THE MUSEUM. 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Research in Natural Science. 



Vol. V. 



ALBION, N. Y., MARCH 15, 1899 



No. s 



A Monthly Magazine devoted to Ornithology, 



Oology, Mollusca, Echinodermata, 



Mineralogy and Allied 



Sciences. 



Walter F. Webb, Editor and Manager 

 Albion, N. Y. 



Correspondence and it^ms of Interest on above top- 

 ics. a8 well as notes on the various Museums of the 

 World— \'lews from same, discoveries relative to the 

 bandllne and keeptnt: of Natural History material, 

 descriptive habits of various species, are solicited 

 from all. 



Malte articles as brief as possible and as free from 

 technical terms as the subjects wtu allow. All letters 

 will be promptly auswored. 



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Revision of the Chickarees or 

 North American Ked 

 Squirrels.* 



The Red Squirrels or Chickarees 

 are. the smallest of the true squirrels 

 in North .America, and are distinguish- 

 ed not only by small size but by the 

 possession of a relatively short tail and 

 a rather distinctive pattern of colora- 

 tion. These features are combined 

 with a reduced upper pre-molar, which 

 is not only so minute as to be non- 

 functional but is often absent either 

 on one or both sides of the jaw, being 



•(The following notes are taken from Prof. 

 J. A. Alleo's ariicle in the Bulletin for 18!I8 

 of the American Museum of Natural HLstory. 

 Notes on mammals are so scarce, we think 

 the following will be read with ioterest by 

 man^r of our readers ) 



wanting in j^bout thirty per cent, of 

 the specimens examined, throughout 

 the group, regardless of the species. 

 The only wonder is that so function- 

 less an organ should persist so uni- 

 formly over such a large geographical 

 area, while size and color are more or 

 less variable. In view of these com- 

 bined peculiarities Trouessart in i88o, 

 very properly raised the group to the 

 rank of a sub-genus under the name 

 Taiiiiasciurus. It is confined to 

 northern North America and embraces 

 several species and a considerable 

 number of sub-species. 



In 1877 the present writer reduced 

 the three species to one with two addi- 

 tional sub-species. During the following 

 twenty years a considerable number 

 of new forms were described, so that 

 at the close of 1897 some twelve forms 

 were current to which five are now 

 added. 



During the last ten years material 

 relating to the Chickarees has rapidly 

 accumulated. In 1877 I had before 

 me all the specimens then extant in 

 the larger museums of the country, 

 aggregating about 390, of which about 

 90 were skulls without skins. The 

 skins were mostly in bad condition, 

 such as now would be regarded prac- 

 tically worthless in comparison with 

 the standard now demanded. Many 

 were without definite localities and a 

 much larger number without date of 

 collecting. Little was then known or 

 could readily be learned from the ma- 

 terial then available, regarding the 

 striking seasonal changes of coloration 

 that characterize these animals. In 

 recent years this has been made a 

 matter of careful investigation, and 

 new light has thus been thrown upon 

 the character of otherwise misleading 

 specimens. With now about four 



