SCIUEUS. 261 



parts. The caudal hairs are four times alternately banded, orange and black, the 

 first colour being basal ; and the first three rings are narrow, while the last black 

 band is broader than the combined three, and effectually hides them, its apex being 

 narrowly tipped with greyish or pale yellowish, which gives the tail the appearance 

 as if it were washed by these colours. The tip of the tail is generally black. The 

 under parts and the inside of the limbs are bright reddish-chestnut, and this colour 

 extends all along the under surface of the tail, where the hairs are distichously 

 arranged. There is a narrow rufous area around the eye. The whiskers are black. 



Inches. 



Length of a male, muzzle to vent . . . . . . . .6'00 



Tail without hairs ........... 5"75 



„ with „ 7-60 



This species inhabits Ceylon. 



SCIUBUS BERDMOREI, Blyth. 



Sciurus berdmorei, Blyth, Journ. As. See. Beng. vol. xvii. 1849, p. 603; ibid. vol. xliv. 1875, 



ex. no. p. 37 ; Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. 186-3, p. 106. 

 Sciurus mouhotii, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 137. 



Macroxus berdmorei, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1867, vol. xx. p. 279. 

 Sciurus pyrrocephalus, A. M. -Edwards, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. Juillet 1867, vol. xix. p. 225 ; Rech. 



des Mammif. 1871, p. 163. 



This species is considerably larger than 8. tristriatus, to which it is nearly 

 allied. It measures from the muzzle to the vent 7'75 inches, and the tail, without 

 the hair, 5 inches. 



The general colour of the fur is brownish, with a distinct rufous tint on the 

 middle of the back. It is punctulated with yellowish on the head, on the sides of 

 the face and body, and on the outside of the limbs, and with rich rufous on the 

 middle of the back. The hairs are dark grey at the base, succeeded by four 

 alternate yellow and black rings, the tip of the hair being always black, or dark 

 brown, and constituting the last of these rings. The terminal ring varies greatly 

 in its size, forming a broad tip in some, and a mere point in other hah's. A few 

 of the hairs are wholly black, especially on the back, and there they tend to occur 

 in groups, conferring a black, clouded aspect to that region. There is an obscure 

 narrow black line along the middle of the back from between the shoulders, but it 

 only extends about half-way along the trunk. On the sides of the back, a yellow 

 line begins at the shoulder and is prolonged backwards to the articulation of the 

 femur, where it ceases ; there is a broad black band along its under side and of the 

 same length as itself, and, along the upper margin, there is also an obscure dusky 

 line. There is a broad, pale yellow, linear area below the former of these two dark 

 bands, the portion of the side below it being concolorous with the thighs and fore 

 limbs. The rufous area of the back is confined between the two uppermost yellow 

 lines. 



