Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 24

FAMILY HYLOMIDAE (_Anderson_).

The following little animal has affinities to both _Erinaceidae_ and _Tupaiidae_, and therefore it may appropriately be placed here. Dr.

Anderson on the above ground has placed it in a separate family, otherwise it is generally cla.s.sed with the _Erinaceidae_. Its skull has the general form of the skull of _Tupaia_, but in its imperfect orbit, in the rudiment of a post-orbital process, and in the absence of any imperfections of the zygomatic arch and in the position of the lachrymal foramen it resembles the skull of _Erinaceus_. The teeth are 44 in number: Inc., 3--3/3--3; can., 1--1/1--1; premolars, 4--4/4--4; molars, 3--3/3--3, and partake of the character of both _Tupaia_ and _Erinaceus_. The shank-bones being united and the rudimentary tail create an affinity to the latter, whilst its arboreal habits are those of the former.

_GENUS HYLOMYS_.

Head elongate; ears round; feet arboreal, naked below; tail semi-nude; pelage not spiny.

NO. 157. HYLOMYS PEGUENSIS.

_The Short-tailed Tree-Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Burmah, Pegu, Ponsee in the Kakhyen hills.

Appears to be identical with the species from Borneo (_H. suillus_).

FAMILY TUPAIIDAE.

These interesting little animals were first accurately described about the year 1820, though, as I have before stated, it was noticed in the papers connected with Captain Cook's voyages, but was then supposed to be a squirrel. Sir T. Stamford Raffles writes: "This singular little animal was first observed tame in the house of a gentleman at Penang, and afterwards found wild at Singapore in the woods near Bencoolen, where it lives on the fruit of the kayogadis, &c." Another species, _T. Javanica_, had, however, been discovered in Java fourteen years before, but not published till 1821. They are sprightly little creatures, easily tamed, and, not being purely insectivorous, are not difficult to feed in captivity. Sir T. S.

Raffles describes one that roamed freely all over the house, presenting himself regularly at meal-times for milk and fruit. Dr.

Sal. Muller describes the other species (_T. Javanica_) as a confiding, simple little animal, always in motion, seeking its food at one time amongst dry leaves and moss on the ground, and again on the stems and branches of trees, poking its nose into every crevice.

Its nest, he says, is formed of moss at some height from the ground, supported on cl.u.s.ters of orchideous plants. Dr. Cantor, in his 'Catalogue of the Mammalia of the Malayan Peninsula,' writes as follows: "In a state of nature it lives singly or in pairs, fiercely attacking intruders of its own species. When several are confined together they fight each other, or jointly attack and destroy the weakest. The natural food is mixed insectivorous and frugivorous.

In confinement, individuals may be fed exclusively on either, though preference is evinced for insects; and eggs, fish and earth-worms are equally relished. A short, peculiar, tremulous, whistling sound, often heard by calls and answers in the Malayan jungle, marks their pleasurable emotions, as for instance on the appearance of food, while the contrary is expressed by shrill protracted cries. Their disposition is very restless, and their great agility enables them to perform the most extraordinary bounds in all directions, in which exercise they spend the day, till night sends them to sleep in their rudely-constructed lairs in the highest branches of trees. At times they will sit on their haunches, holding their food between their forelegs, and after feeding they smooth the head and face with both fore-paws, and lick the lips and palms. They are also fond of water, both to drink and to bathe in. The female usually produces one young."

The above description reminds one forcibly of the habits of squirrels, so it is no wonder that at one time these little creatures were confounded with the _Sciuridae_.

_GENUS TUPAIA_.

The dent.i.tion of this genus is as follows: Either four or six incisors in the upper jaw, but always six in the lower; four premolars and three molars in each jaw, upper and lower. The skull has a complete bony orbit, and the zygomatic arch is also complete, but with a small elongated perforation; the muzzle attenuated, except in _T.

Ellioti_; ears oval; the stomach possesses a caec.u.m or blind gut; the eyes are large and prominent, and the tail bushy, like that of a squirrel; the toes are five in number, with strong claws; the shank-bones are not united as in the hedgehogs. The diet is mixed insectivorous and frugivorous.

NO. 158. TUPAIA ELLIOTI.

_Elliot's Tree-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 87_).

HABITAT.--Southern India, G.o.davery district, Cuttack; the Central Provinces, Bhagulpore range.

[Figure: Dent.i.tion of _Tupaia_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Fur pale rufous brown, darker on the back and paler on the sides; the chin, throat, breast and belly yellowish, also a streak of the same under the tail; the upper surface of the tail is of the same colour as the centre of the back; there is a pale line from the muzzle over the eye, and a similar patch beneath it; the fur of this species is shorter and more harsh, and the head is more blunt than in the Malayan members of the family.

SIZE.--Head and body, 7 to 8 inches; tail, 7 to 9 inches.

NO. 159. TUPAIA PEGUANA.

_Syn_.--TUPAIA BELANGERI.

_The Pegu Tree-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 88_).

