702 SCIURIDA:—SCIURUS 
Gorebridge, Midlothian, in January 1908 (W. Evans, J7S.). Of parti- 
coloured specimens the following are remarkable: one, having the 
moustache, nose, upper lips, forefeet, two joints of the hind toes, and 
the claws white, with, in addition, on each side a band of white, an inch 
broad, proceeding from the white of the belly, and nearly meeting its 
fellow dorsally ; a similar band, about 2 inches broad, towards the tip 
of the tail was arched over the back (Bold, Zoologzst, 1848, 195). The 
latter seems to have been somewhat similar to one in the collection 
of J. W. Whitaker, of which he kindly sent us a sketch; this specimen 
was shot in Nottinghamshire, and has a broad transverse band of white, 
only narrowly interrupted dorsally, around the middle of the body, 
the nose, fore-limbs, and distal half of the tail being alsowhite. A third 
specimen of somewhat similar appearance was noticed in the Fze/d of 
3rd November 1888, 653 (C. B. Dack). 
Skull:—The skull is broad, smooth, and rounded, with a short, 
narrow, but deep rostrum, and a large, broadly ovate and deep brain- 
case. In dorsal profile the nasals are slightly, and the fronto-parietal 
region very, boldly convex; the line is slightly concave between the | 
orbits, and again just in front of the occiput; these concavities mark 
the positions of the internal divisions between the cerebral part of the 
brain-case and the olfactory and cerebellar fosse respectively. The 
occiput is vertical or slightly overhanging, the condyles being hidden 
in the dorsal view, and owing to the backward deflection of the cranial 
axis the foramen magnum lies wholly below the level of the alveolar 
line. The nasals are short and broad, widest and well arched in front ; 
their tips end well in advance of the incisors; posteriorly their ends lie 
a little in front of the very broad ends of the ascending branches of the 
premaxilla. The frontals have large superciliary processes, which 
partly roof the orbit and terminate behind in long, slender, postorbital 
processes, directed backwards, outwards, and downwards. From the 
hinder edge of each of these processes a feebly indicated temporal line 
passes backwards to blend with the weak lambdoid crest ; the fronto- 
parietal area between the two temporal lines is lyre-shaped. The inter- 
parietal is small and distinct in young skulls, but in adults it is 
completely fused with the parietals. The very small infraorbital 
foramen on each side is placed considerably in front of the cheek-teeth, 
and its lower edge forms a conspicuous little process of the maxilla for 
the attachment of the tendon of the masseter. The anterior root of 
each zygomatic arch is a stout plate, homologous with the “ masseteric 
plate” of the murine skull; the ridge which forms its upper boundary 
and marks the limits of the origin of the masseter lateralis muscle is 
continued forwards for some considerable distance upon the side of the 
premaxilla. The large jugals form distinct though low postorbital 
crests; posteriorly they articulate by means of a long scale-like suture 
