698 SCIURIDAE—SCIURUS 
it gradually supersedes the old coat, which remains longest on the 
rump and the backs of the thighs. Notwithstanding this general 
sequence a patch on the occiput may be latest, and another small patch 
on the centre of the rump may be the earliest to change. The spring 
change is remarkable for its “patchy” progress. The summer coat is 
usually borne until towards the end of October; but a specimen killed 
at Kilmanock on 20th November 1898 still retained it, the body-fur 
being thin and reddish, and the tail bleached. 
The wzxter body-coat is long and soft, the hairs inconspicuously 
annulated with brown and dull white, their length about 25 mm. 
on the rump. It makes its first appearance towards the end of 
October, and almost immediately starts to bleach, a process continued 
steadily throughout the winter until the whole animal, with the 
exception of its rufous limbs, reaches in February or March a uniform 
dull yellow or drab tint. The spring change to the new coat usually 
occurs before it can reach the stage of cream colour attained by 
the tail. 
The ¢az/-hairs have a cycle running for twelve months from July or 
August, at which time they make their first appearance as a short 
blackish covering amongst the roots of their ragged and bleached 
predecessors. In September, or earlier, they become visible externally, 
and begin to replace the bleached hairs. Almost immediately after 
the new growth is completed, they commence to bleach and pass 
through various shades of brown, pale brown, dull yellowish-brown, 
until by the following June, July, or August, sometimes even in April, 
they are almost white. Animals in an intermediate condition present 
an interesting appearance, in which the tail may be more or less 
piebald, the middle third of its breadth dusky, with a fringe on each 
side of ragged, bleached hairs. 
Bleaching starts at the tail-tip, which is rarely seen in the full 
brown condition, and proceeds bodywards. At the same time the hairs 
gradually wear down or fall out, so that the old tail-coat is thin and 
poor. The new growth takes place from the body end and reaches the 
terminal hairs last. 
There is no evidence of a regular spring renewal of the tail-hairs. 
But at least one specimen (mentioned by Thomas), killed on 24th May, 
shows a growth of new hairs, which, however, may represent a case of 
very early renewal for autumn, and exactly resembles autumn skins, 
The hairs of the ear-tufts follow the cycle of those of the tail. They 
are first noticeable in September, at which time they are dark brown. 
1 One with the tail in a transitional condition was seen at Kilmanock on 
21st July 1895, and another with a white tail at the same place on 22nd December 
1893. Specimens with dark tails in August are recorded by Butterfield, Zoologist, 
1896, 348, and G, W. Smith, zdz@., 376. 
