MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS SCIURUS. 119 



Third variety. Nose, mouth, under jaw and ears, white ; 

 head, thighs, and belly, black ; back and tail dark grey. — 

 This is the variety alluded to by Desmarest, ' Ency. Method.' 

 — Mammalogie, 333. 



There is also a fourth variety, which is very common in 

 Alabama, and also occasionally seen in the upper districts of 

 South Carolina, and has on several occasions been sent to me 

 as a distinct species. The ears and nose, as in all the other 

 varieties, are white. This indeed is a permanent mark, run- 

 ning through all the varieties, by which this species may be 

 easily distinguished. Head and neck black ; back a rusty 

 blackish brown ; neck, thighs, and belly bright rust colour ; 

 tail annulated with black and red. This is the variety erro- 

 neously considered by the author of the notes on McMurtrie's 

 translation of Cuvier (see vol. i. Appendix, p. 433) as the 

 Sciurus rufiventer. 



The three first varieties noted above are common in the 

 lower and middle districts of South Carolina ; and although 

 they are known to breed together, yet it is very rare to find 

 any specimens indicating an intermediate variety. Where 

 the parents are both black, the young are invariably of the 

 same colour ; the same may be said of the other varieties : 

 where on the other hand there is one parent of each colour, 

 an almost equal proportion of the young are of the colour of 

 the male the other of the female. On three occasions I had 

 opportunities of examining the young produced by progeni- 

 tors of different colours. The first nest contained four, — two 

 black and two grey ; the second, one black and two grey ; and 

 the third, three black and two grey. The colour of the young 

 did not, in a majority of instances, correspond with that of 

 the parent of the same sex ; although the male parent was 

 black, the young males were frequently grey, and vice versa. 



Dimensions of the fox squirrel. — 



IN. LIN. 



Length of head and body 14 5 



Ditto of tail, (vertebra?) 12 4 



Ditto of tail to the tip 15 2 



Ditto of palm and middle fore elaw 1 9 



Ditto of sole and middle hind claw 2 11 



Ditto of fur on the back „ 8 



Height of ear posteriorly „ 7 



Geographical distribution. — This species is said to exist 

 sparingly in New Jersey : 1 have not observed it farther north 

 than Virginia, nor could I find it in the mountainous districts 

 of that state. In the pine forests of North Carolina it be- 

 comes more common. In the middle and maritime districts 



