BCIUItlD^— SCIUIIUS. 



667 



and in pattern of coloration ; IVoin (lie larger, large-cared, long-, l)road- 

 tailed Spermophiles in the siiorter, broader, more expanded form of the 

 skull, its more convex dorsal outline, slenderer and less diverging zygomatic 

 arches, the strict parallelism of the inner edges of the molar series, and the 

 narrower and more anteriorly situated anteorbital foramina, etc. 



A division of the American Sciuri into other than arbitrary or artificial 

 groups seems almost impossible. Althougli some of the species have two 

 premolars and others one, some tufled and others tufllcss ears; although 

 some are of large size and others small; and although the skull varies in 

 respect to convexity, interorbital breadth, and somewhat in other features, 

 these differences are so variously combined that no sharply dividing lines can 

 be drawn if more than a single character be taken. In respect to the pres- 

 ence sad size of the first upper premolar, the species fall into three sections, 

 with which, to some extent, other characters correspond. In some of the 

 species, sti far as I can determine, there is but a single premolar at any period 

 of life ; in one (S. hudionius and its varieties), a second is generally present, 

 though often disappearing late in life ; it is, however, so minute as to easily 

 escape observation, never rising to the level of the other teeth, it being gen- 

 erally merely a slender, minute point situated close to the inner edge of the 

 anterior root of the second premolar, beneath the front edge of the base of its 

 crown. Sometimes it is a mere point, and at other times is about one-half 

 the height of the second premolar. In the greater number of the species, two 

 premolars are permanently developed, but the first is often minute, scarcely 

 reaching the height of the second, and is occasionally absent in those species 

 in which, as a rule, it is present. 



The pelage varies greatly in character in the different species, being 

 sometimes full, fine, and sofl, even among the tropical forms; again, it is short 

 and sparse, and at other times long, coarse, and stiff. 



Perhaps the most obviously variable feature is the character of the tail. 

 Generally, its length, measured from the base to the end of the vertebrae, is 

 rather less than the length of the head and body; sometimes these two 

 measurements are equal, while occasionally the tail is a third less than the 

 length of the head and body. The tail, to the end of the hairs, is very 

 generally equal to or longer than the head and body; sometimes much longer, 

 occasionally about equal, and more rarely somewhat less. The tail also varies 

 greatly in fulne&« and breadth. In Sciurus fossor and S. colliai, the tail, 

 when fully spread, has a breadth of five or six inches, the hairs of the sides 



