160 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. [no. 



1 



tion. Near Fort Simpson it is said to be fairly common, living in 

 high clay banks. I obtained a female from a native on May 23, 1904, 

 and J. W. Mills secured a male on June 20. They measured, respec- 

 tively : Total length 455, tail vertebrae 112, hind foot 73; and 508, 120, 

 76. The s]oecies is said to abound in the vicinity of the Liard River 

 rapids, about 30 miles above its mouth, and at Fort Liard. 



While walking along the bank of the Athabaska at the Cascade 

 Rapid on August 17, 1904, during my homeward trip, I found the 

 skin and head of a Avell-grown woodchuck which had been captured 

 and eaten by a golden eagle. 



Richardson states that this species inhabits the wooded districts of 

 Canada as far north at least as latitude 61°.* Ross, under the name 

 Arctomys monax, recorded a specimen from Liard River (probably 

 Fort Liard ),^ and also gives the species as having been taken at Fort 

 Simpson.^' Allen, under the same name, records specimens from Fort 

 Chipewyan and Fort Simpson.^ MacFarlane mentions that skins of 

 this animal were traded at Fort Simpson, Fort Chipewyan, Isle a la 

 Crosse, Portage la Loche, Green Lake, and Pelican Narrows.^ J. Al- 

 den Loring obtained a specimen at Edmonton, Alberta, September 14, 

 1894. It Avas killed in a grain field, and the species was reported to be 

 rare. Fie took another on June 5, 1896, on McLeod River about 150 

 miles Avest of Edmonton. They Avere both males and measured, re- 

 spectively: 446, 121, 67; and 510, 129, 75. A skull from Fort Liard 

 taken by B. R. Ross, and probably the one recorded by him (loc. cit.), 

 is in the National Museum. Skins and skulls from the region agree 

 essentially Avith specimens from the Hudson Bay region. 



Marmota caligata (Eschscholtz) . Hoary Marmot. 



This large Avoodchuck inhabits the Rocky Mountains and their 

 spurs Avest of the Mackenzie, north at least to near the Arctic Circle. 



Harmon f mentions this animal under the name ' Avhistler ' as an 

 inhabitant of the mountains near the upper part of Peace River, and 

 Mackenzie met with it farther to the westAvard. Richardson, under 

 the name Arctomys priiirwsiis^ quotes the description of one which 

 Avas killed on the south branch of the Mackenzie (Liard). ^ Allen, 

 under the same name, records specimens from Fort Liard and Fort 

 Good Hope.'' 



Fauna Boreali-Americana, I, p. 147, 1829. 

 ^Can. Nat. and Geol., A^I, p. 442, 1861. 

 ^^'Nat. Hist. Rev., II (second ser.), p. 274, 1862. 

 ^ Monographs N. A. Rodentia, p. 919, 1877. 

 «Proc. U. S. Nat. Mns., XXVIII, p. 751, 1905. 

 f Journal of A^oyages and Travels, p. 427, 1820. 

 9 Fauna Boreali-Americana, I, p. 151, 1829. 

 '^Monographs N. A. Rodentia, p. 929, 1877. 



