CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 1. RODENTIA. 379 



an enormous length of tail; above, it is grayish-black; below, dusky yellow, the same color ex- 

 tending up the sides. The length of the body is twelve inches and a quarter; the tail, fifteen 

 inches and a quarter. It is found in California. 



The Soft-haired Squirrel, S. mollijjilosus, is eight and a half inches long, the fur long and 

 soft, of a dark brown above, and ash-color below. It is found in the northwestern parts of Cali- 

 fornia. 



The Long-haired, or Woolly Squirrel, S. lanigerus, has a stout body, and long, coarse 

 hair, brownish-gray above and pale-brown below. Its length is nearly twelve inches, and its tail 

 of equal length. It is found in the high northern portions of California. 



The Hare-Squirrel, S. leporimis, is nearly twelve inches long, and the tail twelve and a 

 half inches. It is grayish-brown above, like the European hare, whence its name; below, it is 

 white. It is beautifully furred, and the long tail, bordered with white, gives it a splendid ap- 

 pearance. 



Lewis's Squirrel, S. annulatus, is of a yellowish-gray above, and of a reddish-yellow below. 

 The tail is thick and bushv, and annulated with black and white bands. This species was discov- 

 ered by Lewis and Clark, in their northwestern tour, but we have no details of its habits or pre- 

 cise locality. 



Clark's Squirrel, S. Clarkii, resembles the S. fossor, previously described, and is perhaps 

 of the same species. 



The Red-tailed Squirrel, S. rubricaudatus, is thirteen inches long, with a tail of nearly the 

 same length, and of a red color; the body is light gray above, and a dirty buff below. It is 

 found in the Western States. 



The Orange-bellied, or Golden-bellied Squirrel, S. sub-auratus, is ten and a half inches 

 long, and the tail twelve inches; the color, gray above, with a tinge of yellow; below, a golden 

 yellow. It lives in the deep forests of Louisiana, and probably in Texas and Mexico. 



Say's Squirrel, S. Sayii, is a grayish-black above; beneath, it is a bright fawn-color; length 

 of the body, twelve inches; of the tail, thirteen inches. In size and form it resembles the cat- 

 squirrel, and is found in the state of Indiana and the adjacent territories, where it feasts on pekan 

 and other nuts, and sometimes commits considerable depredations upon the Indian corn crops. 



The preceding descriptions are according to recognized authorities ; Baird, however, regards 

 several of these squirrels as mere varieties, and reduces the number of North American species to 

 about a dozen. 



There are several kinds of squirrel in South America, some, perhaps, identical with those we 

 have described as belonging to North America. Of the species peculiar to that part of the con- 

 tinent is the Guerlinguet Squirrel, S. cestuans, found in Guiana and Brazil ; it is of the size of 

 the common European squirrel, of an olive-gray color, and feeds on the fruits of the palms. This 

 has been made by F. Cuvier the type of a genus which he calls Macroxus, of which there are 

 other species in India, Sumatra, Africa, and South America. 



Among the South American species are the S. stramineus, of Peru, the hair of which is of a 

 blackish hue, but having a golden straw-color at the tips, and the S. iyniventris, of Bolivia, per- 

 haps the same as the S.ferruginiventris, that we have described as of the United States. 



THE CASTOKID^E. 



Of this family there is but a single genus, that of the BEAVER, or CASTOR, Castor, and 

 a single species, C. fiber, of Linnaeus. It is found in Northern Asia and Northern Europe, and in 

 North America, and though there are some slight differences in appearance and habits, all are re- 

 garded as one species. The American variety is often called the C. Americanus. This animal was 

 noticed by Herodotus and Aristotle, and Pliny gives a good account of it, and speaks of the casto- 

 reum which it yields, and which it appears was as much valued for medicine by the ancients as 

 the moderns. He says that in his time the dealers in it resorted to various frauds and adultera- 

 tions, as is done in our day in respect to many articles of merchandise. He tells an absurd story 

 to the effect that the beavers being hunted chiefly for this drug — for at that period the fur does 



