170 BULLETIN OF THE 



York, west and south, to Southern Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Arkansas. 

 The locality of still another is given as Carlcton House, II. B. T., this 

 being the variety described by Richardson as occurring at that locality, 

 and named Muslela longicauda by Bonaparte. But Baird doubtfully 

 refers to it also some long-tailed ermines from the Upper Missouri. 



Concerning the Least Weasel (P. pus'dlus And. and Bach, of Baird's 

 Rep.), the only queries relating to it have been principally in reference to 

 its relationship to P. vulgaris, P. pus'dlus forming its principal synonyme. 

 Bonaparte, however, doubted its occurrence in America, supposing his 

 P. Cicognanii had been generally mistaken for it, as he claims he found it 

 had been in some of the Middle States, and on his authority Dr. Godman 

 excluded it from his American Natural History Afterwards, however. 

 Dr. Richardson, in the Zoology of Beechey's Voyage, applied to it the 

 name of /'. ( 'icognanii. 



For the smaller weasels with a distinct black tip to the tail, Professor 

 Baird retains the name of P. Cicognanii, referring to it the Muslela (after- 

 wards Pulorius) fusca of Audubon and Bachman. lie gives as its distinc- 

 tive character, "Length to tail, eight inches or less. Tail vertebra?, one 

 third this length. Black of tail, two fifths its length." etc. He adds, this 

 " species is readily distinguished from the other American weasels by the 

 small size, and the tail, which, with the hairs, is rather less than half the. 

 body.' In a note he mentions the later reception of some hunter's skins 

 from Nova Scotia and Labrador, among which were some that agreed very 

 well with typical specimens from Massachusetts, while others were consid- 

 erably larger, though in general preserving the same proportions. The 

 average length of the body in the measurements of twelve specimens 

 given by him is 8.25 inches, the largest being 10, and of tail .">.G2 ; but 

 between the extremes of the series there is a variation in total length of 

 thirty-six per cent, of the average, and in the relative length of tail to the 

 body of twelve per cent. 



Pulorius Richardsonii is characterized by the same author thus: '• Length 

 to tail, nine inches or less. Tail vertebra', about half this length. Black of 

 tail, nearly one half to one third its length," etc. " Is readily distinguished 

 from Pulorius Cicognanii by the longer tail, the vertebra' alone of which 

 are fully half the length of the body, instead of requiring the entire t.iil to 

 effect this proportion."* Of this "species," the measurements of two speci- 



* In the account of /'. Richardsonii in the Mammals of North America there occurs 

 the following singular but important discrepancy, probably the result of a typographical 

 error. In the third paragraph of page L65 it is stated, " This species, a true Puturius 

 differs materially from the larger North American Weasels in the absence of a black lip to 



II; in this n P ■ ..." but in the specific dingi 



iif/' I says: " Black of tail nearly one half to one third Us lenylh" ; 



and in that ol /'. Ci> <j:i<tuii, " Black of tail two ffths its length." 



