MAMMALS. 



247 



List of specimens and measKrements. 

 SKINS. 



Collector's number. 



Skin. Skall. 



Saint Michaels ! March 23, 1880. 



Biogmpkival notes. — The well-kuown Mink is foimd abundautly throughout all the uortheru 

 fur conutiies where marslies and sluggish streams abouud. In Alaska they are found over all the 

 mainland extending north, nearly, or quite, to the coast, iu latitude 68^ to 70=3, ^mj reaching the 

 coast of the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea to the southward. Their range extends out ou the 

 peninsula of Aliaska and across toUuimak Island, the nearest of the Aleutian chain, and they are 

 found on some of the islands bordering the coast in extreme Southeastern Alaska. 



Although numerous in most parts of the Territory, yet on the low marshy tundras between, 

 and adjacent to, the Lower Yukon and Kuskoquim Eivers and about the head of Kotzebue Sound 

 they occur in the largest numbirs. The triangular area of swampy tundra between the Lower 

 Yukon and Kuskoquim forms its center of abundance. The people living there are called " mink 

 people" by the neighboring Eskimo. The country there is very low and flat, and in many 

 places the pools are brackish and tide-water from Jiering Sea reaches many miles inland. Over 

 all of its extent marshy lakes, ponds, and sluggish streams mark the country in every direction. 

 These lakes and streams connect with one another to such an extent that travel, except by boat, 

 is rendered impossible in summer. The muddy waters here swarm with myriads of the "Black- 

 fish" of the fur traders, which has been named BaUia pectoralis by Dr. Bean. This is a small fish 

 from 4 to 8 inches long, upon which the Mink feeds, and it is the cause of its abundance in this 

 part of the Territory. 



Mr. True notes the large size of the Mink skulls from Alaska, and probably the species attains 

 its greatest development here. 



In the district described, between the Lower I'ukon and Kuskoquim, from ten to fifteen 

 thousand mink-skins are taken annually, yet the supply seems inexhaustible. Steel traps are 

 much used by the natives, although one of their primitive methods is still used very successfully. 

 This method is to make a tight brush or wicker-work fence across a stream or small jiond, and 



