199 



SCIURUS LANUGINOSUS.— Bachman. 



Downy SainsBEL. 

 PLATE XXV. Natural size. 



S. auribus brevibus, cauda subdisticba ; S. Hudsonico paullo robustior, 

 supra castaneo-fuscus, subtus albus, naso concolori ; lateribus argenteis ; 

 occipite macule distincto. 



CHARACTERS. 



Ears, short ; tail, sub-distichous ; light chesnut-hrown on the upper sur- 

 face ; sides, silver-gray. A spot on the hind part of the head, nose, and 

 under surface of body, pure white. A little stouter than S. Hudsonius. 



SYNONYME. 

 SciDBUs Landginosus, Bach., Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. of Phila., vol. viii., pt. 1, p. 67, 1838. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Head, broader than in S. Hudsonius ; forehead, much arched ; ears, 

 short and oval ; whiskers, longer than the head ; feet and toes, short ; 

 thumb, armed with a broad flat nail. Nails, compressed and acute ; the 

 third, on the fore-feet, longest. 



The tail, (which bears some resemblance to that of the flying squirrel, 

 P. volucella,) is clothed with hairs a little coarser than those on the back, 

 and is much shorter than the body. On the fore-feet the palms are nearly 

 naked, the under surface of the toes being only partially covered with 

 hair ; but on the hind-feet, the under surface from the heel to the ex- 

 tremity of the nails is thickly covered with soft short hairs. Fur, softer 

 and more downy than that of any other of our species. The fur indicates 

 that the animal is an inhabitant of a cold region. 



Teeth, dark orange ; whiskers, brown ; fur on the back from the roots 

 to near the tip of the hair, light plumbeous, tipped with light chesnut- 



