Part 52 (1/2)

The difficulty in laying down precise rules for colouring is here evident, but in general I may say that the upper parts are rufescent olive brown, the hair being grizzled or banded black and yellow, commencing with greyish-black at the base, then yellow, black, yellow with a dark brown or black tip; the lower parts are rufous h.o.a.ry or grey, tinged with rufous, or the latter shade may be restricted to the groin or inguinal parts. The fur is coa.r.s.er and more broadly ringed than in _S. lokriah_, and the ventral surface is never tinged with orange, as in that species; the tail is concolorous with the back; the hair more coa.r.s.ely annulated; there is no white tuft behind the ears, as in the last species.

SIZE.--About the same as the last, or Dr. Anderson says: ”In the form referable to _S. Blythii_, a white spot occurs on the inguinal region of the thigh in the position in which the rufous of the so-called red-legged squirrels is developed. The groin in some of these squirrels shows also a decided rufous tinge, while the remainder of the belly is sullied grey white. If these forms were without the white thigh-spot, they would exactly conform to the type of _S. a.s.samensis_.

A squirrel in the British Museum, labelled _S. Tytleri_ (Verreau, 'Indes Orientales'), agrees with _S. Blythii_” ('A. and Z. Res.', p. 249).

Blyth has seen a squirrel of this species renewing its coat, and a.s.suming a variegated appearance during its transition to the breeding dress.

A jet-black squirrel of the same proportion occurs in Sylhet and Cachar, which Dr. Anderson is inclined to think belongs also to this species.

We may, therefore, regard the following as being the same as _S.

lokroides_, viz., _S. a.s.samensis_, _S. Blythii_, _S. similis_, and the black one, which has apparently not been named.

Jerdon states that these squirrels are mostly seen in the autumn when the chestnuts, of which they are very fond, ripen.

NO. 279. SCIURUS PYGERYTHRUS.

HABITAT.--Burmah (Lower Pegu, and common in the neighbourhood of Rangoon).

DESCRIPTION.--Upper parts dark olive grey; basal third of the tail concolorous with the back, its latter two-thirds ringed olive-yellow and black; the tip black; feet olive grey, sometimes washed with yellowish; under surface and inside of limbs orange yellow, which extends also along the middle of the under part of the tail. Paler varieties occur. The skull of this species is smaller than those of _S. caniceps_, _S. Phayrei_ and _S. Blanfordii_.

NO. 280. SCIURUS CANICEPS.

_The Golden-backed Squirrel_.

HABITAT.--Burmah (Upper Tena.s.serim and Tavoy).

DESCRIPTION.--General colour grey or fulvous above; limbs outside grizzled grey; feet yellowish-grey; in some cases the nape, shoulders, and upper parts of back are vivid light ferruginous or golden fulvous, sometimes extending downwards on to the base of the tail. Some have only a trace of this colouring, others none at all.

There is infinite variety of colouring in this species, as I observed in my remarks on the genus, and it is closely allied to the next three, if they do not ultimately prove to be the same.

”Out of a large series of specimens referable to _S. caniceps_, the males ill.u.s.trate three phases of colouring, a.s.sociated with a difference in the character of the fur. The first is a grey, the second a yellowish, and the third a phase in which the back becomes brilliant yellowish-red.”--_Anderson_.

NO. 281. SCIURUS PHAYREI.

_The Laterally-banded or Phayre's Squirrel_.

HABITAT.--Burmah. Common in Martaban; has also been obtained at Tounghu.

DESCRIPTION.--Upper parts dark olive grey; lower parts rich orange red; the same colour being more or less continued along the under surface of the tail; the orange colour extends over the inside of the limbs, the front of the thigh and on the feet; the fore-limbs are dusky outside, with pale rufous yellow feet. Its chief distinguis.h.i.+ng mark is a brown well-defined dark band on the flanks between the colour of the upper and lower parts.

NO. 282. SCIURUS BLANFORDII.

_Blanford's Squirrel_.

HABITAT.--Upper Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--Pale grey above, finely punctulated with black and grey; tail concolorous, with a black tip; under parts pale orange yellow; hands and feet yellow. Dr. Anderson shot a female at Pudeepyo, in the beginning of January, which had a distinct tendency to the formation of a dusky lateral stripe, as in the last species; the under-parts also were much more rich orange than in the type of this species. In the grey phase of _S. caniceps_ that species is so like _S. Blanfordii_ in the colouring of the upper parts and feet that it is almost impossible to distinguish them, but, according to Dr.

Anderson, ”on examining the under parts it is found that in these phases of _S. caniceps_ they are grey, whereas in _S. Blanfordii_ they are a beautiful rich orange, and the feet are yellow.”

Before proceeding to the next species, which is a better marked one, I will quote one more pa.s.sage from Dr. Anderson's careful comparison of the four preceding squirrels. ”_S. Phayrei_ corresponds in the colour of the upper fur to the yellow phase of _S. caniceps_, and the tail is the same as in it, having a black tip, which is the character also that that appendage has in _S. pygerythrus_. In some examples of _S. Phayrei_ the dusky or blackish is not confined to the lateral line, but extends over the outside of the fore-limbs, the feet being always yellow in squirrels presenting these characters. Some specimens of _S. pygerythrus_ show a distinct tendency to have yellow feet, and further research will probably prove _S. Phayrei_ to be only a variety of _S. pygerythrus_. When Blyth first encountered this form, he simply regarded it as a variety of _S. pygerythrus_, and I believe his first opinion will be ultimately found to be more in accordance with the real interpretation of the facts than the conclusion he afterwards adopted. In the Paris Museum there is an example of _S. Blanfordii_ from Upper Burmah which distinctly shows a dark lateral streak, so that, taking into consideration the other examples to which I have already referred, there seems to be a presumption that it and _S.

Phayrei_ are one and the same species, and that they are probably identical with _S. pygerythrus_; moreover, my impression is that a more extensive series will establish their ident.i.ty with _S.