Part 27

=Rhode Island.= _Providence County_: Chepachet, 1. _Washington County_: Lake Warden, 2.

=Quebec.= _Megantic County_: Black Lake 1[77]. _County_ in question: Meach Lake, 1[77].

=South Carolina.= _York County_: 5 mi. E York, 1[11]. _Laurens County_: Laurens, 1[39].

=Tennessee.= _Campbell County_: Highcliff, 1. _Carter? County_: Roan Mts., 1[2]. _Hamilton County_: Walden Ridge, near Soddy, 3.

=Vermont.= _Windsor County_: Hartland, 1[2].

=Virginia.= _Shenandoah County_: Toms Brook, 1. _Arlington County_: Arlington, 1; Ballston, 1; Alexandria, 1. _Fairfax County_: Falls Church, 3; Mt. Vernon, 2; no locality more definite than county, 1. _Prince William County_: Occoquan, 1. _Essex County_: Montague, 1. _Prince George County_, 1. _Norfolk County_: Wallaceton, 1. _Grayson County_: Mt Rogers, 3. _County_ in question: Dismal Swamp, 1; Massanutten Mt., 1.

=West Virginia.= _Hardy County_, 1. _Pendleton County_: radius of 2 mi. Smoke Hole, 1[74]. _Greenbriar County_: White Sulphur, 2[60].

=Wisconsin.= _Douglas County_: Gordon, 1[104]. _Vilas County_: Mamie Lake, 4. _Dunn County_: Colfax, 4[104]; Meridean, 1[104]. _Door County_: state game farm, 17[104]; no locality more definite than county, 1[104]. _Dodge County_: Rolling Prairie, 1[50]; Beaver Dam, 52[50]. _Dane County_: Wingra Lake, 1[104]. _Waukesha County_: Pewaukee, 2[104]. _Racine County_: Waterford Township, 2[104]. _Rock County_: Milton, 1[104]; Bowers Lake, 1[104]. _Walworth County_: Lane's Mill, 8 mi. N Elkhorn, 7 (1[104], 6[54]); Delavan, 7.

=Mustela frenata occisor= (Bangs)

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 16, 17, 18, 31, 32 and 33

_Putorius occisor_ Bangs, Proc. New England Zool. Club, 1:54, June 9, 1899.

_Mustela occisor_, Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 79:98, December 31, 1912.

_Mustela frenata occisor_, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:104, November 20, 1936.

_Type._--Male, adult, skull and skin; no. 9102, coll. of E. A. and O. Bangs in Mus. Comp. Zoöl.; Bucksport, Hancock County, Maine; January 15, 1899; obtained by Alvah G. Door but measured and sexed by O. Bangs.

The skin is well made and in good condition. It is in full, white winter-dress with black-tipped tail. The skull has the posterior half of the left zygomatic arch broken away; otherwise the skull is unbroken and complete. Left I3 and right P3 are missing. The teeth otherwise all are present and entire.

_Range._--Maine; possibly north locally to south side of St. Lawrence River in Quebec and possibly occurring in western New Brunswick. Zonal range Canadian and probably Transition. See figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f. noveboracensis_ by a number of average differences including larger size, relatively longer tail and relatively wider skull (see p. 225, and measurements on pp. 418, 419).

_Description._--_Size._--Male: Five adults yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 443 (430-465); length of tail, 163 (154-175); length of hind foot, 50 (47-54). Tail averages 58 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot averages more than basal length.

Female: Measurements of two subadult female topotypes are as follows: Total length, 346, 318; length of tail, 116, 110; length of hind foot, 39, 35.5.

Tail amounts to 50 per cent and 54 per cent of body-length respectively. Length of hind foot more or less than (about equal to) basal length.

The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes are: Total length, 111; length of tail, 50; length of hind foot, 12.5.

_Externals._--As described in _Mustela frenata noveboracensis_.

_Color._--As described in _Mustela frenata noveboracensis_ except that black tail-tip in series of 10 males in full winter pelage 60 (45-80) mm. long; thus averaging 39 per cent of length of tail vertebrae.

_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on 3 adults): See measurements and plates 16-18. As described in _Mustela frenata noveboracensis_ except that: Weight, 4.2 (4.1-4.3) grams; basilar length, 45.7 (44.9-46.9); zygomatic breadth more or less than (about equal to) distance between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; least width of palate rarely less than length of P4; anterior margin of masseteric fossa behind or directly below posterior half of m2.

Female (based on 2 subadults): See measurements and plates 31-33. As described in _Mustela frenata noveboracensis_ except that: Weight, 2.0 (1.9-2.1) grams; basilar length, 37.3, 38.2.

Comparison of the skull with that of _M. f. noveboracensis_ is made in the account of that subspecies.

