167 



Tail moderately bushy, and, without including the hair at the 

 end, nearly half the length of the head and body. Fur moderately 

 long, soft, with some woolly underfur. Soles hairy; long hair 

 between the toe-pads, and between them and the palmar and 

 plantar pads, sometimes almost concealing them. Anal glands as 

 in other species. 



Skull more elongate than that of P. ermlnea, and muzzle nar- 

 rower ; otherwise .similar. The dentition presents no difference 

 of importance. 



Colour. Brownish red, ranging from bright chestnut to bay, some 

 being considerably brighter and more rufous in tint than others ; 

 underfur hair-brown. The tip of the tail and the nose are darker, 

 but not black. Chin white, and in many specimens there are 

 white spots or patches on the breast. 



Dimensions. Head and body in a large (? male) specimen 15| 

 inches, tail without hair 6, with hair 7|, tarsus and hind foot 1|. 

 In a small (? female) example the corresponding measurements are 

 10, 4, 5, and 1| inches. Weight of a young male 9 ounces. A 

 skull measures 1'85 inches in basal length, and nearly 1 inch in 

 zygomatic breadth. 



Distribution. This weasel is found in Nepal and Sikhim at eleva- 

 tions from 7000 to 13,000 feet (I have a specimen procured on 

 Chola by Mr. Elwes at the last-named elevation, and Hodgson 

 caught two in his house at Darjiling). Blvth (J. A. S. B. xxiii, 

 p. 215) records specimens collected by Dr. Stewart near Landour 

 and Mussoorie, and Jerdon states that the species is common in 

 Kashmir, where Leith Adams also records its occurrence; but all 

 the skins I have seen from tbe "Western Himalayas belong to the 

 next species. The specimen procured by Griffith, and erroneously 

 referred by Horsfield to M. hodgsoni, is labelled from Afghanistan. 

 Some of Griffith's collections thus labelled were from the Khasi 

 hills, so no dependence can be placed upon the locality. 



Varieties. The type of Mustela horsfieldi, which was brought from 

 Bhutan, is now in the British Museum. It is smaller and much 

 darker-coloured than Hodgson's type of M. subhemachalana in the 

 same collection. But the tint is evidently variable in this species, 

 and as the distribution of colour is precisely similar, I have very 

 little doubt that the difference in size is sexual, and that the two 

 are identical, as was suggested by Jerdon. In Hodgson's MS. 

 drawings three of these darker specimens are represented, and all 

 are noted as young. 



Nothing is known of the habits of this weasel. 



83. Putorius canigula, The white-nosed Weasel. 



Mustela canigula, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 279 (1842). 

 Mustela hodgsoni, Gray, A. M. N. H. xi, p. 118 (1843). 



Tail moderately bushy, about half the length of the head and 

 body. Fur of moderate length Soles hairy. 



