THE BRITISH OR LIGHT-TAILED SQUIRREL 697 



broad, while in side view it appears to be greatly flattened or 

 compressed. 



The female has eight mammae, arranged in one pectoral, two 

 abdominal, and one inguinal pairs. 



Pelage :— The fur is soft and fine, not spiny. It is comparatively 

 short on the face, as well as on the belly, throat, inner surfaces of the 

 limbs, and over the hands and feet. Passing backwards from the 

 forehead, it becomes gradually longer and denser on the back and 

 flanks towards the rump and tail, where it is most luxuriantly developed, 

 and where the woolly underfur is most conspicuous. The hairs also 

 attain a remarkable length upon the outer surfaces of the ears, and 

 especially towards their tips in winter. 



There are quite distinct summer and winter coats, but the underside 

 is at all seasons white; the sharp line of demarcation, on each side, 

 runs from the chin to the axilla, where it forms a V upon the inner 

 surface of the fore-limb, and from the posterior edge of the axilla along 

 the lower edge of the flank to the region of the groin and anus. 



In complete summer coat the colour of the head, body, and limbs 

 is rich rufous, the crown of the head as well as the posterior portion 

 of the back to a variable extent greyer or browner ; the tail is creamy, 

 and thinly haired ; there are typically no ear-tufts ; and the palms and 

 soles are naked. The hairs are not annulated. 



In the ■winter the head and body is brownish-grey or greyish 

 rufous brown ; the limbs are rufous, but less so than in summer ; the 

 tail is blackish or brownish ; the ear-tufts long and brown ; the palms 

 and soles hairy. The hairs are annulated. 



The above description holds good for a typical South English 

 Squirrel, but the moults are very complicated, and the fur is continually 

 undergoing change resulting in much normal variety, so that it might 

 be found impossible to obtain individuals exactly matching the typical 

 description. 



The changes are brought about by two annual moiilts of the body- 

 fur and one only of the long hairs of the ear-tufts and the tail. In 

 addition, the tail and ear-tufts undergo gradual bleaching from the 

 deep brown of winter to the cream or straw colour of summer. This 

 is an undoubted change of colour without replacement of the 

 individual hairs. 



The summer body coat is coarse and short, reaching a length of 

 about 13 mm. over the rump. It makes its first appearance in the 

 south on about the 20th April, and is completely assumed in the 

 course of about six weeks. A Galway specimen had not started 

 assuming the summer pelage on 3rd June 1896. Starting from the 

 muzzle, fingers, and toe-tips, it spreads backwards and bodywards 

 over the face, hands, and feet, to the neck, flanks, and sides, until 

 VOL. II. 2 Y 



