157 



SCIURUS MOLLIPILOSUS.— AuD. and Bach. 



SoFT-HaIRED SaUIEREL. 



PLATE XIX Natural Size. 



S. Cauda corpore curtiore ; dorso fusco ; iliis partibusque colli laterali- 

 bus rufis ; abdomine cinereo. 



CHARACTERS. 



Tail, shorter than ike body ; back, dark brown ; sides of the neck, and 

 flanks, rufous ; under surface, cinereous. 



SYNOKYME. 



SciuRHS MoLLiPiLosus, Aud. and Bach., Journal Acad, of Nat. Sciences, Philadelphia, 

 Oct. 1841, p. 102. 



DESCRIPTION. 



A little larger than the chickaree, {S. Hudsonius ;) head, rather large, 

 slightly arched : ears, round, broad, but not high, clothed on the outer 

 and inner surfaces with short, smooth hairs ; whiskers, longer than the 

 head. 



In form this species does not approach the Tami^, as S. Hudsonius does 

 in some degree : it, on the contrary, very much resembles the Carolina 

 gray-squirrel, ;S. Carolinensis, which is only an inch longer. 



Legs, robust ; toes, rather long ; nails, compressed, arched ; tail bushy, 

 but apparently not distichous, as far as can be judged from the dried 

 specimen ; hairs of the tail about as long as those of the Carolina gray- 

 squirrel. The hairs on the whole of the body are soft and very smooth. 



Teeth, light yellow ; upper parts, including the nose, ears, and outer 

 surface of the tail, dark-brown ; this colour is produced by the hairs being 

 plumbeous at the roots, tipped with light-brown and black. On the sides 

 of the neck, the shoulder, and near the thighs, it is of a reddish-brown 

 colour. The tail is brown, twice annulated with black ; a few of the 



