160 



TAGUAN. 



Sciurus Pctaurista. 5. hypochondriis prolixis volitans, supra sa- 

 turatissime ex castaneo, subtus dilute ferrugineus, nel supra niger 

 subtus canus, cauda corpore longiore, villosissima, terete nigri- 

 cantc, media ferruginea. Un. Syst. Nat. Gmel.p. 155. Pall. 

 Miscell. Zool. p. 54. t. 6. 



Chesnut-coloured Squirrel (sometimes blackish), pale ferrugi- 

 nous beneath (sometimes whitish), with very long, round, ta- 

 pering, villose tail, and side-skin dilated into a flying mem- 

 brane. 



Taguan, ou Grand Ecureuil Volant. Buff". Suppl. 3. p. i^o. 

 pi. 21. and 7. p. 265. pi. 67. 



Sailing Squirrel. Pennant Quadr. 2. p. i$2. 



THE Taguan is by far the largest of all the fly 

 ing squirrels, measuring eighteen * inches to the 

 tail, which is nearly of similar length, and instead 

 of the flattened or spreading appearance exhibited 

 in most of the squirrels, is of a cylindric form, 

 or like that of a cat : the head is rounded, rather 

 small in proportion, and somewhat flattened on 

 the top : the muzzle blunt, the ears very small and 

 without tufts, the limbs stout, the fore-feet armed 

 with four claws, and the hinder with five : the 

 colour on all the upper parts is chesnut, brighter 

 or darker in different individuals, and having 

 commonly a hoary or greyish cast on the back 

 and shoulders : the limbs and the sides of the fly 

 ing-membrane are darker than the other parts, 



* In the 3d supplemental volume of Buffon we have an ac- 

 count of a skin which measured twenty-three inches from nose to 

 tail. 



