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Show 1876.] MR. E. R. ALSTON ON THE GENUS DASYPROCTA. 347 sportsmen who have had ample opportunities of studying the habits of the Hazel Grouse, it is always monogamous, and that when paired the pair remain strictly faithful to each other. Therefore I have never heard of a Hazel cock having been seen at a " lek" of the Black Grouse, though the male Willow Grouse has been known to attend there, and to take ample advantage of his opportunities. I can only surmise that the present hybrid has been the result of a Hazel cock which had failed in finding a mate, having paired with some Grey Hen met with during his solitary wanderings. 3. O n the Genus Dasyprocta; with Description of a N ew Species. By E D W A R D R. A L S T O N , F.L.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S. [Received March 11, 1876.] (Plate XXIX.) My attention has been lately turned to the Mammals of Central America; and I have hence been led to review all the known species of the genus Dasyprocta, concerning the characters and distribution of which a good deal of confusion has existed. Through the kindness of Mr. Sclater and Dr. Giinther I have been enabled to compare the skins of a number of Agoutis which have died from time to time in the Society's Gardens with the specimens in the British Museum, and believe that I am now able to arrange the various forms with some approach to general correctness. The range of the genus Dasyprocta extends throughout a considerable part of the Neotropical Region, from the Antilles and Mexico in the north to Brazil and Paraguay in the south. Within these limits there exist a number of well-marked but nearly allied geographical races, of which eight or nine appear to deserve specific distinction. As might be expected in such closely related forms, I have been unable to find any constant cranial distinctions, and have been compelled to depend on outward characters, of which I have found the coloration of the long hairs of the rump to be the most trustworthy. Owing to the confusion which has existed as to some of these species, and to the carelessness of collectors and museum-curators as to locality, it is very difficult to make out the exact distribution of the various races of Agouti; but I have endeavoured to note what little information we possess. The following, then, is the principal synonymy, with brief diagnoses and habitats, of the various Agoutis, beginning with a well-marked species, which appears never to have been described, and which I propose to call:- 1. DASYPROCTA ISTHMICA, sp. n. Fur ringed with black and yellow ; rump black, more or less washed with orange or yellow, the long hairs being black at the base, scarcely annulated except close to the tips, which are broadly |
