Part 35

=Oregon= (by counties from west to east). _Jackson County_: Rustler Peak, Crater Nat. Forest, 1[46]; Siskiyou (probably south of), 2. _Klamath County_: 20 mi. W Crescent, 1[101]; Anna Creek, Mt. Mazama, 2; S Boundary Crater Lake Nat. Park, 1[74]; Fort Klamath, 15; Upper Klamath Lake, 2[4]; Klamath Falls, 1[75]. _Lake County_: Dog Lake Ranger Station, 30 mi. SW Lakeview, 1. _Harney County_: Camp Harney, 2[75]; Burns, 2 (1[101]); 20 mi. S Burns, 1[46]; Narrows, 1[59]; Voltage, 1; Shirk P. O., 2; Keiger Gorge, Steen Mts., 4. _Malheur County_: Riverside, 1; 2 mi. NW Riverside, 2; Barren Valley, Cord, 1; Cedar Mts., 2; Cow Creek Lake, 1; Jordan Valley, 1. _County_ in question: Sageview, 1.

=Utah.= _Cache County_: Logan, 1[74]. _Rich County_: 8000 ft., near Laketown, 1. _Boxelder County_: Willard, 1[103]. _Salt Lake County_: Salt Lake City, 1[74]; Barclay, 6500 ft., Wasatch Mts., 1; Mill Creek, 1[103]. _Utah County_: Provo Bench, 2[6]; Aspen Grove, Mt. Timpanogos, 1[6]; Payson, 1[6]. _Juab County_: between Santaquin and Starr, 1[103]. _Uinta County_: Dry Fork Canyon, 20 mi. NW Vernal, 1[9]. _Carbon County_: Sunnyside, 1[44]; Range Creek, 1[44]. _Millard County_: Deseret, 1[74]. _Sevier? County_: Fish Lake Plateau, 1. _Grand County_: Warner Ranger Station, La Sal Mts., 1[6]. _Beaver County_: Britts Meadows, 11000 ft., Beaver Range, 1[2]; Britts Meadows, Beaver Range, 1; Puffer Lake, 1[44]. _Garfield County_: Boulder, 2[6]. _Washington County_: Pine Valley, 1[44]; St. George, 1. _San Juan County_: Geyser Pass, La Sal Mts., 2[6]. _County_ in question: Salt Lake, 2; Wasatch Mts., 1; La Sal Mts., 11000 ft., 1.

=Washington.= _Okanogan County_: Bald Mt., 6800 ft., 1; Bauerman Ridge, 6800 ft., Tungsten Mine, 1; Hart Pass, Methow River Trail, 1[46]; Conconully, 2 (1[51], 1[49]); 5 mi. NW Loomis, 1; Molson, 3800 ft., 1; Tunk Mt., 3500 ft., 1. _Whatcom County_: Barron, 5000 ft., 1. _Stevens County_: Colville, 1; Orin, 11[51]. _Pend Oreille County_: Ione, 6[51]. _Chelan County_: Chelan Mts., 1[2]; Lake Chelan, 1[46]; Manson, 1; Entiat River, 1680 ft., 20 mi. from mouth, 7; Dryden, 2[49]; Wenatchee, 1. _Kittitas County_: Easton, 2 (1[51]); Ellensburg, 1[51]; 4 mi. E Ellensburg, 1[51]. _Grant County_: Neppel, 1[51]. _Lincoln County_: Sprague, 1. _Spokane County_: Spokane, 1[94]; Cheney 2[89]. _Whitman County_: Pullman, 11 (6[55], 1[68], 1[10]); 6 mi. S Pullman, 1. _Garfield County_: Snake River, 1. _Yakima County_: Yakima, 1[74]; 1 mi. W Moxee, 1[74].

=Wyoming.= NW Wyoming, 1[75]. _Yellowstone National Park_: Lamar River, 1; Yellowstone Lake, 1. _Park County_: Greybull River, 1[80]. _Teton County_: Crystal Creek, 2; Jackson, 1; Whetstone Creek, 2[76]. _Johnson County_: Buffalo, 4 (2[93]). _Fremont County_: Continental Divide, 20 mi. NW Dubois, 1[75]. _Sublette County_: Bronx, 1[75]. _Carbon County_: Medicine Bow Mts., 1[75]; 15 mi. SE Parco, 1[74]. _Albany County_: Garrett, 1; 12 mi. W Laramie, 1[74]; 7 mi. W Laramie, 2[74]; 5 mi. W Laramie, 4[74]; "near" Laramie, 1[74]; 3 mi. SW Laramie, 1[74]; 12 mi. S Laramie, 1[74]. _Uinta County_: Fort Bridger, 6800 ft., 1[74]; Lonetree, 1; Bridger Pass, 1. _County_ in question: Laramie River, 2. No locality more definite than state, 1.

