PTEROMYS. Cum A genus of the family Sciuridm, and commonly known as the flying squirrels, because of the skin of their flanks being extended between the fore and hind feet, forming, when expanded, a wide parachute. The species occur in the south-east of Asia and in the islands of the Archipelago. Pt. cineraceus, Blyth, is of Burma; Pt. elegans, S. Muller, is of Java.
Pteromys inornatus, Is. Geoffry (Pt. albiventer Gray), is the white-bellied flying squirrel, the rusi - gugar of Kashmir. Above it is grizzled reddish - brown ; length of head and body, 14 inches ; found throughout the N.W. Himalaya from Kashmir to Kamaou, Simla, Landour, from 6000 to 10,000 feet.
Pteromys magnificus, Hodgson.
1'. chrysothryx, Hodg. I Sciuropterus nobilis, Gray.
Red-bellied flying squirrel. Biyom, . . . LEPCUA.
Above dark Chesnut or ochreous Chesnut mixed with black, with lower part of a lighter hue, and the tail tipped with black. Its fur is very soft ; a female measured 16i inches from head to insertion of tail ; the latter was 20 inches in length. This flying squirrel is nocturnal in habits, secreting itself in hollows of decayed trees, and feeds on the tender shoots of the pine.
Pteromys nitidus, Geoffry, Peninsula of Malacca.
Pteromys petaurista, Pallas, Blyth.
Pt. Philippensis, Elliot. Pt. oral, Ticken.
Brown flying squirrel, ENG. I Pakya, . . . . MAnu.
Oral, KOL. Para-chalen, MALEAL.
Upper parts dusky maroon, black grizzled with white ; body 20 inches long. Inhabits Ceylon, north to Central India. It lives on roots. It is the brown flying squirrel of Ceylon and the Pen insula of India. The length of the male is 20 inches and the tail 21 = 41 inches ; that of the female 19 and the tail 20 = 39 inches. The male is distinguished by an irregular patch of rufous on the sides of the neck, which in the female is a sort of pale fawn. It is very gentle, timid, and may be tamed; but from its delicacy is difficult to preserve. Lives in the holes of trees in the thickest part of the forest.
Dr. Horsfield, in his Zoological Researches in Java, describes two flying squirrels (Pteromys genibarbis and Pt. lepidus), both nocturnal in their habits, nearly approaching to Sciurns sagitta. He describes the first as living on fruits ; the second as found in the closest Javanese forests, where the height of the trees and the luxuriance of the foliage effectually conceal it. Ile enumerates 10 species of Sciuri, 4 of which were first described by him self. These do not include the flying squirrels. —F. Curler; Gray; 'Ferment's Ceylon, p. 42 ; al dams; Jerdon's Mammals of