12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 60 



may be not very unlike D. variegata Tschudi, 1 from Peru, but is 

 very different from Tschudi's figure, and compared with an Ecua- 

 dorean specimen in the National Museum, assumed to be near D. 

 •variegata, is decidedly larger and darker colored. D. colombiana 

 of the Santa Marta region of northern Colombia is doubtless a form 

 of the D. punctata group characterized by grayish coloration and 

 cranial details pointed out. 



In the Darien region the agouti ranges in the unbroken forest 

 from sea level to over 5,000 feet altitude on the summits of the higher 

 mountains. As elsewhere, the animals are shy and apparently 

 mainly nocturnal in habits, but if carefully searched for may be found 

 abroad early in the morning or late in the evening, and occasionally 

 during the middle of the day, especially in wet weather They become 

 alarmed at the slightest noise and scamper away, often giving the 

 characteristic squeak or short bark, rapidly repeated several times, 

 as they go. The usual method of hunting them is to proceed slowly 

 and cautiously, mainly along trails through the forest, or to wait in 

 the vicinity of their holes until they come out. One day, during 

 the dry season, I heard a rustling noise in the dry leaves, and remain- 

 ing motionless soon saw an agouti which came rapidly nearer and 

 was shot as it stopped suddenly about 20 yards away. The Indians 

 and native colored population hunt the agouti for its flesh, and it is 

 one of the favorite game animals of the region. 



Native name ftequi. 



Specimens examined. — Total number, 8, from localities in Panama 

 as follows: Aruza, 1; Cana, 6; Mount Pirri, 1 (type). 



DASYPROCTA PUNCTATA YUCATANICA, new subspecies 



Type from Apazote (near Yohaltun), Campeche, Mexico. No. 

 108293, male adult, U. S. National Museum (Biological Survey 

 Collection), collected by E. W. Nelson and E. A. Goldman, Decem- 

 ber 22, 1900. Original number 14347. 



Distribution. — Campeche and northern Yucatan. 



General characters. — Similar to D. punctata punctata, but color 

 decidedly paler and grayer, less yellowish or rufescent, and pelage 

 rather more coarsely annulated ; audital bullae large. 



Color. — Upper parts in general varying from pale buff to pale 

 tawny ochraceous coarsely mixed with black, the buff or tawny ele- 

 ment predominating; an indistinct annulated effect, especially on 

 rump, resulting from the alternating light and dark rings of hairs ; 



Fauna Peruana (Mammals), pp. 190-192, Taf. 16, 1844-1846. 



