SCIURUS PLANTANI. 



fulvous colour as the beUy, while in adult ones it is entirely black." A very concise 

 and correct description of this animal, by Dr. Francis Hamilton, is preserved in the 

 Library at the India House. " Sciurus bicolor : saw a live one lately taken in the woods. 

 The extreme length is about a yard, three-fifths of which are occupied by the tail. 

 The body above, and all the tail, are black, with long, harsh, shaggy hair. On the 

 loins the tips of the hair have a reddish chestnut hue. The throat, breast, belly, 

 inside of the thighs, and fore legs are tawny, with softer hair. The fore feet are 

 black, with very short thumbs. The hind legs and feet are black. The tail is 

 depressed, that is to say, the hair is turned towards the two sides. The ears are short, 

 plain, hairy, rather round at the end, with a sharp edge." Hamilton's Manuscripts. 

 — This description agrees exactly with several specimens in the Museum at the India 

 House, from Dr. Finlay son's Collection. 



Native place, continental India, Siam, and the Eastern Archipelago. 

 12. SCIURUS LESCHENAULTII, Desmar. 



Sc. supra fuscus, capite gula ventre antipedumque parte anteriore et interiore flavi- 



cantibus, Cauda supra fusca subtus flava. 

 Jeldrang, of the Javanese. 

 Sciurus albiceps, Geoff. Coll. clu 3£us. Desmar. nouv. Diction. d'Hist 2" Ed. torn. 10. 



j^ag. 105. 



Length, from the root of the tail to the tip of the nose, fifteen inches; 

 tail of the same length. The external covering of this species is subject to greater 

 variations than that of any other of the Indian Squirrels that I am acquainted with. Of 

 the numerous specimens contained in the Museum at the India House, some are pale 

 yellow, others deep brown. In several the colour is uniform ; in others it is distributed 

 in irregular patches of different shades ; but the separate hairs are not variegated or 

 banded, as in many of the species above enumerated. The darker specimens have 

 some resemblance to the Sciurus bicolor ; but the examination of numerovis specimens 

 has convinced me that these two species are decidedly distinct. The tint, in the 

 bicolor, is of the deepest black, and the tail, in the adult specimens, is always uni- 

 form with the body. In the Sciurus Leschenaultii, the tail, in adult specimens, is 

 often gray or yellowish, and it has a different form and termination. Our species 

 is likewise readUy distinguished by its figure and habits. 



It is found abundantly in Java. 



Museum of the East India Company. 



