MAMMALS 275 



which is always black; length 405 mm. (male) ; tail slender and 140 mm. ; 

 hind foot 47 mm.; female about a fifth smaller: eastern and central 

 States; southward into North CaroKna; westward to Illinois; Canadian, 

 Transition and Upper Austral zones. 



Subspecies of M. novehoracensis 



M. n. novehoracensis (Em.). Eastern States from southern Maine 

 throughout the Transition zone; westward to Illinois. 



M. n. notia (Bangs). Belly yellow; winter coat drab: Austral zones 

 of the eastern States. 



M. cicognanii Bonaparte. Short-tailed weasel (Fig. 157). Color 

 in summer brown above and white beneath, except the terminal third 



Fig. 157. — Tail of Muslela novehoracensis (lower figure) and of M. cicognanii (upper figure) 



{front Rhoads). 



of the tail which is black; color in winter white, except the terminal 

 third of the tail which remains black; length 285 mm. (male); tail 77 

 mm.; hind foot 37 mm.; female about a fifth smaller: Boreal forests of 

 North America from New England, New York and Minnesota north- 

 ward; westward to Alaska and British Columbia; southward in the 

 Rockies to Colorado. 



.1/. occisor (Bangs). Similar to M. novehoracensis; tail very slender, 

 the black tip very short, confined to the terminal tuft of hair; length 

 (male) 460 mm.; tail 170 mm.; hind foot 50 mm.: southern Maine and 

 northward; rare. 



M. peninsulce (Rhoads). Color chocolate brown above, yellow 

 beneath; length (female) 375 mm.; tail 127 mm.; hind foot 44 mm.: 

 Florida and Alabama. 



M. allegheniensis (Rhoads). Color in summer brown above and 

 white beneath and all white in winter; tail without a black tip, or with a 

 few scattered blackish hairs; length 199 mm.; tail 19 mm.; hind foot 

 20 mm.: western Pennsylvania; rare. 



M. rixosa (Bangs). Least weasel. Similar to M. allegheniensis; 

 length 150 mm; tail 31 mm.; hind foot 22 mm.: Boreal America from 



