RODENTIA SCIURINAE SCIURUS DOUGLASSII. 276 



SCIUKUS DOUGLASSII, Bach. 



Oregon Red Squirrel. 



Stittms douglassii, ("GRAY,") 1 BACHMAN, Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond. VI, 1838, 99. IB. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Pbila. VIII, 

 i, 1839, 63. IB. Charlesworth's Mag. N. H. in, 1839, 331. IB. Townsend's Narrative, 

 1829, 317. 



WAGNER, Suppl. Schreb. Saug. Ill, 1843, 177. 

 SCHINZ, Syn. Mam. II, 1845, 10. 



("BACH.") AUD. &BACH. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 370; pi. xlviii. 



Sdurus tou-nsendii, BACH. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. VIII, i, 1839, 63. (Quoted from Mss.) 

 f Sdurus mollipilosus, ADD & BACH. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. I, Oct. 1841, 102. IB. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. 



VIII, n, 1842, 316. IB. N. Am. Quad. I, 1849, 157 ; pi. xix. 

 Sdurus bekheri, J. E. GRAY, Ann. & Mag. N. H. X, 1842, 263. IB. Zoology of the Sulphur, 1844, 33 ; pi xii, 



fig. 2. 

 Sdurus suekleyi, BAIRD, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phila. VII, April, 1855, 333. 



Size that of Sdurus hudsonius, or a little larger. Ears well tufted ; tail shorter than the body, scarcely flattened. Soles 

 naked in the centre. Above dull rusty, and black, mixed ; the latter quite predominant ; beneath, clear bright buff, 

 without mixture of dark or annulated hairs. A dark stripe on th sides. Tail dull chestnut centrally, darker above ; then 

 black and margined all round with rusty white. Hairs at tip of tail entirely black, except at their extremity. 



More northern specimens in winter have the soles densely hairy to the toes, the fur much fuller and softer, the under 

 parts with dusky annulations, the general hue grayer. Size about that of S. hudsonius, or a little larger. Head short, 

 broad. Whiskers longer than the head ; black. Thumb, a mere callosity ; fingers well developed; the central two longest 

 and nearly equal ; the inner rather longer than the outer ; claws large, compressed, and much curved ; palms naked. On 

 the hind feet the inner toe is shortest, reaching only to the base of the claw of the outer, which comes next in size ; the 

 fourth is longest, the third and second little shorter. Claws all large and much curved. In summer the soles are naked, 

 except along the edges and the extreme heel ; in other words, there is a narrow central line of naked skin from near the 

 heel ; they are more hairy in winter. The ears arc moderate, with short close hairs on their concavity ; the back of the 

 ear is covered with long hairs, those near the upper margin longest, and projecting beyond nearly five lines in some 

 specimens; these tufts are nearly black. The tail is small, shorter than the body, moderately flattened; the hairs 

 rather short, and, as on the rest of the body, coarse and stiff. 



The general color of the pelage above is uniform mixed dark rusty and black, the annula- 

 tion being very fine, The hairs are lead color at the base and then annulated with black and 

 rusty. Eyelids, sides of the nose, exterior surfaces of the legs, and whole under parts bright 

 buff. A broad distinct black line on the side between the legs, separating the colors of the 

 sides from the belly. The tail is not "foxy;" the central portion above is much like the 

 back, though with coarser annulations ; black at the end, where, as on the sides, it is 

 margined with dull or pale rusty white ; beneath it is very similar. At the end of the tail the 

 individual hairs are very dark brown at the base, shading into black, and tipped for about 

 one-fourth the whole length with pale rusty white. On the sides the hairs are dark plumbeous 

 at base, then dull chestnut or rusty ; then black and tipped with rusty white. Here, however, 

 as on other parts of the body, these annulated hairs are mixed up with others nearly black, 

 except at tip. 



The hairs of the under parts of the body are lead colored at base, then uniform buff, without 

 any annulation whatever. 



Finding a considerable difference to exist between the specimens collected on Puget's Sound 

 and those from the Columbia River, I characterized the former, two years ago, under the name 

 of Sdurus suckleyi. A very large number of specimens received subsequently has, however, 



i In the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, IV, October, 1836, page 88, Gray names a squirrel from the 

 northwest coast of America, Sdurus dauglassii, but gives no description whatever. 