_Remarks._--Excepting a specimen in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, obtained in 1893, and two in the Boston Society of Natural History, obtained in 1925, I have seen no material of this subspecies in addition to that examined by Bangs at the time he prepared the original description in 1899.

Anderson (1945:56, 57) records a specimen, Canadian National Museum Catalogue Number 18426, from Kamouraska County, Quebec, as of this subspecies and thinks that _occisor_ occurs north of Maine "locally to south side of lower St. Lawrence River in Quebec; probably also in western New Brunswick."

So far as the available material of occisor permits one to judge, it is distinguished from _noveboracensis_ by a combination of characters no one of which invariably can be relied upon as diagnostic. Employing adult males, average differences indicate that _M. f. occisor_ is larger in each of the external and cranial measurements; tail relatively longer; black tip of tail relatively shorter; mastoid and zygomatic breadth relatively greater and zygomatic arches more nearly square posteriorly.

Considering the large number of specimens of _noveboracensis_ which are available in comparison with the few of _occisor_ it is not surprising that some _noveboracensis_ should be found which exceed in size those of _occisor_. This is the case as regards the basilar length of a very old male, no. 96518, U. S. Nat. Mus., from Lunenburg, Massachusetts. Also, the skull is actually broader than any of those of _occisor_. However, this specimen is much older than any _occisor_ examined. In a female, no. 4260, Mus. Comp. Zoöl., from Liberty Hill, Connecticut, the skull is longer (but narrower) than in either of the two available females of _occisor_.

The average differences pointed out above which characterize this extreme northern population of _noveboracensis_-like weasel in comparison with true _noveboracensis_ without much question are geographic variations. Whether or not these variations are of a degree sufficient to warrant nomenclatural recognition is debatable. With equally scanty material from other regions I have not named variations seemingly as great as those shown by _occisor_. The paucity of material of _occisor_ is a handicap in making a decision in this instance.

Each of the adult and subadult specimens, except the one from Perry, shows malformation resulting from the infestation of the frontal sinuses with parasites.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 18, listed by counties from west to east and unless otherwise indicated in the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy.

=Maine.= _Oxford County_: South Andover, 2 (Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.); Umbagog Lake, 1. _Franklin County_: Seven Pd. Township, 1. _Piscataquis County_: Grenville, [= Greenville?], 1. _Hancock County_: Bucksport, 10. _Washington County_: 3rd Mopang Lake, 1 (Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.); Perry, 1 (Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.). _County_ in question: Moosehead Lake, 1.

=Mustela frenata primulina= Jackson

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 16, 17, 18, 31, 32 and 33

_Mustela primulina_ Jackson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 26:123, May 21, 1913.

_Putorius noveboracensis_, Baird, Mamm. N. Amer., p. 166, 1858 (part).

_Mustela longicauda longicauda_, Dice, Journ. Mamm., 4:108, May 9, 1923.

_Mustela longicauda primulina_, Linsdale, Journ. Mamm., 9:141, May 9, 1928.

_Mustela frenata primulina_, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:104, November 20, 1936.

_Mustela frenata_, Leopold and Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:143, July 19, 1945.

_Type._--Male?, young, skull and skin; no. 168006, U. S. Nat. Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.; 5 miles northeast of Avilla, Jasper County, Missouri; May 11, 1905; obtained by Hartley H. T. Jackson; original no. 7869X.

The skin lacks the distal part of the tail--the part which bears the black tip. Otherwise the skin is complete and well preserved. The teeth of the permanent dentition all are present and entire. The lower jaws are complete and unbroken. The skull is broken transversely through the interorbital region, transversely through the braincase and longitudinally through the basioccipital. Both zygomatic arches are gone. The type is judged to be a male rather than a female as stated by the original describer, Jackson (1913:123), whose measurements of hind foot, interorbital constriction, maxillary tooth-row, and mandibular tooth-row agree with those of males and are larger than those of any female seen of this subspecies.

