722 SIX NEW NORTH AMEIUCW M A M M M.S—M EARNS. 



and (letermiiie tlieui, as be was of the opinion tliat they were not Neo- 

 toina iuo.vicdua to which he had previously with much doubt i)rovisiou- 

 ally referred them. This surmise is quite correct. The specimens in 

 question represent a wholly different group of round-tailed wood rats, 

 not closely related to X. mexicana or to any of the western species of 

 the Mexican boundary region. A glance suffices to show that it is not 

 the Texan wood rat (X. niirropus, llaird). In coloration it resembles 

 X. lemodon of Merriam, irom farther south, in tSan Luis Potosi, Mexico; 

 but it is less reddish, aud has smaller ears than that species. Com- 

 pared with y. IcKcuKlon, its skull exhibits important differences in the 

 size and shape of the post- palatal notch, in the teeth, and in the nuich 

 greater length of the nasal bones and rostrum. Comparison with the 

 nu'mbcrs of the X. florldana group from the neighboring States — Louis- 

 iana, ;\Iississipi>i, Indian Territory, and Kansas — sliows it to be a closely 

 related form. The skull, iiududing the teeth, agrees almost exactly 

 with X. JloridaiKi. Externally it differs only in having a softer and 

 liner coat, a nuic;h more hairy tail, and a paler and grayer coloration 

 .^lembers of the llor'ulana group have been described fi'om Nebraska 

 and Kansas, under the names Xcotoina bailciji, Merriam,' and X. cam- 

 jwstris, Allen.'- From these, X. atticateri differs in several minor cra- 

 nial charac-ters, as well as in the color and texture of the furry coat. 

 It is not inq)robable, however, that all of these Ibrms may })rove to be 

 but geographic races of X. jU>ri<U(n<(. 



Type. — No. i:o4olm -^"'- -vlus. Nat. Hist. Adult female, collected De 

 cember Jt), 1895, at Lacey's ranch (''higli land, covered with oak, aud 

 rocky"), on Turtle Creek, Kerr County, Texas, by Mr. II. P. Attwater. 

 Original number, 113. 



Description. — No. 12291 (Collection of the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History, New York) is a fine old male, in perfect winter pelage, 

 killed February 3, 189G. The ears are small, like tlrnse of X.floridnna. 

 Tail well covered Avith hair. Pelage long, dense, and soft. Upper sur- 

 face of body ochraceous buff', mixed with grayish above and strongly 

 lined Avitli black; sides clearer ochraceous butt". Outer surface of limbs 

 light gray. Under surfaces creamy white. Feet all white but the heel, 

 whicli is light i»lumbeous. Whiskers black or colorless, and very long 

 (SO mm.). Upi)er side of head smoke gray. The under i»elagc is dark 

 jdumbeous ou the ui)per and white on the lower side of the body. The 

 tail, wldch is sharply bicolorcd, is mouse gray above and whitt' below. 



The type is patchy, having small areas of smoke gray in tlie gciu'ral 

 yellowish brown of the upi)er surface. Mr. ^Vttwaters measurements 

 are: Length, 387 mm.; tail vertebra', 178; hind foot, 39.4. 



Half-grown young are smoke gray above, drab gray on the sides, and 

 white below; ui)])er side of tail, mouse gray. 



The skull of the type measures 52 by 27 mm. in its greatest diameters. 



Troc. I?iol. Soc. Wash., TX. .Inly 2, 1891. p. 123. 



Uiiill. .\iii. Mils. Nat. llist., \l, Novciiiher 7, ISiH, \>. ;i22. 