=Mustela frenata effera= Hall

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 19, 20 and 21

_Mustela frenata effera_ Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:93, November 20, 1936.

_Mustela arizonensis_, Dice, Journ. Mamm., 1:12, November 28, 1919.

_Type._--Male, adult, skull and skin; no. 33637, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.; Ironside, 4000 ft., Malheur County, Oregon; September 8, 1912; obtained by H. E. Anthony; original no. 267.

The skull (plates 19-21) is complete and unbroken. The teeth all are present and entire. The skin, in summer pelage, is well made.

_Range._--Upper Sonoran to Arctic Alpine life-zones of northern two-thirds of Oregon east of the Cascades, and southeastern Washington, south of the Snake River. See figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f. nevadensis_ in small size, males averaging 12-1/2 per cent smaller in external measurements, 8 per cent smaller in linear measurements of skull, and 22 per cent in weight of skull, total length averaging 360 rather than 400, condylobasal length averaging 40.5 rather than 43.6; from _M. f. oregonensis_ in absence of frontonasal white patch, presence of light color of underparts on ventral face of tail and smaller skull with basilar length averaging less than 41.7 in males; from _M. f. washingtoni_ in presence of light color of underparts on ventral face of tail, in male skull by linear measurements averaging 7 (5-12) per cent shorter and relative to basilar length shorter in preorbital region and broader across mastoid processes and zygomatic arches.

_Description._--_Size._--Male: Eight (6 adult and 2 subadult) males from northeastern Oregon yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 360 (340-378); length of tail, 129 (122-136); length of hind foot, 42 (40-44). Tail averages 56 (52-59) per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot more or less than (about same as) basal length.

Female: No. 212423 from Vale, and no. 566 V. B. Scheffer, from 15 mi. E Ukiah, measure, respectively: Total length, 312, 306; length of tail, 113, 114; length of hind foot, 35, 35. Tail averages 57 per cent as long as head and body.

Differences in external measurements between the one adult female and the average of the males are: Total length, 51; length of tail, 16; length of hind foot, 7.

_Externals._--Longest facial vibrissae black, brown or white (often all three colors in same specimen) and extending beyond ear; carpal vibrissae same color as underparts and extending to apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot-soles (in summer pelage) about as shown in stage 4 of figure 19.

_Color._--Upper parts, in summer, near (14 _n_ to _l_) Brussels Brown or tones 1 to 3 of Raw Umber of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 301, darker on top of head from nose to, or slightly behind, line connecting posterior margins of ears. Chin and usually all of upper lips white. Remainder of underparts Buff-Yellow to Straw Yellow. In winter all white except tip of tail or upper parts near (_j_) Snuff Brown or lighter than Brussels Brown with a smoked effect, with underparts white. Tip of tail at all times black. Color of underparts extends distally on posterior sides of forelegs over toes onto antipalmar faces of toes and wrists, on medial sides of hind legs to ankles over antiplantar faces of toes, distomedial third of tarsus and usually over proximal fourth to three-fourths of ventral side of tail. Least width of color of underparts averaging, in 15 males, 53 (36-69) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail averaging 47 (38-67) mm. long. Thus averaging longer than hind foot, and 36 per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.

_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on 6 adults from northeastern Oregon): See measurements and plates 19-21. As described in _Mustela frenata nevadensis_ except that: Weight, 2.9 (2.5-3.4) grams; basilar length, 40.5 (39.3-41.8).

Female (based on no. 212423, adult from Vale): In so far as parts of the broken skull permit a person to judge, the skull is as described in _M. f. nevadensis_ except that: Smaller; lighter; postorbital breadth more than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite.

As compared with the skull of _M. f. nevadensis_ that of _effera_ seems, on the average, to have the preorbital part relatively smaller. Otherwise, the skull is a miniature of the skull of _nevadensis_, averaging about eight per cent smaller in linear measurements and weighs twenty-two per cent less. Comparisons of the skull with those of _M. f. washingtoni_ and _M. f. oregonensis_ are made in accounts of those subspecies.

