602 Note on the Sciuri inhabiting Ceylon. [June, 



vicinity of Midnapore : one of the former is remarkable for having a 

 strong ferruginous tinge on the upper part of the head.* 



4. Sc. Brodiei, nobis, n. s. Very similar to the last, but distin- 

 guished by its considerably paler colour, and especially by having a 

 very long pencil-tuft (3|- in.) at the extremity of the tail, quite different 

 from what is ever seen in tristriatus : beneath the tail, to near its tip, 

 ferruginous as in the other. According to Mr. Layard, " this species 

 is confined to the Palmyra-tree district, from Puttam to Jaffna. How 

 much further round the coast I know not." 



5. Sc. Layardi, nobis, n. s. Size of the two last, but the colour 

 very much darker, nearly as in Sc. trilineatus (vel Delesserti), but 

 inclining more to ashy than to fulvous, except on the head and flanks : 

 lower-parts ferruginous, paler on the breast : middle of the back nigre- 

 scent with a strongly contrasting narrow bright light fulvous streak in 

 the middle, reaching from between the shoulders to near the tail, and 

 an obscure stripe on either side, barely reaching to the croup. Tail 

 ferruginous along its centre, the hairs broadly margined with black and 

 finally with whitish, besides which is another and narrow black band on 

 each hair towards its base, chiefly seen as the tail is viewed from above ; 

 tip black, forming a pencil-tuft 3 in. long. This handsome species is, 

 I believe, peculiar to the upland districts of the island. 



In the Tenasserim provinces, I am now acquainted with 6 species. 



1. Sc. bicolor, Sparrman (J. A. S. XVI, 870). Common; but 

 the pale Malayan variety does not appear to have been hitherto observed 

 (though the pale Malayan variety of Hylobates lar is there common). 



2. Sc. chrysonotus, nobis (J. A. S. XVI, 873). Common. 



3. Sc. pygerythrus {?), Is. Geoffroy, var. ? Described J. A. S. 

 XVII, 345. 



4. Sc. atrodorsalis, Gray (J. A. S. XVI, 872-3, XVII, 345). I 

 have no doubt now that this species was rightly identified, and that 

 Mr. Gray's habitat of Bootan is erroneous. A third specimen lately 

 received from Captain Berdmore is intermediate in its colouring to the 



* In a letter just received from Mr. Layard, he now mentions that — "at Ham- 

 banlotte I got a new Sciurus ; like palmar urn, only the head is much redder, the 

 colour of the back and belly more blended, and the animal altogether smaller. This 

 entirely replaces all the small Sciuri in that part of the country : they are first seen 

 at Tangalle, and I fancy extend round to Trincomalee." 



