JAN., 1912. MAMMALS, VENEZUELA AND COLOMBIA OSGOOD. 61 



Tayra barbara Linnaeus. Tayra. 



One specimen, Empalado Savannas, April 8. 



This is an adult male shot and presented by U. S. Consul Totten 

 who encountered it roving about in midday. External field measure- 

 ments are: Total length 1035; head and body 625; tail vertebrae 410; 

 hind foot 118. 



Local names Guache and Guanaico. 



Mustela affinis Gray. Allied Weasel. 



Two specimens (c? and ?), Paramo de Tama, head of Tachira 

 River, Venezuela and Colombia. 



One of these was caught in a steel trap baited with birds and set 

 by the side of a rushing mountain stream, the conditions being essentially 

 those under which so many weasels are caught in more northern coun- 

 tries. The other was shot in midday as it came prowling about our 

 "house" in the clearing on the Venezuelan side of the Tachira. 



No doubt these specimens are fairly typical of M . affinis, the type 

 of which is stated to have come from "Columbia." They differ from 

 a specimen from Sierra de Merida only in somewhat richer color of the 

 under parts, the male being bright orange rufous on the abdomen and 

 paler on the chest, throat, and inguinal region. The white marking in 

 front of the ear is absent in the female which is in very fine coat, the 

 entire upper parts except the head and tip of tail being rich seal brown 

 so dark that the blackish head and tail-tip are not in great contrast. 

 The general appearance of the upper parts, therefore, is extremely 

 suggestive of a miniature of a North American mink. 



Conepatus mapurito Gmelin. Hog-nosed Skunk. 



One specimen, El Panorama, Rio Aurare, Jan. 19. 



Although taken in the dry coast lowlands, this specimen must for 

 the present be referred to C. mapurito, the type locality of which is 

 Pamplona, Colombia, in the cool highlands not far from Paramo de 

 Tama. It is greatly to be regretted that our efforts to secure skunks 

 in that vicinity were unsuccessful. The Rio Aurare example is thinly 

 haired and has two short white dorsal stripes, apparently being quite 

 similar in markings to the Bogota specimen to which Thomas has re- 

 ferred.* External field measurements are: Total length 600; head 

 and body 387; tail vertebrae 213; hind foot 74. 



Local name Mapurite. 



* Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., (7), II, p. 318, 1898. 



