716 SQUI 



grand head-quarters of the squirrels ; and the chief 

 reason seems to be, that fruits are more plentiful in 

 the woods there than in those of any other parts of 

 the world. They are also of more ample dimensions 

 than in almost any other part of the world ; but some 

 of them belong to the round-tailed section, and not to 

 the pure squirrels, which have the tail divergent, 

 broad, and shading. 



MALABAR SQUIRREL (5. maximus}. A figure of 

 this species is given in the plate " SQUIRRELS." It is 

 the largest animal of the whole genus, being as large 

 as an ordinary-sized domestic cat. The top of the 

 head, a band along the cheek, the middle of the 

 back, and the flanks, are very bright reddish brown ; 

 the shoulders, the rump, and the thighs, are pure 

 black ; and the muzzle, the lower part of the neck, 

 the breast, and the belly, the under sides of the hind 

 legs, and nearly the whole of the fore legs, are bright 

 yellow. It is one of the brightest in its colours of all 

 the squirrels, though, like most of the rest, it is sub- 

 ject to considerable variations. It occurs in several 

 of the richly wooded districts of India, but it is said 

 to be most plentiful on the west or Malabar coast, 

 to reside chiefly among the palm trees, and to be par- 

 ticularly fond of the milk of the cocoa nut. 



LESCHENAULT'S SQUIRREL (S. albiceps). This is 

 a native of the Oriental isles, and called Jeralang by 

 the natives of Java. For a squirrel, it is rather a 

 large animal, being more than a foot long in the head 

 and body, and with the tail still longer. The hair 

 on the whole of the body and the legs is close, coarse, 

 and thin, so that the form of the animal is better 

 seen than in the furry squirrels of the cold latitudes. 

 The upper part is dull yellowish grey, the hairs being 

 brown at the bases and yellowish at the tips ; the 

 tail, which is very flat and feather-like, though not 

 nearly so broad and bushy as in many of the squirrels, 

 is the same colour on the upper part as the basal 

 portion of the hairs on the back or the animal ; the 

 under side of the tail, and also the feet, are brownish 

 yellow ; the nape is pale grey, and all the under 

 parts white. The colours of this species, as is the 

 case with most of the others, are subject to great 

 variations, some having the whole of the head and 

 neck, and a portion of the flanks, white, and others 

 being much darker than as above stated. 



THE TWO-COLOURED SQUIRREL (S. bicolor). This 

 species is found on the mainland of the south-east of 

 Asia, especially in the Malay peninsula, which has so 

 many points of resemblance to the eastern islands, and 

 it is found in those islands themselves. It is still larger 

 than the preceding, being three feet in length, includ- 

 ing the tail. It has obtained its name from one 

 instance of the very variable colours which it shows 

 in different individuals. As giving origin to the 

 name, all the upper part, and also the outsides of the 

 legs, are dark coloured, inclining to black, and the 

 under parts are yellow. These colours are far from 

 being generally descriptive of the animal ; for the 

 upper part is all shades from almost black to dull 

 yellowish grey, and the under part is of all tints from 

 dark tawny to pale cream-colour. The ears are of 

 moderate size ; the head rounder than that of many 

 of the squirrels ; and the thumbs on the paws are 

 rudimental, with a little flat nail ; the other dimen- 

 sions of the fore feet, and also the fore toes on the 

 hind feet, have the claws rather strong and very 

 sharp. The great differences of colour which occur 

 in the same species of these animals render the history 



RREL. 



of all the large squirrels of the East a matter of ho 

 little perplexity. Many persons visiting those eastern 

 countries have named and described species of squir- 

 rels ; and we have no doubt that any person who 

 goes there, in order to earn the renown of having 

 found a new squirrel, will hardly fail in procuring 

 one different from any that has hitherto appeared in 

 Europe. It would not conduce to any more useful 

 purpose, however, to take note of the "almost end- 

 less variety of these animals, than it would do to at- 

 tempt a minute description of all the spots or mark- 

 ings upon a numerous herd of our variegated cattle. 



II. Without cheek-pouches, but with the tail round, 

 or having only a small portion at the tip flattened, 

 with the hairs diverging from a mesial line on the 

 under side. These are chiefly, if not wholly, the 

 squirrels of the tropical parts of South America; but 

 they occur also in the East. 



GUIANA SQUIRREL (S. ccstrans) resembles the 

 common squirrel of Europe very much in the form of 

 its body, only it is rather larger in size. The upper 

 part is maroon brown, and the under part russet. 

 The tail is of the same colour as the upper part, with 

 clouded rays of yellow, and the tip is black ; the 

 whiskers are also black, and so are some long and 

 coarse hairs on the insides of the fore-legs. It is 

 found in palm trees of different kinds, on the fruit of 

 which it in great part subsists ; but it is also found 

 upon the ground, where it leaps about with no incon- 

 siderable agility, though the tail does not form so 

 perfect a parachute as in the true squirrels. 



SMALL GUIANA SQUIRREL (S. puslllus}. This is a 

 very little species, the body and head not exceeding 

 three inches in length, and the tail being about the 

 same. It is called the " wood-rat" in Guiana. The 

 upper part is mottled ash colour and yellow ; the 

 breast mouse-grey ; and the rest of the under part 

 fawn colour. There are no ear tufts, but the insides 

 of the ears are furnished with hairs of the same fawn 

 colour as the body of the animal. The whiskers are 

 black. This is a very pretty little animal. There 

 are several specimens mentioned as occurring in mu- 

 seums, the native countries of which are not known ; 

 and it is probable that some of thorn which are now 

 well ascertained to be natives of the Eastern Archi- 

 pelago have been set down as inhabiting South Ame- 

 rica. The oriental ones, which were observed and 

 described while Batavia was in the hands of the 

 British, are much more clearly and satisfactorily made 

 out. Of these we shall notice one or two. 



JAVKSE SQUIRREL (S. insignis). This animal is 

 called Bakkal by the Javese. It is between seven 

 and eight inches long in the body, and nearly the 

 same in the tail. The ground colour is tawny or 

 greyish brown, passing into white on the under part ; 

 and a rusty streak extends along each side, all the 

 way from the angle of the mouth to the hinder part 

 of the animal. There are also three well defined 

 stripes of black, about an inch in breadth, each ex- 

 tending from the hind head to the tail, one on the 

 ridge of the back, and one on each side of it, the 

 distance between the stripes being equal to their 

 breadth. The front and muzzle are blackish-grey ; 

 and all the under parts white. The feet are of the 

 same blackish-grey as the forehead and the muzzle. 

 The tail is deeper in tint than the body, clouded with 

 brown and black, and slightly interspersed with grey 

 hairs, the hairs being ralher long and loose, but not 

 divergent on the under side. 



