YEKTEBRATA : MAMMALIA. 



greedy ; feeding upon whatever they can kill, and also 

 gorging themselves upon the bodies of dead animals, which 

 they scent at great distances. They hunt in packs, and are 

 thus able to overpower animals which singly they could not 

 master. In newly-settled districts wolves often make great 

 havoc among sheep, calves, and other domestic animals. 



The Foxes are at once distinguished by their slender 

 and pointed muzzle, large bushy tail, and elliptical pupil 

 of the eye. Foxes excel all the other members of the 

 Dog family in cunning and craftiness. The Red Fox, of 

 a reddish-yellow color, is our common species ; the Cross 

 Fox and the Black or Silver Fox are regarded as mere 

 varieties of the first-named. 



Other representatives of the Carnivora are the Fishers, 

 Martens, Sables, Weasels, Minks, Gluttons, Skunks, Bad- 

 gers, Otters, etc., all of which belong to the great family of 

 the Mustelidse, and agree in a general way in having a long, 



FIG. 85. 



Little Ermine or Weasel, 

 Pulorius Richardsonii, Bonaparte. 



FIG. 87, 



Fir,. 86. 



Americau Sable. 

 Mustela americana, Turtoii. 



Mink, Pulorius vison, 

 Richardson. 



slender body and five-toed feet, and in having glands 

 which secrete a liquid of the most disagreeable odor. 



