184 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



backed durino- December — March, uniform grey for 

 the rest of the year. The handsomest of this 

 handsome tribe is the Prevost squirrel of Malacca 

 and the East Indies. 



Prevost's squirrel [Scmrtts prevosti) was first 

 known from a specimen brought home in Sir Stam- 

 ford Raffles's collection. This type specimen, as 

 measured in skin, taped eight inches from the tip of the 

 muzzle to the root of the tail, the tail itself measuring 

 eight inches and one-third ; the height at the shoulder 

 was three inches and three-quarters. In compliment 

 to Sir Stamford this form of Prevost's squirrel has 

 been named Sciurus prevosti rafflesi. A specimen 

 now before me is black above from the tip of the 

 muzzle to the tip of the tail; the lips are whitish 

 grey, the cheeks iron grey; the under parts are 

 orange, separated from the black of the upper parts 

 by a broad white band which extends over the 

 anterior half of the thigh, and recalls the lateral line 

 of certain antelopes. The tail tends to show 

 brownish reflections, which are very much accen- 

 tuated in some specimens in the writer's collection. 

 This is the var. sitviatranus of the Dutch naturalists, 

 who consider the true, typical Scmrus pi-evosti to 

 be lustrous black above and on the tail, while the 

 under parts are maroon-coloured and separated 

 from the white of the sides by a narrow black band ; 

 the cheeks being white and not iron grey. The 

 first-known examples (a pair) of the "true" Prev^ost's 



