from Assam. The molar row, in the upper jaw, measures only 0 -BO to 0 59m the
latter species and the upper incisors also are much narrower. The breadth ot
the frontal region of 8. bicolor is proportionally greater than m N. gigmteus,
and the upper portion of the nasals is more expanded. «So character, as far as 1
can see, can be drawn from the premaxfflary foramina, which vary m length, g jg
skull is subject to considerable variation; in two skulls of the pale variety the
facial portion of one skull is narrower than the other. The skull of S. eph^pvum,
as figured by Müller and Schlegel, has a much more pointed muzzle than S. mm-
venter, as figured hy Is. Geoff., which has also greater antero-orbital breadth
and depth: but in these respects the skull of the latter agrees with a skiifi
removed fmm an undoubted example of 8. — whereas j ü j—
specimen of S. hypoleucm agrees with Müller and Schlegel’s figure of the skull ol
^ t e ^ d e s appears to he generally distributed over the southern portion of
the Malayan peninsula and over the neighbouring Islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo,
and the Celebes and the adjacent smaller islands.
* Scitjrus giganteus, McClelland.
liÄI^RSÄilS B§ I ■ I ; I ;l!
1 811 in p a rt); Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mns. 1868, p. 99 (in p a rt); Cantor, Jomn As. See.
Brag vol. xvi. 1816, p. 216 (in p a rt); J e r d o n , M a m m . Ind. 1867, p. 168 (m part).
H o d g l , loom. As. Soc. Bong, v o l x. 1 8 « I t M l M i H
Mag. Nat. Hist.'vol. if 1817, p. 311 (in part) ; Horsfldd,
B H R ?862936a“ N“ M 1l s ! a ,Pp. — I *
M a o ro Z (Rukaia) bicolor, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 3rd ser. 1867, p. -76 (,n part).
This species has well-tufted ears : the upper surface is either wholly black or
reddish-brown, without any trace of white; tfietafl genmafiy rs jet ^
outside of the fore and hind limbs and the upper surface of the feet. An elongated
black spot is almost invariably found below the eye from behrnd the moustache, and
the eye is encircled with black. There are generally two black spots on .the under
surface of the chin. The under parts and the inside of the limbs vary from pale
yellowish-white to a rich rufous-orange; the basal portion of the hairs of the under
parts is dark brown, or black, and the ventral area has frequently a dnfi hue where
the yellow tips are sparse. The coats of these squirrels are generally sleek H
and deep black, and while in this condition the under surface is most bnlhattt,
especially at its line of junction with the black, along the sides of the body and
limbs tending to form a kind of bright band. In some, the upper parts have
brownish hue, but this is not characteristic of any particular locality, as two
■individuals, one from Nepal and the other from Borneo, are equally brown. T hen
the fur is of this colour, it is long and coarse, and the under parts are less brilliant.
These phases are probably seasonal and connected with the breeding period, Certain
skins obtained by me at Teng-yue-chow in Yunnan belonged to the black, glossy
kind, with rather bright, yellow under surfaces,
A race found in Arracan, Pegu, and Tenasserim, has generally the dorsal region,
from behind the shoulders to the sacral region, and the sides, pale brown or yellowish-
brown, nearly as pale as in S. bicolor var. sondanca, Horsfd., the rest of the upper
parts being dark or blackish-brown, and the tail almost black, but sometimes washed
with yellowish. In some, the pale colour even extends to the upper surface of the
head and neck. These squirrels have all the characters of being transitional between
S. bicolor var. sondaica and S. giganteus, M‘Clelland. They are, however, larger
than the former, and they are connected with the latter by their skulls and the size of
their teeth, but their nasals are most variable, and they appear to be generally longer
and narrower than in typical S, giganteus. Some examples, however, have the
short and broad nasals of that species, so that it is impossible to separate them
specifically, although they appear to be a well-marked race of the giant squirrels,
more nearly affined to S. giganteus than to S. bicolor, though perhaps in its
peripheral characters this race more resembles the latter than the former.
The skull of 8. giganteus is about the same size as the skull of 8. maximus.
Its most distinctive feature, in specimens from Sikkim and Assam, is the broad
character of the inferior end of the nasals, their upper ends being but little
expanded. This confers great breadth on the muzzle, which is markedly different
from the muzzle of skulls corresponding to S. bicolor var. sondaica, Horsfd., 8. hypo-
leucus, Horsfd., 8. auriventer, Geoff., and S. ephippium, M. & S., than all of which
the skull of 8. giganteus is much larger. Specimens from Tenasserim, Pegu, and
Arracan with pale backs, have their skulls distinguished by much less dilated nasals,
as a rule, but examples occur in which these bones resemble the dilated nasals of
typical S. giganteus, and the occurrence of such skulls serves to connect the more
aberrant forms with the type. Not only the nasals of these skulls vary, but also
the length of their molar line. The skulls and teeth, however, conform in size to
S. giganteus and not to 8. bicolor. I t is important to note that these Tenasserim,
Pegu, and Arracan specimens which show a tendency to resemble the skulls of
squirrels referable to 8. bicolor var. sondaica, 8. hypoleucus, 8. cmrwenter, and
S. ephippum also manifest a disposition to resemble them in the colour of their fu r;
but the animals in the aggregate of their external characters are more allied to
S. giganteus than to 8. bicolor. Some examples of 8. giganteus from Upper Burma,
otherwise inseparable from the type, show an intermixture of pale-brownish hairs
on- the back, and thus a tendency to conform to the features of these Tenasserim,
Pegu, and Arracan squirrels, which on their part manifest a tendency to pass into
S.. bicolor, var. sondaica, &c.; and had it not been that the skulls of squirrels from
these latter localities conformed more to the type of 8. giganteus than to S. bicolor, I
would have been inclined to regard them as a variety of that species. As it is, they
seem to me to link the two forms together. At first, and before I had observed a