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



that of P. lotor a grayish white, just the reverse of what is stated by the above authors. The 

 greater purity of the white marks on the face in P. hernandezii I have not been able to appreciate. 



Of the existence within the limits of the United States of the Procyon cancrivorus, as stated 

 by Audubon and Bachman, I can find no trace. The figure given by these authors is taken 

 from a specimen in the British Museum brought from South America, and the description from 

 one in the Charleston Museum, likewise extra limital. Their notice of the habits and peculiari 

 ties of the California raccoon refers, in all probability, to the P. hernandezii, as this is the only 

 species yet detected among the many California raccoons brought in by the different expeditions. 

 The P. psora of Gray, from the Sacramento river, is, I suspect, a bleached or faded specimen 

 of the same species, with a mutilated tail, as the generic characters of Procyon are partly 

 wanting. 



The P. obscurus and brachyurus of Wiegmann I am not able to identify ; it is quite probable 

 that they do not belong to North America. The characters assigned of very indistinct annula- 

 tion on the tail of the one, and of extreme brevity of tail in the other, are scarcely sufficient to 

 establish them as true species. 



From the evidence at present at our command, it would seem that the Mexican raccoon is 

 abundant as far north as the Rio Grande of Texas, and west to the Pacific, where it ranges 

 north as far as Cape Flattery, or Puget's Sound, and possibly even further. The line of demar 

 cation between this and the P. lotor to the eastward is not yet ascertained. 



Measurements. 



List of specimens. 



