86 



white ; head, thighs, and belly, black ; the back and tail, dark- gray. 

 This is the variety alluded to by Desmarest, Ency. Method. Mam- 

 malogie, p. 333. 



A fourth variety, very common in Alabama, and also occasionally 

 seen in the upper districts of South Carolina, and which has, on 

 several occasions, been sent to Dr. Bachman as a distinct species, 

 has the ears and nose white, a prominent mark in all the varieties, 

 and by which the species may be easily distinguished. The head 

 and neck are black ; back, rusty-blackish brown ; neck, thighs, and 

 belly, bright rust colour ; tail annulated with black and red. This 

 is the variety erroneously considered by the author of the notes on 

 MacMurtius' translation of Cuvier, (Append, vol. i. p. 433.) as the 

 Sciurus rufiventer . 



The three first varieties noted above. Dr. Bachman describes as 

 being common in the lower and middle districts of South Carolina ; 

 and although they are known to breed together, yet it is very rare 

 to find any specimens indicating an intermediate variety. Where 

 the parents are both black, the young are invariably of the same 

 colour ; the same may be said of the other varieties ; where, on the 

 other hand, there is one parent of each colour, an almost equal pro- 

 portion of the young are of the colour of the male, the other of the 

 female. On three occasions he had opportunities of examining the 

 young produced by progenitors of different colours. The first nest 

 contained four, two black and two gray ; the second, one black and 

 two gray ; and the third, three black and two gray. The colour of 

 the young did not, in a majority of instances, correspond with that 

 of the parent of the same sex. Although the male parent was black, 

 the young males were frequently gray, and vice versd. 



Dimensions of the Fox Squirrel. 



in. lines. 



Length of head and body 14 5 



Tail (to end of vertebrae) 12 4 



Tail to the tip 15 2 



Palm and middle fore-claw 1 9 



Sole and middle hind-claw 2 11 



Length of fur on the back 8 



Height of ear posteriorly 7 



This species is said to exist sparingly in New Jersey: Dr. Bach- 

 man has not observed it further north than Virginia, nor could he 

 find it in the mountainous districts of that state. In the pine 

 forests of North Carolina it becomes more common ; in the middle 

 and maritime districts of South Carolina it is almost daily met 

 with, although it cannot be said to be an abundant species any- 

 where. 



Sciurus Texianus. Texian Squirrel. This name is proposed by 

 Dr. Bachman for an apparently undescribed species which he saw in 

 the Museum at Paris. It was said to have been received from 

 Mexico. In the Museums of Berlin and Zurich, he also found what 



