PTEEOMYS. 291 



The species occurs in Nusa Kambang, Java, and Malacca, and from the last 

 of these localities was obtained that spotted example which was described by 

 Dr. Gray as P. punctatus. I have examined both types. This species measures — 



Indies. 

 Body, muzzle to vent .......... 14*50 



Tail 16-75 



Pteromys nitidus, Desmarest. 



Sciurus 2idaurista, Pallas ( ?), Miscell. Zool. 1766, p. 56. 



The Sailing Squirrel, Pennant, Quad, (in part), 1781, 3rd ed. vol. ii. p. 151, No. 349. 



L' Ecureuil eclant, Is. Geoff. St.-Hil. Coll. Mus. d'Hist. Nat. 



Tteromys 7iitidus, Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d^Hist. Nat. vol. xxvii. 1818, p. 403; Lesson, Man. de 

 Mamm. 1827, p. 241 ; Is. Geoff. St.-Hil. Diet. Class. 1828, vol. xiv. p. 131 ; Voy. dans ?Inde, 

 Jacquemont Zool. 1844, p. 65; Desmarest, Mamm. 1820, p. 342; Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 

 1829, p. 363; Gray, Charles worth's Mag. Nat. Hist, (new series), vol. i. 1837, p. 584; List 

 Mamm. B. M. 1843, p. 134 ; Miiller und Schlegel, Verhandl. 1839-44, pp. 107 & 112; Schreb. 

 Saugeth. Wagner, Suppl. vol. iv. 1843, p. 221, pi. 224c; Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. ii. 1845, 

 p. 50; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xvi. 1847, p. 866; ibid. 1859, vol. xxviii. p. 277; 

 Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Beng. Mus. 1863, p. 96 ; Brandt, Mem. Acad. St. Petersb. 6th ser. vol. 

 vii. 1850, p. 298; Zelebor, Saugeth. Novara, 1868, p. 25; Horsfield, Cat. Mamm. E. Ind. Co.'s 

 Mus. 1851, p. 162. 



'Pteromys grandis, Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 358, pi. xlv. ; Hid. 1870, p. 634. 



The colour of this animal may be described as a deep rich maroon-chestnut, 

 inclining to black on the upper parts, the hairs being black-tipped on the back. On 

 the base of the tail, which is bushy, the black tips are longer, and the chestnut portion 

 of the hair becomes an obscure blackish chestnut, so that the tail, throughout by far 

 the greater part of its length, is black, from the prevalence of the black tips and the 

 dark underlying colour. The feet are concolorous with the body which presents 

 no trace of grizzling. The under parts are rich red-chestnut, liable, however, to 

 become paler, and the chin is blackish. 



I have compared Swinhoe's examples of P. grandis with a Javan example of 

 this species, and I cannot detect any external character by which to distinguish 

 the one from the other, and a specimen of P. nitidus from Java in the Paris 

 Museum might stand as P. grandis, as the tail, instead of being black-tipped as in 

 the generality of specimens of P. nitidus, is nearly wholly black, as in P. grandis. 



The skull of the type of P. grandis is in the British Museum, and is not quite so 

 large as the skull figured by Brandt, than which it has less occipital and zygomatic 

 breadth, being at the same time an altogether smaller skull, but it has the same 

 broad muzzle as P. nitidus, and the other differences are so slight that they do not 

 suffice to separate the Pormosan from the Javan animal, more especially when the 

 identity of theu^ peripheral characters are taken into consideration. Moreover, a 

 skull of P. nitidus in the National Collection, from Sumatra, agrees with Brandt's 

 figm-e in every respect, while another and smaller skull from the same locality 

 differs from the figure in question in the same way that the skull of P. grandis does. 



