NO. 1976. TREESHREWS: FAMILY TUPAIIDJE—LYON. 21 



day, till night sends them to sleep in then* rudely constructed lairs 

 in the liighest branches of trees. At times they will sit on their 

 haunches, holding their food between the forelegs, and after feeding, 

 they smooth the head and face with both forepaws, and Hck the 

 lips and palms. They are also fond of water, both to drink and to 

 bathe in." 



Raffles says of Tupaiaferruginea : ^ "These animals are as tame and 

 sprightly as squirrels. The tame one above mentioned was suffered 

 to go about at perfect liberty, ranged m freedom over the whole house, 

 and never failed to present himself on the breakfast and dmner table, 

 where he partook of fruit and mUk." It is also described being 

 diurnal and arboreal. Tana is mentioned as bemg "always found on 

 or near the ground." 



Mr. C. BodenlGoss^ thinks Tupaias are less arboreal than generally 

 accredited. He says: "Of the numerous species of Tupaia which 

 I have collected personally T. longicauda with T. nicobarica, Zelebor, 

 and its subspecies, T. (N.) surda Miller, alone are truly arboreal in 

 habit. As a rule the so-called ' treeshrews ' are seen and trapped on 

 the ground, where they live and feed, or, at most, climb occasionally 

 into low bushes; in them the tail is shorter than the head and body 

 length. The above-named animals, which are met with in high trees 

 and have the habits of squirrels, all possess a taU that is considerably 

 longer than the length of head and body." 



The collector of Tupaia chinensis, r eg. '^os. 97.11.2.10, 97.11.2.11, 

 97.11.2.12, and 97.11.2.13, British Museum, says: "The four were 

 taken from one nest in a hollow bamboo," one of the few observations 

 on their nests that I know of. 



Of Tupaia glis ferruginea, Robinson and Kloss ^ remark: "The 

 popular name of ' treeshrew ' for these animals is hardly descriptive 

 • of their habits, as, in the majority of species, at any rate, it is quite 

 exceptional to see one anywhere than on the ground, among the 

 roots of trees or on low bushes. The jungle near Changi, Smgapore, 

 was an exceedingly good trappmg ground, and out of 70 or 80 traps 

 set every night hardly one was found unsprung or without an occu- 

 pant next morning. Six or seven of these shrews were usually thus 

 captured and many more were shot every day. The nest is found in 

 holes, often m fallen timber." 



Regarding the food and habits of Tupaia glis ferruginea, as observed 

 on the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, Mr. H. N. Ridley^ writes: 

 "The common species is very destructive in gardens, as it is almost 

 if not entirely frugivorous. It bites holes in the chocolate pods to 



1 Trans. Linn. Soc. London, voL 13, 1822, p. 257, May, 1S2L 



2 Journ. Fed. Malay States Mus., voL 4, p. 191, October, 191L 



8 In Thomas and Wroughton, Journ. Fed. Malay States Mus., vol. 4, No. 1, p. Ill, December, 1909, 

 * Natural Science, vol. 6, 1895, p. 28. 



