114 ZOOLOGY. 



mountains of southern Oregon, and that it is called, in their language, (the Walla- Walla,) the 

 Loot-zaJi. 



An old trapper (M. Dofer) says that it is the &quot;medicine wolf&quot; of the Indians of the &quot; Great 

 Plains,&quot; who believe that its cry brings trouble and bad luck. It lives in burrows, like other 

 foxes. S. 



BASSARIS ASTUTA, L i c h t . 



Civet Cat; Raccoon Fox 



BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 147. 



The ring-tailed bassaris, often called raccoon fox, is common in California, where the people 

 tame it. When domesticated it is said to kill rats and mice like a cat. I could get no distinct 

 account of its habits from the natives, as I could only communicate with them with difficulty. 

 In 1852 I found their skins quite common on the lower Klamath river, where they appeared to 

 be considerably valued by the Indians, and are made into &quot;breech-clouts,&quot; &c., by them. G. 



MUSTEL A PENNANTII, E r x 1 . 



Fisher; Black Cat. 



[See chap. 2, p. 92.] 



The skin of the fisher is much prized by the Klamaths for quivers. The length of the 

 body of the full-grown animal is about two feet long; form slender; fur black and rather fine; 

 claws much curved and white. 



Lewis and Clark say that the black fox, or fisher, (an animal jet black, except a white spo* 

 on the breast,) &quot;climbs trees after squirrels, raccoons,&quot; &amp;lt;fec. G. 



Found in the Cascade and Blue mountains. The Indians who hunt in those ranges are fond 

 of making quivers of the skins of this animal. S. 



PUTORIUS RICHARDSONII, Bonap. 



Richardson s Weasel. 



Futorius Richardsonii, BP. in Rich. Zool. Beechey s Voyage, 1839, Mammalia, 10. BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 164. 



[See chap. 3, p. 93.] 



The specimen of Richardson s weasel, sent by me from Fort Steilacoom to the Smithsonian 

 collection, and of which measurements are given in my partial report, (see chapter 2, page 

 93,) was obtained from Mr. Gibbs s farm, Chet-lak, near Fort S. It was killed among some logs 

 and fallen trees on the 18th of August, 1854, and kindly sent to me by Mr. Gibbs. The 

 animal had a pungent, acrid, musky odor, the result of either the emission of some secretion of 

 the anal glands or from the discharge of urine during its death struggles. There is a slight 

 typographical error in the measurements given on page 93. The girth behind the shoulders 

 should read 3 inches instead of 3| inches. The chest, being readily compressible, would 

 allow its passage through any hole which would admit the creature s head. This I believe is 

 generally the case with all species of the genus. S. 



PUTORIUS LONGICAUDA, Bonap. 



BAIRD, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 169. 



[See chap. 2, p. 93.] 



This weasel, mentioned by me in the partial report, (chapter 2, page 93,) was obtained in 

 Nebraska, on the valley of Milk river. In the incomplete report above mentioned some 



