( 057 ) 



Borneo. In fact the incorrect determination of this spirit specimen was very possihiv 

 the sole cause of the asserted locality of " Borneo " for T. f>plendiilul<i, as no habilat 

 is put down for the typical skin in the original Museum register. Verreaux's own 

 label for it has unfortunately- not been preserved. 



[Pretty abundant in Hungunin, where the natives call it " Tniiai-pelandok." 

 They did not seem to know of any other species of tree-shrew as inlialiiting the 

 island. — A. E.] 



18. Tupaia tana Raffl. 



A fine series from Sirhassen Island. 

 Inhabits Sumatra and Borneo. 



19. Galeopithecus volans (!>.). 



Several of the grey and of the rufous variety from both Bunguran and Sirhassen 

 Islands. 



[Extremely common on Sirhassen and Bunguran in the cocoanut palms, hiding 

 during the day among the bases of the leaves, and sallying forth at dusk to feed 

 on the young leaves, moss, etc., their diet being exclusively vegetable. The native 

 name is " Kubong-lumut " — '" kubong " meaning any flying scpiirrel and " lumut ' 

 being the Malay for moss — in allusion either to the animals eating moss, or more 

 likely to the fact that the common grey form very closely resembles in colour and 

 markings a mossed and lichened palm trunk. Their principal food consists of the 

 young leaves of the cocoanuts, and they do serious damage in the })lantations by 

 nibbling them. The ordinary palage is grey in its general hue, but I obtained one 

 feriude with a young one clinging to her of which the palage was rather deep 

 ferruginous speckled with white, the fur of the mother being of the usual marbled 

 grey tint, but having the top of the head and nai)e strongly sutfused with golden 

 yellow. All the other young ones obtained followed the hue of their parents. The 

 young were obtained in all stages, as in the case of Semnopithecits nfttunae, between 

 the end of September and the end of October, from the foetus up to half-grown 

 animals. Only one young one is brought forth, at any rate in the great majority 

 of cases, and the young remain long with the mother. In the living animal the ears 

 are dark carmine-red interiorly, passing into dark yellow towards the orifice. In 

 some specimens there is found a pure yellow crescentic mark bordering tlie lower 

 margin of each eye very conspicuously. — A. E.] 



20. Mydaus meliceps F. Cuv. 

 A fine male in spirits from Bunguran. 



This Mydaus agrees very well with examples of M. mdlcepn in tlie ]5rilish 

 Museum, in whose collection there are specimens from Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. 



[Native name " Bubut." Common in Bunguran, but not easy to obtain, as the 

 natives have a great objection to touching these animals on account of their 

 odour. The presence of Mydaus on any island may be taken as proof conclusi\e 

 that such island has never been wholly submerged since its severance from the 

 mainland, for, owing to its burrowing habits and its evil smell, it is most improbable 

 that it could ever have been introduced through the agency of floating vegetation 

 or by man, whilst its powers of swimming, if any, must be very limited. Neither 