_Remarks._--This geographic race has long borne the name of _Mustela arizonensis_ (Mearns). Small size differentiates _effera_ from _nevadensis_ and specimens have been allocated to one or the other subspecies on the basis of size, or average size when several individuals are available from one locality. Complete intergradation with each adjoining subspecies is indicated by numerous specimens, more of which are assigned to these adjoining subspecies than to _effera_ itself.

The minimum of size in _M. f. effera_ is found in the Blue Mountain region of northeastern Oregon. Specimens from the area intervening between these mountains and the Cascades average larger but are nearer the mean of typical _effera_ than they are to the means of _washingtoni_, _oregonensis_ or _nevadensis_.

Two males, nos. 204883, adult, and 204884, young, from Sisters, Oregon, near the eastern base of the Cascades, show approach structurally to _M. f. washingtoni_ as it is represented at the nearby locality, Permilia Lake, at the west base of Mount Jefferson. Everything considered, however, the two specimens from Sisters are nearer to _effera_. A male from Condon, Oregon, shows approach to the Cascade race in slightly increased size.

No perfect skulls of adult females are available from the part of northwestern Oregon in which _effera_ reaches its typical state of development as judged by the small size of the skull of the adult male. Skulls of adult females are available, however, from more nearly marginal localities. These, though smaller than in _nevadensis_, show relatively less difference in size when compared with _nevadensis_ than do skulls of males. Even so the females at these marginal localities are smaller than those of _nevadensis_ of comparable age and adequate material of adult female _effera_ from the region where the males attain their extreme of small size probably will show about the same relative difference in size between _nevadensis_ and _effera_ as is known to exist between the adult males of these two subspecies. The small size of a subadult female, no 74631, U. S. Nat. Mus., from Asotin, Washington, constitutes partial basis for this opinion.

Of 14 adults examined none showed malformation of the frontal sinuses due to infestation by parasites.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 53, arranged within each state by counties from north to south. Unless otherwise indicated specimens are in the collection of the United States National Museum.

=Oregon.= _Wasco County_: 4 mi. S The Dalles, 1[74]; Wapinita, 1; Antelope, 2; 7 mi. E Antelope, 5. _Gilliam County_: Condon, 1[46]. _Morrow County_: 10 mi. S Hardman, 1. _Umatilla County_: Umatilla, 2; 15 mi. E Ukiah, 4000 ft., 1[49]. _Union County_: Elgin, 1; 20 mi. E Lehman, 1[46]. _Wallowa County_: Horse Creek, 15 mi. N Paradise, 1; Enterprise, 1[46]; Wallowa Lake, 1[46]; Wallowa Mts., 8300 ft., 1. _Baker County_: Haines, 1[49]; Anthony, 3[2]; Bourne, 2. _Grant County_: Long Creek, 1[46]; Canyon Creek, 1[46]; Strawberry Mts., 2; Silvies, 1[14]. _Crook County_: Prineville, 4. _Deschutes County_: Sisters, 2; Bend, 1. _Lake County_: 3 mi. W Stauffer, 1; Fort Rock, 1[46]. _Harney County_: 25 mi. NW Burns, 1. _Malheur County_: 4000 ft., Ironside, 2[2]; 1-1/2 mi. S Vale, 2.

=Washington.= _Walla Walla County_: Prescott, 4 (2[76], 1[60], 1[74]); Ft. Walla Walla, 2 (1[75]); Wallula, 1[76]. _Asotin County_: Asotin, 1.

=Mustela frenata washingtoni= (Merriam)

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 19, 20, 21, 34, 35 and 36

_Putorius washingtoni_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:18, pl. 4, figs. 3, 3a, 4, 4a, June 30, 1896.

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

_Mustela frenata washingtoni_, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:106, November 20, 1936.

_Type._--Male, adult, skin and skull; no. 76322, U. S. Nat. Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.; Trout Lake, Mt. Adams, Klickitat (?) County, Washington; December 15, 1895; obtained by D. N. Kaegi; original no. 2.

The skull is unbroken. The left incisors above are missing. Otherwise the teeth are present and entire. The skin is well made, in brown winter pelage, lacks collector's measurements, has no bones in the feet, but by large size is judged to be a male.

_Range._--Altitudinally from near 2000 feet at Trout Lake up to the highest parts of the Cascade Range from Mount Jefferson, Oregon, north to Mount Rainier, Washington; Upper Sonoran Life-zone to Arctic Alpine Life-zone. See figure 29 on page 221.

