NOTES. 239 



makes no attack on the tortoise. The villagers say he is afraid of 

 being left alone if he eats the tortoise, but perhaps the sltell is too 

 much for him in his enfeebled state. 



JOHN STILL. 

 Anuradhapura, March, 1905. 



13. Distribution of flying squirrels in Ceylon. — The squirrel 

 called Pteromys oral which possesses a dermal parachute by means 

 of which it can travel through the air for limited distances, and on 

 this account is always called the flying squirrel, belongs to the 

 Rodent family Sciuridae, which is the squirrel family. This 

 information is given in a condensed form on p. 38 of this volume. 



An illustration showing the animal at rest and in flight is given 

 on p. 361 of Blanford's Mammalia (Fauna Brit. Ind.) Another 

 species called the " Small Travancore Flying Squirrel," Sciurop- 

 terus fuscicapillus. is recorded by Dr. Blanford from the hills of 

 Ceylon, but no information concerning it is available locally. 



The Flying Fox (Pteroijus medius) which, as stated on p. 38 

 (this volume), is a Fruit-eating Bat, occurs in the low-country, 

 forming" camps " during the daytime at such places as Beruwala 

 (Barbery n), Henaratgoda, and Peradeniya. The flying squirrel 

 also occurs at Peradeniya, whence several examples have been sent 

 to the Museum by Mr. E. E. Green. This is an example of a local 

 overlapping in distribution, since the flying squirrel hardly 

 occurs below the elevation of Peradeniya and the flying fox does 

 not go much above it. Mr. Edgar Turner has kindly written to 

 say that he has never seen "flying foxes" in the up-country 

 jungles, but has often seen the " flying squirrels " in the jungles 

 up to 5,000 feet or more, particularly in the Hewaheta jungles by 

 Rookwood estate. 



Ed. S. Z. 



End op Volume IIL 



