NO. 1101. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 35 



important, because Dr. J. A. Allen has described as different a form 

 said to be from Presidio County, Texas, but i)robably Aransas County, 

 under the name of 8. te.ranuH.^ Dr. Allen first made this a subspecies 

 of '■^((rgcntdtus,^^ but later established it as a distinct species. 



The type is, unfortunately, a very much worn and discolored speci- 

 men, which, like the type of S. j^arvus, presents the appearance of hav- 

 ing been kept in confinement. The description of the color given in the 

 original diagnosis is, therefore, of comparatively little value. A series 

 of winter specimens from Aransas County, belonging to the American 

 Museum, do not differ at all as regards coloration from winter speci- 

 mens from Florida, except in the occasional increased intensity of the 

 rusty orange sufiusion on tlie forehead, wrists, etc. A June specimen 

 from Texas, however, is paler than late spring specimens from Gaines-, 

 ville, Florida. None of the skins in the Aransas County series show 

 the degree of pallor found in a September si)ecimen near Santa Kosa, 

 Cameron County. One from Padre Island is also much paler, and 

 this and another from the same place show an extremely strong rusty 

 sufiusion. 



In referring to the Texas form since the publication of the original 

 description. Dr. Allen has not brought forward any additional char- 

 acters, but lays stress'^ on the rusty suffusion. In this he is entirely 

 justified. No other specimens show this peculiarity as do the Texas 

 ones. On the other hand, however, Florida specimens and others from 

 further north, e. g., from North and South Carolina and Maryland, 

 exhibit it to a greater or less degree. It seems to be a characteristic 

 of adult or old males. The females show it but little and the young 

 not at all.-' 



Langdon remarks on this peculiarity in connection with the sub- 

 species machrinus in Ohio: 



Specimens sbowiug oniiige-colored spots oi" streaks ou the ventral surface and 

 about the mouth are of somewhat frequent occurrence. (Journ. Ciucinn. Soc. Nat. 

 Hist., Ill, 1880, p. 302.) 



There is practically no difference in size between te.mniis and 

 australis, so far as can be judged from the length of the skull. The 

 average total length of 7 adult skulls from Eockport is 30.9 mm., and 

 of 5 adult skulls from Florida, 31 mm. The Texas skulls differ from 

 the Florida ones, however, in a number of details, and to this I shall 

 refer again presently. From the intermediate region I have only two 

 adult skulls for comparison. One from Grand Coteau, Louisiana, has 

 a total length of 32.5 mm., and one from Biloxi, Mississippi (both locali- 

 ties near the coast), 31 mm. 



Taking the seven specimens of texanus, in which the skulls have an 

 average total length of 30.9 mm., I find that the hind foot, without the 

 claw (measured on the dry skins), has an average length of 15.4 mm. 



1 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Ill, 1891, p. 221. 



-Bull. Anier. Mus. Nat. Hist., V, 1893, p. 200. 



3 For farther remarks ou this rusty suffusion see p. 31. 