_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. f. altifrontalis_ in lighter color of upper parts and underparts, latter ranging from Buff-Yellow to Naples Yellow rather than near (14 _a_ to 16 _c_) Ochraceous-Buff, in shallower skull in both sexes (see measurements), in males, a longer preorbital region, narrower skull with shorter bullae, and in females, a smaller skull with interorbital breadth averaging less than 24 per cent of basilar length; from _M. f. nevadensis_ in absence of light color of underparts on ventral face of tail, in skulls of males, by longer preorbital region and narrower skull across mastoid processes and zygomatic arches, in skulls of females, by shorter preorbital region, and smaller bullae (see measurements); from _M. f. effera_ in absence of light color of underparts on ventral face of tail, in skulls of males, by linear measurements averaging 7 (5-12) per cent larger, and relative to basilar length, longer in the preorbital region and narrower across mastoid processes and zygomatic arches; from _M. f. oregonensis_ in absence of frontonasal white patch, longer skull in males, which in percentage of basilar length has, on the average, orbitonasal length amounting to more than 35, mastoid breadth less than 55, and zygomatic breadth less than 63, and in females, smaller skull with least width of palate less than length of P4, upper tooth-rows less than 38-1/2 per cent of basilar length, bullae smaller, averaging less than 13.4 in length.

_Description._--_Size._--Male: Fifteen subadult topotypes yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 400 (357-437); length of tail, 149 (122-171); length of hind foot, 47.6 (42-59). Tail averages 59 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot averaging more than basal length. Corresponding measurements of one adult and 3 young from Mount Rainier are: 415 (405-423); 155 (145-164); 51 (50-53).

Female: Five adult topotypes yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 349 (330-393); length of tail, 124 (114-133); length of hind foot, 38 (36-39). Tail averages 55 per cent as long as head and body. Length of hind foot averaging about same as basal length. Corresponding measurements of two adults and 6 young from Mount Rainier are: 338 (320-360); 121 (115-132); 36 (34-40).

The average differences in external measurements of the two sexes, from Mount Adams, are: Total length, 51; length of tail, 25; length of hind foot, 9.6. Corresponding differences between the specimens from Mount Rainier are: 77; 34; 15.

_Externals._--Longest facial vibrissae black or brown (often both colors in same specimen) and extending beyond ear; carpal vibrissae same color as underparts and extending to or beyond apical pad of fifth digit; hairiness of foot-soles slightly less than shown in figure 19.

_Color._--Upper parts in summer near (14 _n_) Argus Brown or tone 4 of Burnt Umber of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 304; one topotype Buckthorn Brown or tone 3 to 4 of Snuff Brown of Oberthür and Dauthenay, pl. 303. Dark spot at each angle of mouth present or absent, and when present, often fused with color of upper parts, which rarely covers lower lips. Chin, and usually lower lips, white. Remainder of underparts Buff-Yellow to Naples Yellow. In winter, all white except tip of tail which is at all times black, or upper parts near (14) Brussels Brown to near (_j_) Snuff Brown with smoked effect and underparts white, rarely with trace of yellowish. Color of underparts extends distally on posterior sides of forelegs over toes onto antipalmar faces of feet and usually all of wrists, on medial sides of hind legs anywhere from knee to tips of toes. Least width of color of underparts averaging in ten topotypes, 24 (10-37) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail in same series averaging 55 (45-60) mm. long, thus longer than hind foot and averaging 37 per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.

The color of the underparts is not so narrow in the specimens from Mount Rainier and it is believed that the slender bodies used in stuffing the topotypes has accentuated in them the appearance of narrowness of the light-colored underparts.

_Skull and teeth._--Male (based on 22 adult topotypes): See measurements and plates 19-21; weight, 3.5 (2.8-4.7) grams; basilar length, 43.7 (40.0-47.7); zygomatic breadth more or less than distance between condylar foramen and M1 or than between anterior palatine foramen and anterior margin of tympanic bulla; mastoid breadth more or less than postpalatal length; postorbital breadth less than length of upper premolars and greater than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; interorbital breadth more or less than distance between foramen opticum and anterior margin of tympanic bullae; breadth of rostrum less (except in no. 82180) than length of tympanic bulla; least width of palate more (except in no. 81954) than length of P4; anterior margin of tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of 2 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 (except in two instances) than length of lower molar and premolar tooth-row and shorter (except in two instances) than rostrum; anterior margin of masseteric fossa below m2.

