Putorius ermineus in Algeria and Ferghana. 453 



paler than in typicus^ about matching the dorsal colour of an 

 English weasel (P. nivalis)^ and less conspicuously darker 

 than the back. Distribution of colours as in typiciis; the 

 small white spot behind the eye and the white ear-rira well 

 marked, and the underside of the proximal half of tail pale 

 sulphur-yellow, like the belly. 



Skull scarcely equalling in size that of a large male 

 weasel. 



Dimensions of the type (a well-made skin, (J ) : — 



Head and body 200 raillim. ; tail without end-hairs 63, 

 with end-hairs 88 ; hind foot 31. 



Skull : length from gnathion to upper rim oi foramen mag- 

 num 35 ; zygomatic breadth 18*2 ; interorbital breadth 8'6 ; 

 intertemporal breadth 8'4 ; breadth of brain-case 17*8 ; palate 

 length from gnathion 14'2 : palate breadth between outer 

 corners of Eii and Pli 11-3; "horizontal length of P:i 4-1, of 

 ^~i 4*3. Upper canine, cingulum to point behind, 3'1. 



Hah. Ferghana. Coll. Th. Barey, June 10, 1893. 



Type : B.M, 94.9.2.2. Received from the Branicki 

 Museum, Warsaw. 



This peculiar little animal, owing to the identity of the 

 distribution of its colours with that found in P. ermineus, I 

 retain within the same species, but consider that its diminu- 

 tive size and markedly paler colour necessitate its separation 

 as a subspecies. So great is the difference in size that, as 

 already noticed, its skull is even smaller than that of a large 

 male weasel. 



It will be of much interest to find out what is the exact 

 range of this little stoat, and whether it is confined to the 

 near neighbourhood of its type locality or is the representative 

 of the ordinary stoat throughout the highlands of Central 

 Asia. It may be noticed that a specimen from Narimskaja, on 

 the Ob (Dr. Otto Finsch), although rather smaller than 

 average Norwegian examples, is nothing like so small as the 

 Ferghana one, while its colour is absolutely normal. 



With the Pygmy Stoat Mr. Barey obtained a weasel 

 which I refer to tiie form called by Blanford P. Stoliczkanus, 

 but which will probably prove to have very much the same 

 degree of distinction, whether specific or subspecific, from 

 P. nivalis that P. e. ferghance has from P. e. typicus. 



As both of the subspecies above described are small repre- 

 sentatives of a single species, the question naturally arises 

 whether they have any direct relationship to each other • but 

 for the elucidation of this point specimens from intermediate 

 localities must be obtained and compared with each of them. 

 There appears to be a certain faunistic community between 



