﻿June, 1896.] SYNOPSIS OF THE WEASELS OF NORTH AMERICA. 27 



weasel [erminea) ; that only its extreme tip is black; tliat the head, ears, 

 and crown are black, this coloring fading into the reddish brown of the 

 npper parts on the back of the head behind the ears; that the facial 

 markings, throat, and breast are Avhite; the remainder of the nnder 

 parts ocher yellow. The Avhite spot between the eyes is described as 

 heartshaped, and in the colored plate it is shown to be nearly, but not 

 quite, confluent with the white i:)atch between the eye and ear. The 

 colors in the plate are not good, as the whole under parts are white 

 instead of ocher yellow, and the black tip of the tail is not shown. The 

 specimen seems to have been in worn i)eiage. Lichtenstein had two 

 specimens, both collected by Deppe near the City of Mexico. 



Fortunately, the Department collection contains two specimens col- 

 lected by E. W, Nelson at Tlalpam, in the Yalley of Mexico, which may 

 be considered topotypes of frenatus^ for they not only came from tlie 

 same locality as Lichtenstein's types, but also agree essentially in every 

 detail with his excellent description. The only points in which the 

 description fails to agree absolutel}^ with the specimens is that in the 

 latter the white of the throat is less pure and the black tip of the tail 

 perhaps a trifle more extensive than one would infer from the descrip- 

 tion; but the throat is white in contrast with the strongly ochraceous 

 yellow of the rest of the under parts, and a specimen in the United 

 States National Museum from the City of Mexico (No. 1060, 5 ad., 

 J. Potts) has both throat and breast white, as in tlie original description. 



The statement that only the extreme tip of the tail is black was made 

 in comparison with the European weasel [erminea]^ in which nearly half 

 of the tail is black. Hence the description agrees entirely with the 

 specimens in hand. One point not mentioned in the description is 

 shown in the plate, namely, that the hind feet and toes are in large 

 part whitish or yellowish white. The quantity of white is variable. 

 In a young male from Tlalpam (No. 50827) it is restricted to the inner 

 side of the foot, hardly reaching the toes, while in an adult male from 

 the same locality (No. 50826) it includes the toes. The whitish spot 

 . between the eyes is also variable, both in form and extent. Lichtenstein 

 described it as heart-shaped, and his figure shows that it is narrow 

 where it approaches closest to the stripe between the eye and ear, with 

 which it is nearly, but not quite, confluent. This is precisely its con- 

 dition m the adult male from Tlalpam, which may be considered a 

 duplicate type of the species. In this specimen the mediau white spot 

 is almost divided by the dark color of the forehead, which pushes down 

 between the eyes, so that the whitish spot might be described as a 

 narrow stripe over each eye, the two becoming confluent below. In 

 the young specimen the white spot is subrectangular and not divided 

 by the black of the forehead. 



Note on Putorms hrasiUensis. — In 1813 a Eussian naturalist, Sevas- 

 tianoft", gave the name '-Mustela hrasiliensis'^ to a weasel brought to 

 St. Petersburg by Oapt. A. J, Krusenstern an his return from a voyage 



