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NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 11. 



the same size. Moreover, the ])ostorl)itai i>roeesses are longer and more 

 slender than in any female of arizoxtnisis I have examined from either 

 tlie Tvocky ]\ronntain or Sierra systems. Externallj' the St. George 

 specimen diHer^^ from t37)ical ari.zoveusis \u the following particnlars : 

 Yellow of underparts more strongly tinged with octhraceous ; white of 

 upper lip narrow and not reaching aronnd anteriorly: brown of n^^per 

 pnrts reaching down on outer side of arm to wrist; a small brown si^ot 

 bearing two bristles just behind each corner of mouth. In this respect, 

 and this only, it resembles ,rantlio(jenys ; there is no trace of white ou 

 the cheeks or between the eyes. 



Measurements. — Average of 5 males from the Rocky ^Mountains: 

 Total length, 385; tail vertebrae, 144; hind foot, 44.5. Average of 4 

 females: Total length, 358; tail vertebra?, 130; hind foot, 40. 



PUTORIUS ALLENI sp. nov. Black Hills Weasel. 



Type from Custer, Black Hills. South Dakota. No. ^ f^ii, $ ad., Merriaiu collection. 

 Collected July 12, 1888, by ^'eriion Bailey. Original No. 90. 



Geograpliic (listrihution. — Black Hills, South Dakota. 



Characters, — Similar to P. arizonensis in size and. general characters^ 

 but upper parts more suffused with yellowish and audital bulla^ flatter. 



Color. — Upper parts from occiput to black tip of tail golden or yel- 

 lowish-brown, in some lights with an olivaceous tinge: head dark 

 brown, without j^ellowish tinge; upper lip and chin white; rest of 

 underparts, including inner sides of legs, whole of fore feet, toes of 

 hind feet and under side of basal part of tail, inten.se butfy yellow. 



Cranial cliaracters. — Skull similar to that of arizojiensis^ but audital 

 bulla" much flatter and somewhat smaller; brain case slightly flatter 

 and bulging laterally immediately behind constriction; frontal some- 

 what broader interorbitally ; skull as a whole shorter. The skull of an 

 old female (No. 7441, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist.) is much smaller than the 

 male, and the audital bullai are narrow and not flattened. In both 

 sexes the x>ostorbital processes are strongly developed. 



Bemarls. — Futorius aJIeni is an isolated and only slightly differen- 

 tiated form of P. arizoncnsis^ from which it is completely cut off geo- 

 grai)hically. It is surrounded ou all sides by the large weasel of the 

 plains, P. longicauda. In worn summer pelage the color differences 

 that distinguish it from arizonensis are not apparent. 



I take pleasure in naming the species in honor of Dr. J. A. Allen, 

 of the American ^Museum of Xatural History, ^^"ew York, who has 

 recently published an important paper on the mammals of the Black 

 Hills, and to whom I am indebted for the loan of three additional 

 specimens. 



Measurements (of type specimen, male adult). — Total length, 372; tail 

 vertebra, 137; hind foot, 44. 



