SOIURID-ai— SCIURD8 BOIT^. 



775 



in the same lot were specimens of Sciuru,< eesluam and Sc ia.igsdoiffi, well- 

 known South American pecies ; it is probable, therefore, it may be an inhab- 

 itant of the same country Its fur is very short for a Squirrel, lather harsh, 

 and less loose than in the generality of Squirrels: the back is gray, or what 

 might be termed an iron-gray, having a rusty hue; on the upper part of the 

 head the rust-like tint prevails, and the muzzle is almost entirely of a rich 

 rust color; the sides of the head and neck are of a golden-yellow tint, and 

 the under parts of the body are yellow : a bright rust-colored line rrns along 

 each side of the body, and separates the yellow coloring of the under parts 

 from the iron-gray of the upper; on the outer sides of the limbs, and on the 

 feet, a rich deep golden-yellow hue prevails The tail is apparently cylindri- 

 cal, and not bushy ; the prevailing hue of the hiiirs is deep rust color, but 

 they are for the most part more or less broadly annulated with black in the 

 middle. The ears are slightly pointed, and well clothed with golden-yellow 

 hairs; those on the outer side are of a bright rust color; they have no pencil 

 of hairs at the tip. The hairs of the moustaches are numerous, long, and of 

 a black color. The incisors of both upper and under jaws are deep orange." 



Gray's description of Waterhouse's original specimen is as follows: — • 

 "Fur rather harsh, abnndant, reddish iron-gray; hairs short, close, black at 

 the base, with a broad pale-brown ring, a dark-brown subterminal ring, and a 

 white ; upper part of head, shoulders, legs, thighs, and feet, and a streak 

 along each side of the body rufous ; sides of the head, chin, and beneath yel- 

 low: tail reddish, black-varied; hairs reddish-brown, with a broad black sub- 

 terminal ring and reddish end, and gray base." 



Dr. Gray adds, — " This specimen was purchased at a sale with some South 

 American Squirrels; but it has much more the appearance of an AfHcan 

 Squirrel. No other specimen of this Squirrel has occurred to me; so the 

 true habitat is still doubtful." 



3. — SciDRUS BOTT.*! Less. 



Sciunit botim Lessor, Cent. Zool. 1832, 221, pi. Ixxvi ; "Dcsc. dc» Manim. ol Ois. 1847, 140".— Wagneu 

 Suppl. Schreber'ii SSiiget. iii, lSt.1, 1843, 172 (from LnBwn). — SCHIKZ, Syonp. Hamui. ii, 1840 

 10 (from Ltisson). See also Baikd, Malum. N. Amer. 1S57, ilSl. 



The Sciurus botta, described by Lesson from a specimen said to have 

 come from California, agrees well with nothing I have as yet met with, 

 and is certainly in some respects unlike any animal at present known from 

 either the California of to-day or the California of fifty years ago. It is evi- 



