4 0 ( * ) . D i d e l p h i s c a l i f o r n ic a . Zool. p r . fo r p a g e ‘10.
T h is is the name given by Mr. B ennett to an opossum from California, easily distinguishable from
previously described species.
4 0 ( ^ ) . D i d e l p h i s b r e v ic e p s .
This is another new species from the same locality, also described by Mr. B enne tt. As it may have been
one o f these two species which was observed by Mr. Collie a t Monterey, the existence o f the Virginian
opossum on the north-west coast remains to be ascertained.
4 6 . A r c t o m y s c a l i g a t u s .
T here is a living animal of this species now in the Zoological gardens. I t was b rought to E ngland by
M r. King, surgeon to Captain Back’s overland expedition, an d is figured and described in his recent work
un d e r the appellation of arctomys ockanaganus derived from the river u pon whose b anks it was caught. The
arctomys pruinosus of P en n an t is pe rhaps the same with caligatus, b u t the brie f account o f it in Arctic
Zoology is insufficient for correct determination.
4 9 ( 2 ) . S P E R M O P H IL IS S P ILOSOMA. C a L IF O R N IA N SO U S L IK . Z o o /. 1 8 3 3 , 4 0 .
This spermophile very nearly resembles th e American g u tta tu s l which was so named from an unwillingness
to give a new specific appellation to an American animal w hile u nable to p o in t o ut characters b y whicli it
may be distinguished from the almost similarly spotted Asiatic souslik. Since the publication o f the F auna
B oreali-Americana 1 have received a number o f sousliks from the Rocky Mountains, differing from each other
very considerably in size, b u t agreeing exactly in all other external characters with the description contained
in tha t work. From the very greasy condition of all these skins it would app e a r tha t this is the fattest o f all
th e American spermophiles.
5 1 . ( 2 ) . SPERMOPHILIS MACROURUS. Z o o /. / o r 1 8 3 3 , / ) . 4 0 .
T h is C alifornian marmot, described by M r. Bennett, is nearly allied to sp. Be e che y i and Douglasii, differing
from them chiefly in its black head and somewhat longer tail.
5 4 ( 2 ) . S c iu r u s n ig r e s c e n s . Benn. Zool. p r . 1 8 3 3 , p . 4 1 .
The Zoological Society obtained a skin of this squirrel from California, a t the same time with those of
several o f the preceding animals. In the P roceedings of the Zoological Society, for 1836, page 88, there is a
notice b y J . E . Gray, E sq . o f Sciurus Douglasii, collected by the lamented naturalist whose ijame i t bears,
on the north-west coast.
5 5 ( 2 ) . G e o m y s T o w n s e n d i i .
D r Bachman kindly submitted to my inspection specimens of two kinds of sand-rat taken by
Mr. Townsend on the plains o f Columbia. One, the G. Douglasii, has a rusty-brown coloured fur above,
hair-brown on the abdomen, and blackish head. T a il, feet, and pouches, white. Townsendii differs m
having the wood-brown coloured ba ck o f borealis, and is distinguished from the la tte r by its longer tail.
Tota l length of head and body of G. Towsendii, 7 | inches, of tail, 2 | inches. An individual of G. borealis
o f equal size of body, has the tail a very little exceeding an inch in length, and ju s t equal to that of a young
specimen o f Townsendii, whose head and body measures only b \ inches.
5 6 . D i p l o s t o m a b u l b i v o r u m .
As we now consider th a t this genus ought never to have been separated from geomys, and th a t the latter
is the preferable generic term, the name o f the species ought in future to be g eomy s b u l b iv o r u s . In a
pape r on American Zoology, published in the R eport o f the British Association for the advancement of
science, for 1836, 1 have enumerated eight species o f geomys which may be grouped by, the sculpture o f their
incisors.
Benn. Zool.6 1 ( 2 ) . L e p u s n ig r ic a u d a t u s . p r . 1 8 3 3 . p . 4 1 .
This species inhabits California.
6 1 ( 3 ) . L e p u s c a m p e s t r i s . Bachman. Journ. Acad, o f Sc. Ph il. vii. p . 3 5 3 .
This species, which is described in the F a u n a Boreali-Americana unde r the appellation of Virginianus,
being in fact distinct from the Virginianus of Harlan, with which I had confounded it, ha s been named as
above by D r. Bachman. From th e observations of Professor N utta ll, it appears to be very common on the
prairies west o f the Rocky Mountains, and especially on the Wallasvallah, as well as on the banks o f the
P la tte to the eastward. I ts flesh is dark-coloured, like tha t o f the European hare, to which it was likened by
Mr. Drummond. A confusion has c rept into the synonyms of the American species o f this genus, which the
Rev. D r. Bachman has ably laboured to unravel in the pape r above quoted.
6 1 C ) . L e p u s N u t t a l l i i . N u t t a l l ’s L i t t l e H a r e . Bach. Op. Cit. p . 3 4 5 ,
p i. 2 2 .1 .
This pigmy hare was observed by Professor Nuttall on the banks o f several small streams which flow into
the Shoshonee and Columbia rivers, having habits similar to those of the common American grey rabbit,
Lepus sylvaticus of Bachman, or Americanus of Harlan and some other naturalists o f the United Slates.
See Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1836, page 88, for notices of L epus longicaudatus, L .
Californica and L . Douglasii, (G r a y ) , all discovered b y the late Mr. Douglas, in North America. The
recent visit of D r. Bachman to London will enable him to ascertain how far these are distinct-from those
mentioned in his paper.
C 7 (« ). C e r v u s --------------- ?
Exclusive o f the six de e r enumerated in the list a s frequenting the north-west coast two o thers are known
to the traders on the banks o f the Columbia. One o f these is called the “ jum p in g deer,” or “ c abree,” and
must therefore bear some resemblance to the prong-horned antelope, which is also termed cabree, with the
addition of the distinguishing epithet “ white tailed.” The deer o f North America greatly need elucidation.
Mr. Ogilby has lately described a skin found in the repositories o f the Zoological Society mixed with some
others obtained on Sir Jo h n F ran k lin ’s expedition as belonging to a new genus or species which he names
Ixa lu a probaton, (vide Zool. pr. 1836, p. 119). The animal in question is perhaps the “ jum p in g cabree” o f
the traders, or one o f the other imperfectly described de e r of the north-west coast, and the skin was most
likely presented to the Zoological Society by the Hudson’s B ay Company, though afterwards accidentally
placed in the same box with Sir Jo h n F ranklin’s specimens.
P t e r o p u s p s e l a p h o n .
Having recently had an opportunity of comparing a scull o f an o ld individua l o f this species with
Temminck’s figure o f that o f his F t . dasymallus, I can perceive no other difference than that the teeth o f the
former are more worn down.
JOHN RICHARDSON.