1876.] MR. E. R. ALSTON ON THE GENUS DASYPROCTA. 349 



Mr. Waterhouse united the Peruvian Agouti with D. cristata ; but 

 it is a well-marked species, easily distinguishable bv the fur being 

 annulated only near the tip. According to Von Tschudi it inhabits the 

 forests and " ceja " regions of Eastern Peru, to an altitude of 6000 

 feet above the sea. The Society has received living specimens from 

 Colon, the exact locality of which is uncertain ; and Mr. E. Gerrard, 

 Jun., has kindly lent me two fine examples collected by Mr. Salmon 

 at Medellin, near Antioquia, New Granada. It is probable that the 

 Agouti obtained by Mr. Fraser, at Palhatanga, Equador, which Mr. 

 Tomes referred to D. caudata (D. azarce)* was really of this species. 



4. D. FULIGINOSA. 



Dasyprocta fuliginosa, Wagler, Isis, 1832, p. 1220 (descr. orig.) ; 

 Waterhouse, Mamin. ii. p. 385. 



Dasyprocta nigricans (Natterer), Wagner, Wiegm. Arch. 1842, 

 p. 362 (descr. orig.) ; Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. Saugeth. iv. p. 46. 



Dasyprocta nigra, Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. x. p. 264 (1842, descr. 

 orig.), Voy. 'Sulphur,' p. 36, pi. xvi. 



Fur ringed with brownish or sooty black and pure white ; rump 

 hoary, the very long and soft hairs being broadly tipped and often 

 ringed at the base with white. Length about 23 inches ; hind foot 

 4'/o inches. 



Hah. Amazonia ; Peru ; Ecuadort. 



Wagner and Waterhouse have shown that the above are merely 

 synonyms of this large dark species. Wagler described it from 

 specimens collected on the Brazilian Amazons ; and Natterer obtained 

 it at Borba and on the Rio Nigro. Mr. Sclater has a skin collected 

 by Mr. E. Bartlett, at Chamicuros, on the Peruvian Amazons ; and 

 a specimen obtained in Ecuador, by Mr. Fraser, was referred to this 

 species by Mr. Tomes. 



5. D. MEXICANA. 



Dasyprocta mexicana, De Saussure, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. (2 e 

 ser.), xii. p. 53 (1860, descr. orig.). 



Fur ringed with black and pure white, the rump black, the long 

 hairs being black throughout their length, throat and bellv almost 

 white. Average length 17 inches; hind foot 3"50 inches. 



Hab. Mexico. 



As remarked by its first describer, this species most resembles D. 

 fuliginosa. It differs, however, in its much smaller size, its darker 

 coloration, and in the less elongated hairs of the rump being black 

 throughout from the base to the tip. It is a native of the " hot 

 zone" of Mexico; and a specimen is now living in the Society's 

 Gardens, presented by Mr. Marckmann de Lichtabel, in February 

 1874J. 



6. D. azarve. (Plate XXIX.) 



Dasyprocta azarce, Lichtenstein, Doubl. Zool. Mus. Berl. p. 3 



* P. Z. S. 1860, p. 216. t Cf. P. Z. S. I860, p. 216. 



\ Cf. P. Z. S. 1874, p. 683. 



