1915.] 



INTRODUCTION. 



13 



of January or as late as the latter half of June; a specimen in which 

 the molt is just begun was collected January 2 at Somerset, Cal., 

 and a male in similar condition of molt was taken at Alhambra, near 

 by, on June 21; spring molt in S. I. occultus is usually completed by 

 the first of April and the autumnal molt about the first of December. 

 The material available does not show many specimens of >S'. tovmsendii 

 in process of spring molting; two collected April 7, 1914, at Puyallup, 

 Wash., are in nearly complete summer pelage, while in three others 

 the molt is fully complete. The majority of specimens show full 

 summer pelage the latter part of April. The fall molt of S. townsendii 

 occurs most frequently during October; specimens occasionally show 

 molting later in the year, as, for example, one collected December 20, 

 1912, at Femdale, Cal., which shows the last remnants of summer 

 fur; on the other hand, the fall molt may begin as early as the latter 

 part of August; several females collected during July and the first 

 half of August, near Portland, Oreg., are in various stages of molting 

 from the beginning to half complete, which may be a delayed spring 

 molt. A specimen of S. orarius orarius collected March 11, 1913, at 

 Ferndale, Cal., has begun to molt; one of S. o. schefferi collected at 

 Lester, Wash., May 14, 1914, shows only a trace of old pelage on the 

 back and underparts; others secured the middle of May are in full 

 summer pelage. The change to winter pelage m S. o. orarius seems 

 to occur mostly during October, though a male taken at Eureka, 

 Cal., August 17, 1910, shows the beginning of the autumnal molt. 



Material examined is insufi3.cient for a satisfactory determination 

 of the time of molting of Parascalops; in a male from Magnetic City, 

 N. C, collected March 26, 1894, the ventral parts and the rump ^ 

 are in fresh summer pelage, the rest of the fur being worn winter 

 pelage; other specimens in various stages of molt from the same 

 locality were taken between April 24 and July 5. Many specimens 

 collected at various localities during August and September show 

 a much-worn pelage; it seems probable that winter fur appears 

 during October and November; in fact a specimen collected October 

 12, 1910, in Wetzel County, W. Va., has traces of^ a new pelage 

 under the old on the breast. An adult male from Magnetic City, 

 N. C, collected August 21, 1893, shows molting and has the entire 

 ventral parts in fresh pelage; it is impossible to determine whether 

 this is an early fall molt or a delayed spring molt. 



The spring molt in moles of the genus Condylura occurs late, th^ 

 molting process being at its height during June and the first half 

 of July, though it is usually completed by the middle of the latter 

 month; very rarely molting may begin during the last few days of 

 May, and, equally as rarely, traces of winter pelage may remain 

 well into August. The autumnal molt of Condylura takes place 



