26 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. [no. 19. 



Measurements. — Total length 3^)5; tail 180; hind foot (measured 

 dry) 41. Skull: Occipitouasal length 40; zygomatic breadth 35; 

 postorbital con.striction 10. 



Remarks. — This species is distinguished from both 8. sdbrinus and 

 S. al2)inu.s by its large size and very long tail, but it is also ver}^ dif- 

 ferent from either in color. It is evidently a ver}" rare squirrel, as 

 the type and one topotype are the only specimens known. A speci- 

 men from Chilkoot Inlet which ma}" possil)ly be this species has been 

 recorded l)y Dr. George M. Dawson.^ Camp Davidson is the north- 

 ernmost point at which the genus Sciuropterus is known to occur. The 

 type and one other specimen were secured by R. E. Carson, who was 

 a member of the boundary survey part}^ of the l^. S. Coast and (leo- 

 detic Survey under J. E. McGrath, in 1890. Dr. W. W. Kingsbury, 

 also a member of the party, writes me as follows in regard to these 

 specimens: 



I send you the following notes taken from my journal regarding two Flying Squir- 

 rels which were captured l)y a member of our party while in Alaska, in 1890; their 

 skins were sent to the National Museum at Washington. 



The female was caught Dec. 8th, 1890, and the male Dec. 9th, 1890. Both squirrels 

 were caught in a trap known as the 'dead fall,' which was set by R. E. Carson for 

 marten. The traps were set in the bed of a frozen stream, where it ran through 

 a clump of spruce trees about one-fourth of a mile back from the Yukon river. 

 This clump of trees is about 2J miles east of the International boundary line, and 

 on the east bank of the Yukon river. 



We showed these skins to both McQuesten and Mayo, two traders who had been 

 in that country over twenty years, and who said that they had seen Flying Squirrels 

 along the Yukon river quite a number of times before, and had also seen them at 

 Ft. Reliance and Ft. Yukon; but had not seen any of them for a number of }'ears 

 before this date. We also showed the skins to an Indian, who said these squirrels 

 would attac'k a man by flying in his face, and the Indians would not eat them 

 because the squirrels ate dirt. 



During the winter and spring of that year, I hunted very carefully in the vic-inity 

 where these squirrels were captured, but failed to find further ti-ace of them. The 

 stomachs of both of these squirrels were empty. The traps in which they were 

 caught were set for martens, and two or three had been caught, but none were caught 

 in tl>ese traps after the squirrels were captured. 



Sciurus hudsonicus Erxleben. Hudson Bay Red Squirrel. 



All the red squirrels from the Yukon basin and northern Alaska, as 

 far as can be determined at present, are referable to Sciurus kudsoni- 

 cus ' proper,' although those from the Upper Yukon show considerable 

 tendency toward 8. h. streatori. Most of the Yukon specimens are 

 in summer pelage, while the few available specimens from eastern 

 Canada and the vicinity of Hudson Bay are in winter pelage, so that 

 close comparison is not possible. Specimens from various points 

 along the Yukon from Bennett to Nulato have been examined. The 



' Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey of Canada, Annual Report, III (1887-88), pt. 1, 50 A, 

 1889. 



