1855.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 473 



Among the birds, we observe, with surprise, an unmistakeable specimen 

 of the common British Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis) in its summer 

 plumage. We have never seen this bird from any part of India, though 

 Mr. Gould states it to occur in the west (P. Z. S. 1835, p. 90). 



By Dr. S. Miiller and also by Dr. Cantor, the Malacca and Bornean races are 

 considered as mere local varieties of one species : but the application of this prin- 

 ciple of classification to many of the following races could only be most arbitrary). 



2. Sc. hippurus, Is. Geoffroy : Sc. rufoyaster, Gray ; Sc. castaneoventris (?), 

 Gray, the young ? Much larger than the common British Squirrel. Lower-parts 

 and inside of limbs deep rufo-ferruginous ; head, shoulders, and sides of limbs, 

 dark grizzled ashy; rest of upper-parts, with base of tail, deeply tinged with 

 rufous, and also grizzled, — contrasting much with the dark leaden-grey of the 

 cheeks and limbs externally : rest of tail dullish black ; and feet nigrescent. Com- 

 mon in the Malayan peninsula, Sumatra and Java. We have seen very numerous 

 specimens from the first named region, but no variation whatsoever. 



3. Sc. erythrogaster, nobis, J. A. S. XII, 972: Sc. hippurus of Asam, 

 auctorum. Upper-parts uniformly of nearly the same dark grizzled ashy as the 

 head and outside of limbs of the preceding race ; this grizzling extending about 

 half- way along the tail, the remainder of which is dull black : feet nigrescent; and 

 lower-parts deep rufo-ferruginous. Inhabits the Munuipur hills, and those E. and 

 S. of Upper Asam. 



4. Sc. erythr^eus, Pall s : Sc. hippurus, var., McClelland and Horsfield. 

 Colours nearly as in Sc. hippurus, but duller and more blended ; the rufo-ferru- 

 ginous hue of the belly contrasting abruptly at the sides of the body (whereas in 

 Sc. hippurus the sides are so rufous that the contrast is much less decided) : ears 

 bright rufous ; and the terminal two-thirds or more of the tail are nearly of the 

 same colour as the belly, the tip generally being paler. There is also more or less 

 rufous about the muzzle. Inhabits the Khasya hills, and neighbouring mountains 

 of Lower Asam. 



(N. B. Sc. erythr^eus is described to have slightly ciliated ears (auricula 

 sub-barbatcej, and a blackish stripe running down the tail. The ears of our animal 

 can scarcely be termed ciliated ; but two very young specimens from Asam have 

 the basal third of the tail black posteriorly (except at the extreme base), passing 

 more or less upward as a medial line ; and it is probable that some adults exhibit 

 the line as described. 



It would seem further that the rufous of the muzzle extends sometimes more 

 or less over the crown; and that the tail-end is occasionally blackish, though we 

 have never seen it so (var. b. from Butan, of Gray's British Museum Catalogue. 



If Nos. 2, 3, and 4, are to be regarded as merely local varieties of the same 

 species, No. 5 should also be so classed : but the difficulty begins with No. 6 ; and 

 if that be admitted, why not also Nos. 7, 8, and even 9 ? Wherever drawn, the 



