148 DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE MUSTELIDE. [Jan. 24, 
* Tail as long as body. 
1. MEpHITIS VARIANS. B.M. 
Black, with two white streaks, converging and united on the 
crown; tail elongate, bushy ; hair flaccid, black, generally white at 
the base, or all white. 
Mephitis varians, Gray, Mag. N. H. 1837; Baird, Mamm.N. A. 
193; Mexico, 19, 192 (skull). 
M. macroura, Aud. & Bachm. N. A. Quad. ii. t. 102 (not Licht.). 
Var. a. Crown white; streak broad, continued from the crown to 
the end of the tail; face with a narrow white streak. 
Mephitis mesomelas, Licht. Darstell. d. Siugeth. t. 45. f.2 ; Abh. 
Akad. Berl. 1836, p. 277 ; Gerrard, Cat. Bones B. M. 97; Baird, 
Mamm. N. A. 199. 
M. occidentalis, Baird, Mamm. N. A. 194. 
Moufette de V Amérique Septentrionale, F. Cuy. Mamm. Lith. 
Var. 6. Like a, but no white streak on the face; back-streaks nar- 
rowed and almost interrupted on the loins. B.M 
Mephitis mephitica, Baird, Mamm. N. A. 195. 
Var. c. Like a, with face-streak ; but back-streak not reaching 
beyond (and some specimens not even to) the middle of the back, 
the white on the crown varying in size at the same time. B.M. 
M., varians, Gray, Mag. N. H. 1837, t.; Baird, Mamm. N. A. 193 ; 
Mexico, 192, t. 60. f. 2 (skull); Gerrard, Cat. Bones B. M. 97. 
Var. d. Like c; but no white face-streak ; the spot on the crown 
with a pair of short streaks behind, not reaching to the shoulders. 
Var. e. chinga. Face-streak broad ; crown-spot and dorsal streaks 
very broad, occupying nearly the whole upper surface of the body, 
a short black dorsal streak from the base of the tail to or towards 
the shoulders. 
Mephitis chinga, Tiedemann, Zool. i. 361; Licht. Darstell. d. 
Saugeth. t. 45. f.1; Abh. Akad. Berl. 1836, p. 240; Pr. Max, Arch. 
f. Naturg. 1861, p. 218. 
M. mephitica, Baird, Mamm.N. A. i. 195. 
M. chinche, Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 160. 
Mustela chinga, Blainvy. Ostéogr. Mustela, t. 13 (teeth), t. 1 
(skeleton), t. 6 (skull). 
Viverra mephitis, Griffith, A. K. ii. 298. 
Chincha americana, Lesson, N. Tab. R. A. 67. 
Mephitis americana, De Kay, Zool. N. Y. t. 12. f. 1. 
M. americana, var. hudsonica, Richardson, Fauna Bor.-Amer. i. 55. 
Chinche, Buffon, H. N. xiii. 300, t. 39; Pennant, Arct. Zool. 
Mamm. 40; F. Cuv. & Geoff. Mamm. Lith. t. 
Skunk, Kalm, Reise Nord. Amer. ii. 412. 
Wegak, or Skunk, Hearne, Hudson Bay, 377. 
Enfant du Diable, Charlevoix, Nouv. Mém. ii. 133. 
Speaking of the Skunk, Dr. Baird observes, ‘‘ The species varies 
considerably in marking, though individuals from the same locality 
