NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 109 



It is said to live on grasses and the leaves of low shrubs, 

 whence conies its local name of "grazee" in use among the 

 Negroes. It would be worth while to restrict, if possible, the 

 hunting of the species in its mountain habitat in order to 

 protect it from extinction as long as may be. Since 1922 it has 

 been accorded full legal protection (Journ. Soc. Pres. Fauna 

 Empire, pt. 2, p. 15, 1922). 



Whether any other species of this genus or of the allied 

 Capromys ever occurred on Jamaica is uncertain. However, 

 Miller (1916a) reports that, in examining a few bones recovered 

 from ancient burial sites near Salt River, jaws of two sizes of 

 hutia were found. Although without teeth, the larger of these 

 seemed identical with the living Geocapromys brownii, while 

 the smaller, with obviously reduced last molar, was indis- 

 tinguishable from the mandible of Geocapromys thoracatus of 

 Swan Island. 



SWAN ISLAND HUTIA 



GEOCAPROMYS THORACATUS (True) 



Capromys brachyurus thoracatus True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 11, p. 469, 1888 

 (" Little Swan Island . . . entrance of the Gulf of Honduras"). 



This is a slightly smaller and grayer species than the Ja- 

 maican animal and was first discovered by Dr. C. H. Townsend, 

 when as naturalist on the U. S. Fish Commission steamer 

 Albatross, more than 50 years ago he secured specimens on 

 Little Swan Island, which lies about 110 miles off northeastern 

 Honduras, and at about a quarter the distance separating that 

 country from Jamaica. 



While resembling in general appearance the Geocapromys 

 brownii of Jamaica, to which it is probably closest allied of the 

 known species, this is somewhat smaller and in correlation 

 with its drier island habitat is less darkened. The general 

 color of the entire upper side is a very even mixture of blackish 

 and pale ochraceous, resulting in a rather yellowish-gray 

 appearance. The backs of the hands and feet are a nearly 

 uniform dusky, minutely punctate with ochraceous. On the 

 under side, the most conspicuous feature is a dull whitish half- 

 collar extending across the lower throat between the arm pits. 

 Elsewhere the color is like that of the upper side but with very 

 little darkening, producing a smoky -buff shade. Size less than 

 in the Jamaican animal, with a total length of some 15.5 



