Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 53

Horsfield remarks:--"This species is nearly allied to the _S.

erythraeus_ of Pallas, but it varies in the depth of the colours both above and underneath."

"In the skull the orbit is rather large, and the muzzle is so contracted at its base that the extremity is but little narrower."--_Anderson_.

NO. 287. SCIURUS SLADENI.

_Sladen's Squirrel_.

HABITAT.--Upper Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--After Dr. Anderson ('Proc. Zool. Soc.' 1871, p. 139) who first obtained and named this species: "grizzled, rufous olive above, the annulations fine, and the fur of moderate length; the forehead, face, chin, throat, belly, inside of limbs, front of thighs, lower half of fore-limbs, and the hind-feet rich chestnut red; tail rather bushy, as long as the body without the neck and head, concolorous with the upper surface of the body, but slightly more rufous; with a bright chestnut red tip."

SIZE.--Head and body, 10-1/4 inches; tail, including rufous tip, 8 inches.

This handsome squirrel is figured in the volume of plates belonging to Dr. Anderson's work on the Zoology of the Yunnan Expedition.

Speaking of the skull he says: "The skull of _S. Sladeni_ has a rather short muzzle, with considerable breadth across its base superiorly, and it is a shorter and broader skull than the skulls of squirrels referred to _S. Blanfordii_. Compared with the skull of the red-headed specimen of _S. erythraeus_ from Bhutan, there is a decided resemblance between the two, the chief distinction being the less breadth of the base of the muzzle of the latter, but the teeth of this specimen show it to be young, while the teeth of _S. Sladeni_ are much worn by use."--'A. and Z. Res.' p. 243.

NO. 288. SCIURUS FERRUGINEUS.

_The Rusty-coloured Squirrel_.

HABITAT.--From a.s.sam to Burmah and Siam, and the adjacent islands of Pulo Condor and Sichang.

DESCRIPTION.--Colouring most diverse, no less than ten named species being referable to this one, viz., _S. Finlaysoni_, _S. ferrugineus_, _S. Keraudrenii_, _S. splendidus_, _S. cinnamomeus_, _S. Siamensis_, _S. splendens_, _S. Germani_, _S. Bocourtii_, _S. leucogaster_; some are rich red, one jet black, and another is white, but apparently most of the varieties come from Siam; the a.s.sam and Burmah specimens being reddish, of which the following description is by Blyth, according to Horsfield's Catalogue, where it is entered as _S.

Keraudrenii_: "Entirely of a deep rufo-ferruginous colour, rather darker above than below; the fur of the upper parts somewhat glistening; toes of all the feet blackish, as in the three preceding, and the extreme tip of the tail yellowish-white."

The following group consists of the striped squirrels, a smaller and more terrestrial species, allied to the ground squirrels (_Tamias_).

NO. 289. SCIURUS PALMARUM.

_The Common Indian Ground Squirrel_ (_Jerdon's No. 155_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Gilehri_, Hindi; _Beral_, _Lakki_, Bengali; _Kharri_, Mahrathi; _Alalu_, Canarese; _Vodata_, Telegu; _Urta_ of Waddurs (_Jerdon_).

HABITAT.--India generally, except in some parts of Malabar and North-eastern Bengal.

DESCRIPTION.--The upper parts are dusky greenish-grey, with five yellowish-white dorsal lines, the two outer ones being faint and indistinct; under parts whitish; the hairs of the tail are annulated with red and black; ears round. But the colouring varies; some are much darker than others; one I have is a deep ferruginous brown between the dorsal stripes.

SIZE.--Head and body, 6-1/2 to 7 inches; tail, 5-1/2 to 6 inches.

