174 SCIUEID^. 



sides of the neck ; tail grizzled dark above, fulvous beneath ; ears small, 

 black-edged, fulvons-white within, and with a small white tuft externally. 



Length, head and body 5 inches ; tail 4. 



This little sc[mrrel is found in Sikim, Bhotan and the hUl ranges of As- 

 sam, the Khasya hills, &c. I procured several in the neighbourhood of 

 Daijeeling, at an elevation of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet chiefly, but it 

 is not abundant. It does not appear to extend to Nepal. 



S. Barbel, Blyth, from Tenasserim, is nearly allied to this, but more 

 brightly colored ; and S. plantani, Horsfield, from Java, is another similar 

 species. S. herdmorei, Blyth, from Mergui, is the representative of S. 

 palmarum. 



Sc. europcBUS, L., the European squirrel, is found in Northern and 

 Central Asia, and a skin from Tibet, received by Mr. Hodgson, was named 

 by him Mustela calotes. Adams states that he thinks he observed it in 

 Kashmir, but did not obtain a specimen. Mhinosciurus tupaioides, Gray. 

 (^S. latioaudatus of S. Miiller), is a peculiar long-snouted squirrel of 

 Malayana ; and a group of African squirrels have been named Xerus by 

 Ehrenberg, Geosciwus, by Dr. A. Smith. 



The next group is that of the Flying-squirrels. 



These are divided into two smaller groups, one of large size, and with 

 the tail round and hairy throughout, Pteromys ; the other of smaller size 

 with the tail flat, and the hairs distichous, Sciuropterus. 



Gen. Pteromys, Cuvier. 



Char. — Dental formula as in Soiurus ; molars complex, the first upper 

 ones very small, placed inside the second. Feet as in Sciui-us. The skin 

 of the flanks extended between the fore and hind feet, fonning when ex- 

 panded a wide parachute ; tail rounded, hairy all round, as long as the 

 body or longer. 



They have long osseous or cartUagiaous appendages to the feet, which 

 serve to support the lateral membrane. This genus is restricted to south- 

 east Asia and the islands of Malayana. There are three species in our 

 province, one in the peninsula, the other two, respectively, from the north- 

 west and south-east Himalayas. 



160. Pteromys petaurista. 



Pallas. — Blyth, Cat. 291.— P. philippmsis, apud Elliot, Cat. 44.— 



