18/8.] MR. E. R. ALSTON ON NEOTROPICAL SQUIRRELS. 665 



less washed with rufous, the hairs blackish towards their base, with 

 long white fulvous or rufous ends ; feet blackish ; tail black, washed 

 with rufous and whitish ; pelage very sparse and harsh, with almost 

 no under-fur. 



This curious Squirrel, which appears to be the sole representative 

 of the genus in Western Peru, is rare in collections ; and though the 

 few specimens which have been sent to Europe differ little in colour, 

 they have received the above names. Mr. Allen referred three 

 specimens from Guayaquil to S. hypopyrrhus (torn. cit. p. 747) ; and 

 certainly some varieties of that species bear a strong general resem- 

 blance to the present. But so far as can be judged from the small 

 series in the Paris and British Museums, S. stramineus seems to be 

 fairly entitled to specific recognition ; and intermediate forms are 

 hardly likely to be found, as no similar Squirrel appears to be known 

 from any part of Columbia. It is only fair to Mr. Allen to add, that 

 Gray's description of M.fraseri is so imperfect that it is not sur- 

 prising that the American zoologist should have doubtfully referred 

 it to S. tephrogaster (torn. cit. p. 763). 



A remarkable peculiarity of this species is its tendency to the 

 development of irregular tufts of pure white hairs, rather longer than 

 the rest of the fur, and sometimes uniting in larger patches. These 

 asymmetrical markings are present in the majority of the individuals 

 examined. 



A fine specimen of 5. stramineus from Ecuador is now living in the 

 Society's Gardens 1 . 



VII. SCIURUS VARIABILIS. 



*Sciurus variabilis, Is. Geoffroy, Mag. de Zool. 1832, pi. iv. 



Sciurus langsdorffi, Brandt, Mem. Ac. St. Pe'tersb. 6 P se'r. iii. p. 425, 

 (1835). 



Sciurus igniventris, Natterer ap. Wagner, Wiegm. Arch. 1842, 

 p. 360. 



Sciurus pyrrhonotus, Natterer, loc. cit. 



Sciurus tricolor, Poppig ap. Tschudi, Faun. Peruan. p. 156, pi. xi. 

 (1844-46). 



Sciurus morio, Wagner, Abh. Bayer. Ak. v. p. 275 (1850, nee 

 Gray), 



* Sciurus gerrardi, Gray, P. Z. S. 1861, p. 92, pi. xvi. 



*Sciurus brunneo-niger, Castelnau ap. Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. 

 Hist. ser. 3, xx. p. 429 (1867). 



* Sciurus futnigatus, Gray, torn. cit. p. 428 (1867)- 



(Sciurus gerrardi et S. variabilis, Allen, Mon. N.-Amer. Rodent, 

 pp. 766, 768.) 



Hab. Panama; Venezuela; Columbia; Ecuador; Peru; Brazil: 

 Bolivia. 



Average length about 12 inches, of tail-vertebrae 1 1 inches. Upper 

 parts red, either pure or more or less grizzled with black, lower parts 

 white, fulvous, or light rufous, sharply defined from the dorsal colour- 



1 See above, p. 441. 

 Proc. Zool. Soc— 1878, No. XLIII. 43 



