346 THK PUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



north shore. He obtained no less than sixteen specimens, inclnding both adults and 

 young. Dr. Merriam also obtained specimens iu 1S91. Mr. Prentiss aud myself put 

 out traps for it many times, in 1805, but either for want of proper bait or for some other 

 reason did not capture any. By impressing the native boys into our service, however, 

 we obtained specimens. These were caught at the East Lauding salt house near the 

 village of St. Paul. 



1 found two dead shrews on the low ground at the west end of village hill, aud later 

 one was picked up alive on one of the hills north of the village during a seal drive 

 from Lukanin hauling ground. The natives -report that they are often seen in the 

 water, and their tracks are to be found on the muddy shores of the village pond. 



The shrew feeds on the seal carcasses and such insects as are obtainable. One 

 seen by Mr. Palmer in 1890 was feeding on whale blubber. 



The young are noticeably duller in color than the adults, aud the color of back 

 merges much more gradually into that of the belly. The feet and tail are more hairy, 

 and the hairs at the end of the tail form a long pencil. 



A male taken June L'2, 1890, is molting. Two males taken August 13, 1895, are 

 also in this condition, though it seems somewhat early for them to take on the winter 

 coat, if such it is. A female taken August 14, 1895, also shows traces of the molt. 



In the skeleton the vertebr;e formula is as follows: c. 7. d. 13. 1. 6. s. 5. ca. 14=45. 



PRIBILOF LEMMING. 

 Lemmiia nigripes (True). 

 Myodes nUjrtpes, True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 17, No. 99!). Advance shoot Ajiril 26, 1894. 



The occurrence of a lemming mouse on St. George was reported by Elliott in 1875 ' 

 and also 1882^ from notes made between 1872 and 187G. He identified it with the 

 Asiatic species, Lemmus ohcims. Later, Mr. Charles H. Townsend collected two 

 specimens for the National Museum, and finding it api)areutly distinct from any 

 described si)ecics, I gave a diagnosis of it in 1894, under the name of L. nigripes. 



The following is a repetition of the original diagnosis : 



LEMMUS NIGRIPES (True). 



Upper surfaces nearly uniform ciunanion-gray, without handis or Bpots. Sides, inclnding the lower 

 part of the cheeks and neck, clear tawny brown. Under surfaces paler tawny, which tint is gradually 

 merged into the .stroiigor color of the sides. Nose Mack. Fore feet black above, tawny below. Hind 

 feet black both above and below. Tail bicolorcd, black above, pale tawny below. 



Dimensions' (trom dry skin; type). — Head aud body ISC""'; tail vertebrae, 13"""; hind foot 

 (witiiout claw), 17.5"'"'. 



Type. — No. 59152, U.S.N. M., male, St. George Island, Alaska. Colleetod by Charles H. Townsend, 

 August 18, 189(?). 



The only specimens of this lemming I have seen are from St. George, and Elliott 

 in 1875 states that it was restricted to that island. Dr. Merriam also, in his enumera- 

 tion of the mammals of the Pribilofs, cites it as a species found "only on St. George.'" 

 Mr. Palmer's manuscript record of 1890, however, contains the note "none seen on 

 St. Paul, though a few have beeu introduced." In 1895 1 saw at Northeast Point, St. 



' Report npon the Condition of Aflfairs in Alaska, 1875, p. 72. 



^Monogr. Seal Islands of Alaska, Special Bulletin U. S. Fish Com. 176, 1882, p. 125. 



^ See Abstract in Science, new series, I, p. 698, June 21, 1895. 



