94 NATURAL SCIENCE. Feb., 



powerful for its size, and the Malays say that if it can get its back 

 against a tree it is a match for the tiger. 



Two species of otter have been met with in Singapore, viz., 

 Lutya sumatrana and L. leptonyx ; but they seem to be rare, and little 

 is known about them. The Malays often call them " Anjing Ayer " 

 (water-dogs). 



Very little is known about the wild dogs of the Peninsula. The 

 natives say that there are two species, one larger than the other, and 

 that the smaller one climbs trees. One species seems certainly to be 

 Cyon rutilans. I have had three wild dogs in confinement, one of which 

 seemed to be decidedly a larger-built animal than the two received later. 

 It became tame enough to touch. The cry was a yapping followed by 

 a howl. It was very active, running up the side-walls of its cage to a 

 height of about 12 feet. It never wagged its tail, but in the presence 

 of other dogs arched it gracefully. These animals are said to hunt 

 in packs, but are very rarely seen. I once found the tracks of a single 

 one following those of a deer. The native name for them is "Anjing 

 Hutan " (wood-dogs). 



Rodeiltia : — These are tolerably numerous ; but the smaller ones, 

 rats and mice, are not at all easy to collect or study. 1 have attempted 

 to trap them in the jungles, but, when caught, wild cats or civets con- 

 stantly devour them in the traps ere morning, and the Malays are not 

 clever, like the Dyaks, in catching them. 



The Common Porcupine, "Landak" (Hystrix leucura), is still 

 common in Singapore, but a number must be destroyed by the burning 

 of the open country, in which they chiefly live. They are very 

 destructive to the pineapples. The tiger kills and eats them, and I 

 have found the remains of one so destroyed. The brush-tailed 

 Porcupine (Athemra macrura) is not a native of Singapore, so far as is 

 known ; it inhabits the limestone caves in Pahang. 



Squirrels are very common and easily observed, but the number 

 of species is not very great. Two species, Sciunis tenuis and 

 5. vittatus, are very abundant in woods and gardens. S. bicolor is 

 rarer, and inhabits the thicker jungles. I have seen several other 

 species in Singapore which I was unable to secure. S. tenuis is a very 

 small and active squirrel, very abundant and destructive in the 

 Botanic Gardens. It feeds chiefly on acorns and chestnuts, and plays 

 an important part in the dispersal of seed. When it gathers an 

 acorn or a bunch of chestnuts, it runs off to some distance to eat it, 

 holding it in its mouth. Hanging head downwards on the bark of 

 a tree, it begins to nibble the acorn, which frequently slips from its 

 paws and rolls away unhurt. Some of the acorns seem adapted for 

 this slipping, being covered with a thin, smooth, silky coat ; in other 

 cases, the fruit is so smooth and rounded that the squirrel can only 

 bite it at the base, and they frequently begin to bite the acorn cup to 

 get at this part, with the result that the acorn slips suddenly out and 

 falls to the ground. Fuller notes as to the action of squirrels on the 



