202 University of California Publications in Zoology. [Vol. 7 



center of breast and abdomen, white ; a few white hairs scattered 

 over dorsal surface of body. 



Skull. — Compared with that of M. caligata -. audital bullae 

 smaller; nasals more narrow, and pointed posteriorly; palate 

 broader and more shallow. The foramen in the parietal (im- 

 mediately above the auditory meatus, and posterior to the pos- 

 terior root of the zygoma) is very small, not more than half the 

 size of that in M. caligata. 



Measurements. — Type : total length, 720 mm. ; length of tail 

 vertebrae, 240; hind foot, 105; ear, 30. Average of five males: 

 total length, 684 (660-710) ; length of tail vertebrae, 222 (200- 

 300) ; hind foot, 98.4 (90-102) ; ear, 30. Average of six females: 

 total length, 646.6 (580-720) ; length of tail vertebrae, 198.3 (170- 

 240) ; hind foot, 92 (80-105) ; ear, 28.7 (24-30). 



Eemaeks. — The eleven specimens of Marmota vancouverensis 

 secured are quite uniform in coloration, allowing for the great 

 difference between the old, worn pelage, and the new coat which 

 most of them are just acquiring. One is in the new pelage 

 throughout, the type is in fresh pelage except for a patch of old 

 rusty hair on the tail, while the others are variously advanced 

 in the molt, some of them being very ragged, and in spots quite 

 bare of hair. As the long hairs wear off, the under fur becomes 

 exposed, and this fades to a cinnamon or wood brown, many 

 shades paler than the newly grown hair. 



From the appearance of the specimens secured it would seem 

 that the molt occurs but once a!»year in this species. There is no 

 indication that a gray winter pelage is assumed, as in M. olympus 

 of the mainland to the southward across the Straits of Juan de 

 Fuca. The area covered by the white marking on the ventral 

 surface varies among the specimens at hand, being most extensive 

 on the type, and almost entirely absent on two of the others. 



The series on which this description is based was secured in 

 the vicinity of Mt. Saunders and Mt. Douglas, at the head of 

 China Creek, some twenty miles south of Alberni, and within a 

 radius of ten miles. The species is in all probability confined to 

 Vancouver Island, and as far as known to the very small portion 

 of it indicated above. 



