30 
GUIDE TO TIIE 
squirrels which are terrestrial in their habits. This last group 
constitutes the genus Taniicis which is not found in Southern 
Asia to the east of the Indus. The little palm squirrel 
was once regarded as a Tamias, but its organization and 
habits prove it to be a true squirrel, and resembling it, 
there are some allied forms in Burma and Tenasserim. It, 
however, would appear to frequent the ground more than 
the generality of the common species of squirrels in this 
region, which seldom descend to the ground ; their lives 
being spent in leaping from branch to branch and round and 
up the trunks of forest trees in which they construct their 
nests and breed. The time to observe them is in the early 
morning and after the sun is well down in the heavens. 
There is a remarkable modification of the squirrel 
type of structure in those animals which are provided with 
a loose membrane that extends along the sides from the 
fore to the hind limbs, constituting a kind of parachute, 
which enables the animals to effect enormous leaps as 
if flying from tree to tree, down the steep mountain sides 
on which they are generally found. They constitute the 
genus Pteromys , or flying squirrels. The species are 
numerous and are chiefly confined to Southern Asia, and 
the neighbouring islands. Their food consists of wild 
fruits, and they live in the hollows of high trees, sleeping 
during the day and appearing to feed about sunset. 
Those which occur in cold regions hibernate. Two species 
have been exhibited in this Garden, but the only specimen 
now alive is an example from Darjeeling of Pteromys 
albiventer. As the compartments of this house arc not 
sufficiently high for the proper accommodation of this 
leaping animal, it is provided with a special cage placed 
in the Surnomoyee House. 
