874 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [July, 



Clelland, apud Gray, who considers it distinct from Sc. lokriah of Nepal ; 

 though again the original description of the latter fully applies. Nearly 

 allied to the last, but more rufescent, and deeper ferruginous below ; the 

 tail more or less deeply ferruginous underneath or behind, where bordered 

 on each side with black subterminal and pale extreme tips. Two specimens 

 from Darjeeling, presented by Mrs. Oakes and the late Mr. Webb ; one from 

 Cherra Poonjee, presented by the late Dr. Griffith ; and a small specimen 

 from Arracan, and a bad skin of another, presented by Capt. Phayre, — both 

 of these having the under-parts considerably paler than is usual in Darjeeling 

 specimens, though occasionally the latter are equally pale. In Arracan this 

 species inhabits a higher elevation than "No. 14. 



16. Sc. tenuis, Horsfield : Sc. annulatus, Desmoulins ; Sc. modestus, S. 

 Muller.* Nearly allied to the last, but smaller, and the under-parts dingy 

 rufescent-whitish. Inhabits Java and Borneo. Specimen presented by the 

 Batavian Society. 



We now come to the group of small striped Squirrels, of which three 

 sub-groups may be distinguished. The first of these has a median white 

 line along the back. 



17. Sc. palmarum, Lin.: c. penicillatus, Leach, Zool. Misc., I, tab. 1. 

 Mr. Gray refers the following species to this latter ; but I am satisfied that 

 he is incorrect in doing so : no mention is made by Dr. Leach of the rufous 

 underneath the tail, which is so prominent a characteristic of Sc. tristriatus j 

 the sides are said to be " pale yellowish," which applies to palmarum and 

 not to tristrialus j and Dr. Leach's specimen was taken from a nest formed 

 in a library at Madras, which (so far as I have seen of the habits of the two 

 species) decides at once in favour of palmarum : I doubt much whether Sc. 

 tristriatus ever enters buildings ; whereas I have observed Sc. palmarum to 

 abound in the town of Madras. The discrimination of the two species is 

 undoubtedly due to the late accomplished Curator of the Zoological Society's 

 Museum (now employed at the British Museum), and I have pleasure, there- 

 fore, in restoring to him the nomination of Sc. tristriatus, the more especial- 

 ly as Leach's figure of his (so called) penicillatus is execrable, and the cha- 

 racter upon which it is separated from Sc. palmarum most unsatisfactory. 

 Of these two nearly allied species, Sc. palmarum only is found on the allu- 

 vium of Lower Bengal, where, as also in the plains of Upper India, it is the 

 only representative of this vast genus. The specimens I have had set up 

 were obtained on the Society's premises. 



18. Sc. tristriatus, Waterhouse, Mag. N. H. 1837, p. 496 ; Proc. Zool, 

 Soc. 1839, p. 118. Two specimens set up, of many procured by myself in 

 the Midnapore jungles; and a third, from Ceylon, presented by Dr. R. 

 Templeton, of Colombo. It is remarkable that the voice of this little animal 

 is most particularly unlike that of the preceding species ; though, in both of 

 them, the notes are pretty sure to be mistaken for the chirruping of birds, 

 by persons unacquainted with the sound ;f the voice of Sc. tristriatus first 

 attracted my attention in the jungle, and I watched for it some time in the 

 supposition that it was a bird I had not met with before. Sc. palmarum was 

 found about equally common in the same situations : but I think the tendency 

 of this is to approach human habitations, and of Sc. tristriatus to avoid 

 them. The size and proportions of recent examples of these two species 

 (examined together) are absolutely the same; but the diversity of voice, and 



* Sc. philippinemis, Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 117, would also seem to come very 

 near. 



t This chirruping voice would help to ally these small striped Squirrels to the equally 

 striped Tamias subgroup, as exemplified by the Chipping Squirrel of N. America, T. 

 l.ystai. 



