166 



U. S. 1*. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



Measurements. 



List of specimens. 



PUTORIUS NOVEBORACENSIS. 



Common Weasel; White Weasel. 



Putorius noveboracensis, DEKAT, N. Y. Zool. I, 1842, 36 ; pi. xii, f. 2 ; pi. xiv, f. 2. 

 Putorius erminea, AUD. & BACH. N. A. Quad. II, 1851, 56 ; pi. lix. 



Sr. CH Length to tail about ten inches. Tail vertebrae about half this length. Black of tail, one-third ita length. Out 

 stretched hind feet reach not quite to the middle of the vertebrae. In summer, chestnut brown above, whitish beneath. Edge of 

 upper lip white. In winter, white, tail with black tip. 



The precise determination of the North American weasels is a matter of very considerable 

 difficulty, owing to the close relationship existing between them and the absence of any minute 

 comparisons of the allied species, both American and European. It is by no means improbable 

 that an examination of large numbers of specimens from remote localities will bring to light 

 several additional species, while at the same time greatly extending the range of those at present 

 known. 



I am not now prepared to say whether the true ermine, Putorius erminea, is found in any part 

 of North America, but doubt very much whether it exists even in high northern localities. All 

 the specimens collected within the limits of the United States by the different expeditions are 

 clearly distinct from P. erminea, as will hereafter be shown. 



None of the specimens at my command admit of any very nice distinctions as to proportion of toes, 

 number and extent of naked pads on the feet, length of tail and ears, &c. The head is depressed 

 and acute; the ears large and extending far around the auditory aperture. The tail, as well as 

 can be ascertained from the skin, has the vertebras about half the length of the body, the hairs 



