138 R. B. Sanyal Bahadur— Common Palm Squirrel. [No. 3, 



a male and a female. There "was a third, he told me, which eluded 

 capture on the second occasion, They seemed to me uncommon, and 

 remembering to have heard, at a District Board Meeting, that the 

 Secretary of the Zoological Gardens at Alipur would be glad of help 

 in procuring interesting additions to his family, I mentioned the matter 

 to Mr. Brownrigg, then. Collector of the District. I have always taken 

 an interest in animals, but had never seen any black squirrels like these 

 before. I am told that there are still, perhaps, three or four more at 

 large in the jungle where this pair came from, but they are now very 

 wild, and do not allow any one to approach them. I am also informed, 

 by those who have seen them, that these black squirrels live apart by 

 themselves on separate trees, and do not associate with their less distin- 

 guished grey-mantled brethren. The boycott is probably mutual. I 

 have no reason to think that they came to Burhegaon from any outside 

 source. So far as I can see they are a freak of nature." 



It would be interesting to observe other forms of animal life in 

 the jungle in which these melanic squirrels were found, and to note 

 whether there is any preponderance of black in them also. The fact, 

 if proved in the affirmative, will give additional support to the theory 

 of colour change induced by environmental causes. 



This is, however, not the first time that melanic squirrels are 

 exhibited in the Calcutta Zoological Garden. In 1877, a couple of 

 them were obtained from Assam, and lived for about a year. 



