in the Collection of the British Museum. 275 



3. Macroxus. 



Head moderate, short; nose rounded; ears ovate, covered 

 with short adpressed hairs; front edge of the cutting-teeth 

 compressed, smooth. Limbs free. Tail as long as or longer 

 than the body and head, covered with long spreading hair. 



M. F. Cuvier, in the ' Dents de Mammiferes ^ and in his paper 

 on the skulls of Sciuridse in the Memoirs of the Museum, pro- 

 posed a genus under the name of Macroxus for Sciuj^us vittatus 

 of Asia and Sciurus astuans of Tropical America. It is very 

 indistinctly characterized ; and Lesson has referred to the genus 

 sundry species having little relation to each other. As it is 

 desirable to separate the squirrels with simple cars, I have 

 adopted the nan)c, and defined it as above. It is a natural 

 group, containing many Asiatic, African, and American species. 



The Asiatic Macroxi may be thus divided : — 



I. Large size. Tail much longer than the hodij and head. Nos. 1-3. 



II. Medium size. Back ivith black lonyiiudinal stripes. No. 4. 



III. Medium size. Sides of the hody loith a black longitudinal 



streak. No. 5. 



IV. Medium size. Sides of the body loith a pale or white longitu- 



dinal streak. Nos. 6-13. 



V. Medium size. Sides of the back with two pale streaks ; lower 



broad, diffuse. No. 14. 



VI. Small size. Back with three or five vjhite or pale longitudinal 



stripes. Nos. 15—18. 



VII. Medium or small size. Back grizzled, without either dorsat 



or lateral stripes. Nos. 19-38. 



I. Large size. Tail much longer than body and head. Rukaia. 



1. Macroxus macrourus. 



Sciurus zeylanicus, Rai. Syn. Quad. 265. 



S. macrourus, Forster in Peuuant, Intl. Zool. t. 1. 



S. macrurus, Fischer. 



S. ceylonensis, Bodd. 



IS. madagascariensis , Shaw, Fischer. 



Fur harsh ; black, more or less grizzled with white ; face, 

 fore and hind legs, and spots on nape white ; tail sometimes 

 apparently imperfectly annulated. 



Hab. Ceylon. B.M. 



Var. End of tail white. Sciurus macrowus, Blyth, J.A.S.B. 

 xvi. t. 36. f. 2. Ceylon. 



Var. larger? Sciurus Tennantii, Kclaart, J. A.. S. B. xviii. 600; 

 Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi. 13 (1851). 

 Hah. Ceylon, in the mountains. 



