196 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID^. 



Moufetie d'AinCriqiie, Less. &c. &c. 

 Fi»<ikalta, Surdish. 

 Bt-te l)liantc, French. 

 Stinkttiier, Gennan. 



(h. mesomelas.) 



MephitiSinesoinelas,iicA^Darst. Siiiig. 1827-34, pi. 55, f.2; Abh.Ak. Wise. Berl, forl836,1838, 

 277.— J/rtrim. Reise, i. 1839, 240 ; Arch. Naturg. xxvii. 1861, 218; Verz. N. A. Siiug. 1862, 

 •36.—Schinz, Syn. i. 1844, 322, uo. 11.— -St. Hil. Zool. Voy. V6uus, i. 1855, 133, pi. —.—Bd. M. 

 X. A. 1857, 199 (after Licht.). 



Mephitis mesonicles, Gen: Cat. Bones Br. Mas. 1862, 97. 



Mephitis OCCideutaliS,^ti. M. K A. 1857, idi.—Newb. P. R. R. Rep. vi. 1857, 4i.—Coop. d- Suck. 

 N.H.AV.T. 1860, 116. 



Mephitis inephitica var. occidciltalis, 2[ernam, TJ. S. Geol. Svirv. Terr, for 1872, 1873, 662. 



Mephitis varians var. a, Gray, P. Z. S, 1865, 148 ; Cat. Cain. Br. Mus. 1869, — . 



(c. varians.) 



Mephitis variaus, Gray, Mag. X. H. i. 837, 581.— Gray, List Mamm. Br. Mus. 1843, 68.— Bd. M. 



X. A. 1857, 193 ; Mex. B. Surv. ii. pt. ii, 1859, Mamm. 19.— Gerr. Cat. Bones Br. Mas. 1862, 



91.— Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 148 ; Cat. Cam. Br. Mus. 1869, — . 

 Mephitis macroura, Aud. d- Bach. Q. X. A. ill, 1853, 11, pi. 102.— Woodh. Sitgr. Rep. 1853, 44. 



(But not of Lichtenstein.) 



Hab. — Entire temperate North America. North to Hudsoii's Bay and Great 

 Slave Lake. South into Mexico (Matamoras, Monterey). 



Specific characters. — Black or blackish ; a frontal streak, nuchal spot, 

 aud two dorsal stripes white ; tail black, more or less mixed with white or 

 white-tipped. Tail with hairs not as long as head and body ; the vertebrae 

 about half this dimension. Length from nose to root of tail over one foot ; 

 soles about 2^ inches. 



Description of extetmal characters.* 



Tlie Skuuk is a stoutly built animal, with a small head, low 

 ears, and short limbs, the trunk thick-set aud especially large 

 behind, the back naturally arched as well as broad -, tail long 

 and very bushy. The head is pointedly conoidal, with a con- 

 vex frontal profile and sloping occiput j there is little of the 

 breadth and depression characteristic of the Weasels, the 

 regular conoid being nearly expressed. The eye is small, aud 

 nearer the nose than ear. The nasal pad is of considerable size, 

 and protuberant, definitely naked for a closely circumscribed 

 area, the outline nearly circular; the face of the muffle is bevelled 

 a little obliquely downward and backward j the nostrils are 

 chiefly lateral, but their anterior extremity is visible from the 

 front. The ears are low, though the pinna is decidedly better 

 developed than in Conepatus ; the general set of the conch is 

 rather backward than upward, as its anterior extremity is 

 inserted little below the highest point of the brim ; the contour 



*From a large series of specimens in the Smithsonian Institution from 

 various portions of North America. 



