68 



THE MUSEUM. 



times the number of specimens in 

 hand, nearly all of satisfactory char- 

 acter, it is a pleasure to again retrace 

 the work of two decades ago; ana 

 while the material is still grossly in- 

 adequate, it suffices to amend at many 

 points former erroneous conclusions. 

 For example, there are very few spec- 

 imens as yet available from New Mex- 

 ico and Utah, practically none from 

 Nevada, and important areas of large 

 extent in Oregon, Washington and 

 British Columbia are unrepresented as 

 are also some of the outlying buttes 

 and mountain ranges east of the Rocky 

 Mountains in Montana and Wyoming. 



The sub-genus Taniiasciiirus is a 

 compact group, its members present- 

 ing many features in common, while 

 others are distinctively characteristic 

 of particular sections of the group. 

 The 17 types here recognized cluster 

 around three principal types from 

 which they have obviously been de- 

 rived, namely: Sciiirus /iitchoniciis, 

 Sciurus frcinonti and Sciiirus doiig- 

 lasii. These three types, so far as 

 now appears, do not intergrade, al- 

 though obviously derived from a com- 

 mon ancester, at some not very re- 

 mote period. 



All the forms undergo marked seas- 

 onal changes in color, but they are 

 approximately parallel in all the 

 forms, so that when onct understood 

 for one form, a key is available for 

 the others. In winter the ears are 

 rather prominently tufted, but they 

 are tuftless at the height of summer 

 pelage. The soles of the feet are 

 heavily furred in winter, especially at 

 the northward, and comparatively 

 naked in summer. In winter the pelage 

 is much thicker, longer and softer than 

 in summer, there being two annual 

 moults. The winter pelage is retain- 

 ed until late in the season, especially 

 at the northward and in the mountain- 

 ous districts, where the winter coat 

 remains practically intact, though 

 more or less worn and bleached, until 

 June, and more or less of it often re- 

 mains till late in July. The acquisition 



of the full summer pelage is thus de- 

 layed till late in August or even later, 

 and the new winter coat is not much 

 developed till into November, and is 

 usually not perfect till late in Decem- 

 ber. The black lateral line, present in 

 all the forms in, summer, is irregularly 

 obsolete in winter, sometimes only a 

 trace lingering, while sometimes (ap- 

 parently in animals born the previous 

 year) it is well pronounced and several 

 of the western forms is never so much 

 obscured in winter as it is at the same 

 season in the eastern forms. 



Sciurus liudsonicHS, (Exrl. j North- 

 ern Chickaree: Range, Northern 

 New England, Northern New York, 

 Northern Ontario and Northern Min- 

 nesota, northward including Alaska 

 north of the Alaska mountains. Prob- 

 ably also outlying areas in the Adiron- 

 dack region and in parts of the Ap- 

 palachian Highlands. Toward the 

 southern border of this general area, 

 it generally merges into 5. /ludsoni- 

 cus loquax. Winter pelage. Above 

 with a brown medium band of rufous, 

 varying from light yellowish rufous, 

 extending from top of head nearly to 

 end of tail: sides of body and outer 

 surface of limbs to the toes olivaceous 

 gray, the hairs plumbeous at base, 

 then alternately ringed with a very pale 

 tint of yellowish and black, and slight- 

 ly tipped with black; ear tufts dusky, 

 the hairs slightly tipped with rufous. 

 Below, grayish white and conspicu- 

 ously ringed with black, giving a gen- 

 eral greyish effect. Tail above with a 

 broad central area of yellowish rufous, 

 bordered with a band of black, widen- 

 ing at the tip into a broad sub-termin- 

 al bar, with a conspicuous outer fringe 

 of pale yellowish rufous, lighter than 

 the central area; below the outer 

 fringe nearly as above. Post-breed- 

 ing or summer pelage, whole upper 

 surface, including flanks, pale yellow- 

 ish rufous, strongest and brightest on 

 outer surface of limbs and feet; a con- 

 spicuous black lateral line; ventral 

 surface pure white; ears like the back 

 and without ear tufts; tail colored 



