ZOOLOGY. 115 



careful measurements in detail of this individual were omitted, which make my excuse for 

 again introducing the animal, as I can throw no light upon its habits beyond that it was killed 

 in a cotton-wood forest on the banks of the river. 



Measurements of specimen. 



Length from nose to base of tail 11.00 inches. 



Caudal vertebriB 5.50 " 



Tail to end of hairy tip 6.60 " 



Girth around ears 4.60 " 



Girth of thorax behind shoulders 4. 00 " 



Girth of loins 4.00 " 



Length of forearm from end of olecranon 1.12 " 



Length of femur 1.40 " 



Length of tibia 1.25 



S. 

 PUTORIUS VISON. 



Common Miuk. 



[See cliap. 2, p. 93.] 



The mink is common throughout our northwestern Territories. They were obtained by me 

 from the Rocky mountains, from the vicinity of Fort Boise, in central Oregon, and from Puget 

 Sound. I found them most abundant in the neighborhood of the latter, being common on both 

 the shores of fresh water lakes and those of the salt sound itself. They are almost as aquatic 

 in their habits as the otter and the muskrat. One which I shot near Fort Steilacoom was 

 swimming in a fresh water lake, and at first was taken by me for one of the latter animals. 

 On some of the islands of Puget' s Sound, and upon those between Bellingham bay and Van- 

 couver's island, they are very numerous, and are said in such localities to subsist almost entirely 

 upon shell-fsh. 



Within a few years past the fur of minks has come extensively into fashionable use, and in 

 consequence their skins have risen several hundred per cent, in value. — S. 



LUTRA CALIFORNICA, Gray. 

 Californian Laud Otter. 



Baied, Gen. Kep. Mammals, 1857, 187. 



The land otter is becoming more abundant in Oregon and Washington Territories since the 

 decline of the fur trade. This animal is called by the Yakima Indians noolc-shi. — G. 



I obtained several land otter skins from the Puget Sound region, which were killed near 

 White river, in the Cascade mountains. They are abundant on the streams of the Cascade 

 mountains, and, as Mr. Gibbs observes, are increasing in numbers-. My skins were, unfor- 

 tunately, lost on their passage to Washington city. — S. 



ENHYDRA MARINA, Fleming. 

 Sea Otter. 



Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 189. 



The sea otter extends south along the coast of California to some distance at least below 

 Cape Mendocino. They are abundant at Port Orford, Oregon, and a few are taken at the 

 mouth of the Columbia. — G. 



