SCIURUS PLANTANI. 



by systematic writers, and the character is not defined by them with sufficient clear- 

 ness. That of Erxleben is too concise to distinguish it from the allied species ; 

 Gmelin erroneously defines it " black underneath." The Bombay Squirrel of 

 Mr. Pennant, described from a skin in Dr. Hunter's Cabinet, is, in my opinion, 

 the same with his Malabar Squirrel, which he has named and described according to 

 Sannerat. 



The descriptions of the Sciurus maximus, given by Sonnerat and La Cepede, 

 are illustrated and confirmed by an excellent drawing, presented by Dr. Hamilton 

 to the Library of the East India Company ; and, as his MS. notes on Indian Qua- 

 drupeds and Birds contain a concise description of this animal, made from a living 

 subject, I shall, with his kind consent, extract it in his own words : — " The upper 

 parts of the neck, back and sides, and the legs and feet are dark reddish-brown. The 

 shoulders, the rump, and the hinder parts of the back and thighs are black. The 

 nose and lips are of a dirty flesh colour. The cheeks and the circumference of the 

 eyes are dirty brown. The fore part of the face is very dark reddish-brown. The 

 ears are short and round, and are covered with bright reddish-brown hairs, which 

 form a tuft longer than the ear itself Between the ears is a broad pale-yeUow band. 

 From the ears down to the cheeks there runs a vertical reddish-brown line. The 

 throat, the fore and inside of the fore legs, the breast, the belly, and the fore and 

 inside of the hinder thighs are yellow. Between the upper lip, and before and behind 

 each ear, it has very long and strong black whiskers. The irides are dark brown. 

 The tail, on the upper part and sides, is covered with very long close hair, which 

 may be made to stand nearly erect. They are black every where except the tip, 

 which is dirty yellow or white. The under side of the tail is covered with short hair. 

 The hair on the body is long and harsk" Hamilton's MS. 