This beautiful little animal is well known to almost all who have lived in India, and it is one of the most engaging and cheerful of all the frequenters of our Mofussil bungalows, although I have heard the poor little creature abused by some in unmeasured terms, as a nuisance on account of its piercing voice. I confess to liking even its shrill chatter; but then I am not easily put out by noise, and am rather like the deaf old King of Oude, who sits and reads in his c.o.c.katoo house, and looks up smilingly, as half a dozen of them give vent to extra diabolical shrieks, and pleasantly remarks: "Ah: the birds are singing a little this morning!" I am not quite so bad as that; but as I now sit writing, I have a hill myna on one side of me imitating an ungreased cart-wheel and the agonies of an asthmatic _derzie_, and on the other side a small female of the rose-headed parrakeet, which has a most piercing selection of whistles and small talk, to say nothing of two small bipeds of five and seven, who cap all the rest for noise, till I sometimes wish I had the aural afflictions of the old king. I can, however, quite imagine the irritation the sharp chirrup-chirrup of this little squirrel would cause to an invalid, for there is something particularly ear-piercing about it; but their prettiness and familiarity make up in great measure for their noisiness. They are certainly a nuisance in a garden, and I rather doubt whether they are of any use, as McMaster says, "in destroying many insects, especially white ants, beetles, both in their perfect and larval state," &c. He adds: "They are said to destroy the eggs of small birds, but I have never observed this myself." I should also doubt this, were it not that the European squirrel is accused of the same thing. General McMaster, I think, got his idea from a quaint old book, which he quotes at times, Dr.

John Fryer's 'Voyage to East India and Bombain,' who, writing on the nests of the weaver bird (_Ploceus baya_), says: "It ties it by so slender a Thread to the Bough of the Tree, that the Squirrel dare not venture his body, though his Mouth water at the eggs and Prey within." McMaster himself writes: "This familiar little pest is accused, but I believe unjustly, of robbing nests; were he guilty of this, it would in the breeding season cause much excitement among the small birds, in whose society he lives on terms of almost perfect friends.h.i.+p." There is much truth in this. Wood and others, however, state that the European squirrel has been detected in the act of carrying off a small bird out of a nest, and that it will devour eggs, insects, &c.

Jerdon relates the Indian legend that, when Hanuman was crossing the Ganges, it was bridged over by all the animals; one small gap remained, which was filled by this squirrel, and as Hanuman pa.s.sed over he put his hand on the squirrel's back, on which the marks of his five fingers have since remained. It is not unlike the chipmunk of America (_Tamias striatus_), but these true ground squirrels have cheeks pouches and live in burrows. Our so-called palm squirrel (though it does not affect palms any more than other trees) builds a ragged sort of nest of any fibrous matter, without much attempt at concealment; and I have known it carry off bits of lace and strips of muslin and skeins of wool from a lady's work-box for its house-building purposes. The skins of this species nicely cured make very pretty slippers. They are very easily tamed, and often fall victims to their temerity, in venturing unknown into their owner's pockets, boxes, boots, &c. One I have now is very fond of a mess of parched rice and milk. It sleeps rolled up in a ball, not on its side, but with its head bent down between its legs.

NO. 290. SCIURUS TRISTRIATUS.

_The Three-striped Ground-Squirrel_ (_Jerdon's No. 156_).

NATIVE NAMES.--As in the last. _Leyna_ in Singhalese.

HABITAT.--Ceylon and Southern India; on the Neilgherries. Has been found in Midnapur, and it is stated to range northward to the Himalayas.

DESCRIPTION.--Somewhat larger and darker than the last species, manifesting considerable variation in the colour of the dark lines of the back. In some the lines are rufous; in others dark brown or blackish throughout, or black only from the shoulder to the lumbar region. The general tints are rusty red on the head, greyish on the shoulders, blackish in the middle of the back, rusty on the haunches.

Three well-defined yellow dorsal lines, not extending the whole length of the back; the tail rusty beneath, darker than _S. palmarum_ on the sides.

SIZE.--Head and body, 7-1/2 inches; tail, 7-1/2 inches.