Female (based on 11 ad. topotypes): See measurements and plates 34-36; weight, 2.0 (1.8-2.2) grams; basilar length, 37.6 (37.0-38.9); zygomatic breadth less (except in no. 70945) 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 more than width of basioccipital measured from medial margin of one foramen lacerum posterior to its opposite; least width of palate less (except in one specimen) than greatest length of P4; tympanic bulla as far posterior to foramen ovale as width of 3-1/2 to 5-1/2 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 or shorter than rostrum.

Compared with _M. f. nevadensis_, the skull of the male of _washingtoni_ averages more slender, as shown by the mastoid and zygomatic breadths and has the preorbital part longer, on the average, as shown by the greater ratio (to the basilar length) of the length of the tooth-rows and orbitonasal length. Also, on the average, the postorbital constriction is longer than in _nevadensis_ and the tympanic bullae are smaller. In females, the skull is lighter, the tooth-rows are shorter, the tympanic bullae are smaller, and the preorbital part of the skull is shorter and narrower as shown by the orbitonasal length and interorbital breadth. Except that the tympanic bullae are actually, although not relatively, smaller in males of _effera_, it differs from _washingtoni_ in the same way as does _nevadensis_ as regards relative proportions, but, of course, the actual difference in size is greater since _effera_ is smaller than _nevadensis_. Comparison of the skull with that of _oregonensis_ is made in the account of that subspecies.

_Remarks._--_M. f. washingtoni_ was described and named in 1896 by Merriam as a distinct species. Subsequently, specimens which here are regarded as intergrades between _altifrontalis_ and _nevadensis_, were classified as _washingtoni_.

The external measurements given for the specimens from Mount Adams are those recorded on the labels in inches and fractions thereof. Instead of total length there sometimes is written "tip to tip." In the series of 19 winter-taken topotypes the hairs project beyond the end of the caudal vertebrae for an average distance of 28 (19-40) millimeters. If the hairs on the end of the tail were included in the measurements, 28 millimeters should be subtracted from the averages. Probably the measurements should stand as given, since an adult male topotype, no. 226758, U. S. Nat. Mus., taken subsequently by Walter P. Taylor measures 405; 152; 51.

_Mustela frenata washingtoni_ is not a strongly marked geographic race. In many features it is intermediate between _M. f. altifrontalis_ and _M. f. nevadensis_. This is especially true of coloration. In the series from Mount Adams and that from Mount Rainier, some individuals have the light color of the underparts extended down the hind legs over the feet and over the proximal face of the ventral third of the tail as in _nevadensis_, whereas others from the same place have the light color of the underparts absent from the tail and extending no farther down the hind limbs than the knees. The light color of the underparts in the series of topotypes is so restricted that the transverse extent at the narrowest place amounts to only 24 (10-37) per cent of the greatest width of the color of the upper parts. This narrowness of the color of the underparts has been likened by Merriam (1896:18) to the condition in _Mustela frenata noveboracensis_. So it is, but it is similar to the condition found also in the geographically adjoining _M. f. altifrontalis_.

Of the 37 skulls of subadults and a few adults, 11 had the frontal sinuses malformed as a result of infestation by parasites.

_Specimens examined._--Total number, 56, arranged within each state by localities from north to south. Unless otherwise indicated specimens are in the collection of the United States National Museum.

=Oregon.= Mt. Jefferson, Permilia Lake, 1.

=Washington.= _Pierce County_: 5500 ft., Spray Park, Mt. Rainier, 1; Spray Park, 1[74]; 5935 ft., Glacier Basin, Mt. Rainier, 5 (1[10]); 5051 to 5100 ft., Owyhigh Lakes, Mt. Rainier, 7 (1[10]), Tahoma Creek, 1[72]; Nisqually entrance, 1[72]; Longmire, 1[72]; Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park, 2[72]. _Klickitat County_: Trout Lake, S Base Mt. Adams, 35; 3500 ft., Gotchen Creek, Mt. Adams, 1.

=Mustela frenata saturata= (Merriam)

Long-tailed Weasel

Plates 19, 20, 21 and 30

_Putorius saturatus_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:21, June 30, 1896.

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

_Mustela arizonensis saturata_, Grinnell, Univ. California Publ. Zoöl., 40:102, September 26, 1933.

_Mustela frenata saturata_, Hall, Carnegie Instit. Washington Publ. 473:106, November 20, 1936.