MAMMALS-URSIDAE-PROCYON PSORA. 
215 
PROCYON HERNANDEZII, var. MEXICANA. 
In the Report on the Zoology of the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey will be 
found the description of a very light colored Procyon, collected by Dr. Kennerly at Espia, in 
Sonora. It is well figured and described by St. Hilaire, in the Voyage de la Yenus, Zoologie, 
I, 1855, 25 ; tab. vi, from a specimen collected at Mazatlan. The general markings are as in 
P. lotor, hut the tints are very much paler, the long hairs being tipped with dark reddish 
brown, instead of black. The feet are whitish above, tbe hinder ones with a tinge of chestnut 
on their outer portion. The tail has six distinct annulations of purplish chestnut, besides the 
tip ; the intervals rusty whitish, a little larger than the dark rings. 
In pattern of coloration, this specimen agrees exactly with P. hernandezii, as well as in the 
long hind feet; it is only necessary to suppose a skin of this species bleached throughout to a 
certain degree to present the general characters described above. I therefore, without hesita¬ 
tion, consider it a local variety of the P. hernandezii. 
PROCYON PSORA, Gray. 
Procyon psora, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, 261.— Ib. Voyage of Sulphur, 1844, 32; pi. xi, (skin,) xvii, 
f. 1, 2, 3, (skull.) 
The Procyon psora of Gray, based on a specimen brought from the Sacramento river, by 
Belcher, resembles in some respects the specimen described as above, from Sonora. The descrip¬ 
tion is, however, not sufficiently perfect as to admit of a minute comparison. The colors, judging 
from the figure are quite similar ; the black patch of the cheek, however, is smaller, and only 
involves the lower half of the eye ; nor does there appear to be any dusky on the upper part of 
the muzzle. There is a yellowish tinge to the fur, due, possibly, to immersion in alcohol. The 
upper surface of the hind feet is whitish; the tail is reduced to a mere stump, and is probably 
broken off. Further specimens from California may show whether this is more than a mutilated 
variety. The small cheek patch and the rudimentary tail differ from the normal condition of 
other North American species ; in the former respect resembling the P. cancrivorus. The 
dimensions given are as follows: head and body, 27 inches ; tail, 3 ; hind foot, 4^ ; skull, 5 
inches long, 3| broad. 
Upon the whole, I am inclined to consider the P. psora as essentially the same with the 
Sonora specimen, with only a smaller cheek patch; and both of them varieties of P. hernandezii. 
