& 



SCIURIDJE— SCIURUS NIGER VAR. NIGER. 719 



say: — "Perhaps none of our Squirrels are subject to greater varieties of color 

 than the present; we have seen specimens in (formerly) Peale's Museum, of 

 every tint, from light-gray almost to black. Two others that came under 



our observation were nearly white We have represented in the 



plate three of these Squirrels, all of different colors, but the varieties of tint 

 to be observed in different specimens of the Cat Squirrel are so great that 

 among fifty or more perhaps, we never could find two exactly alike; for 

 which reason we selected for our drawing an orange-colored one, a gray one, 

 and one nearly black."* 



In general, var. cinereus is smaller than var. niger, and may be distin- 

 guished from it by the absence of a distinctly white nose and white ears. 

 This, however, is an arbitrary character, since specimens, particularly from 

 Maryland and Virginia, have the nose and ears only grayish rather than 

 whitish, with sometimes the ears not lighter than the surrounding surface. 

 Florida specimens of var. niger, on the other hand, have the nose merely 

 grayish, and the ears not lighter than the back, while the grayish nose-patch 

 is small, and sometimes almost wholly restricted to the sides of the nose. 



Habitut. — Atlantic States from Virginia northward to Southern New 

 York and Southern New England ; ranges farther southward in the Allegha- 

 nies, perhaps to Georgia. 



Var. niger. 



Southern Fox Squirrel. 



Varietal chars. — Larger; length of body generally about 13.50, ranging 

 from 12 to 15. Tail-vertebrae about 11, ranging from 10.25 to 12.50; tail to 

 end of hairs 14, ranging from 14 to 16. Color variable, but with the nose and 

 ears whitish, usually in strong contrast with the rest of the dorsal surface. 

 Color generally gray above (rather darker than in var. cinereus), whitish beneath, 

 with the tail whitish beneath and on the edges. Varies to more or less fulvous 

 and rufous phases, but more frequently to dusky and black. Often with only 

 the feet, legs, and lower surface black. In the dusky varieties, the head 

 (except the nose and ears) is often intense black. Sometimes with the under 

 parts rufous, and often with the whole pelage mixed dusky and rufous, or 

 with the limbs and head black, and a narrow black dorsal and ventral band. 

 Equally variable in color with the preceding, from which it is to be commonly 



* Quadrupeds of North America, vol. i, pp. 146, 147. 



