terminal; the handing is so regular that the tail has a ringed appearance, except at
the hase and tip, where the handing is interrupted. In two fully adult animals
there are only five, alternate, yellow and black hands, hut the apical yellow hand »
so broad that the tail is rich orange, while the hairs at the tip are almost entady
yellow, or nearly white. I haye examined a yery large senes oi individuals of this
tyne all from a limited area, and the characters as just described are wonderfully
pemktent, hut they lead directly into the black backs by
L e e of squirrels of this type with commencing indications of a black back which m
others is s L more defined until individuals of this fulyous phase are found which
haye intensely black hacks. The fulyous squirrels without black
rally white whiskers, hut in a set of three selected without refmence to the colour
of the whiskers, one-the young example with the ringed tad just descrihed-has the
whiskers wholly black, with the exception of three, short, white hairs ® - A »da
In the generality of squirrels with black hacks, the prevailing colour of the upper
fur is less fulyous than in the phase just described; the chestnut of the under parts
is darker, and extends, in some, on to the under surf ace of the neck, while H
that part is concolorous with the sides of the body, and the colour passes backwards
for a short way as a mesial line on to the chest, while m others it forms a mesial hn
along the abdomen, and is punctulated like the sides. The colour -B N
variable, in some rusty red, in others concolorous with the trunk. The tads ilso are
yery variable, in some the hairs being broadly t i p p e d with orange-yeUow or pale
y e d o w , while in others, with the exception of the base, it is wholly black and unannu-
lated. In specimens with a cold grey-yellow, punctulated fur, the tad is yedowish-
grey and black, interruptedly handed. In these squirrels the head is yellowish and
a e under surface of the trunk and the inside of the limbs are deep, rich chestnut,
with a grizzled line over the chest. The S. hyperythrm, Blyth is a phase near this
hut with no black on the badk, and with the paler bands of the tad dark, ncli
orange, instead of ydlowish-grey, and the whiskers are w^oHy black.
There can he no doubt whatever of the specific identity of these very differently
coloured squirrels, and that the two leading phases which I have dfsenbed correspond
to the two phases manifested by S. cmiceps, hut their causation is quite unknown.
Of a series of eight specimens before me, four belong to animals m which no Uack
is developed on the hack, and two of theseare males and two females ; and, moreoym
two are fully adult. Another four belong to squirrels m which the black of the
hack is strongly developed, and two are females, while one is a male and the sex of
th“ other is Id e tem L e d ; and these squirrels also a r e o f different ages, as ™ e d
by the condition of their skeletons which accompany them skins. One the latter
allies is younger than any of the four in which no black had developed on the back,
s o that it would appear that age is hot the determining cause^ ofthe presence or
absence of black in this species, and if so, it is also probable that it does not
influence the occurrence or-absence of golden red on the back of S. camoeps.
Further, these eight squirrels tend to prove that the differences of colorateon are
not sexual.
These specimens were all killed within a limited distance of each other, viz.,
between the Siamese frontier, to the east of Moulmein, and Moulmein itself, and
within the months of February and March. I t is thus improbable that the differences
of colour which they manifest are due to mere difference of locality. They
may prove to be seasonal changes associated with the period of heat depending on
the* age the animal may have attained at the time, but, from what I have already
stated, neither of the phases can be said to be the permanent pelage of the mature
animal. But at the same time the majority of the squirrels that I have met with
have been bláck-backed. From other observations I am disposed to believe that the
under surfaces of certain species of Eastern Asiatic Squirrels will be found to be the
subjects of quite as remarkable changes of colour.
The skull of S. atrodorsalis has a striking resemblance to the skull of
S. cwiiceps, but it is slightly broader with a somewhat shorter muzzle, and judging
from a male skull with the teeth well worn, it would appear to be smaller than that
of ocmiceps. I t is also distinguished from that species by its smaller teeth.
The ribs vary from 12 to 13, and the lumbar vertebrae from 7 to 6, and the
caudal vertebrae would seem even to range from 24 to 28 in number.
The type of S.flavima/nus, Is. Geoff. St.-Hil., with the exception of its yellow feet,
does not differ otherwise from S. hyperythrus, Blyth, which is undoubtedly a phase of
S. atrodorsalis, Gray, and in the colour of its muzzle it also corresponds to
S. atrodorsalis. The locality, however, from whence S. flamma/rms was obtained is
uncertain, as Geoff. St.-Hilaire did not know whether it came from Ceylon or Cochin
China. As no squirrel of this type has hitherto been recorded from Ceylon, it is
probable that S. flavimawus came from Cochin China, but as I only know of the
form by the type, there is merely sufficient evidence to suggest that S. atrodorsalis
may ultimately prove to be identical with it, and I therefore use the latter term until
the identity of the two has been established, and in the sense I have here defined i t ;
but, as I have said, I am disposed to think that, with the exception of the yellow feet,
my definition of the species includes S. flavimawus.
S. atrodorsalis is very common in Martaban, and it apparently ranges southwards
to Malacca, and probably extends its distribution to Cambodja and Cochin
China.
S c i t j r u s B iM A C U L A T t r s , T e m m .
Sciurus bmaculatus, Temminck, Esq. de Zool. de Guiñé, 1858 (Append.), p. 251.
Sciunts iiUneatus (Temminck), A. M.-Edwards, R e c k des Mnmmif. 1868-74, p. 168.
. This is a squirrel of the same size as S. atrodorsalis. I t is a pale, greyish,
olive-brown, washed with pale-yellowish ferruginous on the sides of the head, neck,
shoulder, sides of body and thighs. The head is concolorous with the back. The
fore feet are pale, tending to yellowish-white, but the hind feet are dark, much grizzled
with black. The under parts are greyish-white. The tail at the root is concolorous
with the back, but the banding rapidly increases, so that it is more or less banded
yellow and blackish. The extreme tip is pure white, preceded by a broad, 1*50 inch,