PROCYONID^ 225 



instances of their being taken in the San Bernardino Mountains, 

 and none further south. They frequent forests in the mountains. 

 My only personal acquaintance with this species consists in trap- 

 ping a pair on Eel River, Mendocino County. One of these we 

 kept alive a few hours to observe its actions and make a drawing 

 of it. This one permitted stroking and considerable handling, 

 though it once nipped Mr. Fenns thumb severely when he handled 

 it too freely. 



The tracks were cat-like, not full footed like those of a rac- 

 coon. One that I got a brief look at before I put out the traps 

 acted much like a fox. I heard a hoarse fox-like bark o^ne night 

 that I attributed to one of these animals. This pair inhabited a 

 mass of boulders on a liillside thickly overgrown with brush, 

 making a fine shelter. In dying the male emitted a weasel-hke 

 odor, not strong yet disagreeable. They are said to make nests 

 in hollow trees. They are sometimes tamed by miners and become 

 valued pets, as they keep the cabins free of mice. My female, 

 caught May i6th. contained three small foetuses. They are said 

 to rear four kittens more often. The miners often call this 

 animal the Civet Cat, but that name properly belongs tO' a differ- 

 ent animal. 



Genus Procyon Storr.. (Before; dog.) 

 Plantigrade; size rather large; body stout; ears rather small; 

 tail about half as long as head and body, annulated; skull strongly 

 arched; sectorial teeth modified, scarcely more than tuberculate; 

 palate extending back about half way from last molar to audital 

 bullae. 



Dental formula, I, 3 — 3 ; C, i — i ; P, 4 — 4; M, 2 — 2, X2=40. 



Procyon psora Gray. (Itch.) 



CALIFORNIA RACCOON. 



Above yellowish gray more or less heavily darkened by long 

 black tips to the coarse hairs ; underfur seal brown or hair brown ; 



