724. MONOGRAPHS OF NORTH AMERICAN RODENTIA. 
adopt niger as the specific name of the group. The next most prominent name 
of the Southern Fox Squirrel, and next in date, is vu/pinus of Gmelin, which 
Professor Baird adopted for this form in place of the later one, capistratus, 
of Bosc. The latter, however, has been often employed for its designation 
by both American and foreign authors, and is the name adopted by Bachman. 
The Northern Fox Squirrel has commonly borne the name cinereus, 
which is unquestionably the name to be adopted for its varietal designation, 
although it has been also applied by various authors to S. carolinensis. Aside 
from vulpinus of Schreber (nec Gmelin), it has no very prominent synonyms. 
The Western Fox Squirrel was first described by Custis, in 1806, 
under the name /udovicianus. In consequence of the great variability in 
color this form presents, it was subsequently redescribed under eight or ten 
different specific designations, several of which have been at times more or 
Jess current for particular phases of coloration, generally supposed to rep- 
resent forms specifically distinct from ¢@udovicianus of Custis. The more 
prominent among them are rufiventer of Geoffroy, used by Desmarest and 
Harlan, the latter referring to it a specimen from New Orleans; macrowra of 
Say, applied to examples from Eastern Kansas, which name, being preoccu- 
pied, was changed by Harlan to magnicaudatus, and adopted by Bachman 
and others in place of /udovicianus. Bachman applied the name subauratus 
to specimens received from Louisiana, and auduboni to black-bellied speci- 
mens from the same State. Audubon and Bachman gave the name say? to 
specimens from the Missouri River, rubicaudus to Illinois and Kentucky 
specimens, and occidentalis to dusky specimens supposed to have come from 
the Pacific coast, but which these authors later referred to their S. audubone. 
Baird gave the name /imitis to the pale form of the Plains from Western 
‘Texas, based partly at least on small size resulting from immaturity, as shown 
by his types. More recently, Dr. Engelmann has described melanistic speci- 
mens from Saint Louis under the varietal name atroventris. 
The S. variegatus of Erxleben has generally been applied to some of 
the Mexican species, it being based partly on the Quahtecallotlquapachtl aut 
Cotztiocotequallin®* of Fernandez, and partly upon the Coguadlin of Buffon.t 
The latter, as first pointed out by M. F. Cavier, is certainly the Southern 
Fox Squirrel GS. niger var. niger), as shown by its white nose and white 
* Nov. Hisp. p. 8. + Hist. Nat. vol. xiii, p. 109, pl. xiii. 
