90 



case with the Cat Squirrel ; the former is a southern species, the 

 latter is found in the middle and northern states. 



" The head is less elongated than that of the Fox Squirrel ; nose 

 more ohtuse ; incisors rather narrower, shorter, and less prominent; 

 the molars, with the exception of their being a little smaller, bear a 

 strong resemblance to, and are arranged in a similar manner to those 

 of the former species. The neck is short ; legs short and stout ; nails 

 narrower at base than those of the Fox Squirrel ; shorter and less 

 arched; the tail also is shorter and less distichous; the body is 

 shorter and thicker, and the whole animal has a heavy, clumsy 

 appearance. The fur is not as soft as that of the Northern Gray 

 Squirrel, but finer than that of the Fox Squirrel. 



" This species, as well as the last, is subject to great varieties of 

 colour. I have observed in Peak's Museum specimens of every 

 shade of colour, from light gray to nearly black. I have also seen 

 two in cages which were nearly white, but without the red eyes, 

 which is a characteristic mark in the Albino. There appears, how- 

 ever, to be this difference between the varieties of the present spe- 

 cies and those of the Fox Squirrel ; the latter are permanent varie- 

 ties, scarcely any specimens being found in intermediate colours ; 

 in the present there is every shade of colour^ scarcely two being 

 found precisely alike. 



"The most common variety, however, is the Gray Cat Squirrel, 

 which I shall describe from a specimen now before me. 



" Teeth orange ; nails dark brown near the base, lighter at the 

 extremities. On the cheeks there is a sHght tinge of yellowish 

 brown, and this colour is extended to the neck ; the inner surface of 

 the ears is also of the same colour ; the fur on the outer surface of 

 the ear, which extends a little beyond the outer edge and is of a 

 soft wooUy appearance, is light cinereous, and on the edge of the 

 ear, rusty brown. Whiskers black and white, the former colour pre- 

 dominating. Under the throat, the inner surface of the legs and 

 thighs, and the whole under surface, white. On the back the hairs 

 are dark cinereous near the roots, then light ash, then annulated 

 with black and at the tip white, giving to the fur an iron-gray appear- 

 ance. The tail, which does not present the flat distichous appear- 

 ance of the majority of the other species, but is more rounded and 

 narrower, is composed of hairs which, separately examined, are of 

 a soiled white tint near the roots, then a narrow marking of black, 

 then white, then a broad line of black, and finally broadly edged 

 with white. 



" Another specimen is dark gray on the back and head, and a 

 mixture of black and cinereous on the feet, thighs, and under sur- 

 face. Whiskers nearly all white. The markings on the tail are 

 similar to those of the other specimen. 



Dimensions. in. lin. 



Length of head and body 11 3 



Tail (vertebrae) 9 6 



Tail to the end of the hair 12 6 



