THE JELEKANG. 



189 



of the long hairs with which it is so thickly clothed. The general color 

 of this animal is a clear chestnut, deepening into brown on the back, 

 and becoming more ruddv on the sides. The little pointed ears are 



covered with short and soft 

 fur of a delicate brown, and 

 the tail is heavily clad with 

 bushy hairs, grayish black 

 ^ on the basal portions of that 

 member, and sooty black 

 toward the extremity. The 

 parachute membrane is del- 

 icately thin, scarcely thicker 

 than ordinary writing-paper, 

 when it is stretched to its 

 utmost, and is covered with 

 hair on both its surfaces, the 

 fur of the upper side being 

 chestnut and that of the 

 The Taguan Flying Squirrel [Pteromys lower surface nearly white. 

 ^^'«"''**^'^«)- A stripe of grayish-black 



hairs marks the edge of the membrane, and the entire abdomen of 

 the animal, together with the throat and the breast, is covered with 

 beautiful silver grayish-white fur. 



The true Squirrels possess no parachute flying membrane, as do the 

 Flying Squirrels, nor are they furnished with cheek-pouches, as is the 

 case with the Ground Squirrels in America. 



One of the most handsome of the Squirrels is the Jelerang, or 

 Javan Squirrel, a native of Java, part of India, and Cochin China. 

 Its total length is about two feet, the tail and body being equal to each 

 other in measurement. In color it is one of the most variable of an- 

 imals, so that it has been more than once described under different 

 names. 



In the British Museum are several specimens of this animal, and 

 all of them present many varieties in point of color, while some are so 

 very unlike each other that most persons would consider them to be 

 separate species. Some specimens of this animal are pale yellow, 

 while others are deep brown ; in some the color is tolerably uniform, 

 while in others it is variously pied, but in all there seems to be a toler- 

 ably decided contrast between a darker and lighter tint. From this 

 circumstance it has sometimes been termed Scmrus bicolor, or the Two- 

 colored Squirrel. 



In general, the darker hue prevails on the back and upper portions 

 of the body, and the lighter tint is abruptly separated from it by a de- 

 cided line of demarcation. The usual color of the Jelerang is a dark 



