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



for about an inch along the hind part of the neck ; cheeks reddish brown, of rather a darker hue just beneath the eye ; shoulders 

 and fore part of the back covered with long coarse hair, grey at the surface and bluish grey at the roots ; fur of the hind 

 parts shorter by at least one half; bluish grey at the roots, light grey in the middle, tipped with pale rusty brown, and fre 

 quently pointed with glossy black ; fore l<"ga and feet well covered with short but dense hair, black, excepting just beyond the 

 insertion of each claw, where a very conspicuous irregular spot of grey is seen ; hind legs and feet perfectly black ; claws rather 

 lighter ; neck, chest, and whole ventral aspect of the body sparingly covered with a short fur of a buff color, rather lighter 

 towards the sides ; tail depressed, slightly convex on the upper surface, but quite flat beneath ; narrowest at the root, gradually 

 but slightly widening towards the end, where it appears rounded ; color above the same as the hind parts of the back, except 

 at the tip, whore it is dull black ; beneath entirely dull black. Total length from the nose to the tip of the tail twenty-six in 

 ches, of which the head is three inches and three-quarters, and the tail eight inches ; palm, including middle fore toe and claw, 

 two inches and a half, while the sole, similarly measured, is three inches and a quarter ; height of ears posteriorly three-quar 

 ters of an inch, and breadth between the eyes two inches. 



" The Okanagan marmot therefore is separated from Pennant's hoary marmot in not having a black nose, in the fur not 

 being universally rude and long, and in not having on the back, sides and belly any such arrangement of colors as cinereous at 

 the root, black in the middle, and whitish at the tip. Richardson's description in the Zoological Journal, which savors of both 

 Pennant's and McPherson's remarks, is too slight to afford anything like satisfactory comparison ; but there are sufficient dis 

 crepancies such as the long coarse fur on the chest twenty-seven and a half inches being given as the length of the head and 

 body, and two and a half for that of the head, to show that it is not synonymous with the Okanagan. Were it not for the 

 difference in the size of the head, which is very great, the dimensions of McPherson's animal would correspond pretty accu 

 rately with those of the Okanagan marmot, for the slight variation of an inch from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail 

 might be reconciled by supposing that the arched form of the back had been flattened by pressure. It is very far, however, 

 from resembling the beaver in the shape of its body, as in McPherson's specimen, being, if anything, rather broader across the 

 shoulders than about the hind parts. 



" The length of the head, the grey spot on the upper part of each of the fore toes, which strongly contrast with the black fur 

 of the rest of the foot the singularly arched band extending from the back of the head to either shoulder, and the peculiarly 

 short and scanty fur covering the neck and whole ventral aspect of the body likewise the dull black of the under part of the 

 tail distinguish the Okanagan marmot as a new species." 



" Found on a small tract of country on the borders of the Rocky Mountains, between the Columbia and Eraser's rivers, 

 supplying with food and clothing the Okanagan Indians, included between Seechwap lake to north and Spokane river to south." 



From this account it will be seen that King contests stoutly the identity of his animal 

 with the A. pruinosus. It is, however, without much question, the same animal as described by 

 Eschscholtz under the name of A. ccdigata, which has priority over A. okanaganus. 



The specimen described and figured by King remained several years alive in the menagerie 

 of the Zoological Society of London, and after its death was carefully preserved, and served as 

 the basis of the figure and description of Audubon and Bachman. This fact must be borne in 

 mind in the event of there being two northern marmots. To complete Dr. King's account, I 

 subjoin the measurements of Audubon and Bachman. 



Middendorff, in his Sibirische Reise, refers to a large marmot from Kamtschatka under the 



