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Hill, 



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ir 



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724 



MONOGItAPIIS OP NORTH AMERICAN ROD"ENTIA. 



adopt niger ns the specific nnme of the group. The next most prominent name 

 of the Southern Fox Scjuirrel, and next in (lute, is vulpinus of Gmelin, whicli 

 Professor Baird adopted for this form in place of the later one, cajmiratus, 

 (,f Bosc. The latter, however, has been often employed for its designation 

 by both American an<I foreign authors, and is the name adopted by Bachman. 



The Nortliern Fox Squirrel has commonly borne the name cinereus, 

 wliicb is unquestionably the name to be adopted for its varietal designation, 

 although it has been also applied by various authors to S. carolinensis. Aside 

 from vulpinus of Schreber {nee Gmelin), it has no very prominent synonyms. 



The Western Fox Squirrel was first described by Custis, in 1806, 

 under the name ludoviciunvs. In consequence of the great variability in 

 color this form presents, it was subsequently redescribed under eight or ten 

 ditferent specific designations, several of which have been at times more or 

 less current for particular phases of coloration, generally supposed to rep- 

 resent forms specifically distinct from ladovicianus of Custis. The more 

 prominent among them are rufiventer of Geoffroy, used by Desmarest and 

 Harlan, the latter referring to it a specimen from New Orleans; macroura of 

 Say, applied to examples from Eastern Kansas, which name, being preoccu- 

 pied, was changed by Harlan to magnicaudatus, and adopted by Bachman 

 and others in place of ludovicianus. Bachman applied the name subauratm 

 to specimens received from Louisiana, and auduboni to black-bellied speci- 

 mens from the same State. Audubon and Bachman gave the name sayi to 

 specimens from the Missouri River, ruhicaudus to Illinois and Kentucky 

 specimens, and occiden/alis to dusky specimens supposed to have come from 

 the Pacific coast, but which these authors later referred to their S, auduboni. 

 Baird gave the name limitis to the pale form of tlie Plains from Western 

 Texas, based partly at least on small size resulting from immaturity, as shown 

 l)y his types. More recently. Dr. Engelmann has described melanistic speci- 

 mens from Saint Louis under the varietal name atroventris. 



Tiie S. variegatus of Erxleben has generally been applied to some of 

 the Mexican species, it being based partly on the Quahtecallotlquapachtli aut 

 Cotztiorotequallin* of Fernandez, and partly upon the Coquallin of Buffon.f 

 The latter, as first pointed out by M. F. Cuvier, is certainly the Southern 

 Fox Squirrel (S. niger var. niger), as shown by its white nose and white 



• Nuv. Ilisp. p. 8. 



i HiHt. Nat. vol. xlil, p. 109, pi. xiii. 



