2l6 Bulletin American Museiun of Natural History. [Vol. XII, 



The extent of white upon the inner surface of the limbs varies 

 greatly, particularly on the hind limbs, where it is sometimes 

 almost absent and sometimes extends nearly to the ankle. 



The seasonal and also the individual variation is closely 

 parallel to that of the Sciurus hudsonicus group of North America. 

 The present series shows unmistakably two distinct pelages, but 

 the seasonal change in color due to molt must extend over a con- 

 siderable period. The June and July specimens present nearly 

 every state of change. Also, as in Sciurus hudsonicus, not all of 

 the specimens acquire the full red stage on completion of the 

 post-breeding pelage, this condition, as in S. hudsonicus, being 

 probably more or less influenced by the age of the individual. 



The type locality of Sciurus variabilis has been currently con- 

 sidered to be Colombia, from Geoffrey's statement, 1 that the 

 species was based on " trois individus envoyes au Museum d'his- 

 toire naturelle par M. Plee, et sur lesquels je ne puis donner 

 aucun renseignement, si ce n'est qu'ils venaient d'Amerique " ; 

 and further, that "plusieurs de ces objets [sent by M. Plee] apparte- 

 naient a la Colombie, plusieurs aux Antilles et quelques-uns aux 

 Etats-Unis." Obviously the squirrels sent by M. Plee, forming 

 the basis of S. variabilis Geoffroy, could not have come from 

 either the Antilles or the United States. On the other hand,, 

 neither his description nor his figure agrees very well with any of 

 the Colombian specimens in the present large series. He says, 

 Me pelage est en dessus d'un noir tiquete de roux ou d'un roux 

 tiquete de noir. La meme remarque est applicable aux longs 

 poils de la queue toujours noir a leur origine et roux a leur ex- 

 tremite. Mais il resulte de la disposition distique de la queue 

 qu'elle est toujours be'aucoup plus noire a la face- posterieure 

 qu'a 1'anterieure." The colored plate indicates the median area 

 of the upper parts to be very dark from the nose to, a Httle behind 

 the middle of the back where the color changes abruptly to deep 

 red over the posterior third of the dorsal region. The tail is 

 represented as blackish for two thirds of its length from the base, 

 the rest reddish, becoming yellowish at the tip. While the color 

 of the anterior two thirds of the dorsal surface might agree well 

 enough with specimens in the mixed red and black phase, the 



1 Guerin's Magasin de Zoologie, II, 1832, Classe I, pi. iv'and accompanying (unpaged) text. 