_Range._--Upper and Lower Austral life-zones west of the Mississippi River in Missouri and Arkansas, the southeastern half of Iowa, eastern half of Kansas and Oklahoma, northern Louisiana and northeastern Texas. Southern and southwestern limits of range undetermined. See figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f. noveboracensis_ in males by interorbital breadth averaging less than 24 per cent of basilar length, orbitonasal length averaging less than 34 per cent of basilar length or 64 per cent of mastoid breadth, tympanic bullae as much inflated anteromedially as posteromedially, and in females by orbitonasal length amounting to less than two-thirds of mastoid breadth, by zygomatic breadth averaging more than 21 mm., and by anterolateral margin of tympanic bulla projecting below squamosal; from _M. f. spadix_ by least width of color of under parts amounting to less than 40 per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts, by absence of color of underparts on hind leg below knee, and by smaller size (hind foot less than 50 in males and 40 in females; orbitonasal length less than 15.5 in males and 13.5 in females; length of tooth-rows less than 18 in males and 15.7 in females; mastoid breadth less than 25.5 in males and 22 in females); from _M. f. longicauda_ by Brussels Brown rather than near (_h_) Clay Color of upper parts, least width of underparts less than 40 per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts, absence of color of underparts on hind leg below knee, zygomatic breadth less than 28.8 in males and 24.1 in females; from _M. f. neomexicana_ by Brussels Brown rather than Buckthorn Brown color of upper parts, in absence of white frontal spot and broad white bands on sides of head, in anterolaterally rounded, rather than "square," tympanic bullae and in zygomatic breadth of less than 30 in males and 24 in females; from _M. f. frenata_ and _M. f. texensis_ by absence of white facial markings and smaller size (basilar length of adult males less than 47, tail-length less than 155 in males, and hind foot less than 40 in females); from _M. f. arthuri_ by less evenly spreading zygomatic arches (see pls. 16, 17 and 18), greater inflation of the tympanic bullae anteromedially and more nearly straight (less convex) dorsal outline of skull.

_Description._--_Size._--Male: Eighteen adults and subadults from Douglas County, Kansas, yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 397 (371-440); length of tail, 133 (120-147); length of hind foot, 43 (40-47). Tail averages 50 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot averages less than basal length. Corresponding measurements, originally taken in inches and fractions thereof, of 9 adults and subadults from Boone County, Arkansas, are as follows: 413 (384-438); 138 (127-155); 41 (38-44).

Female: Six adults and subadults from Douglas County, Kansas, yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 339 (317-355); length of tail, 107 (95-115); length of hind foot, 35 (34-37). Tail averages 46 per cent of length of head and body. Length of hind foot less than basal length. Corresponding measurements, originally taken in inches and fractions thereof, of 5 adults and subadults from Boone County, Arkansas, are as follows: 355 (332-397); 113 (101-127); 33 (29-38).

The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes, in Douglas County, Kansas, are: Total length, 58; length of tail, 26; length of hind foot, 8. An adult male from Boone Co., Iowa, weighed 293 grams.

_Externals._--Longest facial vibrissae black or dark brown (often both colors in same specimen) and extending beyond ear; carpal vibrissae colored either like underparts or upper parts and extending to apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot-soles as shown in figure 20.

_Color._--Upper parts, in summer, Brussels Brown to near (14 _n_) Brussels Brown, or tones 2 to 4 of Raw Umber of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 301. Chin and rarely upper lips white. Remainder of underparts Picric Yellow to Primuline Yellow. In winter, color essentially the same except for smoke-gray effect in upper parts and more whitish in underparts. Tip of tail at all times black. Upper parts of uniform color except for occasional darkening of nose and mid-dorsal region. Color of underparts extends distally on posterior sides of forelegs onto antipalmar faces of toes, on medial sides of hind legs only to a point between knee and ankle. Least width of color of underparts averaging, in a series of 21 males from Lawrence, Kansas, 23 (9-35) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail in same series, most of which are in full winter pelage, 52 (40-70) mm. long; thus longer than hind foot and averaging 39 per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.

_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on ten adults from Douglas County, Kansas): See measurements and plates 16-18; weight, 3.7 (3.3-4.2) grams; basilar length, 44.8 (43.8-46.0); zygomatic breadth more or less (less in 80 per cent) than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen and anterior end of tympanic bulla (less in 70 per cent); mastoid breadth more or less (less in 80 per cent) than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth less than length of upper premolars and, except in one specimen, more than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth more or less (less in 70 per cent) than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum less than length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate less than outside length of P4 (except in one specimen); anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of 2-1/2 to 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla more (except in one specimen) than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row and longer (except in one specimen) than rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa behind or just below posterior eighth of m1.

Female (based on 5 adults and subadults from Douglas County, Kansas): See measurements and plates 31-33; weight, 2.2 (2.0-2.4) grams; basilar length, 38.9 (37.6-40.7); zygomatic breadth less than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; postorbital breadth less than length of upper premolars and except in one specimen, more than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; least width of palate less than greatest length of P4; tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of 3 to 5 upper incisors; height of tympanic bulla more or less than distance from its anterior margin to foramen ovale; length of tympanic bulla more than length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row and longer than rostrum.

The skull of the female averages 41 per cent lighter than that of the male.

