58 NELSON 



SCIURUS COLLI^I Richardson. Collie's Squirrel. 



Sciuriis collicei Bachman, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 95, 1838 (nomen 



nudum) ; Richardson, *Voy. of H. M. S. Blossom, Zool., pp. 8-9. pi. 



I, 1839; Bachman, Charlesworth's Mag. Nat. Hist., iii, p. 334, July, 



1839; AuD. & Bach., Quad. N. Am., in, pp. 21-23, pl- civ, 1851 ; 



Allen, Mon. N. Am. Rodentia, pp. 738-740, 1877 (part : specimens 



from San Bias, Mexico). 

 Macroxus collicei Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser. , xx, pp. 421-422, 



1867 (part : var. 3, Mexico). 

 Scitirus hypopyrrhus Alston, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1878, pp. 662-664 



(part); Allen, Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey Terr., iv, pp. 881-882, 1878 



(part). 



Type locality — San Bias, Tepic, Mexico. Type in British Museum. 



Distribution. — Arid tropical lowlands and lower slopes of adjacent 

 mountains from northern border qjf Tepic south to Bay of Banderas 

 (below 2500 feet). 



Characters. — Body large and slender ; upperparts dull yellowish 

 gray or dark grayish ; legs and feet grayer ; underparts white. Pelage 

 rather thin; hair on back harsh; under fur long and thin; tail long and 

 rather full. Teats : p. j- a. |^ i. \. 



Color. — Top of nose iron gray ; rest of upperparts and base of tail 

 all around nearly uniform dull yellowish gray or brownish gray shaded 

 with black, darkest on crown ; lower border of flanks and sides of 

 shoulders rather grayer than back ; outside of legs distinctly grayer 

 than back ; feet usually paler or more whitish than legs ; side of head 

 dull grayish ; ring around eye paler or more whitish ; ears usually 

 somewhat yellower or browner than crown, with basal patch of dingy 

 whitish or yellowish white ; underparts white, sometimes pure and 

 sometimes darkened by the plumbeous under fur showing through ; 

 tail above black, washed with white ; below, with broad median area 

 dark grizzled black and yellowish gray, or black, dull gray and yel- 

 lowish brown, with narrow indistinct border of black, edged with 

 white. Hairs of back black, with rather narrow subterminal or me- 

 dian ring varying from pale buffy to brownish %xa.y. 



Variation. — The variation in the San Bias series is small and 

 confined mainly to the intensity of the yellowish or buffy of the 

 back ; some specimens have the feet and toes whiter than others and 

 are grayer on the flanks. Some spring and summer specimens have 

 a curious scorched, rusty brown color on the back, as if burned by 

 the sun. 



Measurements. — Average of five adults from type locality: total 

 length 506.4; tail vertebrae 264.6 ; hind foot 65. 



