XI.] 



THE MAMMALIA OF CHUKCH LAND. 



433 



to be the common otter. As at most places where the lemming 

 is common the iveascl {Mustcla vulgaris, Briss.) is also found 

 liere. I got from the Chiikches two skins of this animal. 

 Whether the beaver occurs in the part of Chukch Land which 

 we visited I cannot say with certainty. It is probable, because 

 the Chukches informed me that there was found here a weasel 

 which has the point of the tail black. 



" Only two sea mammals have been seen in this region in the 

 course of the winter, viz. the roiirjli or hristlcd seal and the 

 Polar hear. On two occasions traces of the latter have been 

 observed in the neighbourhood of land. They appear, however, 



MARMOTS FItOM CHUKCH LAND. 



for the most part to keep by oiDcnings in the ice farther out to 

 sea, where during our stay two of them were killed by Chukches 

 from the neighbouring villages. The rough seal is probably the 

 <5nly species that occurs near the coast during winter. It is 

 caught in great numbers, and forms, along Avith fish and various 

 vegetable substances, the main food of the Chukches. 



" Of land birds there winter in the region only three species, 

 viz. an ou'l (Strix nydea, L.), a raven {Corvus sp.), and s, ijtarmi- 

 qan {Lagoinis suhalpina, Nilss.) ; the last-named is the mosl;.^ 

 common. On the 14th December, during a sledge journey into 

 the country I saw, about ten or twelve English miles from the 



F F 



