Part 56 (1/2)
DESCRIPTION.--Upper parts rufous chestnut according to Kellaart, who named it _Sciuropterus Layardii_; rufescent fulvous or dark brownish isabelline hue, as Jerdon describes it; the fur dusky blackish colour for three-fourths of its length; the tips coa.r.s.er and coloured rufous chestnut (_Kellaart_); hairs fuscous with a fulvous tip (_Jerdon_); two-thirds of the base dusky ashy, the remainder reddish-brown with a black tip (_Anderson_); the ears are moderate in size, posteriorly ovate with a long pencil of blackish hairs at the base of the posterior margin and at the external surface of the upper angle; cheek bristles well developed; the cheeks white, washed with yellowish, as also before the ears; the margin round the eyes blackish; the parachute is dark brown above washed with pale brown, and the edge is pale yellow; lower parts yellowish-white; the tail is very bushy, and not distichous in the adult, though partially so in the young; it is sometimes yellowish-brown, sometimes dusky brown, especially in the latter half, the under surface being pale brown at the base, pa.s.sing into blackish-brown. Kellaart says of the Ceylon specimens: ”Tail flat and broad, of a lighter chestnut above, washed with black, and under surface of a deep black, except at tip,”
but apparently he had only one specimen to go upon, and therefore we cannot accept his observations as conclusive.
SIZE.--Head and body, 7-3/4 inches; tail, 6-3/4 inches with hair.
NO. 307. PTEROMYS FIMBRIATUS.
_The Grey Flying Squirrel_ (_Sciuropterus of Jerdon, No. 164_).
HABITAT.--North-west Himalayas.
DESCRIPTION.--Fur long, soft greyish, with sometimes a tinge of brown; the hairs are grey at the base, then brown with a black tip; face white; orbits dark brown; chin and under parts white; the tail is broad, bushy, and rather tapering, more or less fulvous washed with black, black towards the tip; the feet are broad, and according to Dr. Gray the outer edges of the hind feet have a broad fringe of hair, whence probably its specific name; but Dr. Anderson is of opinion that this character is unreliable.
SIZE.--Head and body, 12 inches; tail, 11 inches.
Blyth's _S. Barbei_ was probably the same as this; he had only drawings and a.s.sertions to go upon. The species is extremely doubtful.
NO. 308. PTEROMYS ALBONIGER.
_The Black and White Flying Squirrel_ (_Sciuropterus of Jerdon, No. 165_).
NATIVE NAMES.--_Khim_, Lepcha; _Piam-piyu_, Bhotia.
HABITAT.--Nepal, Sikim, Bhotan, a.s.sam, Sylhet, Burmah, Western Yunnan and Cambodia.
DESCRIPTION.--Dr. Anderson says the name applied to the species is not appropriate, as many individuals have the upper parts more or less yellowish, but it is dark above, blackish, faintly washed with h.o.a.ry or rufous; white beneath with a slight yellow tinge; the ears and feet flesh-coloured.
Jerdon says the young are pure black and white; the teeth are bright orange red.
SIZE.--Head and body, 11 inches; tail, 8-1/4 to 9 inches.
Jerdon procured it near Darjeeling; it frequents elevations from 3000 to 5000 feet.
NO. 309. PTEROMYS SPADICEUS.
_The Red Flying Squirrel_.
NATIVE NAME.--_Kywet-shoo-byan_, Arakanese.
HABITAT.--Arakan.
DESCRIPTION.--Upper parts bright ferruginous bay; under parts woolly and dull white; the membrane, limbs, and tail dusky; the terminal third of the tail pale rufous.
SIZE.--Head and body, 5 inches; tail, 4-1/4 inches.
ARCTOMYDINAE--THE MARMOTS.
Stout-bodied, short-tailed animals, with a rudimentary thumb with a flat nail. They are gregarious and terrestrial, living in burrows, where they store provisions against inclement seasons. Some of the genera have cheek pouches, but the true marmots, such as our Indian species, have not. They differ somewhat in dent.i.tion from the squirrels in having the first upper molar somewhat larger, and the other molars also differ in having transverse tubercles on the crown.
The first upper tooth is smaller than the rest; the ears are short and round, as is also the tail; the hind-feet have five toes, the fore-feet a tubercle in the place of the thumb.