1918 | Taylor: Revision of the Rodent Genus Aplodontia 477 
specimen taken on October 15 (no. 192618, ¢, U. S. Nat. Mus., Merriam 
Coll.) has the winter pelage complete. An example taken on August 
27 (no. 110241, J ad., U.S. Nat. Mus., Biol. Sury. Coll.) shows no sign 
of molt, to all appearances having assumed the fresh pelage. One 
taken August 29 (no. 110243, 2 ad., U.S. Nat. Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.) 
has the new pelage nearly complete. A few scattered hairs are still 
coming in on the sides posteriorly and far back ventrally. These two 
specimens have completed the molt at an exceptionally early date. 
In one specimen (no. 67854, 2, September 8, U. S. Nat. Mus., Biol. 
Surv. Coll.) the pelage has been renewed dorsally on the anterior 
three-fourths of the body. In another (no. 192617, ¢, October 12, 
U.S. Nat. Mus., Merriam Coll.) all the pelage dorsally has been re- 
newed except in a band about two inches wide across the body just 
back of the shoulders. 
Young specimens do not conform exactly to the schedule of the 
adults. In one example (no. 22617, Mus. Vert. Zool.) taken June 19 
the new pelage covers the head and extends posteriorly to a line trans- 
versely across the body from one to two inches back of the ear; it 
appears in a small spot just back of the nape of the neck; and it is 
more conspicuous than elsewhere in a broad band about four inches 
wide, extending from side to side across the body in the middle of the 
back. Often a vigorous hair renewal becomes apparent only upon a 
close examination. A juvenal (no. 192615, %, October 9, U. S. Nat. 
Mus., Merriam Coll.) in which the hair is being renewed on hips, head, 
and neck exemplifies this state of affairs. In a third juvenal (no. 
110247, August 30, U. S. Nat. Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.) new hair is 
coming in on areas two inches wide and three inches long far back on 
the sides. 
The fresh pelage is longer and a trifle browner than the worn 
pelage it replaces. Wear has a tendeney to expose the darker under 
portions of the pelage, so that the summer pelage appears a little 
darker than the fresh fall pelage. The differences between the pelages 
are slight at most, and often none are observable. 
Remarks.—A plodontia rufa californica differs from A. r. rufa of 
the Trinity-Siskiyou region of southern Oregon and northern Cali- 
fornia in having more grayish coloration and in cranial characters as 
follows: Nasal outline uniform in californica, moderately broad in 
front, moderately narrow posteriorly (nasals in rufa variable, usually 
proportionally broader anteriorly and narrower posteriorly) ; widest 
portion of nasals usually most anterior pomt where nasals touch 
