1921] Jacobson : Mammals from Sumatra. 239 



This specimen is now in the F.M.S Museum at Kuala 

 Lumpur. 



I Though the hest character for determining the species, 

 i.e., the shape of the upper edge of the rhinarium. has been 

 destroyed by an injury to the nose I have no doubt as to 

 my identification, made at Heer Jacobson's request, of this 

 considerably grizzled specimen. C. Boden Kloss]. 



7. Petaurista punctata sumatrana Kloss (Plate III) . 



This specimen, which will be sent to the Leyden 

 Museum, was bought from a native at Fort de Kock (940 

 metres), and nuist have been captured in the vicinity' of 

 this place, situated in the Padang Highlands (West coast 

 of Sumatra). It had become rather tame and was kept 

 in a cage. Being of nocturnal habits it slept mostly during 

 the day, sitting hunched up in one of the corners of its 

 cage, with its tail folded over its back and the end of it 

 curled around its iiead in such a manner, that the latter 

 was entirely concealed. If disturbed during *he day it 

 would wake up for some time and even take the food given 

 to it, but later it would go to sleep again, becoming lively 

 in the evening aftei- the sun had set. A favorite position 

 when awake was the one seen in the accompanying photo- 

 graph, its tail being held over its back and head. 



The Prtanri.sUi was fed witli all sorts of fruit and 

 nuts, tile tigs of ditferent kinds of Ficn.s beuig very much 

 preferred. 1 think 1 made a great mistake by feeding it 

 exclusively on vegetable matter, as it is well-known that 

 squirrels are great destroyers of birds nests, devouring eggs 

 and yound tledglings. The idea did not occur to me then 

 to provide animal food, and to this reason I ascribe the 

 fact that the Pelaurista after some time began to gnaw its 

 soles. After it had devoured a great part of the skin of 

 its feet, I decidetl to kill the animal, fearing the specimen 

 would be spoilt. 



Afterwards I heard from one of my acxjuaintances, 

 that he had kept a Pclaurista in confinement, which 

 devoured the greater part of one of its gliding membranes. 

 The natives here assert that the Petaurista, which is called 

 in Minangkabau Malay kubiu\ destroys the very young 

 coconuts, not bigger tiian a hen's egg, but the specimen 

 I kept refused to touch these young nuts. 



Petaurista petaurista batuana Miller, seems to be the 

 common species in the Padang Highlands. When I once 

 stopped at a village called Andalas at the foot of Mt. Sago, 

 tlying-squirrels used to come ;'t dusk in a volplaiie from the 

 surrounding hills down to the village in the vallev, covering 

 in one stieUh a distance which must have been at least 400 



' The name of kiihin is equally applied to the flying Lemur 

 (idleoptenis variegatiis tcnimincki (Waterh.). [hi Sumatra, 

 perhaps, but in tlie Malay i'eninsiila tliis animal is called " kubong " 

 C.B.K.j. 



