172 SCIUBIDi. 



The Jungle Striped Squirrel. 



Descr. — Very similar to the last, but generally darker, the face, fore- 

 head, back and haunches, more or less tinged with rusty-red, or reddish 

 brown ; the stripes small, narrower than in the common one, and not 

 extending the whole length of the back; tail beneath distinctly rusty; 

 sides darker than in palmarum. 



Length, head and body 7^ inches ; tail 7^. 



Mr. Blyth says he observed no difference in size. I have always found 

 this species shghtly larger and conspicuously heavier than palmarum. 



This species is so exceedingly similar to the last that many would only 

 look on it as a slight variety, but it differs very remarkably in its voice, 

 which is much less shrill, and indeed quite different in character. This 

 was first noticed by Mr. Blyth, and I can fully confirm his statement. It 

 is found in most of the forest districts of India, from Midnapore to the 

 extreme south and Ceylon, where it quite replaces S. palmarum, as indeed 

 it does in some parts of Malabar. I have not seen specimens from the 

 Eastern Ghats, nor did I notice it in the Bustar jungles. Mr. Blyth re- 

 marks that specimens from Midnapore quite resemble others from Ceylon. 

 Although generally, as Mr. Blyth remarks, the tendency of this species 

 is to avoid human habitations as much as that of the other is to affect 

 them, yet at Tellicherry, where I resided for some time, and at other 

 stations on the Malabar coast, where the whole country is densely wooded, 

 it does occasionally enter and even take up its abode in houses. A pair 

 frequented my own house at Tellicherry, bat they were much more shy 

 than their ally, and always endeavored to shun observation. 



With reference to the very great similarity of these two squirrels, Mr. 

 Blyth well remarks, " the slight differences of form and color between 

 these two species so distinct in their voice and habits, should indicate the 

 the extreme caution necessary ere we conclude other allied races to be 

 merely varieties of the same from their general similarity of size and 

 coloring." 



157. Sciurus Layardi. 



Blyth, Cat. 341.— J. A. S. XVIII. 600. 



The Travancore Striped Squirrel. 

 Descr. — Much darker than the last, being of a dark dingy olive color 



