umber or liver-brown colour, but producing no spots. There is a rufous mark under the ears.
The fur on the back is about ten lines long, that on the crown of the head is three or four.
The fur on the under parts (including the chin and lips) has a lead-gray colour, and is
shorter than that covering the back and sides. The tail is round, well clothed with short
stiff hairs, which do not permit any scales to be seen. It is clove-brown above, and grayish-
white beneath. The hairs at the extremity of the tail are of the same length with the others,
but converge to a point. The fore and hind extremities are clothed with short hairs of a
clove-brown colour, mixed on the toes and hind-parts of the fore-feet, with some longer
white hairs. The hind-toes are more slender and scarcely longer than the fore ones j they
turn obliquely inwards. The fore-claws are small, whitish, much compressed, arched, and
acute, with a narrow, elliptical excavation underneath. The hairs of the toes reach to the
points of the nails. The claws of the hind-feet resemble the fore ones, but are not so strong.
The thumb of the fore-feet consists merely of a small strap-shaped nail, slightly convex on
both sides, and having an obtuse point projecting from the middle of its extremity.
Length of head and body
,, tail
„ head alone
Height of ear ,
D im e n s io n s .
In c h e s. L in e s. Inche s.
, , . 4 6 Breadth of the ear . . . 0
, . . 1 0 Length of fore-feet to end of middle claw 0
' - ' V 1 3 ,, hind>feet, including heel and daw 0
. . . 0 4 „ fur on the back • . 0
Described from spring specimens, after the snow had melted.
3
44
74
10
[40.] 6. A r v i c o l a ( G e o r y c h u s ?) h e l v o l u s . (Richard son.
Tawny Lemming.
Genus, Arvicola. Cuvier. Sub-genus, Georychus. I llig er. Cuvier.
Arvicola (Lemmus) helvolus. R ichardson, Zool. Joum., No. 12, 1828, p. 517-
.-4. G E O R Y C H U S (helvolus) nasopallido obtuso, palmispentadactylis, capitefulvo nigroque, corpore helvolo suiter vix
pallidiori.
Tawny Lemming, with a pale blunt nose, a thumb; tawny and black head; and a reddish-orange coloured body,
a little paler beneath.
The Lemmings are, by some authors, thought to possess characters which
entitle them to form a distinct genus ; but I am inclined to agree with those who
range them merely as a subdivision of the genus arvicola, characterised principally
by the shortness of the ears and tail, and the larger and stronger claws, more
fitted for digging. In the short character of the species given above, the insertion
of the word Georychus is intended to indicate the presence of the characteristic
features of the Lemmings.
This animal was found by Mr. Drummond, inhabiting alpine swamps, in latitude
56° ; but he could not learn any thing of its habits. From the great similarity of
its form, and the strong resemblance in the shape of its claws to the Norwegian
Lemming, we may infer that its habits do not differ much from those of that animal.
D E S C R I P T IO N .
Size of the Lapland Lemming. Body low, head oval, nose short, blunt, and nearly on a
line with the incisors. Eyes small *; ears broader than high, shorter than the fur, clothed
with hair near the edges. Tail very short, clothed with stiff hairs, which are longest near its
extremity, and there converge to a point.
The fu r of the body has a reddish-orange colour, palest on the ventral aspect. On the
back and sides there are interspersed a number of longer hairs tipped with black, but they do
not produce any spotting. On the upper part of the head, round the eyes, and on the nape of
the. neck, the black hairs are more numerous, and the fur of those parts has a mixed black and
orange colour. The nose is grayish-brown, the sides of the face are pale orange, and the
margins of the upper lip white. The tail is coloured like the body. The feet are brownish.
The fur on the body is about nine lines long, that on the nose and extremities is very short.
The fur of the head is pretty long.
The cutting edge of the upper incisors is obliquely excavated in a lunated form, arising from
their outer edges being inclined backwards, so that these teeth do not appear so flat anteriorly,
as those of the Arvicola xanthognathus, which have straight cutting edges. The claws
of both extremities are much alike, greatly compressed, with sharp points, and an oblong,
narrow excavation underneath., They are larger than those of any of the meadow-mice
described in the preceding pages, although the A. palustris and A. xanthognathus are more
than twice the size of the largest specimen of this animal. The thumb of the fore-feet
consists almost entirely of a thick, flat, strap-shaped nail, resembling that of the Norway
Lemming, and having, like it, an obliquely truncated summit. In the Tawny Lemming this
summit presents obscurely two obtuse points.
Dimensions.
Inches. ; Lines. Inches. Lines.
Length of head and body . 4 6 1 Length of fore-feet and claws 0 44
„ tail . . 0 7 „ hind-feet, from heel to end of claw 0 8
,, head . . . . . 1 6 1 ,, fur on the back . ' . . . 0 9
S