September, 1921.] 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



107 



several sources indicated that it was more 

 likely to occur on the brushy west slopes 

 of Pleasaiit Valley tlian anywhere else, a 

 locality I was unable to visit. I had also 

 reports of its occurience in the region of 

 Raft Lake, where it visits the portable 

 graineries drawn up near the woods. 



Striped Gopher. 



Citellus tridecemlineatus tridecemlineatus 

 (Mitchell). 



Rare at Islay. It seems strange that the 

 single individual responsible for this entry 

 should have made its home under the very 

 foot-path of the village. But there it was, 

 well satisfied apparently with the resound- 

 ing tread of feet above its head. Old in- 

 habitants recognized it as an animal oc- 

 curring at various points throughout the 

 region. 



Little Chipmunk. 



Eutamias quadrivittatus horealis (Allen). 



Mr. Sydney Blair of Dewberr}-, a keen 

 and interested observer, states that the 

 little chipmunk ranges in the dry aspen 

 woods surrounding Raft Lake, often making 

 excursions to the fringes of the grain 

 fields which here meet the Avoods. I ex- 

 pected to find it in the Vermilion valley, 

 but, as in the case of the Franklin 's ground 

 squirrel, my most ardent exploration failed 

 to discover it. After an acijuaintance with 

 it at Edmonton I felt particularly desirous 

 of seeing it again, but that pleasure was 

 denied. 



Hudson Bay Flying Squirrel. 



Sciuropterus sahrinus sahiinus (Shaw). 



Reported as occurring in the mixed and 

 denser portions of the spruce and poplar 

 woods at Raft Lake. Doubtless, may be 

 found also along the Saskatchewan and 

 perhaps Vermilion rivers, as frequently I 

 secured them under like conditions at Ed- 

 monton. 



Hudson Bay Red Squirrel. 



Collected on September 1st a single spec- 

 imen (male) in the spruce woods off the 

 east shore of Whitney Lake. The summer 

 pelage i^hows no sign of shedding. The un- 

 derparts are distinctly more creamy-buff 

 than any of my earliest October specimens 

 taken at Ridout, northern Ontario, 1918. 

 This specimen measures : Length, 310; Tail, 

 115; Foot, 48.5. Bulky nests of shredded 



bark etc., belonging to this animal, were 

 fairly common in the conifers at Whitney. 

 The only sign I saw of it at Laurier Lake 

 was a fragment of mushroom wedged in 

 the branches of a large spruce. 



Prairie Hare. 

 Lepus campesfris campestris (Bachman). 

 Formerly unknown, but gradually mi- 

 grating northwards. During my stay one 

 was flushed on a grain field a bare mile 

 south-west of the village, Avhich was af- 

 firmed by all with whom I talked voncern- 

 ing it as the first known event of the prai- 

 rie hare in the vicinity. It had never pre- 

 viously been seen nearer than sixteen miles 

 to the south, and that only a single indi- 

 vidual three years before. The northward 

 fringe of its range seemed indefinitely fix- 

 ed away to the south, of late years pushed 

 polewards by a few adventures on a line 

 Avith Wainright, until this fall a crusader 

 appeared far beyond the natural range, 

 perhaps the advance-guard of a general 

 future movement. The clearance of the 

 land is undoubtedly the incentive, much 

 like the invasion of southeir Ontario by 

 the prairie mouse (P. m. hairdii) of late 

 years. 



Snowshoe Rabbit. 



Lepus americanus americanus (Erxleben.) 

 Scarce this fall, but in the recurring cy- 

 cle of its septennial abundance scouring 

 the countr}- in thousands. Sometimes, ac- 

 cording to an informant, entire aspen 

 bluffs are 'barked' until they die. After 

 the snow fall of October 7, their widely 

 scattered trails were occasionally seen. 



Canada Woodchuck. 

 Marmota monax canadensis (Erxleben). 



Occurs olily very sparingly at Islay, 

 and perhaps so over the entire west. Any 

 individuals which I have seen were no- 

 ticeably smaller than the familiar wood- 

 chuck of the east. A specimen taken at 

 Edmonton in September 1912 was only 

 about two-thirds the size, reddish and griz- 

 zled however similar to the latter. This 

 may have been an adolescent. 

 Badger. 

 Taxidea taxus taxus (Schreber). 

 Very common : badger holes were in 

 evidence at intervals nearl}^ everywhere. 

 Most of these were doubtless prospect shafts 

 in search of gophers. Sometimes in colo- 

 nies of the latter a half dozen may be sunk 



