28 



evidently from Bachman's description of a specimen said to 

 have been "taken in May in Suffolk Co." Mr. Outram 

 Bangs in his paper on the "Weasels of Eastern North 

 America " published in the " Proceedings of the Biological 

 Society of Washington" cites Mustelafusca as a synonym of 

 P. cicognanii, and gives the distribution of this species as 

 " Northeastern N. A. from Long Island and Conn, north to 

 Labrador " etc., but makes no reference to show his grounds 

 for including it as a mammal of Long Island, probably 

 basing it on Bachman's and DeKay's account. Mr. Gerrit S. 

 Miller, Jr., in his list of the mammals of N. Y. published in 

 " Bulletin No. 29 of the New York State Museum," quotes 

 Mr. Bangs as authority for its occurrence on Long Island. 

 If there are any specimens in existence of undoubted Long 

 Island origin, it would be of interest; and anyone having 

 knowledge of the presence of this species on the island 

 would do well to make known the fact. 



Putorius noveboracensis (Emmons). New York Weasel. 



This Weasel is common in most parts of Long Island. It 

 is an indefatigable hunter and as an exterminator of rats 

 and mice has few equals. I once found a family of young 

 Weasels under a pile of wood, where lying all around were 

 remains of moles and mice. Of the former there were three 

 or four which were untouched, while most of the mice were 

 partially eaten. The tenacity with which a Weasel will 

 hold on to an object it has seized is remarkable, but no less 

 so than the agility with which it can avoid a threatened blow. 

 It shows no hesitation in attacking animals many times its 

 size, sometimes to its sorrow. In one instance it attacked 

 a Raccoon with a fatal result for the Weasel. Rabbits often 

 fall victims to Weasels, who can follow them by scent for 

 long distances. That it is able to climb trees is shown by 

 an instance that came under my observation, one being shot 

 from a squirrel's nest about twenty feet from the ground in a 



