rently adult squirrel, undoubtedly o£ this species, whicb has the sides of the head and
neck, the shoulder and outer side of fore limb and the middle area of the thigh
covered with dark, olive-grey, finely annulated hair, the surrounding parts being pale
red; the upper surface of the head, haok, and tail being deep ferruginous. The feet
are dark, blaekish-red. The presence of annulated hair in this specimen serves to
conneot the so-called S. siamenm with the uniformly rufous squirrels, and illustrates
the last traces of the annulation of youth disappearing at maturity. I t is also
important to observe that the light rufous spedmens have the ridges of the teeth
not ground down whereas in the dark chestnut forms the teeth show signs of
u s e b y b e i n g w o r n s m o o t h . T h e e a r s a r e a l i k e i n a l l t h e s p e d m e n s . An exammation
of the skull of the Siam forms, originally regarded by Dr. Gray as distinct under
the name of S. splendid us, does not bring to light any character by which to separate
them; but I regret I have not had the opportunity to examine the skull of S:
siamiensis.
In the Leyden Museum there are six squirrels belonging to the S. ferrugmeus
or red type, exhibiting progressive stages of pelage. The first specimen of these is
evidently in a transition stage, as there is a flush of red all over the body, especially
marked on the ventral surface and on the head and neck, but of a much lighter tint
than in the wholly red squirrels. The tail of this specimen is annulated m the
ordinary way, but at its base a change is beginning in the fur, and also towards
the end, but the extreme tip is wanting. In the second spedmen, the upper
surface of the head and a broad area down the baok are deep rusty-brown, tending
to black on the back, consequent on an intermixture of black grizzling—a fact of
„o„.;,Whla interest in view of S. S ocwS-while , at the same time, the tail is
coloured as in the uniformly rufous animals. The lateral- aspect of the squirrel,
from the muzzle, all along the face, neck, shoulder, flanks and thighs, is a dark
grey, more or less grizzled with yellowish; the legs are the same colour, only
darker, except on the fore feet which are becoming red; the chin, throat, and
the under surface of the neck are also similarly coloured, but the chest and belly
and the of the thighs are rich chestnut. In a third specimen, the grey of the
sides has almost disappeared, but sufficient remains to connect it vdth the previous
one, and the black grizzling of the back is all but lost. In still another specimen
there is only the faintest trace of grey on the upper part of the fore limb
and on the thigh, but on the side of the face it is more distinct. In this stage
it would constitute the S.splendidmi, Gray. In the two others, we have Siam
squirrels wholly rich, ferruginous red, darker on the back, where there is a tendency
to become black; this dark area still holding true to its first character, while the
sides never assume a dark tint and are ooncolorous with the belly and with the
limbs and bead.
These mature individuals stand in the Leyden Museum as S. ctmxmomem,
Temminck.
Two one from Rangoon and the other from Upper Burma, belong
to the variety with the white tip to the tail, described by Reynaud as S. keraudrerm.
A Siam specimen, however, named by Dr. Gray S. ferrugmeus, is of considerable
interest from the circumstance that the white does not occur at the tip of the
tail, but appears as a great white patch a little way beyond its base, whereas
in all the other specimens from Siam the tail is concolorous with the body,
but slightly paler at its tip. The appearance of the white on this portion of the tail
would seem to indicate that there is an inherent tendency to the production of that
colour, probably explicable on the theory of reversion, because the young of many
squirrels when born have their tails white, this colour disappearing with age. In
connection with this specimen, it is also to be remarked that it is much darker
than any of the others from Siam, but not darker than an example from Assam.
All the Siam specimens have the feet concolorous with the body, whereas in the
Burmese squirrels the toes are generally black, also the upper surface of the hind
feet more or less so, but in other respects they are alike, and this slight difference
cannot, be regarded as more than a local variation, so that the only legitimate course
seems to be to consider these uniformly red Siam squirrels as specifically identical
with S. ferrugmeus, the differences that exist between them not being greater than
those which occur among the phases of S. caniceps and S. chrysonotus.
The skulls of typical examples of S. ferrugmeus var. Jcercmdrenu, appear to be
distinguished by the contracted character of the posterior ends of the nasals. In
other respects, however, they do not perceptibly differ from the general characters
of such skulls as those of S. phayrei, S. blcmfordii, S. caniceps, S. erythrceus, and
S. gordom.
I have retained the term S. ferrugmeus, as it has the sanction of long use and
general recognition.
* SCItTBTJS LOKllOIDES, H o d g S O n .
Sciurus loJcroides, Hodg. Joum. As. Soc. Beng. vol. v. 1886, p. 282; ibid. yol. x. 1841, p.' 915;
Horsfield, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1889, p. 152 ; Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co/s Mus. 1851, p. 153 ; Proc.
Zool. Soc. Lond. 1856, p. 402; Ogilby, Boyle’s 111. Him al. Bot. 1840; Mem. Mamm. p. 13;
Wagner, Schreber, Saugeth. Suppl. vol. iii. 1843, p. 202 ; Walker, Cai. Joum. Nat. Hist. vol. iii.
1843, p. 266 ; Gray, Cat. Mamm. Nepal Mamm. &c. 1846, p. 23 ; Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. Beng.
vol. xvi. 1847, pp. 878, 877; ibid. vol. xviii. 1849, p. 60S; ibid. vol. xxiv. 1855, p. 475; Cat.
Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. 1863, p. 104 ; Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. voL xx. 1867, p. 274.
Sciurus locroides, Hodg. Joum. As. Soc. Beng. vol. x. 1841, p. 915; Cai. Joum. Nat. Hist. vol. iv.
1844, p. 298 ; Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. ii. 1845, p. 35.
Sciurus assamensis, M'Clelland, Gray, Hand-List Mamm. B. M. 1848 (in part), p. 143 ; Ann. and
Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 1867, p. 274; Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xvi. 1847, pp. 873,
877; ibid. vol. xxiv. 1855, p. 475; Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. 1868, p. 103; Horsfield, Cat.
Mamm. E. Ind. Co.’s Mus. 1851, p. 153.
Sciurus blythii, Tytler, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. vol. xiv. 1854, p. 172.
Macroxus similis, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 1867, p. 281.
I have before me sixty-two examples of various squirrels which have been
referred to S. loJcroides, S. assamensis, and S. blythii by Hodgson, M‘Clelland, and
Tytler, also the types of S. similis, Gray, which were forwarded to the British
Museum as S. loJcroides by Hodgson. After a careful consideration of these materials,