102 EXPEDITION TO POINT BAHUOW, ALASKA. 



The stripped carcase of a female which drifted ashore September!, i (bund to contain- 



a foetus about three Icct long. 



21. SOREX FOHSTERI Rich. 



FOESTEK'S SHREW Morsr, 



A little Shrew which was brought home in alcohol and ideutiiicd as this species was brought 

 in by a native who had been off to ?>Ieade Kiver on the spring deer hunt. This was the only one 

 observed. 



22. MYODES OBflNSIS Brants. 



TAWNY LEMMING (A'nrirtfi). 



* 



This species, like the succeeding, though abundant around Point Barrow, is not equally plenty 

 every season. We saw none in 1SS2, and none were brought in by the natives, who were in the habit 

 of bringing in all sorts of birds and animals for sale. 



None were obtained until June ll, 1883, when a good sized young one, probably born the year 

 before, in full summer pelage, was picked up dead on the tundra. During the rest of June and 

 in July they were often seen, and in airy were caught. Early in the season they wore often found 

 running in tunnels under snow-banks. 



This species and the next make shallow burrows and galleries in the tussocks of turf on tho 

 tundra, and spend a good deal of time under ground. 



A mother and seven blind young were taken June i'7. 



23. CUNICTTLUS TORQUATUS (Pall.) Couea. 



HUDSON'S BAY LEMMING (A'nchlu). 



Like the last, this Lemming, though abundant, is not equally plenty every season. During 

 the whole year of 1882 we did not sec a single Lemming, although signs of them were very plenty. 

 The tundra was completely riddled with their galleries and burrows, and we occasionally saw 

 tracks on the snow or mud. Their droppings, besides, were very thick in many places on the 

 tundra, and the numerous owl's castings scattered over the tundra were made up almost wholly of 

 Lemmings' skulls, bones, and hair. 



In 1883, the natives began to bring them in early in January, and all the rest of that season 

 they were quite abundant. Their habits are quite the same as those of the Tawny Lemmings. In 

 summer they are only to be seen when running from one gallery to another, and in winter their 

 tracks generally lead to a burrow in the snow-bank. 



They are seldom seen in winter, except during drifting snowstorms, when the snow over their 

 tunnels is probably blown away. This has given rise to a curious fancy among the Eskimos, who 

 say that in stormy weather they come down from the sky, whirling around and running around in 

 spirals as soon as they touch the ground. The first one we obtained was brought in, during a 

 violent snowstorm, by a native, who informed us, "There are none here on the land. As it was 

 bad weather he fell down from above." This superstition is interesting in connection with tho 

 notion of the Norwegians that the great hordes of Norway Lemmings come down from the clouds. 



They appeared to be spread over a pretty wide extent of country in 1883, as we obtained 

 specimens from near the station and from various deer-hunters' camps in the interior. 



Up to April all the specimens taken were in winter pelage, but none of them were completely 

 white, all showing faint rufous spots indicating the position of the ears, and usually more or less 

 rufous suffusion on the back. The white, moreover, has a grayish cast, due to the fact, probably, 

 that the tips of the hairs only are white, while the rest is a slaty gray. One. specimen, taken in 

 February, and, from its size, probably a young one of the preceding year, is much marked with 

 gray and brownish on the back of the head and nape and between the shoulders. It has well- 

 marked rufous ear-spots. A specimen taken in April can hardly be distinguished from this, though, 

 a little larger. 



