New Ground Squirrels. 133 



convex ; supraorbital foramina usually completely inclosed ; 

 postorbital processes more strongly decurv*ed ; audital bullse 

 smaller; postzygomatic notch almost obsolete; rostrum broader 

 across the base, with the lateral angle less marked. Under jaw 

 larger and heavier, with posterior edge of inflected angular 

 process broader, shorter, and less transverse. The cranium as 

 a whole is narrower and higher than in any known member of 

 the subgenus Xerospermophilus. 



The dentition is unusually heavy for the subgenus, and the 

 crown of the last upper molar is about as long antero-posteriorly 

 as transversely. The first upper premolar is about one- third the 

 size of the second. In all of these respects, except the character 

 of the angular process of the mandible, the cranial peculiarities 

 of S. annectens depart from the S. spilosoma type and resemble the 

 S. mexicana type. 



General Remarks. Fourteen specimens of this animal are in 

 the Department collection, 13 from Padre Island, Texas, and 

 1 from the mainland at the mouth of the Rio Grande. Padre 

 Island is a long spit of sand in the Gulf of Mexico just north of 

 the mouth of the Rio Grande. 



Spermophilus beecheyi fisheri subsp. nov. 



FISHER'S GROUND SQUIRREL. 



Type from KERN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA (25 miles above Kernville). No. 

 Ills! cT ad. United States National Museum, Department of Agriculture 

 collection. Collected July 6, 1891, by Dr. A. K. Fisher (original number, 

 741). 



Measurements of Type Specimen (taken in flesh). Total length, 415; tail 

 vertebrae, 175; hind foot, 58. 



General Characters. Similar to S. beecheyi, but everywhere 

 much paler; sides of neck and shoulder-stripes clear silvery 

 white, in striking contrast with the color of the body ;- sides of 

 body thickly beset with indistinct whitish spots, narrowly bor- 

 dered with dusky posteriorly. (In true beecheyi the spots are 

 much less numerous, less distinct, and tend to run together so 

 as to form irregular transverse bands.) Ear stripe not sharply 

 defined and not so pure black as in beecheyi ; eyelids and lower 

 part of face whitish; under parts and feet buffy. 



General Remarks. This large ground squirrel is by far the 

 most striking and handsome of the subgenus Otospermophilus, 

 and I take pleasure in naming it in honor of one of the natural- 

 ists of the Death Valley Expedition, Dr. A. K. Fisher, who col- 



