158 MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS SCIURUS. 



cies was not an unfrequent article of food at our frugal yet 

 social meals at Engineer cantonment, and we could always 

 immediately distinguish the bones from those of other animals 

 by their remarkably red colour. The tail is even more volu- 

 minous than that of the Sciurus cinereus, (cat squirrel).' 1 



DIMENSIONS. 



IN. LIN. 



Length of head and body 11 1 



Ditto of tail to the end of hair 11 3 



Height of ear, fur included „ 9 



5. Californian Squirrel. Sciurus aureogaster. 



Sciurus aureogaster ; F. Cuv. and Geoff. Mamm. 

 Ecureuil de la Calafornie ; Id. 



General hue above deep grey grizzled with yellow ; under 

 parts and inner side of limbs deep rusty red ; chin, throat and 

 cheeks pale grey ; limbs externally and feet coloured as the 

 body above ; hairs on the toes chiefly dirty white ; tail large 

 and very bushy ; hairs of the tail black, twice annulated with 

 dirty yellow, and broadly tipped with white, the white very 

 conspicuous where the hairs are in their natural position ; 

 ears thickly clothed, chiefly with blackish hairs, the hinder 

 basal part externally with long white hairs, extending slight- 

 ly on the neck ; all the hairs of the body are grey at the base, 

 those of the upper parts annulated first with yellow, then 

 black, and then white ; whiskers black, the hairs very long 

 and bristly ; the under incisors almost as deep an orange co- 

 lour as the upper. 



Habitat Mexico and California. 



dimensions. 



IN. LIN. 



Length from nose to root of tail 12 



Ditto of tail to end of hair 10 6 



Ditto of heel to end of claws 2 5£ 



Ditto from nose to ear 2 l£ 



Height of ear posteriorly „ 1\ 



A second specimen, the locality of which was not given, 

 differed from the above in having a much richer colouring. 

 The belly was of a very bright rust colour ; hairs on the tail 

 black at the roots, then broadly annulated with rusty yellow, 

 then a considerable space occupied by black, the apical por- 

 tion white ; but when viewed from beneath, a bright rust co- 

 lour, like that of the belly, was very conspicuous, occupying 



