MAMMALS 37 



membrane taut and giving it a considerable outward 

 extension and support. There is no membrane between 

 the hind-legs, so that the tail is quite free, nor is there 

 any skin-flap extending from the sides of the neck on 

 to the inner border of the fore-legs. This animal is 

 quite as good a flyer as Galeopithecus, but I have not 

 seen the little Sciuropteri fly at all, though they have all 

 the apparatus for so doing. The tail in Sciuropterus is 

 very broad, owing to the long hairs standing out on 

 each side of the vertebras at a right angle, and the tail 

 looks rather like a beautiful soft feather. When these 

 little Squirrels go to sleep they roll up like a Dormouse, 

 and the broad feathery tail curls up over the face and 

 top of the head as far as the nape of the neck. 



Rhithrosciurus macrotis is a magnificent species found 

 only in Borneo ; it is chestnut-brown in colour with 

 an enormous bushy grey tail and long pencils of hair 

 springing from the tips of the ears. The Dwarf Squirrels 

 of the genus Nannosciurus are pretty little creatures. 

 Mr. H. N. Ridley has seen N. exilis, a species which 

 occurs both in Borneo and Singapore, catching and 

 eating winged Termites as they emerged from the nest 

 to take their nuptial flight ; surely a very curious habit 

 for an animal belonging to a family regarded as strictly 

 frugivorous. 1 



All but two of the Bornean Rats belong to the world- 

 wide genus Mus. One of the commonest species about 

 Kuching is Mus ephippium ; it rarely conies into houses, 

 but lives in burrows in clay banks or else frequents 

 undergrowths and bushes. The common house Rat is 



1 The flight of the winged Termites is a great event in the animal 

 year. I have in Ceylon seen a dog eating them greedily, and am 

 told that cats do the same. G. B. L. 



