1899.] Allen, New Rodents from Colombia and Venezuela. 217 



color of the posterior third of the back and the tail are wholly 

 unlike any specimen in my series of upwards of fifty examples. 



The description and figure, on the other hand, agree much 

 'better with the dark mountain form recently named Sciurus 

 variabilis saltuensis by Mr. Bangs, especially in the dark upper 

 parts and in the darkness of the basal portion of the tail, but the 

 red lower back and rump are still discordant ; and it is not 

 probable, though possible, that M. Plee's specimens came from 

 so far in the interior. They are much more likely to have come 

 from western Colombia than from the coast district about Santa 

 Marta. 



Sciurus (Guerlinguetus) aestuans quebradensis, subsp. nov. 



Type, No. 14725, 9 ad., Quebrada Secca, Venezuela, Dec. 2, 1898 ; F. W. 

 Urich. 



Color above finely punctated pale yellow and black, giving a pale olivaceous 

 gray general effect, nearly uniform throughout the whole dorsal aspect, includ- 

 ing the basal portion of the tail and the limbs externally ; cheeks and nose 

 grayer ; eye-ring and upper surface of feet more strongly yellowish ; ventral 

 surface orange-buff, the inside of the limbs paler, and the chin and throat still 

 paler, or buffy gray ; ears externally like the back, but with the hair tips a 

 little more rufous ; tail above grizzled with black and pale fulvous, broadly 

 edged for the terminal two thirds with deep orange, in some specimens deep 

 reddish orange ; below similar but rather paler ; the tail pattern below consists 

 of three narrow bands of black, two of fulvous and an outer broad band of red 

 as follows : a narrow basal band of black, followed by a narrow band of pale 

 fulvous, a second narrow band of black, a second narrow band of rather deeper 

 fulvous, a third broader band of black, and a very broad edging of orange 

 rufous. 



Measurements. Type, head and body, 192 mm. ; tail vertebrae, 156 ; total 

 length, 348 ; hind foot, 46, with claws, 51; ear, 22. Three specimens, in- 

 cluding the type, measure as follows : Total length, 345 ; tail vertebrae, 160 ; 

 hind foot, 44.5, with claws, 50 ; ear, 22. 



Skull, total length, 47; basal length, 35.5 ; zygomatic width, 27; mastoid 

 width, 20 ; postorbital width, 18 ; length of nasals, 15 ; width of nasals at base, 

 5, in front, 6. 



Sciurus czstuans quebradensis is based on three adult specimens, 

 two males and one female, two of which are from Quebrada 

 Secca, and the other from Los Palmales. They differ in color 

 only in the tail, the outer red border of which is somewhat lighter 

 in one specimen than in the others. 



