338 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [Vol.V. 



the original skull of Baird's B. raptor. As this is a feature in which 

 variation is apt to occur, and as my series of skulls ofr B. sumichrasti 

 presents an example equally aberrant from the usual condition in the 

 last-named species, I cannot look upon it as other than an individual 

 variation of more or less frequent occurrence in other mammals. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. The Northern Civet Cat appears 

 to range throughout the temperate portions of Mexico, and thence 

 northward far into the United States. The most southern localities 

 represented by the specimens before me are Orizaba in the State of Vera 

 Cruz, San Luis Potosi in the interior, and the Sierra Santiago near the 

 Pacific coast. It is said to be a well-known inhabitant of California, 

 and ranges thence northward into Southwestern Oregon, where, how- 

 ever, it is supposed to be of rare occurrence.* More to the eastward it 

 has been found in Arizona, and has long been known to occur through- 

 out most parts of Texas. I found it to be a well-known animal in 

 Middle Kansas, and a number of specimens have been taken at different 

 times as far northward and eastward as Ohio. Though nowhere appar- 

 ently abundant, it appears to be rather common in Northern Mexico and 

 in Texas, but further northward and eastward is evidently rare. 



BASSAEIS SUMICHRASTI, De Saussure. 

 Southern Civet Cat. 



Bassaris sumichrasti, DE SAUSSURE, Eev. et Mag. de Zoologie, 2 e se'r., xii, 1860, 7, pi. i 



(animal). 

 Bassaris varidbilis, PETERS, Monatsb. d. K. P. Akad. Wissensch. zu Berlin, 1874, 704, 



pi. i (animal), pi. ii (skull). 



Bassaris monticola, CORDERO, La Natnraleza, iii, 1875, 270, plate (animal and skull). 

 Tepechichi del Cofre de Perote, Cacomistle de monte, CORDERO, 1. c., p. 270. 



Bassaris sumichrasti presents variations in general color strictly paral- 

 lel with those already noted as occurring in B. astuta. The ground- 

 color above varies from nearly pure gray to yellowish-brown, and even 

 golden, and the wash of black is sometimes sufficient to render this the 

 prevalent tint of the dorsal surface. The yellowish-brown suffusion is 

 always much stronger on the posterior half of the body than it is an- 

 teriorly. The color of the ventral surface varies from nearly pure white 

 to pale gamboge-yellow. The dorsal surface of the feet is generally 

 black, always decidedly blackish in all the specimens examined. The 

 terminal fourth or more of the tail is usually deep black, with sometimes 

 faint indications of one or two gray rings on the lower surface. The 

 light rings are much narrower than the intermediate black ones, and 

 vary in different specimens from pure gray to whitish-gray and yellow- 

 ish gray. They are usually broader on the lower side of the tail than 

 on the upper. The number of light rings more or less distinctly trace- 

 able varies from seven to ten, but is usually either eight or nine. These 

 remarks are based on an examination of seven skins from Southern 

 Mexico and Costa Rica. 



*See Cones, Am. Nat., xii, 1878, p. 253. 



