174 SCIURID.E. 



sides of the neck ; tail grizzled dark above, fulvous beneatli ; ears small, 

 black-edged, fulvous-white within, and with a small white tuft externally. 



Length, head and body, 5 inches ; tail 4. 



This little squirrel is found in Sikim, Bhotan, and the hill ranges of 

 Assam, the Khasya kills, &c. I procured several in the neighbourhood 

 of Darjeeling, at an elevation of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet chiefly, but it 

 is not abundant. It does not appear to extend to Nepal. 



S. Barbel, Blyth, from Tenasserim, is nearly allied to this, but more 

 brightly coloured ; and S. plantani, Horsfield, from Java, is another 

 similar species. S. Berdmorei, Blyth, from Mergui, is the representative 

 of S. i^c-lmarum. 



Sc. eiiropmus, L., the European squirrel, is found in Northern and 

 Central Asia, and a skin from Tibet, received by Mr. Hodgson, was named 

 by him Mustela calotes. Adams states that he thinks he observed it in 

 Kashmir, but did not obtain a specimen. Rhinosciurus tiqyaioides, Gray 

 {*S'. laticaudatus of S. Miiller), is a peculiar long-snouted squirrel of 

 , Malayana ; and a group of African squii-rels have been named Xerus by 

 Ehrenberg, Geosciurus by Dr. A. Smith. 



The next group is that of the Flying Squirrels. 



These are divided into two smaller groups, one of large size, and with 

 the tail round and hairy throughout, — Pteromys ; the other of smaller 

 size, with the tail flat, and the hairs distichous, — Sciuropterus. 



Gen. Pteromys, Cuvier. 



Char. — Dental formula as in Sciurus ; molars complex, the first upper 

 ones very small, placed inside the second. Feet as in Sciurus. The skin 

 of the flanks extended between the fore and hind feet, forming when 

 expanded a wide parachute ; tail rounded, hairy all round, as long as the 

 body or longer. 



They have long osseous or cartilaginous appendages to the feet, which 

 serve to support the lateral membrane. This genus is resti-icted to 

 south-east Asia and the islands of Malayana. There are three species 

 in our province, one in' the peninsula, the other two respectively from 

 the north-west and south-east Himalaya. 



160. Pteromys petaurista. 

 Pallas. — Blyth, Cat. 291. — P. PhUippensis apud Elliot, Cat. 44. — 



