20 



UNITED STATES AND MEXICAN BOUKDARY. 



is much longer than the head and hody; its vertehrae 



about as long as the hody without 



the head. 



The hairs on the hody are very long and hristly, though lustrous and rather soft. There is 

 comparatively little under fur hetween the long hair. The hairs on the tail are very long, 



though shorter at the ends than on the sides. 



The general color is a lust;*ous hlack ; there is a narrow white streak on the top of the head 

 from the snout to the occiput. On the nape, just back of the auditory opening, begins a broad 

 patch of white, truncated anteriorly, and about an inch in diameter; this extends with sides 

 nearly parallel to the shoulders, when it bifurcates and passes gradually round on the sides, and 

 ceases above the thighs. Another narrower line, however, commences in continuation with 



those just mentioned on each side of the base of the tail, and extends for a considerable dis- 

 tance. The rest of the tail is black externally, but all the hairs are seen to be white for most 

 of their length from the base; there is a white tuft on the middle of the tail, however. 



Dimensions. 



Head and body 



Tail lo end of vertebrae 



Tail lo end of buirs 



Lonjrest hairs on sides 



Skull 



r:o, 127. 



IncI 



les 



15 

 15 



1 ^ 



Lines. 



No. 233 



Inches 



16 

 154 



7 



Lines 



1 



H 



This specieSj in common with M. mejoJiHica^ belongs to the true MepTtitiSy as restricled by 

 LiclitensteiD, and characterized "by the presence of four teeth in the upper jaw, behind the 

 canineSj instead of three. In both species, however, the soles are entirely naked for their ter- 

 minal two-thirds. The ibkull differs from that of mephidca in the considerably larger size of 

 the last upper and penultimate lower molar, while the penultimate upper molar is smaller than 

 in me-pliitica. The ramus of the lower jaw has the condyle much more elevated, the distance to 

 the summit of the coronoid process being little more than to the lower angle, while in me- 

 ihiiica it is considerably more. The much greater length and amplitude of the tail constitute 

 strong points of difference, as well as the less amount of the basal fur. 



The long tailed Texas skunk has, I think, been erroneously referred by Audubon and Bach- 

 man to the M. macroura of Lichtenstein. This species is characterized, in addition to its long 

 tail, by a simple and continuous non-bifurcating broad dorsal white band, truncated anteriorly, 

 beginning at the nape and extending over the upper part of the tail ; thus somewhat like Af. 

 me^oU'ica. There is also a white tuft in the end of the tail. There is, in addition to the dorsal 

 band, a long supplemental white stripe on the side of the body. Lichtenstein expressly remarks 

 on the constancy of the above markings in different skins, while all the Texas specimens I have 

 seen agree with the description 1 have given, (including two very small kittens from Matamoras,) 

 in lacking the white back and lower lateral strips. 



