224 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 08. 



A Bassaricyon from Munduapo, on the Orinoco, collected by J. K. 

 Cherrie, appears to be referable to B. medius Thomas. 



20. MUSTELA AUREOVENTRIS Gray. 



Three specimens from Ollantaytambo, 9,000 feet (male No. 194326, 

 female No. 194327 and an unsexed specimen, No. 194328). 



[Male from Ocobamba, Cuzco, No. 98.11.6.1, B. M., O. Garlepp.] 



Following Doctor Allen ^ I accept the identity of this dark-headed, 

 yellow-bellied stoat wdth the species from Ecuador and Northern 

 Peru, for which he uses Taczanowski's name macrura. But whether 

 it is really distinct from the white or gi-ay-bellied M. agilis of Tschudi 

 appears to me doubtful in view of the considerable variability in 

 color found in this group. An example from Lima, sent to England 

 by the late Professor Nation, which I provisionally refer to Tschudi's 

 species, has a practically white under surface and well-marked facial 

 bands. 



The name aureoventris is not invalidated by the earlier auHventer 

 of Hodgson, as, apart from " one-letterist " differences, its first half 

 comes from the adjective aureus, while Hodgson's name is based on 

 the substantive au7nim, so that not only the spellings but the deriva- 

 tions are different. 



21. CONEPATUS AREQUIPAE Thomas. 



Seven specimens, as follows : 



Chospyoc, two males (Nos. 194321-2). 



Urea, near Galea, female (No. 194324). 



Machu Picchu, male (No. 194323). 



Ocobamba Valley, two males (Nos. 194318-9) and one female (No. 

 194320). 



These specimens confirm what I said in 1902 as to the difficulty of a 

 proper determination of the members of Conepatus, and the proba- 

 bility that most of the forms would be found to grade into each other. 

 Specimens from any given region have a generally similar facies, but 

 almost every character varies individually, so that a diagnosis which 

 shall cover every example is almost an impossibility. The present se- 

 ries all agree in having a long coarse coat and very broad white 

 stripes, which are connected on the crown, the first character dis- 

 tinguishing them from C. zorrino and the second from C. inca. But 

 in the reversal or nonreversal of the nape hairs, the separation or par- 

 tial junction of the white stripes on the withers and the extension of 

 the stripes down the back, there is considerable variation among 

 them. In two out of the three Ocobamba Valley specimens the stripes 

 even reach to the base of the tail, a character which I had hitherto 



Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 35, p. 101, 1916. 



