182 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 
its diurnal habits, and in not becoming torpid in winter, it comes near the 
squirrels. It is difficult to tame.” 
The hackee is common on the north shores of Lakes Huron and Superior; but 
I do not believe that it exists in a higher latitude than the 50th parallel. Although 
very wild, it is fond of establishing its abode in the immediate vicinity of man, 
and multiplies greatly in cultivated places. 
DESCRIPTION 
Of a recent male specimen, killed in April at Penetanguishene. 
Dental formula ; incisors, 3; can. 33 grinders, <= = 20. 
Incisors of a deep yellowish-brown colour, and marked with a number of very fine longi- 
tudinal furrows. They are compressed, as is usual in squirrels, but they are not so strong in 
proportion as the incisors of the Hudson’s Bay squirrel, though they are longer. The lower 
incisors are twice as long as the upper ones. The molars are nearly equal to each other in 
size, and their crowns have nearly circular slightly excavated areas, with a small notch 
exteriorly ; they are surrounded by a thin plate of enamel, which acquires a black crust. 
Form.—Body slender; the head tapers from the ears to the nose; the forehead is slightly 
convex, but the crown of the head is depressed; the nose is not very obtuse, and is clothed 
with short hairs. The nostrils open downwards, and their margins and septum are naked, 
The whiskers are fine, rather shorter than the head, and of a black colour. There are also 
some fine black hairs on the cheek, and one or two longer ones springing from the eyebrow. 
Eyes, large; ears, ovate, rounded, erect, covered with short hair, and without tufts on their 
margins. The cheek-pouches, which are of moderate size, and extend but a very short way 
behind the ear, open into the mouth between the incisors and grinders. There are nine 
transverse folds or plaits on the palate, of which the five posterior ones are divided by a 
mesial ridge. 
Colour.—The dorsal aspect of the head is covered with yellowish-brown hairs, which are 
mixed with a smaller number of black ones. There is a black spot near the tip of the nose. 
The eyelashes are black, the eyelids white ; there is a dark brown streak between the eye 
and the ear, and a broad, yellowish-brown stripe extends from the nose, under the eye, 
to behind the ear, deepening in its middle to chestnut-brown. The anterior part of the 
back is hoary-gray, from a mixture of black and white hairs. The rump, hips, and exterior 
surfaces of the thighs are of a bright orange-brown colour, mixed with a few black hairs, A 
dark dorsal line commences at the occiput, and reaches to within an inch of the tail. This 
line is brownish at its commencement, but deepens to black posteriorly. There are also, on 
each flank, two black lines, which commence behind the shoulders, extend to the hips, and 
are separated by a moderately broad white stripe. All these stripes are more or less bordered 
with brown. The sides, beneath the stripes, present a mixture of gray and very light brown, 
The fur, covering the throat, chin, belly, and inner surface of the extremities, is longer and 
