ZOOLOGY. 
115 
careful measurements in detail of this individual were omitted, which make my excuse for 
again introducing the animal, as I can throw no light upon its habits beyond that it was killed 
in a cottonwood forest on the banks of the river. 
Measurements of specimen. 
Length from nose to base of tail.-. 11.00 inches. 
Caudal vertebrae • • ..*. 
Tail to end of hairy tip •». 
Girth around ears.• 
Girth of thorax behind shoulders. 
Girth of loins. 
Length of forearm from end of olecranon • 
Length of femur... 
.. 5.50 
. 6.60 
. 4.60 
. 4.00 
. 4.00 
. 1.12 
.. 1.40 
Length of tibia • • • .. 1.25 
S. 
PUTORIUS VISON. 
Common Mink. 
[See chap. 2, p. 93.] 
The mink is common throughout our northwestern Territories. They were obtained by me 
from the Rocky mountains, from the vicinity of Fort Boise, in central Oregon, and from Puget 
Sound. I found them most abundant in the neighborhood of the latter, being common on both 
the shores of fresh water lakes and those of the salt sound itself. They are almost as aquatic 
in their habits as the otter and the muskrat. One which I shot near Fort Steilacoom was 
swimming in a fresh water lake, and at first was taken by me for one of the latter animals. 
On some of the islands of Puget Sound, and upon those between Bellingham bay and Van¬ 
couver’s island, they are very numerous, and are said in such localities to subsist almost entirely 
upon shellfish. 
Within a few years past the fur of minks has come extensively into fashionable use, and in 
consequence their skins have risen several hundred per cent, in value.—S. 
LUTRA CALIFORNIO A, Gray. 
California Land Otter. 
Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 187. 
The land otter is becoming more abundant in Oregon and Washington Territories since the 
decline of the fur trade. This animal is called by the Yakima Indians nook-shi .—G 
I obtained several land otter skins from the Puget Sound region, which were killed near 
White river, in the Cascade mountains. They are abundant on the streams of the Cascade 
mountains, and, as Mr. Gibbs observes, are increasing in numbers. My skins were, unfor¬ 
tunately, lost on their passage to Washington city.—S. 
ENHYDRA MARINA, Fleming. 
Sea Otter. 
Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 189. 
The sea otter extends south' along the coast of California to some distance at least below 
Cape Mendocino. They are abundant at Port Orford, Oregon, and a few are taken at the 
mouth of the Columbia.—G. 