HABITAT.--Sikim (Darjeeling), a.s.sam and through Arakan to Tena.s.serim.

[Figure: _Tupaia Peguana_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Jerdon says: "General hue a dusky greenish-brown, the hairs being ringed brown and yellow; lower parts the same, but lighter; and with a pale buff line; a stripe from the throat to the vent, broadest between the forearms and then narrowing; ears livid red, with a few short hairs; palms and soles dark livid red." Dr.

Anderson remarks that the fur is of two kinds of hairs--one fine and wavy at the extremity, banded with black, yellow and black; the second being strong and somewhat bristly, longer than the other, and banded with a black basal half and then followed by rings of yellow and black, then yellow again with a black tip, the black basal half of the hairs being hidden, the annulation of the free portions produces a rufous olive-grey tint over the body and tail.

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

Jerdon says of it that those he procured at Darjeeling frequented the zone from 3000 to 6000 feet; they were said by the natives to kill small birds, mice, &c. The Lepcha name he gives is _Kalli-tang-zhing_. McMaster in his notes writes: "The Burmese Tupaia is a harmless little animal; in the dry season living in trees and in the monsoon freely entering our houses, and in impudent familiarity taking the place held in India by the common palm squirrel. It is, however, probably from its rat-like head and thievish expression, very unpopular. I have found them in rat-traps, however, so possibly they deserve to be so." He adds he cannot endorse the statement regarding their extraordinary agility mentioned by Dr.

Cantor and quoted by Jerdon, for he had seen his terriers catch them, which they were never able to do with squirrels; and cats often seize them.

Mason says: "One that made his home in the mango-tree near my house at Tonghoo made himself nearly as familiar as the cat. Sometimes I had to drive him off the bed, and he was very fond of putting his nose into the teacups immediately after breakfast, and acquired a taste both for tea and coffee. He lost his life at last by incontinently walking into a rat-trap."

The Burmese name for it is _Tswai_ in Arracan. Jerdon states that it is one of the few novelties that had escaped the notice of Mr.

Brian Hodgson, but Dr. Anderson mentions a specimen (unnamed) from Nepal in the British Museum which was obtained by Hodgson.

NO. 160. TUPAIA CHINENSIS (_Anderson_).

HABITAT.--Burmah, Kakhyen hills, east of the valley of the Irrawaddy.

DESCRIPTION.--Ferruginous above, yellowish below, the basal two-thirds of the hair being blackish, succeeded by a yellow, a black, and then a yellow and black band, which is terminal; there is a faint shoulder streak washed with yellowish; the chest pale orange yellow, which hue extends along the middle of the belly as a narrow line; under surfaces of limbs grizzled as on the back, but paler; upper surface of tail concolorous with the dorsum.

SIZE.--Head and body, 6-1/2 inches; tail, 6.16.

The teeth are larger than those of _T. Ellioti_, but smaller than the Malayan _T. ferruginea_, and the skull is smaller than that of the last species, and the teeth are also smaller. Dr. Anderson says: "When I first observed the animal it was on a gra.s.sy clearing close to patches of fruit, and was so comporting itself that in the distance I mistook it for a squirrel. The next time I noticed it was in hedgerows."

The other varieties of _Tupaia_ belong to the Malayan Archipelago--_T. ferruginea_, _T. tana_, _T. splendidula_, and _T.

Javanica_ to Borneo and Java. There is one species which inhabits the Nicobars.

NO. 161. TUPAIA NICOBARICA.

HABITAT.--Nicobar Island.

DESCRIPTION.--Front and sides of the face, outside of fore-limbs, throat and chest, golden yellow; inner side of hind limbs rich red brown, which is also the colour of the hind legs and feet; head dark brown, with golden hairs intermixed; back dark maroon, almost black; upper surface of the tail the same; pale oval patch between shoulders, dark band on each side between it and fore-limbs, pa.s.sing forward over the ears.

SIZE.--Head and body, 7.10; tail, 8 inches.

There is a little animal allied to the genus _Tupaia_, which has. .h.i.therto been found only in Borneo and Sumatra, but as Sumatran types have been found in Tena.s.serim, perhaps some day the _Ptilocercus Lowii_ may be discovered there. It has a rather shorter head than the true Banxrings, more like _T. Ellioti_, but its dent.i.tion is nearly the same, as also are its habits. Its chief peculiarity lies in its tail, which is long, slender and naked, like that of a rat for two-thirds of its length, the terminal third being adorned with a broad fringe of hair on each side, like the wings of an arrow or the plumes of a feather. There is an excellent coloured picture of it in the 'Proc. Zool. Society,' vol. of Plates.

I had almost concluded my sketch of the Insectivora without alluding to one most interesting genus, which ought properly to have come between the shrews and the hedgehogs, the _Gymnura_, which, though common in the Malay countries, has only recently been found in Burmah--a fact of which I was not aware till I saw it included in a paper on Tena.s.serim mammals by Mr. W. T. Blanford ('Jour. As. Soc.