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JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
feet in width. Here again the tracks showed unmistakably how the animal had 
entered the water and come out on the other side. 
It therefore appears that narrow channels of water formed no barrier during 
the food-getting expeditions of this particular coyote, and it may be that much 
of the depredations on ducks’ nests which have been attributed to racoons because 
of their fondness for water may in reality be due to coyotes, who may not be so 
averse to swimming as some persons have believed. 
— Harold C. Bryant. 
THE FLORIDA SPOTTED SKUNK AS AN ACROBAT 
April 13, 1919, while engaged in field work for the Biological Survey in Lee 
County, Florida, I established camp on a small prairie dotted with clumps of 
palmetto scrub close to an arm of the ‘‘Big Cypress” known as Kissimmee Billy 
Strand — being approximately 25 miles southeast of Immokalee. Shortly before 
sunset, as I was walking along a cow trail close to a palmetto thicket a Florida 
spotted skunk {Spilogale ambarvalis) suddenly appeared in the trail, not over 
10 or 12 feet in front of me, standing erect on his fore legs, with his hind legs spread 
in a most threatening attitude. I did not see him assume this position, and he 
maintained it only for an instant, quickly resuming his normal position and dis- 
appearing in the brush, leaving only a slight odor behind. Apparently he, as 
well as I, had been taken by surprise, but just what his purpose was in striking 
this ludicrous attitude I am unable to say. My guide, Mr, J. M. Youmans, who 
has hunted extensively in this region, told me he has occasionally seen a similar 
performance by this skunk. A trap set in the scrub resulted in capturing the 
little acrobat next morning. 
This species is essentially a prairie dweller and was found to be common over 
a large part of Lee County, probably reaching its southern limit not far from the 
locality mentioned above. On a previous trip I captured a specimen at Arcadia 
in the mouth of a pocket gopher’s burrow after he had entirely devoured a trapped 
gopher {Geomys tuza). I learned also of the occurrence of the species at Palma 
Sola, on the Gulf coast of Manatee County. On the east coast, the species ranges 
south (rarely) to Lemon City and Cocoanut Grove. 
— Arthur H. Howell. 
THE PELIS OCELOT OP HAMILTON SMITH 
In his important paper on the nomenclature of the small spotted cats of tropical 
America (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 41, pp. 341-419, Oct. 3, 1919), Dr. 
J. A. Allen has concluded after extensive discussion that if Felis ocelot H. Smith 
“is taken seriously it can only be construed as a synonym of Felis pardalis 
Linn6.” Should there be any doubt as to the correctness of this opinion, it may 
be noted that Smith’s name is preoccupied by Felis ocelot Link, 1795 (Beytr. 
Zool., 2, p. 90), which is an undoubted synonym of Felis pardalis Linnscus. 
Hamilton Smith described four varieties of his Felis ocelot, respectively num- 
bered 1, 2, 3, and 4. Of these, No. 4 was identified with Felis pardalis Linnaeus 
by Griffith in 1827 and has not been named subsequently; No. 1 was named Felis 
chibigouazou also by Griffith in 1827; No. 2 was called Felis hamiltoni, and no. 3 
