RODENTIA SCIURIXAE SCIURUS VULPINUS. 247 



and more cylindrical tail. The tail, with the hairs, is appreciably longer than the body, the 

 vertebral portion shorter. 



The fur is very coarse and harsh, with little under fur, as would naturally be expected from 

 its southern habitat. The ears are short and almost buried in the fur of the nape ; they are 

 moderately coated with hair, and there is a woolly tuft at the base of the ear behind. The soles 

 are naked in summer, in winter coated with short hairs, except on the long callosity on the 

 inner edge of the sole and near and on the tubercles at the bases of the toes. 



Among the specimens before me the following variations of color occur : 



1. Entirely black. No annulation on any of the hairs, even on the tail. Muzzle,, end of 

 chin and ears whitish ; feet grizzled grayish white towards the claws, soles naked. No. 344 

 South Carolina. 



2. Black, except the sides of body from the armpits and the posterior half of the back, 

 which are annotated, grizzled reddish or rusty white and black ; darkest along the median 

 line. Tail white on the exterior, then black ; bases of the hairs pale rufous. Ears and nose 

 whitish ; toes grizzled ; soles naked. 1634, Florida. No. 2350, from New Orleans, is similar, 

 with more gray above and on the sides ; the tail redder. 



3. Grizzled gray and black above ; white beneath. Head black. Hairs of tail white, with 

 a median broad annulation of black. No rufous anywhere. Ears and nose white. Feet 

 grizzled whitish. Soles hairy between the tubercles nearly to the end of the metatarsus. 

 No. 95, southern States. 1483, Columbus, Georgia. This last specimen has two annuli of 

 black on the tail instead of one. 



4. White beneath, grizzled gray and black above, varying in the series to grizzled rusty and 

 black. Top of head grizzled black ; region of ears, a narrow line along the flanks, and the 

 light portion of the caudal hairs pale rusty. Ears and nose white. A small patch of hairs 

 only in the centre of the sole. Numbers 1281, 1282, 1283, 1284, Tarboro', N. C. 



5. Similar to series 3, with a wash of rusty above, pale rusty beneath and on the tail. Ears 

 and nose white. Soles naked beneath. No. 1633 ; Florida. 



6. Similar to the last, but still redder beneath the tail, with a great deal of black ; the lighter 

 portion of a dark purplish chestnut. No. 2349, New Orleans; Nos. 1280, 1285, Tarboro', N. C. 



The above variations, though probably far from all that the species presents, are yet sufficient 

 to exhibit the great differences of different specimens, scarcely two of which are exactly alike. 

 According to Dr. Bachman,,our highest authority on American squirrels, certain localities are 

 characterized by the existence of fox squirrels of particular colors, which, at times, appear to 

 present tolerably permanent varieties, although, according to the same author, nothing is more 

 common than to find the same litter composed of gray, black, and fox-colored young. 



This unquestioned identity of species in the great variations of color in the southern fox 

 squirrel is of great importance, as furnishing a test by which to determine the validity of the 

 many species of North American squirrels, based merely on differences of color ; and has a 

 particular reference to those black squirrels of the north, in which the color is uniform glossy 

 black, without any trace of annulation anywhere. This character, however, is found equally in 

 the southern fox squirrel, which, like the other species, passes through specimens in which the 

 annulation is seen on a part of the body only to those where every hair exhibits it. 



The skull of this species is longer, although considerably more slender, than that of the cat 

 squirrel. Like it, it has but four permanent molars on either side of the upper jaw, except, 

 perhaps, in very young individuals. 



