908 



EODENTIA 



hind foot, 58 and 56. Average and extremes of ten adults from 

 Saffron Walden, Essex ; head and body, 227 • 5 (220-238) ; tail, 

 171-9 (159-178); hind foot, 56-0 (55-58). Average and 

 extremes of ten adults from Blandford, Dorset : head and body, 

 216-4 (211-224); tail, 172-1 (162-190); hind foot, 57-0 (55- 

 59); ear, 27-7 (27-29). For cranial measurements see Table, 

 p. 919. 



Specimens examined. — One hundred and seventy-four, from the follow- 

 ing localities : — 



Ireland : Craigie, Kilmanock, 1 ; Ahascragh, Galway, 1 ; Woodpark, 

 Clare, 1 ; Graigne, Kilkenny, 1. 



Scotland : Black Isle, Cromarty, 1 ; Dunphail, Elgin, 3 ; Ballends- 

 loch, Banffshire, 2; Loch Earn Head, Perthshire, 3; Pitlochry, Perth- 

 shire, 2 : Stockbriggs, Lanarkshire, 3 ; Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, 3. 



England: Guisborough, Yorkshire, 2; Leeds, Yorkshire, 2 (U.S.N.M.); 

 Oswaldskirk, Yorkshire, 1 ; Greta Bridge, Yorkshire, 1 ; Cowfold, Horsham, 

 Norfolk, 1 ; Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, 3 ; Barrow, Suffolk, 3 (U.S.N.M.) ; 

 Cambridge, 1 ; Graftonbury, Herefordshire, 4 ; Dudley, Worcestershire, 1 ; 

 Middlehill, Broadway, Worcestershire, 4 ; Chipping, Sodbury, Gloucester- 

 shire, 1 ; Newland, Coleford, Gloucestershire, 1 ; Clarberton Boad, Pem- 

 brokeshire, 1 ; Glamorganshire, 1 ; Monmouthshire, 1 ; Clevedon, 

 Somersetshire, 1 ; Wormsley, Oxfordshire, 5 ; Tbornhaugh, Northampton- 

 shire, 4; Luton, Bedfordshire, 6; Pelden, Hertfordshire, 3 ; Tring, Hert- 

 fordshire, 1 ; Saffron Walden, Essex, 40 ; Whitley, Surrey, 1 (U.S.N.M.) ; 

 Milford, Surrey, 2 (U.S.N.M.) ; Horsham, Surrey, 1 ; Knockholt, Kent, 5 ; 

 Upton, near Andover, Hampshire, 1 ; Blandford, Dorsetshire, 55. 



Hr marks. — By its small size and the peculiar colour of its 

 tail the British squirrel is one of the most sharply differentiated 

 races of Sciurus vulgaris. Nothing like the peculiar summer 

 whitening of the tail occurs in the other forms ; and this 

 character is the more remarkable for its occurrence in an animal 

 subjected to climatic conditions the reverse of those which would 

 be expected to produce bleaching. Even when not bleached the 

 tail is of a drab hue unlike that in any of the Continental forms. 

 It would probably be more logical to regard the animal as a 

 distinct species, but for convenience it is here treated as a race. 



