SYNONYMY OF MEPHITIS PUTORIUS. 239 



The Little StripecB SEiHRli. 



^lepliitis (Si»ilo^nlo) piitoriiis. (I^.) 



Plates XII, XIII, XIV. ' 



Viverra piltoriUS, L. S. N. i. lOth ed. 1758, 44, no. 3; i. 1766, 64, no. 4 (partly. Based priraaiily 

 UT^ou Pub irius americanus striatus, Catesb. Car. ii. 1731, 62, pi. 62. Quotes also Kalm, 

 Itin. ii. 378. Includes syns. and descr. of V. mempJdtis of lOth ed. Diajrnosis agrees 

 suliiciently with Spilogale; general bearing rather upun 2[ephitis mephitica) . — Gm. 

 S. X. i. 1788, 87, no. 4 (partly). 



Spilog:a!e putorius, Coues, Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geogr. Surv, Terr. 2d ser. no. 1, 1875, p. 12 

 (skull and teeth). 



jMcphitis iliterriipta, liaf- Ann. Nat. 1818, 3, no. 4 ("Louisiana").— iess. Man. 1827, 152, no. 

 411.— Gnf. An. Kingd. v. 1827, 129, no. 35f>r.—Fisch. Syn. 1829, \62—Licht. Abh. Akad. 

 Wiss. Berl. 183(3 (18^8), 2t3, pi. 2, f. l.—Schmz, Syn. i. 1844, 325, no. l(i. (All after liaji- 

 nesque.) 



Spilogale interrupta, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, 150; Cat. Cam. Br. LIus. 1869, — . 



Mephitis biCOior, Gray, Mag. N. H. i. 1837, 581.— Baud, M. X.A. 1857, Idl.—rarker, Am. Xat. 

 iv. 1870, 376; iv. 1871, 761 (Iowa, andprobably New York).— 4??«n, Bull. M. C. Z. ii. 1871, 

 169 (Florida, common).— J/err. U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr. 1872, 6C2 (Idaho). 



Mephitis zorilla, Licht. Abh Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1836 (pub. 1838), pi. 2, t 2 (not of Licht., 

 Darst. pi. 48, f. 2, which is an African species — whether the Zorille of Bill'., xiii. 1765, 

 302, pi. 41 V.).— Wngn. Suppl. Schreber, ii. 1841, 199, pi. 123.— Schinz, Syn. i. 1844, 325, uo. 

 15.— Aud. (CBach. Q. N. A. iii. 1854, 276 (tab. nulla). 



Mephitis americana var. R., Desm. Mamm. i. 1820, 187 (= interrupta Raf.). 



Mephitis quaterliuearis/ E. W. TFinans, writing from Williamsport, Kans., in a (Kansas?) 

 newspaper, name unknown, date 18.59.* 



*My endeavors to complete the reference, aud thus phice the syuouym 

 properly on record, have been uuavailiug. The newspaper clippiug wliicli 

 came into my possession does not include even the name of the paper — 

 nothing but a date, " 1859", in MS., which I recognize as that of Prof. Baird, 

 who, however, has no recollection of the source of the clip. The followiug 

 is the article in full, with typography copied as closely as possible : — 



"Mephitis Quaterlinearis.— Win.— Four-striped Skunk. 

 ''dental fokmala. 



"Incisive 6-6; Canine 1-1—1-1 ; Molar 4-4— 5-5 == 34. 



•' From point of nose to end of tail, vertebrae, 22i inches. 



*' From heel to top of shoulder, 4|. 



" Length of hair in end of tail, 4^. 



" Middle toe nail, |. 



•' General color, pure black ; a spot of white on either side of the head be- 

 tween the eye and ear, another between the eyes, making three on the head. 

 Four parallel lines of white about one fourth of an inch in breadth aud three- 

 fourths of an inch apart, have their origon about the posterior part of the 

 head, the two upper originally on either side of the occiput, while the two 

 lower have their commencement behind aud at the lower part of each ear, 

 all of which are carried directly backward to the posterior ribs, where the 

 lower lines termiuate aud the upper curving downward aud forward then 

 rather ascend to the hind part of the shoulder where they descend one iuch 

 to the elbow joint. A transverse band of white crosses the fore part of the 

 hips with an interruption of one iuch at the side of the back. A spot of 



