162 The American Naturalist. [February, 
Like most of the mammals of this island it is, however, very differ- 
ent from its mainland cousin, and as no possible connection can now 
exist between it and the continental form it must rank, a full species, as 
MUSTELA ATRATA SP. Nov.—Type from Bay St. George Newfound- 
land, No. 5752 9 adult, coll. of E. A. and O. Bangs. Collected by 
Ernest Doane Sept. 29th, 1896. Total length 548, tail vertebra 185, 
hind foot 89, ear from notch 43. 
General Characters.—Size about that of M. americana (probably 
somewhat larger); color very different, suggesting a dark colored mink, 
rather than a marten; skull slightly different: 
Color —Deep chocolate, becoming black on back, head, arms, legs,. 
rump and tail; a few white hairs scattered along back ; chest and 
under side of neck irregularly blotched with orange; a median line of 
orange on belly; ears black narrowly bordered all round with dull 
white; a patch of yellowish-white hairs in front of opening of ear. 
Cranial Characters.—Skull about the size or larger than that of M. 
americana ; rostrum narrow; audital bulle much larger and deeper 
than in M. americana and with a more marked “ bottle-nose” projec- 
tion; dentition rather weaker throughout, with greater spaces between 
premolar teeth, than that of M. americana. 
Size of the type skull, 9 “middle aged’, adult: Basilar length 69.2 ; 
zygomatic breadth 42; mastoid breadth 34.2; breadth across roots of 
canine teeth 14.2; greatest length of single half of mandible 49.6. 
Size—The type ? adult; total length 548, tail vertebre 185, hind 
foot 89, ear from notch 43. Of an adult 9 prolotype, (No. 5751 Bangs- 
coll.). Total length 559; tail vertebree 185, hind foot 86, ear from 
notch 41. 
Remarks,—The above description is based upon two beautiful skins- 
accompanied by skulls, both “ middle aged” adult females. Neither 
has the fur quite “ prime,” both being taken in September. In its full 
winter dress, this marten must be a superb creature. 
There is a series of eleven skulls of M. atrata in the collection of the 
Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge, Mass. collected in 
Newfoundland in 1865 by James M. Nelson. I have examined these — 
and find some of them to be old adults, but all are unsexed. They bear 
out the characters claimed for M. atrata—the large, peculiarly shaped 
audital bulls, and the weak dentition, and would seem to indicate that 
M. atrata is a larger animal than M. americana.—OvuTRAM BANGS. 
