HUDSON’S BAY LEMMING. 
82 
Lemmus Hudsonius. 
u tl 
U U 
ii U 
Captain Sabine, Parry’s Supplement, First Voyage, p. 185. 
Mr. Sabine, Franklin’s Journey, p. 661. 
Diet, de Sci. Natu relies, tom. viii. p. 566. 
Harlan, Fauna, p. 546. 
Arvicola Hudsonia. Rich., Parry’s Second Voyage, Append., p. 308. 
Arvicola (Georyohds) Hudsonius — Hudson’s Bay Lemming. Rich., F.B. A., 132, 
Species 107, British Museum. 
Hudson’s Bay Lemming. Godman, Hat. Hist., vol. ii. p. J3. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Size of a mole ; body, thick and short ; head, short and rounded , nose, 
very obtuse ; eyes, small ; no exterior ears ; legs, short and stout ; tail so 
short as to be only slightly visible beyond the fur of the hips ; fur very 
fine and long ; feet, clothed with long hairs ; four toes on the fore feet, 
with the rudiment of a thumb not armed with a nail ; the two middle toes 
are of equal length, and are each furnished with a disproportionately large 
claw, which is compressed, deep, very blunt at the extremity, and is there 
separated into two layers by a transverse furrow ; the outer and inner 
toes have curved sharp-pointed claws ; the upper layer is thinner, the 
lower one has a blunt rounded outline ; the latter has been described as an 
enlargement of the callosity which exists beneath the roots of the claws 
of the Lemmings and meadow-mice. The hind feet have five toes armed 
with slender curved claws. 
In the females and young the subjacent production of the claws is less 
conspicuous. 
COLOUR. 
Winter specimen. 
Whiskers, black ; the whole animal is white both on the upper and 
under surfaces, with black hairs interspersed along the line of the back 
and on the hips and sides, giving to those parts a grayish-brown tinge ; 
tail, white. 
Summer specimen. 
Dark brown and black on the dorsal aspect ; dark brown predominates 
on the crown of the head and dorsal line ; towards the sides the colour is 
lighter ; on the under parts of cheeks, the chest, and about the ears, bright 
nut colour prevails. The ventral aspect is grayish- white, more or less 
tinged with rust colour ; the tail is brown in summer, and white in winter ; 
although this species is distinctly white in winter, yet according to Hearne 
the white colour never becomes so pure as that of the ermine. 
