Cochin China,—in all probability the latter, rather than the former, locality.

whiskers long and white. Specimen presented by the Rev. J. Barbe, from the Tenasserim province of Ye.*

13. Sc. chrysonotus, nobis, n. s. (Pl. XXXVII, fig. 1): a dull-coloured specimen described in J. A. S. X, 920. Size of Sc. Rafflesii, or measuring about 20in. long, of which the tail is half, its hair reaching 2in. or 2 in. further. General colour grizzled fulvous above, the limbs and tail grizzled ashy (from each hair being annulated with black and pale fulvescent), with an abruptly defined black tip to the latter: under-parts and inside of limbs pale grizzled ashy in bright specimens, the nape, shoulders, and upper-part of the back, are vivid light ferruginous or golden-fulvous, sometimes continued to the tail, more generally shading off gradually towards the rump, and in some but slightly developed even upon the nape and shoulders: whiskers long and black; and slight albescent pencils to the ears, more or less developed. Common in the Tenasserim provinces. Five picked specimens, presented by the Rev. J. Barbe, and E. O'Ryley, Esq., of Amherst.

:

14. Sc. lokroides (?), Hodgson, J. A. S. V, 232: Sc. assamensis, McClelland, apud Gray, who regards this as different from Sc. lokroides of Nepal ; but Mr. Hodgson's description of the latter fully applies. From examination of a very considerable number of specimens, collected at Darjeeling, different parts of Assam, Cherra Poonjee, Tipperah, and Arracan, I can perceive no diversity whatever, in those from different localities, unless it may be, perhaps, on the average, that the Himalayan specimens are somewhat more rufescent underneath; but every gradation is even here observable. Mr. Gray, however, extends the range of Sc. assamensis to Darjeeling; and I have seen no specimens from Nepal proper. It is nearly allied to the preceding species, but is smaller, with rarely a trace of the black tip to the tail, and the nape and shoulders are uniformly coloured with the rest of the upper-parts: the whole being more or less rufescent in different specimens, in a slight degree only; and sometimes when most so, the under-parts are most albescent, or scarcely sullied. In some the tail is very rufescent underneath, on the median line nearly throughout its length. I retain for the Museum two Darjeeling specimens, presented by Mrs. Saxon and C. S. Bonnevie, Esq. ; two from Assam, presented by Major Jenkins and W. C. Thorburn, Esq.; one (half grown), from Cherra Poonjee, presented by F. Skipwith, Esq.; and three from Arracan, presented by Capt. Phayre and Capt. Abbott.

14, a. In the collection of a native gentleman (who has obligingly favored me with the loan of the animal, for comparison with the various allied species), is a living specimen of a Squirrel, (pl. XXXVII, fig. 3,) habitat unknown, which differs from Sc. lokroides ( ? v. assamensis) in having the under-parts and inside of limbs deep ferruginous as in the next, except the throat and breast, passing along the median line of the belly, which parts are of a deep grizzled ash-colour without a tinge of rufous, and much of the same hue as the crown and exterior of the limbs and feet: the body and tail having a fulvescent tinge, but less strong than is usual in Sc. lokroides; and the tail being slightly black-tipped, but with pale ends to the hairs. The rufous of the under-parts does not extend underneath the tail. It this be considered distinct and new, it may bear the name Sc. griseopectus, nobis.

15.

Sc. lokriah (?), Hodgson, J. A. S. V, 232 : Sc. subflaviventris, Mc

*Sc. atrodorsalis, Gray, is assigned to Bhotan. -" Gray; middle of the back blackish, slightly grizzled; cheeks and whiskers yellowish; ears, chest, belly, and under side of limbs, dull rufous: tail blackish-hair with a broad black central band." Not improbably a dull specimen of that above described, with the locality erroneous.

Mr. Gray refers Sc. griseoventer, Is. Geoff. (Zoology of Belanger's Voyage), from Java, to Sc. assamensis, instead of to Sc. nigrovittatus, Horsfield, with which it agrees entirely.

Clelland, apud Gray, who considers it distinct from Sc. lokriah of Nepal; though again the original description of the latter fully applies. Nearly allied to the last, but more rufescent, and deeper ferruginous below; the tail more or less deeply ferruginous underneath or behind, where bordered on each side with black subterminal and pale extreme tips. Two specimens from Darjeeling, presented by Mrs. Oakes and the late Mr. Webb; one from Cherra Poonjee, presented by the late Dr. Griffith; and a small specimen from Arracan, and a bad skin of another, presented by Capt. Phayre,—both of these having the under-parts considerably paler than is usual in Darjeeling specimens, though occasionally the latter are equally pale. In Arracan this species inhabits a higher elevation than No. 14.

16. Sc. tenuis, Horsfield: Sc. annulatus, Desmoulins; Sc. modestus, S. Muller. Nearly allied to the last, but smaller, and the under-parts dingy rufescent-whitish. Inhabits Java and Borneo. Specimen presented by the Batavian Society.

We now come to the group of small striped Squirrels, of which three sub-groups may be distinguished. The first of these has a median white line along the back.

