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U. S. P. R R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



distinct terminal tuft of white. Another skin from Louisiana is similar, but lacks the terminal 

 tuft. Wherever there is a white tuft in specimens, it is constituted by hairs about six inches 

 long springing from the end of the vertebrae, the longest black hairs in the same region being 

 only half this length. 



I have never seen a skunk having so much white on the back as figured by Lichtenstein, 

 though this may be a common variety. The Middleboro' specimens mentioned above, and still 

 more the western ones, 206 and 1864, agree pretty well in markings with the Mephitis 

 mesomelas of Lichtenstein, but are totally distinct in lacking the hairy sole. 



Measurements. 



A specimen collected by Dr. Suckley, on the Bois des Sioux, Minnesota, is of very large size, 

 exceeding in bulk quite a large cat. The head, as usual, is small in proportion to the body. 

 The ears are distinct and quite conspicuous ; less so, however, than in the weasels. They are 

 thinly coated, on both sides, with short hairs. The feet are large. The front claws are consid 

 erably larger than the hinder ones ; the central three about equal, but the third projecting 

 furthest on account of the longer toe ; the fifth smaller, reaching to the middle of the fourth ; 

 the first smallest, extending to the base of the second. The entire palms and soles are naked 

 throughout, the skin roughened and horny. 



The tail is bushy and full but rather short, the vertebrae scarcely half the head and body. 

 The hairs on the tail are long, full, and bristly, measuring in places seven inches in length. 

 On the body there is a basal coat of coarse woolly fur with longer hairs interspersed. 



The body generally is of a rather lustrous brownish black. There is a narrow median white 

 line on the top of the head extending to the occiput. On the nape begins a rather broad stripe 

 of white which bifurcates at an acute angle over the shoulders, and passing along the upper 

 part of the sides extends a short distance on the sides of the tail where it disappears ; between 

 the white stripes the black of back and tail are continuous. The rest of the tail appears black, 

 but many of the hairs are seen to be grayish for most of their length from the base. 



This specimen is much larger than the average of common skunks, measuring twenty-one 

 inches to the root of the tail, the vertebrae of which are nine ; its skull is much larger than 

 that of any eastern specimen I have seen. The fur is thinner and rather softer, though this 

 may be the effect of season. The ears are larger. Although the skulls of the skunks vary 

 little, yet there are here certain characters distinguishing the western specimens from the eastern. 

 Thus with the same breadth between the zygomata the cranium is narrower and tapers more 

 acutely behind. The last two upper molars are considerably larger in proportion, and the 

 penultimate one has the outer side of its cross section longer. A similar difference of size is dis 

 cernible in the lower jaw. I have had no opportunity to examine skins illustrating the western 

 form except the one referred to, and one recently received, 1864, agreeing with it in color. 



The common American skunk possesses a very wide range, and is especially abundant 



