298 MamMatia OF INDIA. 
Dr. Anderson’s description from the types he examined: “The head, 
the sides of the neck, the throat and upper part of the chest, variegated 
with white, through which the rich maroon of the ground colour is 
partially seen, and it forms a ring around the eye; the hinder part of 
the back is yellow, and the tail, immediately beyond its base, is also 
yellowish for a short way, fading into the deep maroon of its latter 
two-thirds. It has no black tip. The feet are concolorous with the 
body ; the under parts are pale rich orange yellow; the ears are large 
and moderately pointed.”—‘ Anat. and Zool. Res.,’ p. 284. 
S1ze.—Head and body, about 23 inches; tail, 16 inches. 
No. 302. PTEROMYS MAGNIFICUS. 
The Red-bellied Flying Squirrel ( Jerdon’s No, 162). 
NaTIvE NaMe.—JSzyom, Lepcha. 
Hasirat.—South-eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Sikim, Bhotan; also in 
the hill ranges of Assam. 
DescRIPTION.—Upper parts dark chestnut or a rich lustrous dark 
maroon chestnut, with a golden yellow mesial line in some ; the hairs 
are black tipped, the dark portions of the back being finely but obscurely 
punctulated with dark orange; the shoulders and thighs are golden 
yellow, and the under-parts are orange fawn or orange red ; so is also 
the margin of the parachute; the ears are large, semi-nude, sparsely 
clad with pale red hair externally, and bright red posteriorly, the base 
of the upper surface being clad with long hair; the sides of the face 
below the eyes are yellowish ; there is a black zone round the eyes ; the 
chin and the feet are blackish; the tail is orange red, tipped more or 
less broadly with black. 
Size.—Head and body, about 16 inches ; tail, 22 inches. 
The young of this species have not the dorsal line, the head and neck 
are concolorous with the body, as is also the tail at its base ; the under 
parts are pale yellowish-red. According to Dr. Anderson the skulls of 
Lteromys magnificus and P. oral differ in the shorter muzzle and the 
more elevated character of the inter-orbital depression of the latter. 
This animal is occasionally found at Darjeeling, and according to Jerdon 
it used to be more common there before the station was so denuded of 
its fine trees. It frequents the zone from 6000 to gooo feet, and feeds 
on acorns, chestnuts and other hard fruit ; also on young leaves and 
shoots. ‘There is a coloured plate of this species in the ‘ Journal of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xiii. part i. p. 67. 
