656 MR. E. R. ALSTON ON NEOTROPICAL SQUIRRELS. [June 18, 



your Felis lanea in the South-African museum, sent from the same 

 place (the Beaufort-West Karras) by the late Arthur V. Jacksou, 

 who killed it himself. Unfortunately I received the skin in very 

 bad condition. The ground-colour is much paler than in your plate, 

 almost white. 



" Jackson and I thought it an albinism (or rather erythrism) 

 of F. jubata (see Catalogue of S. A. Museum, p. 38, No. 82, Gue- 

 parda jubata, specimen b). At p. 39 of the same Catalogue, I 

 remark that we have had notices of a second species of Maned Leo- 

 pard, with solid spots and with retractile claws, from Natal. The 

 claws of your animal are not shown in Smit's plate. What is 

 their structure ? " 



On this last point Mr. Sclater stated that, so far as could be told 

 from examination of the living animals, the claws of Felis lanea 

 resembled those of Felis jubata, being observable when the feet 

 were at rest, and being but slightly extensile. 



The existence of a second specimen of the animal in the South- 

 African Museum (of which Mr. R. Trimen had also informed Mr. 

 Sclater) was a fact of great interest. 



Mr. Sclater read some Supplementary Notes on the Curassows 

 (Cracidse), mainly based on specimens which had been received by 

 the Society alive since Mr. Sclater's previous memoir on this subject 

 had been read five years ago. 



This paper will be published in the Society's ' Transactions.' 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On the Squirrels of the Neotropical Region. 

 By Edward R. Alston, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. 



[Received June 3, 1878.] 

 (Plate XLI.) 



No better example of a polymorphic genus can be found than the 

 almost cosmopolitan Sciurus. Even our common European Squirrel 

 assumes such phases of coloration in the north, in the east, and 

 among the Alps that the extremes would undoubtedly be considered 

 perfectly distinct species if the intermediate links were not known. 

 The same variability is found to a still greater extent in many of 

 the Oriental species ; while the polymorphism of some of the North- 

 American forms was pointed out by Piofessor Baird more than 

 twenty years ago. 1 



It is only lately that similar critical attention has been given 

 to the Squirrels of the Neotropical Region. Of these no fewer than 

 ffty-nine nominal species have been described by various writers. 

 The late Dr. Gray, in 1867, published a "Synopsis of the Species 



1 Ma mm. North Amer. pp. 244, 245. 



