MAMMALS OF NORTHERN COLOMBIA—HERSHKOVITZ 11 
The material from the two stations was collected as follows: 
Guaimaral__________ 27 specimens___-__ Aug. 20-Sept. 28, 1942. 
Genad. Ghviegtie 2) fees 30 specimens__-__- Oct. 3—Nov. 2, 1942. 
RO ee eer Eros 9 specimens______ Mar. 31—April 9, 1943. 
In comparing the first 2 groups, which were taken during a con- 
tinuous period, most apparent is the fact that the second group 
averages darker (reddish) than the first (orangeous). A comparison 
of the first 10 adults taken at Guaimaral (August 20-24) with 10 adults 
taken at Cesar in practically the same length of time 2 months later 
(October 21-24) reveals the following differences: 
Guaimaral: Pelage thin and, in seven specimens, very worn. Nine specimens 
distinctly mottled orangeous and reddish; the tenth, in old worn pelage, uniformly 
reddish. No distinct molt line evident. 
Cesar: Pelage thick and, in most cases, new throughout the body of each individ- 
ual. Mottling subdued, the color nearly uniformly reddish in seven specimens, 
orangeous in two, and mottled orangeous and reddish in one. 
The specimens taken during the intervening time show, in general, 
the following succession: 
(1) A mixture of new orangeous and old reddish pelage; and old reddish pelage 
giving way to new orangeous pelage; molt line present (to September 6). 
(2) New orangeous pelage becoming reddish (to October 12). 
(3) Prime red pelage with a few individuals in new orangeous pelage (to 
November 2). 
The third and last group taken from the Cesar (9 specimens, 
March 31—April 9) confirms the above succession of an actual change 
in color phase. This group agrees with the Guaimaral series in being 
paler than the other Cesar group. It shows the reddish pelage old 
and worn being replaced by a new orangeous pelage. 
In connection with the author’s observations on the rainfall at these 
collecting stations, the following conclusions may be drawn: During 
the height of the rainy season (October and November) the pelage 
is prime, reddish. In the ensuing dry season (December—April 
[May and June]), the pelage becomes old and begins to be replaced 
by a new orangeous one. The condition during the rainy season 
which follows (to August) is not known but, judged from what 
follows, the new orangeous becomes prime reddish. During the short 
dry season, or ‘‘veranillo”’ (August, September), the reddish begins 
to molt and is replaced by new orangeous, which in turn, when the 
rainy season is resumed (September), becomes prime reddish again. 
To this may be added that the color of the tail appears to undergo 
the same changes but lags, in time, behind those of the rest of the body. 
The mottled condition, so often referred to here and in succeeding 
pages, may either result from the molé of reddish- to orangeous- 
colored pelage, or the change in color from orangeous to reddish, or 
it may be a characteristic of the individual color pattern quite 
independent of the first two factors. 
