94 RODENTIA. 



the neck to the middle of the back, the rest of the back 

 is dark tawny or yellowish; sides of the head, throat, 

 and lower parts of the body white ; sides light yellow, 

 passing to whitish towards the belly ; hairs of the tail 

 long and thick, of a whitish-grey coloui' ; feet of the same 

 coloui- ; claws of the fore-feet very much flattened at the 

 sides, the four outer ones hooked, that of the thumb very 

 thick, and truncated obliquely. 



Length of head and body, 5 inches 3 lines ; head, 1 inch 

 5^ lines ; ears, 4 lines ; tail, 7 lines. — F. M. 



Very prolific. These .animals collect in vast numbers 

 at uncertain periods, and migrate from the mountains to 

 the plains, destroying every vegetable substance that lies 

 in their path. They burrow in the ground, but do not 

 become torj)id in winter. The Norway Lemming inhabits 

 the mountains of Norway and Lapland, especially those 

 parts where dwarf-birch and willow abound ; and visits 

 parts of Sweden in its migrations. 



Var. A. of Desmarest, Mammal, from Pallas, Nov. Spec. 

 Glir. tab. 12 B, Lemming de Lapponie. Smaller by one- 

 fourth than the preceding. A brown stripe or band, be- 

 ginning at the muzzle, surrounds the eye and rims to- 

 wards the ear ; a similar stripe on the top of the head ; 

 throat white ; back covered with ta^vny haii', with scat- 

 tered blacldsh hairs intermixed; the back of the head or 

 neck is slightly brown, some yellowish on the sides, and 

 dull white on the belly. 



Found only in Russian Lapland. Desmarest considers 

 it as a distinct species, but has followed Pallas in placing 

 it as a variety of L. Norvegicus. 