Compared with the skull of _M. f. noveboracensis_ from Massachusetts, that of the male of _primulina_, in dorsal view, is seen to be shorter anteriorly to the postorbital processes and to have a more marked postorbital constriction. In lateral view the dorsal outline of the skull of _primulina_ is less concave in the postorbital region. In ventral view the skull of _primulina_ is seen to be wider across the mastoid processes and zygomatic arches but the most pronounced difference is in the tympanic bullae. In _noveboracensis_ each bulla is scooped out on the anterior part of the medial face and appears to be narrower anteriorly than posteriorly whereas in _primulina_ the anterior part of the medial face is not scooped out but is moderately inflated and the bulla appears to be of uniform breadth anteriorly and posteriorly. By actual measurement the breadth of the bulla averages 59 per cent of its length in _primulina_ but only 50 per cent in _noveboracensis_. Other respects in which the skull of the male of _primulina_ differs from that of _noveboracensis_ are as follows: Linear measurements of teeth more; relative to the basilar length, the length of the tooth-rows averages more, whereas the interorbital breadth and orbitonasal length are less.

When skulls of females are compared, each of the differences mentioned above is found to apply, except that the degree of difference is in some parts greater, for example, in the tympanic bullae. In _primulina_, the bulla is in general like that of the male _noveboracensis_, whereas in the female _noveboracensis_ it is less inflated, especially anteromedially, shorter, relatively narrower, and in ventral view projects little or none below the squamosal floor of the braincase. The breadth of the bulla averages 51 per cent of its length in _primulina_ but only 47 per cent in _noveboracensis_. The bullae project below the basioccipital on the average, for a distance of 2.9 millimeters in female _primulina_ and only 2.3 millimeters in female _noveboracensis_. In _primulina_ the temporal ridges are well developed and fuse to form a low sagittal crest, but in _noveboracensis_ the ridges are absent. Also, in _primulina_ the mastoid processes project farther laterally beyond the braincase. The skull of female _noveboracensis_ is much lighter than that of _primulina_. Average weights of the two are 1.7 and 2.2 grams. The skulls of females of _primulina_ and _noveboracensis_ differ more than do the skulls of males.

Compared with the skull of _spadix_, that of the male, and the female, of _primulina_ averages smaller in every part measured. Expressed in percentages of the basilar length, the two depth measurements of the skulls are not significantly different, but, excluding the measurements of the bullae and teeth, the other cranial measurements are less. The main difference in relative proportions is in the tympanic bullae which average only a half millimeter shorter in males of _primulina_ and one and one-tenth millimeters shorter in females. The bullae are, therefore, relative to the basilar length, longer in _primulina_. The skull of _primulina_, then, differs from that of _spadix_ mainly in smaller size and relatively longer tympanic bullae, especially in males.

Compared with the skull of _M. f. longicauda_, that of both sexes of _primulina_ averages smaller in every part measured, except in males where the length of the tympanic bulla, and breadth and length of M1 are the same or slightly larger in _primulina_. Relative to the basilar length, the length of the tympanic bullae, and in females only, the depth measurements are greater in _primulina_ but all the others, in both sexes, are less. These ratios reflect the relative narrowness of the skull of _primulina_. Upon direct comparison the narrowness is especially noticeable in the interorbital region, mastoid region, tympanic bullae, and across the zygomata.

Compared with the skull of _M. f. neomexicana_ that of both sexes of _primulina_ averages smaller in every part measured. Excepting the measurements of the teeth, most of the other measurements are constantly larger. Relative to the basilar length, the length of tooth-rows and length of tympanic bulla are more, but excepting the depth measurements, the others are less. Still other differences are, in _primulina_, less well-developed sagittal crest, anterolateral corner of bulla rounded rather than "square," and in males a transversely convex rather than flat interorbital region.

Compared with _M. f. frenata_ and _M. f. texensis_, the skulls of males of _primulina_ differ in being smaller in every part measured but relative to the basilar length, have longer tooth-rows, a lesser zygomatic breadth and are less constricted interorbitally.

Compared with the skull of _M. f. olivacea_, those of both sexes of _primulina_ average smaller in every part measured, have shallower (dorsoventrally) tympanic bullae, a lower sagittal crest and slightly weaker postorbital processes on the frontals. Relative to the basilar length, the several cranial measurements are about the same.

Comparison of the skull with that of _M. f. arthuri_ has been made in the account of that subspecies.

_Remarks._--The first specimens of this race known to have been preserved in study collections are one in the United States National Museum, taken at Bridge, Carroll County, Missouri, many years ago by J. Burbage, and less than a dozen specimens preserved before 1900 from eastern Kansas in the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. In 1913 Hartley H. T. Jackson bestowed a name on this animal on the basis of two specimens taken by him in southwestern Missouri. Later, through the efforts of Charles D. Bunker, and his associates at the University of Kansas, nearly 100 specimens were saved from eastern Kansas, principally from Douglas County. In the course of the present study, Lawrence V. Compton obtained a topotype for the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoölogy, and with the assistance of Mr. B. G. Roberts, a good series of specimens from Boone County, Arkansas, was preserved in the same museum. In the early years of the 20th Century, the late B. H. Bailey at Coe College, Iowa, collected specimens from that state. The specimens from these several sources suffice to give a relatively clear idea of the characters of this subspecies.