594 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
it as the commonest squirrel in Liberia, but its preference for high trees and its 
wary habits make it less easy to secure. It usually sees the hunter first and makes 
off at speed along the big limbs or climbs dextrously among the tangles of hang- 
ing vines and easily makes good its escape. One that we shot on the Du, how- 
ever, was so engrossed in eating the red seeds of a forest vine that it allowed a 
very close approach. At Gbanga we occasionally saw these squirrels in the big 
trees by the river where they seemed to be feeding on a small leguminous fruit, 
sought also by the parrots. Miller records it from Mount Coffee and names the 
form libericus, but this is regarded by Thomas as the same with the Gold Coast 
race. 
Protoxerus stangeri temminckii (Anderson). Naked-bellied Squirrel 
Sciurus temminckii Anderson, Zool. Researches Yunnan, 1879, p. 229, footnote; renaming 
S. caniceps Temminck of the Gold Coast, nec S. caniceps Gray. 
A large squirrel, similar in general coloring to the last but larger, the tail not cross-banded, 
the lower surface only sparsely haired, the under sides of the limbs dull yellowish instead of rufous. 
This large squirrel with its peculiarly sparse-haired under surface, is appar- 
ently rare in Liberia. Biittikofer and his associates collected it, however, at 
Bavia, Soforé Place, and on the Junk and the Du rivers, but found it always 
among the oil palms, on the fatty fruit of which it chiefly lives for part of the 
year at least, as do a number of other mammals and birds. This race of the 
West African coast is doubtless closely allied to the others of the rain-forest area 
to the west and south. We did not meet with it, perhaps because we were for 
most of the time away from the coastal districts where most of the oil-palm 
groves are. 
Myrsilus aubinnii salae (Jentink). Sala’s Squirrel; ‘‘Bush Cat” 
Sciurus salae Jentink, Notes Leyden Mus., vol. 3, p. 63, 1881: Bavia and Soforé Place, Liberia. 
A squirrel with a black dorsal stripe and long unringed tail; five upper and four lower cheek 
teeth. 
This is the Sciurus orbini of Johnston’s list and S. aubinnit of Jentink. 
Thomas has erected a special genus for it, and regards salae as a distinct West 
Coast race of the typical form found in Fanti. The black dorsal area is said to 
be sometimes obvious, but again less so. We nowhere saw it, but Biittikofer 
sent home specimens from Bavia, Soforé Place, Bendo, and the Junk River. 
Its habit of living in hollow trees he believed to be characteristic. 
Euxerus erythropus maestus Thomas. Ground Squirrel 
Euaxerus erythropus maestus Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, vol. 5, p. 419, 1910: Daru, 
150 miles inland, Sierra Leone. 
A medium-sized squirrel, with stiff coarse hair, and reduced external ears; middle of back and 
head dull earth brown, minutely ticked with whitish; a narrow white line from shoulder to hip, 
below which the brown of the back grades into the whitish under surface; feet light ochraceous: 
tail black mixed and bordered with white. : 
These ground squirrels are not rare in the neighborhood of villages and clear- 
ings, and often are seen foraging about, even in the hottest part of the day. 
