164 U. 8. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



PUTORIUS RICHARDSONII. 



Muatela richardsonii, BONAP. in Charlesworth's Mag. N. H. II, Jan. 1838, 38. (".V. erminea, RICH. F. B. A.") 



Pu/oriiM richardsonii, BP. in RICH. Zool. Beechey's Voyage, 1839, Mammalia, 10.* 



Mustela (Putorius) erminea, RICH. F. B. A. I, 1829, 46. 



Musttla ermtnea, THOMPSON, Hist. Vermont, 1842, 31. 



7'ic/oj iuj agilis, ACD. & BACH., N. A. Quad. Ill, 1853, 184; pi. cxi. 



SP. CH. Length to tail, 9 inches or less. Tail vertebrae about half this length. Black of tail nearly one-half to one-third 

 its length. Outstretched hind feet reach to the middle of the tail, (with hairs,) or a little beyond. In summer, dark chestnut 

 brown above; whitish beneath. Whole upper jaw brown. In winter, white. Tail with black tip. 



A specimen in alcohol, which I refer to this species, is much smaller than skins of P. novebo- 

 racensis, though perfectly adult. Its colors, moreover, are darker than in the larger species. 

 It was caught in the spring of 1855, and consequently may he considered as having attained its 

 full growth. The ears are large and somewhat pointed ; the false lobe, however, does not 

 extend very high up. The centre of the eye extends rather more than midway between the nose 

 and anterior edge of the ear opening. The feet are moderately large ; their under surfaces not 

 very densely furred, allowing the tubercles to be readily visible. The hind feet outstretched 

 reach midway along the vertebrae of the tail ; these vertebras being more than half the length 

 of body, with the hairs, about five-eighths. 



The upper parts are of a dark chestnut brown, with but little reddish, this color pervading 

 the tail, perineal region, legs and feet. The under parts are white, though much restricted ; 

 the line of separation quite low down, beginning at the angle of the mouth, not on the upper 

 jaw or nostrils, and extending on the inside of the fore leg to the wrist, and on the thighs. 

 The flattened tail throughout is darker than the back, on its upper surface, and the gradation 

 into the black tip imperceptible, although the terminal half above, and nearly as much below, 

 are entirely black. The hairs at the end of the tail, though long, do not, in this summer 

 specimen, form a brush as in some other species ; indeed, the tail in the parallelism of its sides 

 and depressed shape is not dissimilar to that of Tamias. 



In an alcoholic specimen from Middleboro', (2316,) of rather small size, the body is seen to 

 be of very slender and delicate proportions, much resembling those of P. cicognanii. The verte 

 brae of the tail are about half as long as the head and body. The outstretched hind feet reach 

 to the middle of the tail, hairs included. The tail is decidedly depressed, and distichous. The 

 colors are much as in the Boston specimen. The upper lip is entirely brown, without white 

 edge, as in other ermines. The legs are entirely brown. The black tip to the tail is nearly 

 half its length on the under side. 



The feet are much smaller, more slender and delicate than in the P. noveboracensis ; the 

 tubercles larger. Although actually larger in body, the feet are relatively smaller than in 

 P. cicognanii. The tail, of course, is considerably longer. The ears are higher and narrower 

 at the base than in the last mentioned species. 



A summer specimen from Steilacoom (654) agrees very well with those from Massachusetts, 

 excepting in having the peculiar reddish tinge to the under parts, so generally seen in western 

 weasels. The whole upper lip is brown. 



A much stretched winter skin from Halifax. N. 8., decidedly larger than No. 2316, appears 

 to belong to this same species. It is pure white, with a strong sulphur yellow tinge beneath, 



