60 BIRDS AND MAMMALS OF EAST SIBERIA [^VoLV^* 



discovery of the genus Myopus in the Altai Mountains, and now 

 even in the northeast part of Siberia, on the shores of the Arctic 

 Sea, it seems not unUkely that Middendorff's animal was after all a 

 specimen of the same group, and that the genus ranges across the 

 Asiatic continent. 



Lemmus chrysogaster J. A. Allen. Yellow-bellied Lemming, 



Lemmus obensis chrysogaster Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1903, 

 vol. 19, p. 153. 



A single specimen was taken from a rough-legged hawk's nest, 

 thirty miles east of Cape Bolshaja Baranov, on the northeast coast 

 of Siberia. Mr. Koren says it is common in this region, though he 

 was unable to bring back more specimens, and the skull of this one 

 unfortunately was lost. Dr. Allen based his original description 

 on two young animals from the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, and he 

 considered it a subspecies of Lemmus obensis, at the same time 

 pointing out its similarity to L. alascensis of Alaska. Our single 

 specimen seems to be fully adult, and is very clearly more like the 

 Alaskan than the West Siberian species. Probably it is the Asiatic 

 representative of the former. It readily may be separated from 

 the Alaskan lemming by its larger ear, though in color the two 

 species are very similar. The white-bellied L. obensis is about 

 equally large, but apparently does not extend its range to the 

 Pacific coast. In the Kolyma region, it is possible that its place 

 is taken by the much smaller species below described. 



Lemmus paulus sp. nov. Little Kolyma Lemming. 



Type, skin and skull, no. 15,268, M. C. Z., adult male, from Kalasch- 

 owo, near the mouth of the Kolyma River, northeastern Siberia, collected 

 June 22, 1912, by Johan Koren. 



General characters. — A very small species, of a uniform coloration, pale 

 buffy, sUghtly darker on the crown and nape, clearer and brighter on the 

 rump. 



