SQUIRRELS. 75 



his head and body, whisks his tail, and skips along as lightly and with as much 

 apparent pleasure as if returning from a bath in some rippling brook during the 

 heat of a summer's afternoon." This squirrel is fond of a variety of fruits, and 

 also sucks the eggs and kills the young of the smaller birds. The young are 

 generally born early in April, and usually include from four to six in a litter. 



This species is of small size, with a relatively short tail, and short tufts to the 

 ears in winter ; its usual colour being greyish, more or less mixed with yellowish 

 or reddish above, and generally white below. It shows dusky markings on the 

 back, and sometimes also on the under-parts. Its geographical range includes the 

 northern half of North America. 



The grey squirrel is a more southerly species, extending from the south of 

 Canada to Mexico and Guatemala. In size it is superior to the last, and its tail is 

 proportionately longer, while there are no ear-tufts. Its usual colour is whitish 

 grey above, varied with fulvous, and white below ; the flanks being marked with 

 a pale fulvous line. There are, however, numerous varieties, one of which is dark 

 olive-brown above, and grey beneath. In habits this species seems to be more like 

 the common squirrel, being extremely wary and alert, and partially hibernating 

 during the winter. It buries its stores of food just beneath the surface of the 

 ground in various parts of the woods. In confinement these squirrels form 

 charming little pets. There are at least seven other well-defined representatives 

 of the genus in North and Central America, and several others in the southern 

 half of the same continent. 



Oriental As already mentioned, squirrels attain their maximum develop- 



squirreis. me nt of size and species, as well as their most brilliant coloration, in 

 the Oriental region, and especially in its Malayan portion. 



In India and Burma Mr. Blanford recognises no less than twenty species of 

 squirrels, three of which are of large size, measuring not less than a foot from the 

 nose to the root of the tail, while eleven vary from 10 to 7 inches in length, and 

 all the remainder are small striped species, averaging from 5 to 7 inches in length. 

 The medium and smaller species retain the first premolar tooth of the upper jaw, 

 which is usually lost in those of the largest groups. Among the two first groups 

 some of the better known are the large Indian squirrel (8. indicus), with tufted 

 ears, which is not known to the east of the Bay of Bengal, the large Malayan 

 squirrel (S. bicolor), ranging from the eastern Himalaya to Borneo, the golden- 

 backed squirrel (8. caniceps), already alluded to as the one which assumes a special 

 breeding-dress, although this is confined to one variety of the species, and the 

 nearly allied Irawadi squirrel (8. pygerythrus), in which the length of the head 

 and body is about 9 inches, and the ears have no tufts. 



Of the -smaller striped species, the best known is the Indian palm-squirrel (8. 

 palmarum), so commonly distributed in open districts throughout India and 

 Ceylon, but unknown to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal, and never found in 

 forests. The length of the head and body of this species is from 5J to 6 inches, 

 and that of the tail rather more. The general colour of the upper-parts is some 

 shade of brown, with three narrow whitish or slightly rufescent longitudinal stripes 

 on the back ; the under-parts varying from white to grey. This pretty little 

 squirrel is one of the most familiar of Indian mammals, exhibiting scarcely any fear 



