NO. 1101. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 27 



from wliich the species, so far as I am aware, has been obtained. Pro- 

 fessor Lugger, however, makes the following statement: 



I have seen the undoubted, work of the mole at Windom (Cottonwood County), 

 Luverne (Rock County), and Crookston (Polk County). 



The last-mentioned locality is of special interest, as it is in the 

 extreme northwest portion of the State. As no specimens were ob- 

 tained, it is not certain whether this sj)ecies or the star-nosed mole is 

 the one represented there. Professor Lugger adds: 



It is frequently stated that moles are very abundant in Minnesota, yet whenever 

 I tried to obtain specimens the "moles" turned out to be shrews. 



The present species is not included by Thompson among the mam- 

 mals of Manitoba.^ 



For regions west of the boundary as indicated by tlie specimens used 

 in preparing this paper, there are few references to the occurrence of 

 moles. "Though abundant on the rich bottoms along the Lower Mis- 

 souri," writes Hayden, "it [<S'. anjentdtus] is seldom if ever seen above 

 longitude 98 degrees. A single specimen^ was caught near the mouth 

 of the Big Sioux in the autumn of 1856."^ On a preceding page he 

 also remarks: 



The Scalops argentattis has not yet been observed above the mouth of Big Sioux 

 River, and it is not probable that it will be seen above the rich bottom lands which 

 extend only to the Niobrara. ^ 



Audubon and Bachman remark: 



We did not see any [moles] up the Missouri River and none are found on the dry 

 prairies of the regions immediately east of the great Rocky Mountain chain. ' 



In contradiction to this statement, we have the remark of Col. A. Gr. 

 Brackett: "I have seen the tunnels of the moles in Wyoming;" and 

 again: "I have seen their excavations on the high plains of the far 

 West." « 



These assertions need confirmation, as no specimens api>ear to have 

 been taken, and the circumstances of the case are such as to make it 

 improbable that the mole occurs so far west. 



Another record which needs confirmation before it can be accepted 

 is that of Hind, who remarks that on Long Creek, a tributary of the 

 Qu'appelle River, in Assiniboine, "the burrows of moles are very 

 numerous."' 



'Richardson refers to a mole, "species ignota," as inhabiting his "Eastern dis- 

 trict," which extended northward from the northern shore of Lake Superior. (Fauna 

 Bor. Amer., p. xxvi.) 



'■^This is No. 1760, U.S.N.M. 



^Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc, new ser., XII, 1863, p. 140. 



"Op. cit., p. 139, No. 7258, U.S.N.M., collected by Dr. Hayden, is from the "Sand 

 Hills, Nebraska," but the catalogue does not specify from how far west. 



^Quadrupeds of North America, I, p. 91. 



''American Field, newspaper, XIX, 1883, p. 130. 



'Hind, Red River and Saskatchewan Expedition 1, 1860, 406. In this connection 

 it is interesting to recall Richardson's theory that moles can not exist in high 