17. Sc. palmarum, Lin.: c. penicillatus, Leach, Zool. Misc., I, tab. 1. Mr. Gray refers the following species to this latter; but I am satisfied that he is incorrect in doing so: no mention is made by Dr. Leach of the rufous underneath the tail, which is so prominent a characteristic of Sc. tristriatus; the sides are said to be "pale yellowish," which applies to palmarum and not to tristriatus; and Dr. Leach's specimen was taken from a nest formed in a library at Madras, which (so far as I have seen of the habits of the two species) decides at once in favour of palmarum: I doubt much whether Sc. tristriatus ever enters buildings; whereas I have observed Sc. palmarum to abound in the town of Madras. The discrimination of the two species is undoubtedly due to the late accomplished Curator of the Zoological Society's Museum (now employed at the British Museum), and I have pleasure, therefore, in restoring to him the nomination of Sc. tristriatus, the more especially as Leach's figure of his (so called) penicillatus is execrable, and the character upon which it is separated from Sc. palmarum most unsatisfactory. Of these two nearly allied species, Sc. palmarum only is found on the alluvium of Lower Bengal, where, as also in the plains of Upper India, it is the only representative of this vast genus. The specimens I have had set up were obtained on the Society's premises.

18. Sc. tristriatus, Waterhouse, Mag. N. H. 1837, p. 496; Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 118. Two specimens set up, of many procured by myself in the Midnapore jungles; and a third, from Ceylon, presented by Dr. R. Templeton, of Colombo. It is remarkable that the voice of this little animal is most particularly unlike that of the preceding species; though, in both of them, the notes are pretty sure to be mistaken for the chirruping of birds, by persons unacquainted with the sound;† the voice of Sc. tristriatus first attracted my attention in the jungle, and I watched for it some time in the supposition that it was a bird I had not met with before. Sc. palmarum was found about equally common in the same situations: but I think the tendency of this is to approach human habitations, and of Sc. tristriatus to avoid them. The size and proportions of recent examples of these two species (examined together) are absolutely the same; but the diversity of voice, and

*Sc. philippinensis, Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 117, would also seem to come very

near.

+ This chirruping voice would help to ally these small striped Squirrels to the equally striped Tamias subgroup, as exemplified by the Chipping Squirrel of N. America, T. Lysteri.

that of habit as shown by one only of them extending its range to the Gangetic delta, superadded to the slight though constant differences of colouring (alike in Sc. tristriatus from the jungles N. W. of Midnapore to Ceylon), indicate the extreme caution necessary ere we conclude other allied races to be merely varieties of the same, from their general similarity of size and colouring.-N. B. The Palm Squirrel of Pennant's Quadrupeds' (II, 415), from Ceylon, with "an obscure pale yellow stripe on the middle of the back,' &c., may perhaps prove to be a third allied species of this subgroup, and there may be others yet undiscriminated.

Other species have a black medial dorsal line, as the two next which are closely allied, and have conspicuous small white-tipped pencil-tufts to the

ears.

19. Sc. McClellandii, Horsfield, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 152: Sc. Pembertonii, nobis, J. A. S. XI, 887. Inhabits Sikim, Bootan, and the hill ranges of Upper Assam. Two specimens from Darjeeling; presented by the late Mr. Webb and Mrs. Oakes. This diminutive species has a deep black median dorsal streak, and two much less conspicuous brown lateral streaks, divided from the former by dull pale streaks of the same breadth with the last, and beyond the lateral dark streak is one of an albescent-buff colour: tail margined behind nearly as in Sc. lokriah, or rufous subterminated with black, and tipped with brownish-buff.

20. Sc. Barbei, nobis, n. s. (Pl. XXXVI, fig. 3). Resembles the last in size and structure, but is much more vividly coloured. There are five distinct black bands, three of equal length and breadth, the outermost less developed; alternating with four rusty-whitish bands, of which the two outer are rather brighter than the two inner, and are continued forward to the moustaches, passing beneath the eye: under-parts and inside of limbs bright pale ferruginous: the tail margined behind as in the preceding species, or rufous, each hair subterminated with black, but tipped with white. Three specimens, from the Tenasserim province of Ye, presented by the Rev. J. Barbe.

The next would seem to form an analogous little subgroup with Sc. insignis, Horsf., of Sumatra and Java.

21. Sc. sublineatus, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 19: Sc. Delesserti, Guérin, Mag. Zool. 1842, and Zoologie du Voyage de M. Ad. Delessert, where figured. Inhabits the Nilgherries. Specimen presented by T. C. Jerdon, Esq. This minute Squirrel has remarkably dense close fur (as described of Sc. insignis), of a dark grizzled olive-colour, tinged with tawney, and having three pale lines alternating with four dark ones on the back and croup; the outer dark lines narrower and somewhat less dark than the others. It has thus the median line palc, as in Sc. palmarum and Sc. tristriatus; whereas Sc. insignis is described to have the median line dark (but this, I suspect, needs confirmation): under-parts dull tawney: the tail grizzled dusky and ferruginous.

22. Sc. vulgaris, Lin. Specimens in summer and winter pelage, presented by Mr. Bartlett and by the Cornish Institution. Inhabits Europe and Northern Asia.

23. Sc. hudsonius, Pallas. N. America. Presented by Mr. Bartlett. Finally, of the Marmots, we possess~~

Arctomys bobac, Schreber: Mus arctomys, Pallas: Arct. himalayanus and A. tibetanus, Hodgson, J. A. S. X, 777, and XII, 409. Adult and young (not in good condition), the former presented by Capt. Huddleston, who brought it from Almorah; the latter procured near Darjeeling by the late Mr. Webb and a living young one, now more than half grown, presented by G. A. Bushby, Esq., as noticed in p. 385 ante. This little animal continues in perfect health and vigour, and has only now (in the middle of July)

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