SCIURID^-rSOIDBUS HDDS0NIU8 VAB. KIOaABDSONr. 



677 



on tlie whole, rather more distinctly annulated with black below. Nova 

 Scotia and Labrador specimens, as well as those from the different posts of 

 the Hudson's Bay Company and Alaska, have the hairs of the ventral surface 

 ver^ strongly annulated, and the dorsal band narrower and paler, often inclining 

 strongly to fulvous. Specimens from the Upper Missouri, Yellowstone, and 

 Black Hills are paler, and hence more fulvous, than those from east of the 

 Mississippi. 



Var. BICUARD80NI. 



Richardsori's Chickaree, 



Vabietal Chabs. — Length, from end of nose to base of tail, about 7.50; 

 tail to end of vertebrse about 5.90 ; to end of hairs 7.60. Above pale yel- 

 lowish-gray; middle of the back dork brownish-red; beneath white, more or 

 less distinctly annulated with black, as in norliiern examples of var. hu(honiut. 

 Generally, the gray of the dorsal surface is separated from the white of the 

 ventral surface by a conspicuous black line. Tail centrally above like the 

 middle of the back, with a broad subterminal bar of intense black faintly 

 washed with yellowish-gray; often the terminal third is wholly block exter- 

 nally; beneath, the tail is centrally reddish-gray, bordered with bkck faintly 

 washed with yellowish-gray. Ears black at the tip, bushy-tufted Feet gen- 

 erally of the same gray tint as the sides of the body, but sometimes reddisii. 



The general color above varies from yellowish-brown to dark reddish- 

 chestnut, with annulations of black. The rufous of the dorsal surface is 

 generally strongest along the mesial line, where it frequently forms a broad 

 dorsal band, which gradually passes into the color of the sides of the back. 

 The black lateral line is generally well marked, often very prominent, even 

 in winter specimens, but is occasionally wholly obsolete. The hairs of the 

 toil are generally dark chestnut-red at the base, with a broad subterminal bar 

 of black, and are tipped with yellowish-white. In some of the specimens, as 

 those from Saint Mary's, Rocky Mountains, (he tail is almost wholly jet-black ; 

 generally the hairs are reddish, often dark reddish-chestnut at the base, 

 with pale yellowish-gray tips. 



This variety appears to reach its extreme phase of developnient in the 

 vicinity of Saint Mary's and the Bitter Boot Valley in the Rocky Mountains. 

 Specimens from about Fort Benton and the eastern base of the Rocky 

 Mountains in Montana and Northern Wyoming are less strongly marked, 

 but generally incline more to this variety than to var. /rr »i<»i/t or than to hud- 



