Arracan and another adult from Tenasserim. The latter is unusually rufescent,
and in its intermediate characters serves to connect the still more rufescent P. oral
■with P. cmeraceus.
* P t e b o m y s y t j n n a n e n s i s , n. s. Plate XXII.
This is a large-headed flying squirrel belonging to the P. oral group, and apparently
attains to larger size than any of its fellows.
I t is a most richly coloured animal with fine, glossy, silky fur, the hair on the
long hlack hushy tail heing quite as fine in texture as the delicate covering of the
body.
The general colour is a rich dark maroon-chestnut on all the upper parts, the
head and hack, in some, heing finely speckled with white, which is most marked in
the young, hut is always most profuse on the posterior half of the hack, which in
some individuals has almost a hoary tinge from the extent to which the white
annulation of the hairs is carried. In the adult, the upper surface of the parachute
is of the same colour as the hack, and the hairs are not simulated, except along its
margin, hut in younger specimens they are partially so on the upper surface, as are
also the hairs on the first three or six inohes of the tail, which are concolorous with
the hack, hut broadly tipped with black, while the remaining portion of the tail is rich
glossy hlack. The sides of the face, below the eye and ear, are yellowish-grey, mixed
with chestnut, and the chin is dusky. The paws are rich hlack, also the margins of
the limbs. The under surface is clad with a yellowish-white, rather woolly fur,
which in some tends to a chestnut tint in the middle line, and to a darker tint of
the same colour at the margin of the parachute.
The basal portion of the fur of the upper parts is a dark greyish-brown, the
hairs at their base heing wavy, then follows a palish chestnut hand, succeeded by
a dark maroon-chestnut, which either may or may not have a pure white suh-apiCal
hand, the tips of the hairs being glossy deep maroon-chestnut, in some, verging on
hlack.
The ears are large and rounded, and very sparsely covered with hlack hairs
externally, with chestnut-coloured hairs on the anterior, and hlack on the posterior
half of the dorsal surface. The hairs on the outer side of the tarsus form a rather
long and dense brush. The tail is moderately hushy.
As I succeeded in procuring only skins of this splendid squirrel, I cannot give
any accurate dimensions, hut the largest measures, from muzzle to root of tail, 24
inches; the length of the tail heing the same.
The specimens were all obtained at Teng-yue-chow, but it is said to inhabit the
forests of the Kananzan mountains to the east.
P t e b o m y s p e c t o b a l i s , Swinhoe.
Pteromys ¡¡eetoralis, Swinhoe, Proe. Zool. Soo. 1852, p. 61; Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond 187(H
p . 684.
Swinhoe describes this flying squirrel, which I have not seen, as “ general rich
rufous ; tail lighter with brown at tip ; breast and streak down the centre of the
belly white. Length from snout to root of tail 20 inches, tail 15 inches, soft and
hushy. The red fur of the body is sparsely sprinkled with white hairs. The fur is
soft, moderately long, and much in character with that of P . grandis ; in some
lights it shows very brown.”
Confined to the southern mountains of Eormosa.
This form is evidently closely allied to the foregoing species.
P t e e o m t s m e l a n o p t e b u s , A. M.-Edwards.
Pteromys melmopterus, A. M.-Edwards, Ann. des Sc. Nat. Zool. 5th ser. 1867, vol. viii. p. 875 •
Rech. des Mammif. 1868-74, p. 168; pi. xva, figs. 2 ,2a, 25.
Pteromys xtmthoUs, A. M,-Edwards, Rech. des Mammif. 1868-74, p. 801. ,
This is a large species, of the dimensions of P . oral and P. alimenter, to the
latter of which it is allied, as is evinced by the resemblance which the two forms
have to each other before maturity. In its general colour if approaches more to
P. cmeraceus, Blyth, than to any other species. I t is distinguished, however, from
these and from all the south-eastern Asiatic flying squirrels by its densely clad
tarsus—a character which A. M.-Edwards has not noticed in his description of this
species nor of' P . xanthipes, and which is also a character of P. leucogenys, all of
which are northern forms.
The head in the type, below and anterior to the ears, is greyish tinged with
brown, and there is a narrow brownish-yellow ring around the eyes. The hack and
the top of the head are covered with hairs which are leaden grey towards their
bases, passing into yellowish, washed with brown in their sub-terminal part, then
into a brilliant and clear greyish-white, frequently ending in a small black or deep
brown point. A. M.-Edwards describes the general colour as "un gris jmme clair,
presque argenté par plaques, swr lequel se détachent une multitude de petites touches
d tm brun noirâtre." The upper surface of the parachute is almost wholly black,
but some of the hairs are terminated by brilliant yellow points, whilst the border is
well-defined greyish-white; on the under surface, it is entirely very clear yellow.
The limbs are much like the hack, and the feet are hlack. The belly is a dear
greyish-ashy, less tinged with yellow than in P . oral. The tail is very bushy, and
less brilliantly coloured than the hack.
In the Paris Museum there is another example of this species which has been
received since A. M.-Edwards drew up his description. I t is less grey than the
type, and has the tail more brilliant yellow, washed with blackish. This specimen,