large series of skulls of these varieties, I had placed all these squirrels, including
S. gigmtem, under one common denomination, viz., S. Mcolor.
The skull of the large black squirrel from Borneo with the under parts
yellowish and with tufted ears, and in no way separable from squirrels of the same
kind from the Sikkim, Himalaya, and Assam, has broad nasals agreeing with typical
S. gigcmteus.
This species ranges from the North-Western Himalaya through Assam, the
Garo Hills, Sylhet, and Cachar, and from Northern Assam aoross to Yunnan, and
spreading southwards also through Arracan and Burma to Tenasserim and the
Malayan peninsula and Borneo.
Sciuuus nonces, Erxleben.
Bombay S jttim l, P en n an t, Syn. Mamm. 1T71, p . 2 8 1 ; H is t. Ouad. vol. ii. 1798, 3rd ed. p .,1 4 3 ,
(in p a r t) . r ’ ^ 'f
Sciurus indicus, Erxleben, Syst. Reg. Animal, 1777, p. 4.00 ; Zimmermann, Geograph. Gesch.
1780, p . 340 ; Gmelin, L in n . Syst. N a t. 1 8 th ed. 1788, ta b . i. p t. i. p. 149 ; P ennant, Qiiadr.
vol. ii. 1793 (in p a rt), p . 1 4 3 ; Shaw, Genl. Zool. vol. ii. p t. i. 1801, p . 133 ; Desmoulins,
Die t. Class D ’H is t. N a t. vol. v i. 1824, p . 7 4 ; Lesson, Man. de Zool. 1827, p. 2 3 4 ;
var. elphinstonii, Gray, Ann. and Mag . N a t. H is t. vo l. xx. 1867, p . 273.
Sciurus purpureus, Zimmermann, Sp. Zool. Geo. Quadr. 1778, p. 5 1 8 ; Gray, H a n d -L ist, Mamm.
B . M . 1843, p . 136 (in part) ; B ly th , Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xvi. 1847, p . 868.
Sciurus bombayanus, Boddaert, Elench. Animal, 1785, p. 117.
Sdums maximus, Horsfd. Zool. Resch. J a v a (in part) ; Wag n er, Schreber, Saugeth. vol. in ., Suppl.
1843 p. 188 (in part) ; Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829 (in p a rt), p . 835. ;
H M H B H I Proc. Zool. See. 1831, p . 1 0 3 ; Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. i t 1846,
p. 33 ; Fraser, Zool. Typica, 1849, pi. xxvi. ; Horsfd. Cat. Mamm. E . In d . C o /s Mus. 1851,
p. 1 5 7 ; Jerdon, Mamm. In d . 1867, p . 167.
Sciurus malabaricus, Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. ii. 1845, p . 82 (in p art).
Sciurus (.Ratufa) indicus, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N a t. H is t. vol. xx. 1867, p. 278.
Pennant described the Bombay squirrel from a stuffed skin in the cabinet of
Dr. Hunter, and he characterised it as a squirrel -with tufted ears, with the head,
back, sides, upper part of the legs and thighs, and the tail, of a dull purple; the
lower part of the legs and thighs and the belly yellow ; the end of the tail being
orange. The length of the body he gives as 16 inches, and that of the tail 17. He
states that it inhabits Bombay. Prom the entire absence of any allusion to the
occurrence of black in the animal he was describing, and which is always present
in the Malabar squirrel, it appears to me that this Bombay squirrel is the species
described by Sykes as S. .elphimtomi from the Western Ghâts and Deccan.
Pennant, in his History of Quadrupeds, refers to Buffon’s figure of the Malabar
squirrel, and states that he suspected it to be only a variety. He also mentions that
the Bombay squirrel extends to Balisere (Balisore ?) on the opposite part of the
peninsula of India. Erxleben applied the term S. indicus to Pennant’s Bombay
squirrel, and in this was followed by Gmelin, who afterwards separated the purple
and black Malabar form as S. maximus.
Sykes, who gave the first detailed description of this species, states that it does
not change its colour at any period of life, but he afterwards observes that, like
the Malabar squirrel, it passes through some gradations of colour.
I have examined the specimen from which he drew up his account of the
animal, and which was figured in Eraser’s Zoologia Typica, and also about thirty
other individuals of different ages, which presented but little variation.
The upper surface of the body is dark maroon-red, with the exception of the
sacral region and outside of the shoulder and humeral portion of the fore limb, which
are black. The outside of the hind legs, and half-way down the outside of the
fore legs, are of a uniform, rich maroon-red. The whole under surface of the body,
from the chin to the vent, inside of limbs, and lower part of the fore legs, the inter-
aural region and the cheeks, are of a bright orange-yellow; the two colours on
the side being separated by a defined line, and not merging into each other.
The forehead and down to the nose is reddish-brown, with white hairs intermixed
; ears always tufted. A narrow, maroon line from the anterior angle of
the ear extends downwards to the side of the neck, with a yellow line behind
it. Whiskers and bristles black. Tail black, ending in a broad, brownishyellow
tip.
L e n g th of male, tip of muzzle to root of ta il . . . ' 20-00
. o f ta il . 15-25
The skull of S. mchcus, besides being considerably smaller than the skull
of S. maximus, is also distinguished from the latter by a narrower and less
concave, inter-orbital space. The nasals also are differently formed, having their
posterior ends much broader than in S. maximus and much less dilated anteriorly.
The upper dental line also of S. i/ndicus is much shorter than in the larger
species.
This species is found in the lofty and dense forests of the Western Gh&ts, but
it has also an easterly distribution as far as Midnapur and Kuttack.
S c iu r u s m a x im u s , G m e lin .
Lie grand Ecureuil de la côte de Malabar, Sonner a t, Voyage aux Indes Orient. &c. vol. ii. 1782
p. 189, pi. lxxxvii. ; Buffon, H is t. N a t. Suppl. vol. vii. p. 254, 1789, pl. lxii.
Sciurus maximus, Gmelin, Linn. Syst. N a t. vol. i. pl. i. 1788, p. 1 4 9 ; P ennant, H is t. Quadf. 1792,
3rd ed. p. 1 4 1 ; Schreber, Saugeth. vol. iv. 1792, p. 784, pl. 217B (S o n n erais figure) ; Shaw’
Genl. Zool. vol. ii. p t. i. p . 1 2 7 ; Desmarest, Nouv. Diet, d 'H is t. N a t. vol, x. 1817, p. 104 (in
part) ; Mamm. 1820, p. 8 3 4 ; Horsfd. Zool. Resch. J av a , 1824 (in part) ; Cat. Mamm. E . Ind.
' e o / s Mus. 1851, p. 156 (in part) ; Lesson, Man. de Zool. 1827, p. 235 ; Fischer, Syn. Mamm
1829, p. 35,5 (m part) ; Is Geoff. S t.-H il. Bélangeris Voy. aux Indes Orient. Zool. 1834, p. 151 ;
Wagner, Schreber, Saugeth. Suppl. vol. iii. 1843, p. 188 (in part) ; B ly th , Jo u rn . As. Soc
Beng. vol. xxviii. 1859, p. 2 8 6 ; Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. 1863, p . 9 8 ; Jerdon, Mamm
In d . 1867, p. 166. '