1908.] 



MAMMALS. 



189 



While we were ascending the Athabaska during the autumn we 

 detected the presence of the species at several localities. The unmis- 

 takable burrows and runways of a large colony were found in deep 

 mixed woods on the summit of the hills bordering the valley of the 

 Athabaska at Big Cascade Rapid, August 14, and on the following 

 day I caught a half-groAvn individual at the foot of a limestone clilf 

 at Crooked Rapid. Evidences of a small colony were found also 

 at a cabin near the foot of Boiler Rapid, and an adult female Avas 

 found dead on the bank of the river 60 miles above Grand Rapid 

 on August 25. 



The series from Fort Smith shows little variation in color, some 

 individuals being merely a little more reddish than others. Young 

 ones from Trout Rock are duller and darker than adults, and have 

 the nose patch duller, though always sufficiently bright to distin- 

 guish the species from others of the genus without reference to other 

 characters. A half-grown young one taken at Crooked Rapid, 

 August 15. is in fresh pelage, and is darker and more reddish than 

 any other in the series. An adult female taken 60 miles above Grand 

 Rapid, August 25, is very dark, owing to the great number of black 

 hairs in the pelage. A specimen taken at Cache Pecotte, 10 miles 

 east of Jasper House, March 20, 1897, by D. E. Noyes, though in less 

 worn pelage, can be exactly matched in color by specimens in the 

 series from Fort Smith, and the species evidently breeds in the left- 

 over winter pelage. 



In 1903, during our hurried trip to Great Slave Lake, we failed 

 to observe this species, and I did not detect it north of Fort Rae 

 or about Great Bear Lake, though I searched carefully in the vicinity 

 of Fort Franklin, having in mind Richardson's allusion to its occur- 

 rence there. While ascending the Mackenzie in October I found a 

 colony inhabiting a willow-covered islnnd about 30 miles above Fort 

 Xorman, but could not stop to seciiic >])('(•! mens. No other traces 

 of the animal were found on the Maclvcnzie. In August of the same 

 year, while ascending the Athabaska, my brother and Cary found 

 several colonies in poplar woods between Brule arid Grand rapids. 

 Two specimens were taken at the latter place on August 20 and 21. 



A year later, while on my outward trip, I found a large colony on 

 the Athabaska 30 miles above Pelican Portage. It must have com- 

 prised many thousands of individuals, and occupied a heavily wooded 

 area, at least half a mile square, on the gently sloping sides of the 

 valley. I took a series of eight specimens here on the morning of 

 August 29. 



Ricliardson states that the species was abundant in the immediate 

 vicinity of Fort Franklin.'' Coues lists specimens from Fort Resolu- 



Fauna Boreali-Americana, I, p. 123, 1829. 



