346 THE PUE SEALS OF THE PRIBILOP ISLANDS. 



north shore. He obtaiued no less than sixteen specimens, including both adults and 

 young. Dr. Merriam also obtained specimens in 1891. Mr. Prentiss and myself i>ut 

 out traps for it many times, in 1895, 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 Landing salt house near the 

 village of St. Paul. 



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

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

 from Lukaniu 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, and 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 22, 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 vertebrae formula is as follows: c. 7. d. 13. 1. 6. s. 5. ca. 14=45. 



PRIBILOF LEMMING. 



Lemmus nigripes (True). 

 Myodes nigripes, True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 17, No. 999. Advance sheet April 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 1876. He identified it with the 

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

 specimens for the National Museum, and finding it apparently distinct from any 

 described species, 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 cinnamon-gray, without hands or spots. Sides, including the lower 

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

 merged into the stronger color of the sides. Nose hlack. Fore feet black ahove, tawny below. Hind 

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



Dimensions (from dry skin; type).— Head and body 130"""; tail vertebrae, 13™""; -hi-aA foot 

 (without claw), 17.5 m™. 



Tjyje.— No. 59152, U.S.N.M., male, St. George Island, Alaska. Collected 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 been Introduced." In 1895 I saw at Northeast Point, St. 



1 Eeport upon the Condition of Affairs in Alaska, 1875, p. 72. 



2 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. 