This squirrel is more shy than the last, and keeps to the woods, although occasionally it will approach houses. Dr. Jerdon says a pair frequented his house at Tellicherry, but they were less familiar than _S. palmarum_, and endeavoured to shun observation. Kellaart gives a careful description of it, but does not say anything about its habits, at which I wonder, for it is common there, and takes the place of our little Indian friend, though probably its more retiring disposition has prevented so much notice being taken of it. Were it in the habit of frequenting houses in the manner of its Indian cousin, I am sure Sir Emerson Tennent would have devoted a page to it, whereas he does not mention it at all. It had also escaped McMaster's notice, careful observer though he was. Waterhouse, in his description ('Proc. Zool. Soc.' 1839, p. 118), describes some differences in the skull of this and _S. palmarum_, but Dr. Anderson finds no difference whatever.

NO. 291. SCIURUS LAYARDI.

_Layard's Striped Ground-Squirrel_ (_Jerdon's No. 157_).

HABITAT.--Ceylon; in the highlands and the mountains of Travancore in Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--Dark dingy olive, inclining more to ashy than fulvous, except on the head and flanks. Lower parts ferruginous, paler on the breast; middle of back very dark, with a narrow bright fulvous streak in the middle, reaching from between the shoulders to near the tail, and an obscure shorter stripe on either side, barely reaching to the croup; tail ferruginous along the centre, the hairs margined with black, with white tips; a narrower black band near the base of each hair; tip of tail black, forming a pencil tuft three inches long.

In some specimens the centre dorsal streak is bright orange, the two intervening bands being jet black. In those in which the streaks are pale, the intervening bands differ only from the surrounding fur in being darker, but are grizzled like it. There is a narrow rufous area round the eye; the whiskers are black; the under-parts and inside of limbs are bright reddish-chestnut, and this colour extends along the under-part of the tail. Jerdon calls this squirrel _the Travancore striped squirrel_, but I see no reason to retain this name, as it is not peculiar to Travancore, but was first found in Ceylon by Mr. E. Layard, after whom Blyth named it.

NO. 292. SCIURUS SUBLINEATUS.

_The Dusky-striped Ground-Squirrel_ (_Jerdon's No. 158_).

HABITAT.--The mountains of Ceylon and Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--Smaller than the palm squirrel; fur soft, dense, grizzled olive brown; base of hairs dusky black; three pale and four dark lines on the back and croup, the lineation being obscure, and reaching only from the shoulder to the sacral region. Under-parts variable, but always dusky, never bright, from grey to dusky brown washed with rufous; tail concolorous with the upper part of the body and obscurely annulated.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5 to 6 inches; tail, 4-1/2 to 6 inches.

Kellaart calls this _the Newara Elia ground-squirrel_, and Jerdon _the Neilgherry striped squirrel_, but, as it is not peculiar to either one or the other place, I think it better to adopt another popular name. It is common about Newara Elia and Dimboola, but it does not seem to descend lower than 3000 feet. In Southern India it is found in the Neilgherries, Wynaad and Coorg, but only at considerable elevations.

NO. 293. SCIURUS MCCLELLANDI.

_McClelland's Ground-Squirrel_ (_Jerdon's No. 159_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Kalli-gangdin_, Lepcha.

HABITAT.--"This species has a wide distribution, ranging from Nepal and Thibet to the east of China and Formosa, and through a.s.sam and Cachar south-eastward to Tena.s.serim and Siam."--_Anderson_.

DESCRIPTION.--General hue olive brown, each hair having a blackish tip, a sub-apical yellow band, and a slaty black base. A pale yellowish band on the side of the nose, pa.s.sing underneath the eye and ear along the side of the neck, and continued along the side of the back to the base of the tail; its upper margin has a dusky line; a narrow black line from between the shoulders over the vertebrae to the root of the tail; tail grizzled dark above, fulvous beneath; whiskers black; limbs concolorous with the body: ears small, black edged, fulvous white within, and with white pencil tufts.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5 inches; tail, 4 inches.

Dr. Anderson obtained this species at Ponsee in Burmah, at an elevation of 3500 feet, and Dr. Jerdon, at Darjeeling, at from 4000 to 6000 feet. This species is synonymous with Blyth's _S. Barbei_.

NO. 294. SCIURUS BERDMOREI.