120 



THE INDIAN FAUNA 



roar ; and the attention of the female to her calf is attracted by a subdued rumbling 

 sound in the throat. A prolonged squealing through the trunk indicates pleasure, 

 and uneasiness is denoted by a peculiar metallic sound produced by beating the 

 ground with the trunk and at the same time blowing through it. Most elephants 

 are timid and peaceful, although females with young as well as the solitary males 

 known as " rogues " may sometimes be aggressive. The attack is made by the feet 

 and tusks and not by the trunk, which is kept tightly coiled up on such occasions. 

 An Indian elephant never charges with its trunk extended. 



Large Indian India is rich in 

 squirrel. rodents, especially 

 squirrels, one of the handsomest 

 of these being the large Indian 

 squirrel (Ratufa indica), which 

 attains a total length of 16 to 18 

 , inches, and is represented by 

 1 several local races in different 

 parts of its habitat. One of 

 these, from the northern parts of 

 the western Ghats and Mysore, is 

 red above, with the tip of the 

 tail whitish. A second variety 

 found in Orissa, Bastar, Chutia 

 Nagpur, south-western Bengal, 

 and Manipur is mainly red 

 above, but with black on the 

 shoulders and tail, which latter 

 generally has a yellow tip. In 

 the third variety, which inhabits 

 southern Manipur and certain 

 parts of central India, the shoul- 

 ders and hind part of the back 

 and tail are always black, while 

 the rest of the upper-parts is 

 more or less black. 



This squirrel dwells among 



high forest -trees, rarely coming 



down to the ground, and places 



its nest of twigs and leaves amid 



the topmost branches. It is able to jump distances of 20 feet from tree to tree, 



and its cry is a rapid succession of loud screeches. It represents a group of giant 



squirrels all restricted to the Indian region. 



Paim-squirreL ^ ie ^ n ^ P a ^ m_sc l unTe l (Funambulus palmarum) is found all over 



India with the exception of the Malabar coast and Ceylon. In the 



west it ranges as far as Sind and Baluchistan, though not common in either of those 



countries ; but it is unknown eastwards of the Bay of Bengal. Its home is in the 



open and cultivated plains, especially in the neighbourhood of human habitations, 



LARGE INDIAN SQUIRREL. 



