Specimens examined.—Total number, 102 as follows: Arranged alphabetically by states and within each state by counties from north to south. Unless otherwise indicated, specimens are in the United States National Museum.
Indiana. Huntington County: Roanoke, 1. Wells County: Harrison Township, 1[76].
Illinois. Lake County: Deerfield, 3[60]; no locality more definite than county, 1[60]. Cook County: Northfield, 1[60]; La Grange, 1[18].
Michigan. Tuscola County: 8 mi. N Caro, 1[76]. Santilac County: Deckerville, 1[76]. Allegan County: Swan Creek Exp. Station, 1[76]; Swan Creek Farm, 1[76]; T. 2N, R. 14W, 1[76]; Allegan, 1[76]. Livingston County: George Reserve, 1[76]; 1/2 mi. N Unadilla, 1. Oakland County: Rochester, 1[76]. Macomb County: Romeo, 1[76]. Washtenaw County: 5 mi. SW Ann Arbor, 1[76]. Branch County: vic. Coldwater, 1[76].
North Carolina. "near Marshall," 1.
Ohio. Northern part of state, 1[81]. Williams County: Stryker, 1[60]. Lucas County: Monclova, 1[60]. Erie County: Sandusky, 2[76]; marsh near Sandusky, 1[76]; Berlin Heights, 1[76]; no locality more definite than county, 1[2]. Wood County: 10 mi. NE Bowling Green, 1[76]; Bowling Green, 4[76]; 3 mi. E Bowling Green 1[76]; Plain Township, 1[2]; Portage Township, 1[60]. Loraine County: Wellington, 1[81]. Huron County: west of Monroeville, 1[76]. Summit County: Ira, 3[81]. Portage County: Suffield, 1[81]. Hancock County: Vanburen, 1[76]; Findlay, 1[81]; 9 mi. S Findlay, 1[76]; no locality more definite than county, 7 (2[76], 2[81], 3[2]). Mahoning County: Ellsworth, 1. Crawford County: "near Crestline," 1[81]. Delaware County: Sunbury, 1[2]; Lewis Center, 1[81]; no locality more definite than county, 1[81]. Licking County: Johnstown, 1[2]. Fairfield County: Baltimore, 1[81]; Violet Township, 1[81]. Meigs [= Gallia?] County: Vinton, 1[81].
Pennsylvania. Erie County: McKeen Twp. 1. Crawford County: Springboro, 1[1]; Pymatuning Swamp, between Hartstown and Shermansville, Sadsbury Twp., 3[9]. Mercer County: Shenango Twp., 1. Lawrence County: Little Beaver Twp., 1. Butler County: Leasuresville, 1[9]; Clearfield Twp., 1; Valencia, 1[9]. Armstrong County: Ford City, Burrell Twp., 1. Indiana County: Smicksburg, 1; N. Mahoning Twp., 2; White Twp., 1. Allegheny County: South Hills, Pittsburgh, 1[9]; "near Pittsburgh," 1[9]; Fair Oaks, 1[9]. Westmoreland County: Bolivar, 1. Dauphin County: Middle Paxton Twp., 1. Washington County: Finleyville, 1; Rea, 5; Beallsville, 1[1]; Claysville, 1. Green County: Deep Valley, 1; Waynesburg, 1; Jefferson, 1; Cumberland Twp., 1. Fayette County: Acme, 1[9]. Somerset County, 1. Lancaster County, 1.
West Virginia. Randolph County: Huttonsville, 1.
Wisconsin. Sauk County: Sumpter Twp., 1[60]. Dodge County: Beaver Dam, 1[50]. Dane County: Madison, 1; McFarland (= MacFarland), 1.
Mustela rixosa campestris Jackson
Least Weasel
Mustela campestris Jackson, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 26:124, May 21, 1913.
Putorius pusillus, Aughey, Sketches of the physical geography and geology of Nebraska, p. 119, 1880, Omaha.
Mustela rixosa campestris, Swenk, Journ. Mamm., 7:329, Nov. 23, 1926.
Type.—Female, adult, skin and skull; no. 171490, U. S. Nat. Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.; Beemer, Cuming County, Nebraska; April 18, 1911; obtained by G. Sharp; x catalogue no. 8440.
The skull is unbroken. On the left side, C1 and P2 are missing; the other teeth are present and entire. The skin is excellently made and in a good state of preservation.
Range.—South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. See figure [28] on page [180].
Characters for ready recognition.—Differs from M. r. rixosa and M. r. allegheniensis in larger size: Hind foot more than 25 in males and ordinarily more than 22 in females; in males total length more than 216 and tail averaging more than 34; color possibly slightly paler than in M. r. rixosa and averaging paler than in M. r. allegheniensis; from M. frenata and M. erminea of the same region by basilar length less than 32; tail less than 50, and lacking black pencil.
Description.—Size.—Male: Four adults from Nebraska yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 231 (225-237); length of tail, 36 (32-39); length of hind foot, 29 (28-31).
Female: Six adults from Nebraska yield average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 192 (184-225); length of tail, 35 (28-40); length of hind foot, 23 (20.5-26).
Color.—Winter pelage ordinarily white; as described in M. r. eskimo except possibly paler and certainly with line of demarcation on side of head between upper parts and underparts passing almost straight back without the dorsally directed reëntrant angles of white behind the eye and ear; least width of color of underparts in four specimens from Nebraska averaging 80 (49-89) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts, but in a fifth animal in summer pelage the brown color of the upper parts encircles the body.
Skull.—See measurements in table and plate [15]; weight 1.1 grams (male from Brown Co., S. D.); basilar length, 30.7 in male from Clay Co., Neb., and 28.8 in female from same county; otherwise as described in M. e. richardsonii.
Remarks.—In his revisionary treatment of the American races of Mustela rixosa, Myron H. Swenk (1926:313) credits Samuel Aughey with recording this animal, M. r. campestris, from Nebraska, as early as 1880, under the name Putorius pusillus. In 1908, Swenk recorded the animal from the same state under the name rixosus and in 1913 the race campestris was formally named by H. H. T. Jackson.
On the testimony of a friend who had previously obtained several specimens for him, Swenk (1926:321) records the least weasel from Oshkosh, Garden County, Nebraska, which is a marginal record of occurrence to the southwest for M. r. campestris.
At an early stage in the study of American weasels the writer examined the specimens from Nebraska saved by Mr. Myron H. Swenk and recorded measurements of them. However, at the time of writing this account the specimens were not available for examination and the account of coloration is accordingly incomplete.