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844 



MONOORArHS OP NOBTU AMKKIUAN RODBNTIA. 



^'Arc(omi/i a/jnna", which Riclinrdson finys is the same ns liis Arctomys parryi, 

 pndmbly from knowing per onnlly tiio specimens referred to, since Parry's 

 nllusioii gives no clue, furtlu r thiin the significiinee of the nnme, to tlie char- 

 acter of the animal to which he refers. Richardson, the same year (1825), 

 gave a detailed account of the species, including much relating to its habits 

 and distribution, and bestowed iijKjn it the specific name by which it has 

 since been currently known. In 182!), it was again described by the same 

 author, at which time he characterized and named two additional varieties, 

 namely, erythrogluteia and vhaognathn. Of the latter, Richardson says : — 

 " It is characterized cliiefly by a well-defined, deep, chestnut-colored mark 

 under the eye." It was i)ased on a specimen in the ]\Iuseum of the Zoolog- 

 ical Society of London, brought from Hudson's Bay ; the particular district, 

 however, not being stated. In one of my specimens of var. erylhrogiutaus, 

 there is also a well-defined chestnut-colored line beneath the eye, and a similar 

 mark is faintly indicated in quite a number of the examples of var. empetra. 

 It hence seems probable that Richardson's " var. phteognatha" may be based 

 merely on a specimen of var. empetra in which this mark was developed with 

 unusual distinctness. 



The species was redescribed by Baird in 1857, who directed attention to 

 its close resemblance to S. eversmanni. In 1861, Mr. B. R. Ross gave to it 

 the name '\Arctomys kennicottii", under the impression that it had not been 

 previously described.* In 1874, in my Synopsis of the North American Sci- 

 urida, I briefly characterized the variety kodiacensis. 



Geographical distbibutio.v. — According to Richardson, "This Spermo- 

 phile inhabits the Barren Grounds skirting the sea-coast from Churchill in 

 Hudson's Bay round by Melville Peninsula, and the whole northern extremity 

 ot the continent to Behring's Straits, where specimens precisely similar were 

 procured by Captain Beecbey. It abounds in the neighborhood of Fort 

 Enterprise, near the southern verge of the Barren Grounds, in latitude G5°, 

 and is plentiful on Cape Parry, one of the most northern parts of the conti- 

 nent. It is found generally", he adds, "in stony districts, but seems to 

 delight chiefly in sandy hillocks amongst rocks, where burrows, inhabited by 

 different individuals, may be often observed crowded together. One of the 



* I tiud no further tiescription of the A. jteiiniootfii tliaii the tollowiug : — "Arctomjin KennicolliUVLma). 

 TbiH I cou8ider to be a uew species ; but I may be wroug. It is of huihII sizi^, uud iiibaUits tbc Nortb- 

 orduioat raugus of the Rocky Mouutuins."— (B. R. Ros8, Nal. Bitl. It'viiw, 1863, p. 874.) As sbowii by 

 epecimeos tbus labelled l>y biin in the National Muneimi, bis J. <«niit«)tfi> is tbe true A'. «mjie(ra (— &'. 

 pair yi auct.,. 



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