1890.] mr. o. thomas on mammals from vera cruz. 73 



8. Nastja nasica, L. 



cJand4 $. 10 & 11/88. R.Juan Martin, Misantla, 2600 

 feet. 



5 2 . 10 & 1 1/88. Hacienda de Tortugas, Jalapa. 3600 feet. 



2 . 8/88. Huatusco. 



" Tejon manado, Tejon solo, and Tejon suelto." Eyes dark 

 bluish grey. Lives on maize. 



9. SciuRus NIGER MELANONOTUs\ var. nov. (Plate VI.) 



cJ and 2 $ . 7 & 9/88. Las Vigas, Jalapa. 



" Ardilla de Pinal." Eyes dark grey. 



Most nearly allied to S. niger cinereus, but distinguished by the 

 presence of a broad stripe of black running down the centre of the 

 back from the neck to the rump. Size as in var. ludovicianus. 



General colour above clear grizzled grey, without any fringe of 

 rufous or fulvous. Face similar but darker ; crown of head between 

 the ears black. A well-defined ring round the eye bright pale 

 yellow. Ears grey on both surfaces, a prominent pale-yellowish 

 patch on the side of the neck behind each one. Nape and back 

 of neck grey, the centre rather darker, and deepening backwards 

 into the characteristic dorsal stripe, along which the hairs are deep 

 shining black at their tips, while the underfur is dark smoky grey, 

 the whole stripe therefore contrasting very markedly with the clear 

 grey of the sides. Sometimes, however, the stripe is itself grizzled, 

 owing to the hairs of the underfur being ringed with pale yellow. 

 Whole of under surface from chin to anus, and inside of limbs, 

 bright salmon-colour, the hairs of this tint to their roots, and 

 sharply contrasted with the grey of the neck and flanks. Upper 

 surfaces of hands and feet also yellowish, but the hairs slate-coloured 

 at their bases. Tail long and full, without any tinge of fulvous ; 

 the hairs, which are upwards of two inches in length, with their 

 basal half dirty white interrupted by one or two narrow black rings, 

 and their terminal half deep black to within half an inch of the tip, 

 where they are pure white. This coloration of the tail-hairs is 

 essentially the same as is found in S. niger typicus and S. niger 

 cinereus. 



Skull and teeth as in S. cinereus ; premolars of course only - in 

 number. 



* In connection with this species I may take the opportunity of correcting an 

 error of identification committed bj' me in 1882, in a paper on some mammals 

 from Durango (P. Z. S. 1882, p. 372). Two Squirrels from Ciudad are there 

 referred to as belonging to S. griseoflavus, Gr. ; but a renewed examination proves 

 that they are really examples of <S. niger ludovicianus, Cust., for which that 

 locality is the most southern on record. This correction is of all the more 

 importance as doubt has been thrown on the occurrence of S. niger in Mexico 

 at all (Alston, Biol. Cent.-Amer., Mamm. p. 124), and it also renders more 

 marked the striking difiFerence between the faunas of Ciudad and Yentanas, the 

 two villages at which Mr. Forrer's Durango specimens were obtained. The 

 former is, in fact, proved more decisively than ever to be Nearotic, and the 

 latter Keotropical, although the two are within quite a short distance of one 

 another. 



