Sciurus notfttus and allied Species. 453 



Malay Peninsula, and can find no cliaracters wliicli would 

 justify their division into <^cograpliical races. 



With regard to considering this torm as a distinct species, 

 a few words may not be out of place. As it occurs in so 

 many places in conij)any witii «S'. vittatus, it must clearly be 

 considered either a dimorphic form or a separate species. 

 Although in S. villains all shades of rufous colour may be 

 found, in S. niyrovilUilns the colour is always constant, and 

 there are no intermediate forms between the two species as 

 one would expect were it a dimorphic form or geographic 

 race. The next point to be noticed is that its distribution is 

 not the same ; it occurs in Java, where the red-bellied form 

 is unknown, and this is also the case, as Mr. Miller has 

 shown, on an island in the South China Sea. This last 

 instance also tends to disprove the supposition that S. nigro- 

 villutus is a mountain form, as none of the Ciiina Sea islands 

 rise to any great height ; and in furtherance of this statement 

 it may be noticed that the red-bellied species occurs at a 

 considerable height on the mountains of Perak. 



Sciurus nigroviltatus orestes^ Thos. 



■Sciurus notatus orestes, Thos. Ann. ^: Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, vol. xv. 

 p. 629 (1895). 



Differs from <S'. nigroviltatus typicus in its smaller size, 

 more rufous coloration on the back, absence of the brown 

 colour on the cheeks and chin, and in the tail being thinner 

 and more sparsely clad and ending in a black pencil. The 

 general colour of the back and upper parts is as in S. nigro- 

 vittatuSy but the annulations are much broader and more 

 rufous (ochraceous rufous, Kidg.) . The cheeks and sides of 

 the face are very pale fulvous tinged with grey ; the chin is 

 bluish grey like the underparts, but with slight traces of 

 fulvous. There is a tendency to a fulvous ring round the 

 eye, and the light patch behind the ears is conspicuous. 

 Ihe tail resembles the back, but the annulations are light 

 and conspicuous ; the tip is black. 



SkuU. — Except in size the skull presents no marked 

 features by which it might be distinguished trom the typical 

 race. The rostrum is slightly broader in proportion and the 

 nasals do not taper quite so much posteriorly. 



Dimensions (type, after Tliomas) : — Head and body 190 

 miliim.; tuil l-l-l ; liind foot 3'6'o. 



Skull: greatest length 3'J'7 ; zygomatic breadth 25 ; intcr- 

 orbital breadth 14' 7 ; length of nasals 11 ; greatest breadth 

 of nasals 5*9, post. 4*2. 



