CHIPPING SQUIRREL. 76 



species which had their congeners on the Eastern continent. We 'were 

 surprised at finding no specimen of the T. striatus in the museums of 

 either England or France. At Berlin, however, an excellent opportunity- 

 was afforded us for instituting a comparison. Through the kindness of 

 Dr. LicHTENSTEiN, the superintendent of the museum, we were permitted 

 to open the cases, examine several specimens in a fine state of 

 preservation, and compare them with our American species, which 

 we placed beside them. The differences, at first sight were so striking 

 that we could only account for their ever having been considered identi- 

 cal, from the fact that the descriptions of the old authors were so loose 

 and unsatisfactory that many minute but important characteristics had 

 not been noted. The following memorandum was made by us on the 

 occasion : — " The Tamias striatus differs so widely from our American 

 Chipping Squirrel or Hackee, that it is unnecessary to be very minute in 

 making the comparison. The two species can always be distinguished 

 from each other by one remarkable characteristic, which I have observed 

 running through all the specimens. The stripes on the Asiatic, {T. stria- 

 tus) rimning over the back, extend to the root of the tail ; whilst those 

 on the American, {T. Lysteri) do not reach so far by a full inch. There 

 are many other differences which may as well be noticed. T. stria- 

 tus is a little the largest, the stripes on the back are situated nearer 

 each other, and are broader than in the other species ; the stripes on each 

 side of the back are nearly black, instead of yellowish-brovm ; on each 

 side of the black stripe on the centre of the back of Tamias Lysteri, there 

 is a broad space of reddish-gray. In T. striatus this part of the ani- 

 mal is yellowish ; being an alternate stripe of black and yellowish- white. 

 The tail of the latter is black towards the extremity, and tipped with 

 white; its tail and ears also are larger than those of T. Lysteri: in short, 

 these two species differ as widely from each other, as Tamias Lysteri 

 differs from the four-lined ground squirrel of Say, (T, quadrivittatus.) 



