GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF P. VULGARIS. 105 



American "species" of the vulgaris type, namely, vulgaris as 

 attested by the Yukon specimen j '^ptmllus ", as by the Hudson's 

 Bay example and others ; and a nameless Oregon species. We 

 should obviously be reduced to this dilemma in any such at- 

 tempt to describe specimens instead of characterizing species. 

 And in determining our species and races, it is quite sufficient 

 to note the minor variations from a common type without giv- 

 ing the subjects of such variation a name. 



Nevertheless, as it is desirable to carry investigations of the 

 characters of animals into minute particulars, the following 

 summary is presented : — 



Var. 1. An animal averaging slightly less than P. vulgaris of 

 Europe, with the end of the tail blackish. Alaska, &c. 



Yar. 2. Rather smaller than the lastj the tail relatively longer 

 (vertebric about two inches) and distinctly dusky-tipped. Ore- 

 gon and Washington Territories. 



Yar. 3. Yery small — about six inches long ; tail-vertebr?e one 

 inch or less; color darker than in P. vulgaris^ but tail concolor. 

 Hudson's Bay, &c. 



Geographical distribution. 



The area over which this species turns white in winter may 

 be approximately deduced from the accounts of various au- 

 thors. This is nearly coincident with what is now known of 

 the American range of the animal. Mr. J. A. Allen states that 

 it turns in northern New England, but not so far south as 

 Massachusetts, where the change sometimes, but not always, 

 occurs to P. erminea. Dr. De Kay denies any change in New 

 York, though I suspect this may not hold for the northern 

 mountainous portions of the State. According to Maximilian, 

 the change takes place in the region he exi^lored, as it doubt- 

 less does in all higher latitudes. 



The range of the Least Weasel extends entirely across the 

 continent on this hemisphere ; but its north and south disper- 

 sion are less definite, in the present state of our knowledge. 

 To the northward, Richardson formerly limited its extension 

 to the Saskatchewan; but my specimens, from the Yukon, 

 Fort Resolution, and Hudson's Bay, largely extend the sup- 

 posed range, and I infer that the animal is generally distrib- 

 uted in British America and Alaska. Audubon's examples 

 were from the Oatskills and Long Island ; and this author 

 alludes to others from Lake Superior. The Red River and 



