THE NFAV YORK WKASKI., 



585 



PUTORIUS NOVEKOUACENSIS Emmons. 

 NEW YORK WEASEL. 



Putorius noveboi'ace^icis Emmons, Report on the Quadrupeds of 

 Massachusetts, p. 45, 1840. 

 Merriam, N. A. Fauna, No. 11, p. 16, 1896. 



Putorius erminea Evermann and Butler, Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. 

 for 1893, p. 137, 1894. 



Diagnostic characters. — Tail about one-half the length of the 

 head and body together ; color brown above and white below, some- 

 times becoming white all over in winter. 



Description. — The size is smaller and the body is relatively more 

 slender than that of the mink, and it is carried higher above the 

 ground. The color is slightly paler above and the white extends all 

 along the under side of the animal and generally includes part of 

 the upper lip also. Tail with a black tip, even in winter when the 

 rest of the fur sometimes becomes pure white. This change to the 

 white coat is always due to the shedding of the hair and so is the 

 return to the brown coat in spring; the hairs do not change color. 

 In the spring and fall the animal is sometimes mottled and spotted, 

 while the molt is taking place, but the change does not require a 

 very long time. 



Measurements. — An adult male from Mitchell measured : Total 

 length, 400 mm. (16 in.) ; tail, 125 mm. (5 in.) ; hind foot, 45 

 mm. (1% in.). A male from Hebron is somewhat smaller, meas- 

 uring but 387 mm. in total length. Females are always much 

 smaller, the average being only 324 mm. 



Skull and teeth. — The skull of this species is large for a weasel, 

 with long, narrow audital bullae and rather straight zygomatic 

 arches. Teeth much like those of the mink, but smaller and with 

 differences in the details of their shape. 



Range. — The range of the species, as defined by Merriam, ex- 

 tends from Maine to North Carolina and west to the Mississippi. 

 Since Dr. Merriam 's revision of the genus, a subspecies has been 

 described by Bangs from North Carolina as Putorius noveboracensis 

 notius. It is said to differ from the typical form in having the 

 under parts yellow instead of white and in not changing to the 

 white coat in winter. Some of the weasels in this State become 

 white in winter and some do not. However, I am unable to see 

 any other differences between them and until more is known con- 

 cerning this change of coat, it can not be regarded as a sufficient 

 basis for distinguishing a subspecies. I am unable to say just what 



