702 



MONOGRAPHS OF NORTH AMERICAN RODENTIA. 



Tlie Northern Gray Squirrel viirics greatly, aside from its melanistic 

 phases, in specimens from tlie same locality, mainly in respect to the amount 

 of the fulvous suffusion in the pelage of tiie dorsal aspect. Tiie general 

 color above is a fine nixture of white, black, and fulvous, variable in respect 

 to the relative prevalence of these three tinto. The general effect is that of a 

 whitish-gray tint, especially northward and in winter specimens. There is 

 generally a well-marked yellowish-brown area, almost unmixed with whitish, 

 along the middle of the back, sometimes continuous from the nape to the 

 rump, but generally restricted to the middle of the dorsal region. This is 

 often wholly obsolete, but generally occupies an area of two or three inches 

 in length, with a breadth of rather less than an inch. The hairs of the dor- 

 sal surface are geneniUy ringed with white, black, and fulvous, but le are 

 wholly Dlack and ot -ufs wholly fulvous. The fulvous under-color generally 

 shows more or less strongly througii the superficial tints, especially on the 

 sides of the shoulders, where it sometimes inclines to rufous. There is gen- 

 erally a well-developed yellowish lateral line separating the white of tiie lower 

 parts from the gray of the upper surface. This varies in intensity, and, 

 although present as a rule, I find no trace of it in many New England speci- 

 mens. The head is often of the same yellowish-brown as the middle of the 

 back, but more commonly less strongly brownish ; the sides of the nose and 

 cheeks vary from grayish, with a faint wash of fulvous, to strongly yellowish- 

 brown. The upper surface of the feet also varies in the same manner from 

 whitish-gray to bright fulvous. The yellowish-brown at the base of the tail- 

 hairs also varies from pale fulvous-brown to yellowish-rusty. Specimens in 

 which there is a large, conspicuous, brownish area on the middle of the back 

 have usually the yellowish lateral line strongly developed, with fulvous feet, 

 face, and cars. The ears are • generally fulvous-tipped, with a white or yel- 

 lowish-white woolly patch at the base, generally far more strongly developed 

 in winter than at other seasons, it being often quite absent in summer. This 

 white fluffy ear-patch is most conspicuous in winter specimens from Fort 

 Des Moines, Iowa. In these also, the pelage is the softest and fullest. 



The dusky phases of this variety are local in their occurrence, 

 being often wholly unknown over wide areas. They are found in South- 

 western New Brunswick, in portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 Massachusetts, New York, both the Canadas, in all of the Lake Slates, and 

 in " " 'it more frequently near the lakes than further .southward. 



mm 



