SIZE.—About the same as the last.
This squirrel was tolerably common in the forests of Seonee, and we had one or two in confinement. One belonging to my brother-in-law was so tame as to allow of any amount of bullying by his children, who used to pull it about as though it were a puppy or kitten, but I have known others to bite severely and resent any freedom.
[NO. 275. SCIURUS MACROURUS.]
The Long-tailed Forest Squirrel (Jerdon's No. 152).
NATIVE NAMES.—Rookeeah or Dandoleyna, Singhalese.
HABITAT.—Ceylon, Southern India, i.e. Malabar, Travancore, Mysore, Neilgherries.
DESCRIPTION.—"Fur of the upper parts coarse and slightly waved; above, the colour varies from maroon-black to rufous brown; hairs sometimes grizzled and tipped white or pale yellow, particularly on the croup, sides, and upper parts of limbs; crown of the head darker in most specimens than other parts; cheeks, under-parts, and lower two-thirds of limbs of a fulvous white; occiput of a deeper fulvous, sometimes yellow or ferruginous brown; an indistinct dark spot on the cheek, which is sometimes absent; two-thirds or more of the basal portion of the tail black or brown; the rest grizzled grey or fulvous. In some the hairs of the whole tail are tipped white, and in others grizzled white throughout. In the young there is very little of brown or black; the whole tail is more or less formed of grey hairs, and the terminal third is nearly white. Grey is also the prevailing colour on the posterior half of the body; toes in all black or blackish brown; ears hairy, only slightly tufted in adults."—Kellaart.
SIZE.—Head and body, 13½ inches; tail, 11 inches.
This squirrel also varies greatly in colouring, and has led several naturalists astray. Kellaart, in his 'Prodromus Faunæ Zeylanicæ,' says he has seen them in a transition state from dark brown to grizzled grey.
[NO. 276. SCIURUS GIGANTEUS.]
The Black Hill Squirrel (Sciurus macrouroides in Jerdon, No. 151).
NATIVE NAMES.—Shingsham, Bhotia; Le-hyuk, Lepcha; Jelarang, Javanese; Chingkrawah-etam, Malay; Leng-thet, in Arakan; Sheu, in Tenasserim.