90 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV, 



sent it is a nautilatecl flat skin collected by Mr. Bourdillon in Travancore. 

 Kelaart in liis description of layardi says " beneath gray," while Blyth 

 writes oi fuscocapillus " Under parts rufous white extending to the cheeks 

 and under lip, the lateral fur margining the membrane rufo fulvous." There 

 is suflicient of Mr. Bourdillon's specimen to show that the fur of the cheeks 

 and of the line joining side and membrane (and indeed all fur on lower 

 side of membrane) is bufly, growing paler near the base, whereas in layardi 

 and in the present specimen the hairs of the underside are dark slate grey 

 with pale points. The fringe on outer edge of membrane would seem to be 

 much more developed in layardi than in fu&cocapillus. 



(35) Ratufa mackoura, Penn. 



Pennant's Long-tailed Squirrel. 



1769. Sciurus macrourus, Pennant, Ind. Zool., I., pi. 1. 



1777. Sciurus ceylonicus, Erxleben, Syst. R. A. Mamm, p. 416. 



1785. Sciurus ceilonensis, Boddaert, Elench. Anim., I., p. 117. 



1849. Sciurus tennanti, Blyth., J. A. S. B., XVIII., p. 600. 



1852. Sciurus montanus, Kelaart, Prodr. Faun. Zeyl, p. 50. 



1891. Sciurus maerurus, Blanford, Mammalia No. 241. 

 S3, $ 1, Pattipola (Alt. 6210). 



Some years ago I published an account (Journ. B. N. H. S., Vol. XIX, p. 

 880, 1913) of these Ceylon Giant Squirrels. These four specimens show that 

 I was completely misled by the poor matei-ial available for examination. 

 What I then identified as true macroura now proves to be without a name 

 and in a joint paper {p. 36, ante). Mr. Thomas and myself have given it 

 the subspecific name melanochra. The two specimens from Kattowa listed 

 by Miss Ryley (Report No. 13) as R. macroura nnist bear the na.me R. 

 macroura melanocJira. They are distinguishable at a glance from true 

 macroura by the absence of the white tips to the hairs of the tail ; in melan- 

 ochra the tail is entirely black. 



" All the Giant Squirrels are commonly known as " Rock Squirrel " pro- 

 bably derived from the word " Ruk" which in Sinhalese means " tree.' 

 They are very agile and among the gnarled and twisted trees of the hill 

 jungles are very hard to obtain. Their flesh is much appreciated by both 

 Sinhalese and Tamils."— E.W.M. 



(36) Raxufa mackotjra dandolena, Thos. & Wr. 



The Common Ceylon Giant Squirrel. 



1891. Sciurus maerurus, Blanford, Mammalia No. 241. 

 1915. Ratufa macroura dandolena, Thomas and Wroughton, Journ. B. N. 

 H. S., Vol. XXIV, p. 36. 



d 6, $ 7, Maha Oya ; $ 1, Arugam Bay ; J 5, $ 10, Mankeni ;. 



51, Valaichenai ; 91, Cheddikulam ; g 2, $2, Kala Oya; 



5 2, 5 2, Tammannewa ; p 1, Anuradhapura ; S. Ceylon J 3, $ 4. 



In Report No. 13, Miss Ryley, following my paper of 1910, listed this 



form as R. macroura tennenti, but as explained by Mr. Thomas and myself 



earlier in this Volume (p. 36), the nam.e tennenti must fall as a synonym 



of macroura, and the S. Ceylon specimens as well as the present series must 



take the name at the head of this note. 



Ratufa mackoura melanochra, Thos. & "Wr. 



The Black and Yellow Giant Squirrel. 



1915. Ratufa macroura melanochra, Thomas & Wroughton. Journ. B. N- 

 H. S., Vol. XXIV, p. 36. 



S. Ceylon $ 2. 



