314 



INSECTIVORES. 



occasions catching one — a feat which I have never seen any doLf do with a squirrel. 

 Cats, of course, often pounce upon them." Another observer, the Rev. Mr. Mason, 

 remarks that " one that made his home in a mango tree, near my house at Tonglioo, 

 made liimself nearly as familiar as tlie cat. Sometimes I had to drive him oti' the 

 bed, and he was very fond of putting liis nose into the teacups immediately after 

 breakfast, and acquired quite a taste both for tea and coffee. He lost his life at 

 last by incontinently walking into a rat-trap." The familiarity of this tree- 

 shrew, and the ease with which it can be tamed, are mentioned by all who 

 have wi-itten of its habits; and Dr. Cantor mentions that after feeding they 

 are in the habit of dressing their fur and paws, after the manner of a cat, and 

 that they are pai-tial to water both as a bath and to drink. In disposition 



they are described as being pugna- 

 cious in the extreme, fighting 

 fiercely with one another when 

 confined together in a cage, and in 

 their wild state driving away all 

 intruders of their own kind from 

 tlieir particular preserves. Their 

 usual call is a shoi-t, peculiar, 

 tieiiiulous, whistling sound, but 

 when loused to anger it is changed 

 to shrill protracted cries. 



The resemblance of the tree- 

 shrews to the squirrels comes 

 under the head of what is now 

 termed " mimicry, ' and may have 

 been originally due to the extreme 

 agility of the latter animals insur- 

 ing them from pursuit by other 

 creatures, as being a useless task. 

 Hence it would clearly be an 

 advantage for a slower animal to 

 be mistaken for a squirrel. Tliere 

 is, however, a remarkable little 

 squirrel (Sciurus tupaioides) found in Sumatra and Borneo, which appears, for 

 some reason or other, to simulate the tree-shrews, and thus to alibrd an instance 

 of a kind of reversed mimicry. " Not only does this Rodent," remarks Blyth, 

 "resemble T. ferrugiaed in size, and the texture and colouring of its fur, but 

 the muzzle is similarly elongated, and there is even the pale shoulder-streak usual 

 in the genus Tupaia." 



Pen taUed Tree- In addition to the ordinary genera, the only other living 



Shrew. member of the family is the pen-tailed tree-shrew (PtUocercus lowi), 

 wliich differs so remarkably in the stracture of its tail as to form the solitairy 

 representative of a distinct genus. This little animal is between 5 and 6 inches 

 in length, exclusive of the tail, which is of great length, and characterised by its 

 upper two-thirds being naked, and the lower third ornamented with a double 



PEN-TAILED TREE-SHBEW (J iiat. size). (Froiii Gray.) 



