yellow ; belly, inner pair of the fore and hind legs, and stripe on 
the under side of the tail, tawny yellow, rest of the tail black, with 
many of the hairs, especially towards the end, tipped with yellow ; 
These Squirrels, like the last species, are very abundant in 
the island, frequenting the trees, and rarely if ever descending 
run head first down the straight and smooth trunk of a very 
high tree. They are, to a certain extent, gregarious, as we 
have seen as many as tw^enty together feeding in the same 
tree ; when thus engaged they make no noise, and are so 
intent upon their food that they will not leave it until a shot 
is fired among them ; sometimes even then one or tw'o will 
remain, w'hile the rest disperse, hut quickly reassemble ; when 
alone, they are wary and difficult to approach, making their 
way along the tree-tops faster than a man can easily follow ; 
the males and females generally appear to associate in pairs 
throughout the year; the nest is said to be built in a high 
tree and lined with moss, but we have not yet seen one. We 
once shot a pregnant female, containing three young ones, 
and her mate, who was with her at the time, continued to 
haunt the spot for several days, making a moaning noise ; the 
usual note is a harsh loud chatter, each single sound being 
separated by a longer interval towards the close, much in the 
way in which the braying of an ass is brought to an end, 
otherwise the noise is strikingly like the chatter of a magpie : 
we have seen it also sitting upon a branch making a sort of 
often repeated croak, which seemed to shake its whole frame, 
and gave the tail a peculiar swinging motion; the tail is 
always pendant, and never, as in the English Squirrel, carried 
over the back ; when wounded they are very bold and fierce, 
the tip of the tail is black ; a tuft of long black bristles springs 
from behind the nose, and another smaller tuft of the same colour 
from behind the hind part of the eye ; a few bristles, either black or 
rufous yellow, spring from the outer edge of the fore-arm, just above 
the foot; on the fore-foot is a rudimental thumb protected by a 
flat nail. 
Length, from nose to base of tail, 16 inches. 
„ of tail, to the end of the tail joints, 16 inches. 
„ of tail, to the end of the hair, 1 9 inches. 
„ from nose to the base of the ears, 2 inches. 
to the ground except when obliged by so7ne accident to do 
so, and it is singular to see the facility with which they will 
