410 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI.. 



however seems to be purely individual for in the tine series of specimens 

 from Trivandrum there is a specimen in which this saddle-mark differs 

 from the body colour in little more than shade and even that only 

 slightly while in another it approaches black as in F. trisriatus. Waterh. 

 and there are all intermediate grades. Down the centre of this saddle- 

 mark, from the nape to the base of the tail is a pale coloured streak, 

 which corresponds in colour with the paler portions of the body hairs, 

 just inside the lateral edges of the saddlo-mark are two similar streaks, 

 parallel to the central one; the exact distance inside the edge of the 

 saddle-mark varies in different individuals. The lower surface of the 

 body from the chin to the vent and including the inside of the legs is 

 dirty white to pale buff ; where the upper and lower colours meet 

 along the sides there is often an area on which the pale belly colour is 

 strongly tinged with brick red. Lesson's plate of F. milieus represents 

 an exceptionally pale animal and shows the pale colour extending 

 from under the chin upwards over the cheeks to the eye:;, Leach's plate 

 of penicillatus does not; both forms are present among the Madras, &c, 

 specimens. The rump and lower surface of the tail are coloured a 

 bright cinnamon brown, the hairs on this red band of the tail are short 

 like those of the body while the rest of the tail hairs are long (1 inch or 

 more), and annulated, commencing with buff at the root, then black, 

 white, black and well marked white tips. Looked at from above the tail 

 appears to be obscurely, transversely barred black and white ; while 

 from below there is seen a central rufous band bordered with black 

 which again is bordered with white. 



Length of head and body about 150 mm. ; tail about the same. 



Habitat. —Madras. 



F. tristriatus, Waterhouse, is apparently the forest form of j>almarum 

 and the latter is probably the former adapted to civilisation, though 

 having been named earlier it is senior ' systematically ' to tristriatus. 

 F. tristriatus is much the darker of the two, the palest specimen I ha\e 

 seen being darker than the darkest palmarum; the rufous vertex of the 

 head which is without exception in tristriatus is often absent in pal- 

 marum ; and the obscurely barred appearance of the tail of palmarum 

 is wanting in tristriatus, owing to the greater length of the white tips 

 of the hairs. Waterhouse gave no locality for the type of his tristria- 

 tus except ' S. India ' but there are specimens in the National Collection 

 from Madras (? Presidency) and Travancore. I have tabulated the 



