r 



• 



■Hi 



100 



M 



'lAPnS OF NORTH AMERICAN RODENTIA. 



rnthor full under -ne sonoriends category by reason of the shortness of the 

 tail. 'I'licro is little to note regarding these specimens. No. 7186, from Fort 

 llojavc, is al)out the palest fulvous all over the upper parts wo have seen, hut 

 still is not at all like eremicus. No. 7183 is almost a typical leucopus. The 

 two adults of (ho Tejon series have-almost exactly tiie body-colors of gossi/- 

 piniis ; and wo should not omit to note that they have a suspicious sod of 

 resemi)lanco to //. califor?iicus. Nor should we be surprised if .some mice 

 tiDin tliis vicinity should be found to bridge over the chasm that now appears 

 between the leucopus styles and the seemingly very different "californicus"; 

 one, at least, of the Tejon specimens (No. 3G70) being veritable califurnkus. 

 We have already noted that Northern Californian mice, and more particu- 

 larly Oregon and Washington ones, are darker than those of Southern Califor- 

 nia (in this respect precisely matcliing Massachusetts leucopus), an<l that 

 they shade directly into austerus in this respect, as well as in the length of 

 the tail. 



HESPEROMYS (VESPERIMUS) AZTEOUS, De Saussure. 



Aztec Honse. 



IkKpiromijn a:lecii», Dk .S.ilssuuk, 1{. SI. Z. ISCO, 105, pi. ix, f. 4 (toctli)' 

 lliipiromijK ( Ve»perimv8) aslcciis, CoiES, I'roc. Aciid. Nut. Sci. Pliiln. 1874, 180. 



Diagnosis. — //. leucopo staturd par, et formd simillmus, sed caudd sub- 

 nudd et coloribus differt. Bruiineus, dorso tiigricante, laleiibus fenugincis, 

 jKir/ibus inferioribiis alius; aniebrachio exins lafcnbus concolore, crure et parte 

 tertia hamli metatarsi fusccscenlibus ; ca udd fere unicolore. 



IlAurrAT. — "Mexico" (De Saussure). 



This species belongs strictly to the Ilcsperomys leucopus group,* and does 

 not diiler noticealjly in size or proportions from that species. The coloration, 

 h(iwev(!r, appears specifically distinctive; it differs from that of the ordinary 

 United States s|)ccies precisely as Neotoma ferruginca difl'ers from Jloriddna. 



The upper parts an; rich rusty-red, almost orange rust-color, on the 

 i)ack deepening into a broad area of ljrownish-i)lack, and only showing in its 

 intensity on the sides where the line of demarkation with the white of the 

 under parts is distinct and sharp. The head shares somewhat of the general 

 lilackcning of the middle area above, but is not so uniformly dark as the back ; 

 the extreme muzzle is dark, leaving about the mouth only the sides of the 



* 111 all external features, at any ratoj but wo liavo not a8certaluc<l the oxistenco of clieek- 

 pouclies. 



kiii'lr 



