298 TJnivcrsily of Califoniia ruhUcations in Zoologij. [Vol.7 



in a setting of stec4 traps in a eovv path in the sagebrush on the 

 broad Leonard Creek flat at an altitude of 6500 feet. 



Putorius cicognani (Bonaparte). 

 Weasel. 



Status. — On the morning of July 16, while we were camped 

 at 6000 feet altitude on Alder Creek, a male of this species (no. 

 8222) was found in one of our rat-traps, which had been baited 

 with oatmeal, not far from the stream near a large mass of rock. 



This specimen, whose skull has been misplaced and so is not 

 available at the present writing, was kindly examined by Dr. C. 

 Hart ]\Ierriam and identified as belonging to the cicognani 

 group. What the precise relations of Putorius muricus Bangs, 

 described from Echo, El Dorado County, California (1899, p. 71) 

 to the cicognani group are, cannot be determined with the 

 material now available. 



The specimen from Nevada seems to resemble muricus (Elliot, 

 1901, p. 434), more closely than it does any other w^easel described 

 to date known to the writer. For example, the tail is short, tip 

 black; upperparts and tail, except black tip, are nearest the drab 

 of Ridgway's Nomenclature of Colors, slightly tinged with choco- 

 late; the underparts, hands, toes, and upper lip white; total 

 length, 198 mm. ; tail vertebrae, 49 ; hind foot, 26. The measure- 

 ments of muricus are respectively, 220 mm., 60, 31. From a 

 consideration of these facts, however, one is led to suggest that, 

 if the Nevada animal is a member of the cicognani group, muricus 

 is very probably intimately related to the same group. It may 

 be that the Nevada animal represents a clearly defined unrecog- 

 nized form inhabiting the Pine Forest ^lountains alone or found 

 in the Transition zone of the mountain ranges of the northern 

 part of the Great Basin in general. However this may be, the 

 present record definitely extends the range of the cicognani 

 group (see C. H. ]\Ierriam, 1896, p. 5), to include the desert 

 ranges of the Great Basin. 



It is significant to note that the Nevada Expedition recorded 

 two species of weasels in the Transition of the Pine Forest ]\louii- 

 tains, belonging to two distinct groups, the small weasel lo the 



