180 BULLETIN OF THE 



Lichtenstein from Mexico as probably valid and also likely to occur in 

 the United States. Dr. Gray* has very judiciously reduced the number 

 to five, including those of both North and South America, but lie places 

 them in what he considers three genera, — Conepatus (l s .">7, nearly equal 

 to Thiosmus Lichtenstein, of subsequent date). Mephitis, and Spilogale. 

 He gives all as occurring in North America. To the first, Covepatus 

 nasutus Gray (M. nasuta of Bennett f), he refers, and it appears to me very 

 properly, the M. leuconota and M. mesoli uca of Lichtenstein and Baird, and 

 numerous other species of other authors, thus greatly reducing the number 

 previously received. He separates it, however, into four " varieties," which 

 are based on the distribution of the colors, although they seem to be about as 

 uncertain in extent and relative proportion in this species as in the more 

 northern one. Of Mephitis proper Gray gives three species, two of which 

 (.1/. vittata Licht. and M. mexicana Gray, = M. macroura Licht.) are from 

 Mexico, and the other (M. variuns Gray, = .1/. mephilica Laird, = .1/. chinga 

 Tiedemann) is generally distributed over North America, from Great Slave 

 Lake J southwards ; of Conepalus and Spilogale one each. It is highly prob- 

 able, however, that Mexico is not thus pre-eminently rich in cpecies of 

 these animals, and that Gray's two Mexican species may be referred to 

 the common North American one, since they rest almost solely on distinc- 

 tions of color that are far from peculiar to the Mexican examples. This 

 being true, we have three supposed genera containing a single species 

 each, or. what seems to me more probable, the alleged differences being 

 slight, a single genus with three species, which agree rather closely in their 

 general style of coloring and in possessing a remarkably large range of 

 indefinite color variation. In distribution, one (.1/. mephilica) is northern, 

 ranging from Mexico almost to the Arctic regions, and the others (.If. 

 mesoleuca,= Conepatus nasutus Gray, and M. bicolor) southern, inhabiting 

 from Mexico and the Southern States to Patagonia. 



Our common species (M- mephitica Baird) Dr. Gray divides into five 

 '"varieties." based on the relative extent of the white dorsal streaks, which 

 form among themselves a graduated series. The inconstant nature of the 

 characters assigned to these as distinctive it seems to me renders tbem 

 unworthy of recognition, since they not only all occur at single local- 

 ities, but, as Audubon has shown, § several of them sometimes appear in the 



* Proc. bond. Zobl. Soc, 1865, pp. 145 el seq. 



t Ibid., is,33, p. 29. 



} I',. B. Ross, 1. c, p. 273. 



§ "In the winter of 1844 we caused a burrow to be opened in Rensselaer County, 

 N. Y., which we knew contained a large family of this We found eleven; they 



were all full grown, but on examining their teeth and claws we conclu led that the fam- 

 ily was composed of a pair of old ones, with their large brood "I" young of the previous 

 season. The male had a white stripe on the forehead; and from the occiput down tho 



