261 



SCIURUS NIGER.— Linn. 



Black SauiRREL. 



PLATE XXXIV Male and Female. Natural size. 



S. corpore S. migratorio longiore ; vellere molli nitidoque, auribus, 

 naso et omni corporis parte iiigerrimis, cirris albis dispersis. 



CHARACTERS. 



A little larger than the Northern gray squirrel ; fur, soft and glossy ; 

 ears, nose, and all the body, black; a few white tufts of hair intei-- 

 spersed. 



SYNONyMES. 



SciURUS Niger, Godman, Nat. Hist., vol. ii., p. 133. 



" " Bachman, Proceedings Zool. Society, 1838, p. 96. 



" " Dekay, Nat. Hist, of New York, part i., p. 60. 



DESCRIPTIOlf. 



Head, a little shorter and more arched than that of the Northern gray- 

 squirrel, (in the latter species, however, it is often found that differences 

 exist, in the shape of the head, in different individuals.) Incisors, com- 

 pressed, strong, and of a deep orange colour anteriorly ; ears, elliptical, 

 and slightly rounded at the tip, thickly clothed with fur on both surfaces, 

 the fur on the outer surface extending three lines beyond the margin ; 

 there are however no distinct tufts ; whiskers, a little longer than the 

 head ; tail, long, not very distichous, thickly clothed with moderately 

 coarse hair ; the fur is softer than that of the Northern gray squirrel. 



The whole of the upper and lower surfaces, and the tail, glossy jet 

 black ; at the roots the hairs are a little lighter. Specimens pro- 

 cured in summer do not differ materially in colour from those obtained in 

 winter, except that before the hairs drop out late in spring, they are not 

 so intensely black. In all we have had an opportunity of examining, 



