* SCIURUS QUINQUESTRIATUS, A n d r .
Sciurus quinquestriatus, Andr. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1871, p. 142, pl. x. ; Blyth, Joum. As. Soc.
Beng. vol. xliv. (1875, ex. No»); p. 87.
I obtained this species in April, in the Kakhyen hills, within the Chinese
frontier, at an elevation of about 3,0,00 feet. On my second visit to the same
locality, I found it in ^February, again at the same place, but I did not observe
it elsewhere, so that it would appear probably sto have a very local distribution.
. I t is grizzled above, olive brownish-grey, with a distinct rufous tint, deepest on
the dorsal surface ; annulation fine, as in the grizzled squirrels generally ; chin and
throat obscurely grizzled greyish, washed with reddish ; a rufous grizzled blackish-
brown band from the chest along the middle liiie of the belly to thé vent ; external
to this, on either side, a broad pure white well-defined band from the side of the
chest along the belly and prolonged along the inguinal region to the vent ; a broad
black band from the hollow of the axilla along the side of the belly, expanding on
the inside of the thighs, where it is faintly washed with greyish ; inside of the fore
limbs blackish, washed with greyish ; toes black, with rufous annulations. Tail
nearly as long as the body and head, concolorous with the body, but the black
and rufous annulations much broader and more marked, assuming the form of
indistinct rufous and black rings on the posterior third; tip of tail jet black,
narrowly terminated with greyish.
Inches.
Length from root of tail to muzzle. . . . . . . . . 9*50
T a i l ................................................. 7-10
The skull is somewhat smaller than the skull of S. ccmiceps, and its muzzle
is more pointed, with the nasals not presenting any lateral contraction, moderately
broad posteriorly and gradually expanded. There are, however, no striking differences
between the skulls of these widely distinct species.
S. qwnquestriatus has only been as yet found in the above-mentioned hills.
S c iu r u s v it t a t u s , Raffles.
Sciurus vittatus, Raffles, Trans. L in n . Soc. vol. xiii. 1822, p. 259; F. Cuv. Hist. Nat. des Mammif.
vol. ii. Octobre 1821, livraison xxiii. ; Müller und Schlegel, Verhandl. 1889-44, pp. 86
and 94; Gray, Hand-List, Mamm. B. M. 1843, p. 141; Wagner, Schreber, Säugeth. Suppl.
vol. iii. 1843, p. 199 (in part) ; Cantor, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xv. 1846, p. 250"(in part) ;
Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. vol. xvi. 1847, p. 872; ibid. vol. xxiv. 1855, p. 476; Cat. Mamm.
As. Soc. Mus. 1863, p. 104 (in part) ; Horsfield, Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co.'s Mos. 1851, p. 152 ;
Schlegel, Nederl. Tijdschr. 1868, vol. i. p. 30, pl. ii. fig. 4 ; W. T. Blanford, Ann. and Mag.
Nat. Hist. vol. i. 4th ser. 1868, p. 152.
Sciurus bivittatus, Desmarest, Mamm. 1820, Suppl. p. 543; Horsfield, Zool. Resch. Java, 1824 ;
Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829, p. 358;, Is. Geoff. St.-Hil. Bélanger, Voyage aux Ind. Orient.
Zool. 1834, p. 147; Gervais, Mag. de'Zool. 1842; Gray, Hand List, Mamm. B. M. 1848,
p. 141 ; Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xvi. 1847, p. 872.
R CuTÌer’ Hist- Mammii. Oct. 1821, p l 284; Gray, Ann. and Mas
Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 1867, p. 278 (in part).
Macroxns towpai, Lesson, Man. de Zool. 1827, p. 288.
This squirrel is about the same size as 8. nigromttatus. I t is 8 inches long,
and the tail nearly the same length. I t differs from S. nigrcmittatus in the rich
hrowmsh-red of its under parts, in the more defined character of the lateral white
and black lines, in the generally slightly finer character of the annulations of the
upper fur, and in the more coarsely annulated tail which has always a bright red tip
The ear is rounded and covered with short hairs.
In the type of S. vittatus, the lateral white streak is very distinct, hut the dark
streak is not black, hut only a darker shade of the belly colour, not very well
defined and grizzled orange-blackish.
This species does not appear to he subject to much variation, and any that it
does exhibit cannot he said to be distinctive of, or confined to, a special locality It
is generally distributed over the Malayan peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and, accordine
to Muller and Schlegel, Canton.
I t would require a muoh more extensive series of specimens than is at
my disposal to determine definitely whether or not S. vittatus is a local race of
S. piantoni. These facts, however, are to be home in mind, first, that the grizzled
annulation of the hair of the two so-called species conforms to a definite plan of
distribution, and next, that the lineation of the side is also referable to a common
type, the differences that exist between the two being only a question of the intensity
of the colour of the pigment. They are both distinguished by the ventral area
being distinct in its coloration from the back, from the colour of which it is separated
hy a dark and by a light-coloured hand. This circumstance is also met with, that
squirrels are found in Borneo and ‘Western Java whioh the observer hesitates to
re fe to either of the species, because they seem equally referable to both. One
variety leads into another, so that even extreme varieties are incontestably linked
together by intermediate forms.
S c iu r u s p l a n t a n i , Ljung.
Piantane Squirrel, Pennant, Hist. Quad. 2nd ed. 1792, vol. ii. p. 151.
? Sciurus notatus, Boddaert, Elench. Animal, 1785, p. 119.
fcW w planimi, S. I. Ljnng, Kongl. Vetensk Acad. N. Handl. vol. «rii. 1801, p. 99, pl i • Hors
field, Zool Bosch. Java, 1824 (plate) ; Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co.’s Mns. 188,1, p. 151 ■
Man de Zool. 1827 p. 236; Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829, p. 857; Wagner, Schreher, SBngeth!
Supjd. vol. m l8 4 8 , p. 1 9 7m p art; Gray, Hand-List, B. M. 1843,p. 14 1 ; Ann. and Mag. Nat.
Hist. vol. i. 4th ser. 1868, p. 809 ; Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. ii. 1845, p. 37 ; Zelebor, Reise der
Freg. Nov. Saugeth. 1868, p. 24.
Sciurus giiu/ianus var. Piantane Squirrel, Shaw, Geni. Zool. vol. ii. pl. i. 1801, p 147
Sciurus Ulineatm, Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d’H is t Nat. vol. x. 1817, p. 1 06;' Mamm 1823, p 836 •
Desmoulins, Diet. Glass. Sc. Nat. vol. vi. 1824, p. 72. ’
Sciurus nigrovittatus, Horsfield, Zool. Resch. Java, 1824; Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co.'s Mus. 1851
p. 152; Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829, p. 854; Gray, Hand-List Mamm. B. M. 1843, p. 141;