RODENTIA SCIURINAE ARCTOMYS LEWISII. 347 



name of Arctomys monax, and says that they agree exactly with the figure hy Audubon and 

 Bachraan of A. pruinosa, (the same one just described.) The paws of the Asiatic specimens he 

 states, however, to be yellowish brown, instead of black, although the intermixture of single 

 blackish brown hairs suggests the possibility of their varying to this extent. From the analogy 

 of Spermophilus parryi, it would seem highly probable that the same species might inhabit the 

 adjacent shores of the North Pacific. 



Middendorff is inclined to think that Arctomys caligata of Eschscholtz may be distinct from 

 the A. pruinosiis, as its color is much lighter, and the tail measures ten inches in length, or about 

 half the length of the body, both according to Eschscholtz' description and a skin brought sub 

 sequently from California by Wosnes'ens'kij, a taxidermist in the employ of the Academy of 

 Sciences of St. Petersburg, who spent several years in the Bussian possessions on the Pacific. 



AKCTOMYS LEWISII, Aud. & Bach. 



Lewis' Marmot. 

 Jlrctomys lewisii, AUD. &. BACH. N. Am. Quad. Ill, 1853, 32; pi. cvii. 



" Sp. CH. Size of the gray rabbit; shape of head and body similar to that of Jlrctomys monax. Tail, with the hairs, about 

 one-fifth the head and body. Nose and nails black. Upper surface and ears reddish brown, the softer dense under fur being 

 light yellowish brown, the longer interspersed bain blackish brown at the tips. On the haunches the hairs are interspersed with 

 black and yellowish brown; feet and belly light salmon red. Tail from the roct, for half its length, reddish brown; the other 

 half to the tip, soiled white. Above the nose, edges of ears, and along the cheeks, pale reddish buff. There is a white band 

 across the toes, and another irregular one behind them; there is an irregularly defined dark brown line round the back of head 

 and lower part of the chin, marking the separation of the head from the throat and neck." 



The specimen described as above was found by the authors in the museum of the Zoological 

 Society, where it is labelled "Arctomys brachyura? No. 461!" It was received from some of 

 western British fur posts, and supposed to have been collected somewhere in the vicinity of the 

 Columbia river. 



From the description, as well as the figure, I should be inclined to consider this animal rather 

 as a prairie dog (Cynomys) than as a true marmot (Arctomys). The tail and feet are much 

 shorter in their proportions than in our other Arctomys, but agree very closely with the other 

 genus. Thus, in a fresh specimen of the Missouri prairie dog, (No. 1803,) the head and body 

 measure 13 inches ; the head alone, 3 ; nose to ear, 2| ; the hind foot, 2.38. The tail ig 

 nearly twice as long as in A. lewisii. A very little stretching of the skin, which it could 

 scarcely fail to receive after stuffing, and especially if prepared as hunters' skins usually are, 

 would bring these measurements to 16 inches for the length to root of tail, and one-eighth of 

 an inch added to the hind feet would make up three inches. Now, in a fresh specimen of A, 



