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784 



MONOOItAPna OF NOUTH AMEKICAN IU3I)EXTIA. 



rather broader and shorter than the inner. The inner is narrowlj edged on 

 the inner side with chestnut, as is the outer on the outer side. They are 

 separated by a rather broad stripe of yellowish-white, which e.xtends rather 

 further both anteriorly and posteriorly than its enclosing stripes of black. 

 The light stripes begin at a point directly above the shoulder, and are often 

 faintly traceable to within half an inch of the base of the tail. The space 

 between the dorsal line and the first lateral line on either side is gray, as is 

 the region over the shoulders. The top of the head is more brownish ; the 

 sides of the head, neck, and body are yellowish, brightest on the sides of 

 the neck. The extreme basal portion of the tail and the posterior fifth of 

 the dorsal region and sides are dark rci ish-brown or chestnut, generally 

 wilh no indication of stripes. The hairs of the tail above are yellowish- 

 white at the base, with a broad subterminal bar of black, and tipped with 

 white. The middle of the lower surface of the tail is generally fulvous or 

 even bright golden. The ears, which are well developed and pointed, are 

 clothed internally and on the anterior surface with short yellowish- or reddish- 

 brown hairs ; the posterior border is narrowly edged with whitish, and there 

 is a white spot at the base of the ear postero-internally. 



The very large number of specimens before me indicate that the present 

 species preserves great constancy of coloration. The variation exhibited by 

 nearly a hundred New England skins consists merely in the more or less 

 grayer cast of the upper surface in some than in others, in the sides being 

 more strongly yellowish, and the rump of a darker or lighter shade of chest- 

 nut; the stripes vary somewhat in breadth and in the purity of their color. 

 In a few specimens, the light st ipes on the sides are nearly pure white (some- 

 times quite so anteriorly); in others, they are strongly yellowish or deep 

 cream-color. The dark stripes are, in some specimens, twice as broad as 

 in others. In No. 1668 (Coll. M. C. Z.), from Maine, the stripes are all 

 very obscure, almost as pale as in the T. "dorsalis" of authors, and presents 

 an exactly parallel phase of coloration. Melanistic examples are rare in this 

 species. No. 1592 (Coll. M. C. Z.), however, from Norway, Me., is intensely 

 black throughout, excepting a narrow white streak on the breast. Dr. Adams,* 

 however, states that he h^s met with several instances of melanism in this 

 animal in New Brunswick. 



Specimens from southern localities are considerably brighter-colored 



* Field nnd Forest Rsniblea, p. 100. 



