The two adult males from Lillooet, British Columbia, are referable to
_oribasus_ although neither is quite typical. One has a saturated
coloration suggestive of that of _altifrontalis_ and the skull is
shorter and broader than in other specimens of _oribasus_. The female
from Lillooet, skin alone, no. 916, Prov. Mus., B. C. is small for
_oribasus_. The female, no. 1539, collection of Kenneth Racey, from
Alta Lake, in brown winter pelage, in almost every measurement falls
nearly midway between _altifrontalis_ and _oribasus_ but slightly
nearer the latter. The skull from Chezacut and 3 animals from Wistaria,
British Columbia, probably are females and show a greater average size
than specimens from farther to the southeast. For example, the basilar
length of the skull, 44.8 (44.3 to 45.1), exceeds that of the type
specimen. The animals from Wistaria on Ootsa Lake furnish the
northwesternmost station of occurrence of which I have record for this
subspecies.
The northernmost records of occurrence, at "Clearwater River, Peace
River, B. C," and at Little Prairie, are furnished by a white skin
without skull, no. 257450, U. S. Nat. Mus., purchased on August 2,
1932, at the place mentioned by W. H. Sheldon and Richard Borden, and a
skull with white winter skin, no. 3585, Provincial Museum, British
Columbia, respectively. The characters distinguishing _longicauda_ and
_oribasus_ are not shown by white winter skins; the skull shows some
features of _longicauda_, and the reference of these specimens to
_oribasus_ rather than _longicauda_ is tentative.
Only the skull from Little Prairie shows evidence of infestation of the
frontal sinuses by parasites. In the Barkerville area of British
Columbia, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas T. McCabe obtained only 2 skulls of this
subspecies from a total of 238 weasel skulls gathered by local
trappers. The others were _Mustela erminea_.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 46, listed by localities from
north to south and unless otherwise indicated, in the United
States National Museum.
=British Columbia.= West of Hudson Hope, 1[7]; Clearwater River,
tributary to Peace River, 1; Little Prairie, a few miles south of
Peace River and about 40 miles west of the main highway between
Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, 1[85]; Wistaria, 3[85]; Four Mile
Creek, 4 mi. NE Quesnel, 1[21]; Isaacs Lake, 3200 ft., 1[74];
Barkerville region, 1[74]; Clear River, 4800 ft., 1[74]; Chezacut,
1[31]; Lillooet 3 (2[77], 1[85]); Alta Lake, 1[31]; source of
Kettle River, 7500 ft., 1[75]; E side Beaverfoot Range, 4000 to
4500 ft. between Fraser Creek and 6 mi. SE of Fraser Creek, 1[74];
Cranbrook, 1[86]; head of Cross River, 10 mi. below Assiniboine
Pass, 1[7]; camp east of "Kootanie," 1[7]; camp east of Kootanie
River, 1[7].
=Alberta.= Thoral Creek, 7000 ft., 50 mi. NE Jasper, 1[2].
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