MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS SCIURUS. 335 



11. The Black Squirrel. Sciurus niger. 



Sciurus niger ; Linn, non Catesby. 



Desm. Mammalogie, p. 334. 



Godinan ; Nat. Hist. vol. ii, p. 133. 



A little larger than the Northern Grey Squirrel. Fur soft and glossy; 

 ears, nose, and the whole body pure black, a few white tufts of hair inter- 

 spersed. Dental formula ; Incisors, f; Canines, §g; Molars, ||; — 20. 



Much confusion has existed with regard to this species. — 

 The original Sciurus niger of Catesby is the black variety of 

 the fox squirrel. It is difficult to decide, from the descrip- 

 tions of Drs. Harlan and Godman, whether they described 

 from specimens of the black variety of the northern grey squir- 

 rel, or of the species which I am about to describe. Indeed, 

 there is so strong a similarity, that I have admitted it as a 

 species with some doubt and hesitation. Dr. Richardson has, 

 under the head of Sciurus niger, (see * Fauna Boreali- Ameri- 

 cana,' p. 191), described a specimen from Lake Superior, of 

 what I conceive to be the black variety of the grey squirrel ; 

 but at the close of the same article (p. 192), he has described 

 another specimen from Fort William, which answers to the 

 description of the specimens now before me. There is great 

 difficulty in finding suitable characters by which the majority 

 of our species of squirrel can be designated ; but in none is 

 there greater than in the present. All our naturalists seem to 

 insist that we have a Sciurus niger, although they have ap- 

 plied the name to the black varieties of several other species. 

 As the name, however, is likely to continue on our books, and 

 as the specimens before me, if they do not establish a true 

 species, will show a very permanent variety, T shall describe 

 them under the above name. 



Dr. Godman states (Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 133), that the 

 black squirrel has only twenty teeth ; — the specimens before 

 me have no greater number, with the exception of one, evi- 

 dently a young animal, a few months old, which has an ad- 

 ditional tooth on one side, so small that it appears like a white 

 thread, the opposite and corresponding one having already 

 been shed. If further examinations go to establish the fact, 

 that this additional molar in the northern grey squirrel is per- 

 sistent, and that of the present deciduous, there can be no 

 doubt of their being distinct species. Its head appears to be 

 a little shorter and more arched than that of the grey squirrel, 

 although it is often found that these differences exist among 

 different individuals of the same species. Incisors compress- 

 ed, strong, and of a deep orange colour anteriorly. Ears el- 

 liptical, and slightly rounded at the tip, thickly clothed with 



