running down of an alarum, and is instantly caught up and re-echoed from
every side by their terrified playmates.

[Footnote 1: Of two kinds which frequent the mountains, one which is
peculiar to Ceylon was discovered by Mr. Edgar L. Layard, who has done
me the honour to call it the _Sciurus Tennentii_. Its dimensions are
large, measuring upwards of two feet from head to tail. It is
distinguished from the _S. macrurus_ by the predominant black colour of
the upper surface of the body, with the exception of a rusty spot at the
base of the ears.]

One of the largest, belonging to a closely allied subgenus, is known as
the "Flying Squirrel,"[1] from its being assisted, in its prodigious
leaps from tree to tree, by a parachute formed by the skin of the
flanks, which, on the extension of the limbs front and rear, is
laterally expanded from foot to foot. Thus buoyed up in its descent, the
spring which it is enabled to make from one lofty tree to another
resembles the flight of a bird rather than the bound of a quadruped.

[Footnote 1: Pteromys oral., _Tickel_. P. petaurista, _Pallas_.]

Of these pretty creatures there are two species, one common to Ceylon
and India, the other (_Sciuropterus Layardii_, Kelaart) is peculiar to
the island, and by far the most beautiful of the family.

_Rats_.--Among the multifarious inhabitants to which the forest affords
at once a home and provender is the tree rat[1], which forms its nest on
the branches, and by turns makes its visits to the dwellings of the
natives, frequenting the ceilings in preference to the lower parts of
houses. Here it is incessantly followed by the rat-snake[2], whose
domestication is encouraged by the servants, in consideration of its
services in destroying vermin. I had one day an opportunity of
surprising a snake that had just seized on a rat of this description,
and of covering it suddenly with a glass shade, before it had time to
swallow its prey. The serpent, appeared stunned by its own capture, and
allowed the rat to escape from its jaws, which cowered at one side of
the glass in the most pitiable state of trembling terror. The two were
left alone for some moments, and on my return to them the snake was as
before in the same attitude of sullen stupor. On setting them at
liberty, the rat bounded towards the nearest fence; but quick as
lightning it was followed by its pursuer, which seized it before it
could gain the hedge, through which I saw the snake glide