VI. A NOTE ON CALLOSCIURUS FINLAYSONI 

 (HORSF* AND ALLIED FORMS. 



By Herbert C. Robinson, C.M.Z.S. 



In recent articles on Sciurus finlaysoni in the "Journal of 

 the Natural History Society of Siam* Mr. C. B. Kloss has dealt 

 with this species and its allied forms at considerable length 

 and has erected for races inhabiting Koh Si Chang and Rok 

 Phai, islands in the Gulf of Siam, close to the mouth of the 

 Menam River, two new races, viz. Sciurus finlaysoni portus, 

 inhabiting the former, and Sc. f. follctti, the latter, island. 



After discussing the literature in some detail Mr. Kloss 

 has, after consideration, decided that the name Sc. finlaysoni, 

 sensu stricto, shall be retained for the form inhabiting the 

 mainland. 



He attempts to justify his contention by referring to the 



original description by Horsfield (Zool. Res. Java , 1824) 



in which that author states that " this species has hitherto 

 been mentioned by Buffon alone from, the following concise 



notice in P. Tachard's travels" while, in addition, 



Mr. Kloss also refers to Anderson, who states that " the type 

 of Sc. finlaysoni was obtained in Siam by Dr. Finlayson and 

 another was procured by the same traveller in Sichang Island. 

 These two squirrels are exactly alike, being white squirrels 

 with a yellowish tinge.'* The latter clause shows that 

 Dr. Anderson did not study these two specimens in any great 

 detail. 



Further, Mr. Kloss quotes Horsfield (Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. 

 Co. Mus., p. 154, 1851) as stating that the locality of the speci- 

 men in the Museum of the East India Company (transferred 

 to the British Museum in 1879) was " Siam." This is, how- 

 ever, not strictly accurate. The habitat of the species is given 

 as "Siam" while a specimen "A" is mentioned "from 

 G. Finlayson's Collection during Crawford's Embassy to Siam 

 and Hue," which is not quite the same thing. 



The whole crux of the matter, however, is that the older 

 authors paid no very particular attention, either to the exact 

 localities of their specimens or to minute subspecific differences, 

 and Koh Si Chang is certainly near enough to Siam to be 

 quoted as such by Horsfield. The conception also, of a 

 definite specimen as a type of a species when one or more were 

 available is of very much later date than Horsfield in 1824 or 

 for the matter of that than Dr. Anderson, writing in 1878. 



We come, therefore, to the first detailed revision of the 

 group on modern lines, that of Wroughton (Ann. & Mag. Nat. 

 Hist. (8) ii, pp. 393 et seq., 1908). This paper has been 



* Vol. i, pp. 157—162 (March 1915) ; op cit. pp. 225—228 (December 

 1915) : Vol. ii, pp. 16, 30 (June igi6). 



