192 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[no. 27. 



eral times observed, and was found to abound in the streams and 

 ponds between Athabaska Landing and Edmonton. 



During our trip we collected a series of about a dozen, comprising 

 specimens from our several camps near Fort Chipewyan; the mouth 

 of Peace River; Fort Resolution; Great Slave Lake near the mouth 

 of the Northern Arm ; and 10 miles north of Edmonton. 



During our descent of the Athabaska and Slave rivers in the 

 spring of 1903 we occasionally saw muskrats, though these large 

 rivers, except at their mouths, offer a less congenial habitat than the 

 smaller streams and outlying muskegs. On my trip northward from 

 Fort Rae I found them abundant along Grandin River and in the 

 various lakes northward to the height of land. North of this they 

 became less common, and the last ' house ' was seen on a small lake 

 a few miles north of Lake Hardisty. I did not observe the species 

 while traveling along the south shore of Great Bear Lake, but found 

 it rather common in the small lake at the mouth of Gray Goose River, 

 near the site of Fort Franklin, and took a small series during the 

 latter part of September. Here the animals were occupying burrows 

 in the banks and Avere living mainly on coarse grass, which was 

 abundant on the marshy parts of tlie shore. 



In the spring of 1901 I took two specimens on the Mackenzie at 

 Fort Simpson. In this vicinity the species is common in the muskegs 

 back from the main river, and hundreds of skins are traded annually. 



During my voyage down the Mackenzie in the summer I found the 

 species abundant in the numerous ponds in the valley of the Nahanni, 

 but seldom observed the animal elseAvhere, though it is common in 

 suitable places throughout the region. At Fort Norman large num- 

 bers are traded annuall3^ At Fort Good Hope the species was said 

 to be very common in the numerous ponds on Manito Island, and 

 this particular locality is a favorite hunting ground of the natives 

 and furnishes hundreds of skins annually. On the lower reaches of 

 the Mackenzie and Peel rivers muskrats are excessively abundant. 

 Thousands are annual^ traded at Fort McPherson. The Eskimo 

 take a great many by means of the bow and arrow, and the throwing 

 dart, in the use of which they are very expert. I obtained a series 

 of adults at this place. 



A careful comparison of the series collected in the Athabaska- 

 Mackenzie region with specimens from Alaska, representing F . z, 

 spatulatiis^ and from Keewatin, comprising the type series of F\ 

 hudsonius^ leads me to refer the Mackenzie series to spatidatus^ though 

 a number, especially those from Athabaska and Great Slave lakes, 

 are somewhat intermediate and might without impropriety be re- 

 ferred to hudsonius. In general, the midsummer specimens have 

 more reddish in the fur than typical spatulatus. The Fort Franklin 



