10 ox THE ZOOLOGICAL POSITION OF TEXAS. 



speeunen as from Sau Antonio, collected by J. H. Clark of the Uuited 

 States and Mexican Boundary Commission. On reference to the re- 

 port on tlie zoology of this Survey, specimens are reported as collected 

 en route between San Antonio and El Paso, which leaves the locality 

 iudefijutely anywhere In Western Texas north of the former city. 



Spcnno2)hilus (jmmmurus has a range like that of the Bassaris astuta, 

 so far as its eastern limit is concerned. All of the specimens which I 

 saw and of which I heard, were black, the light tips of the hairs giving 

 them a hoary appearance. The coloration is different from that vhich 

 the species exhibits in other regions, and has given rise to the impres- 

 sion that it indicates another species, for which the name of S. hucldeyi 

 was proposed. The eminent naturalist, J. A. Allen, of Cambridge, is of 

 tlie opinion that the Texan animal is only a melanistic variety of the 8. 

 (jrammurus. The large bushy tail of this species gives it the ai)i)earance 

 of a true squirrel. Its habitat is the rocky cliffs of the first plateau 

 region, where it feeds on the nuts and seeds of the brush. It is always 

 seen climbing on the fixce of the rocks and never ascends trees. It 

 readily escapes from the hunter by slipping round angles of the preci- 

 Ijice or hiding in the numerous fissures and caves where It finds secure 

 retreats. I thus lost aU the specimens I saw on the upper waters of the 

 Guadalupe and Llano Elvers. 



Ba^ypiis ijeba ; the armadillo. This species I did not see, but I am 

 told by Mr. Marnock, of Helotes, that it extends east as far as the 

 l^ueces Eiver, and has been killed near Frio City, in latitude 29° north. 



Bicotjjles torquatus ; the peccary. This is a common animal through- 

 out the first plateau region, and in the lowlands to the south of it as 

 far east as the Colorado. Northward it keeps to the hills and i)lains of 

 the first plateau, ranging, according to Mr. Boll, an accomplished 

 naturalist of Dallas, as far as the Bed Eiver. As in South America, it 

 goes in herds, sometimes large ones, and is particularly common in the 

 chaparral of the Xueces. It is abundant in the hills of the headwaters 

 of the various southward-flowing streams, preferring high ground to 

 the deep ravines. It there hides in brush and thickets, feeding on the 

 acorns of the species of oak, and on the various fruits and roots with 

 which these localities abound. When roused by enemies it does not 

 immediately take to flight, but, when it does so, seeks refuge in the 

 caves of the limestone cliffs. I met a herd in a dry but brushy ravine 

 of the high land near the head of one of the southern tributaries of the 

 Llano. This plain is without water, and crossing its twenty-five miles 

 under a southern sun my thirst became rather urgent. I had no guide 



