FAMILY MUSTELINE. 31 



GENUS MUSTELA. Cuvier. 



Head small, oval. Fur exceedingly fine. Tail usually long and cylindrical. One addi- 

 tional molar above and below. 



THE FISHER. 



Ml'STELA CANADENSIS. 



PLATE XIII. FIG. 1. Skull. — (CABINET OF THE LYCEUM.) 



Muslela canadensis. Lin. Gmel. Vol. 1, p. 95. 



The Fisher. Penn. Arct. Zool. Vol. 1, p. 82. 



M. pennanti. Erxleben, System, p. 470. 



M. canadensis. Harlan, Faun. Am. p. G5. 



Pennant's Marten. Godman, Am. Nat. Hist. Vol. 1, p. 203. 



Pekan or Fisher. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. ], p. 52. 



Pekan or Fisher Weasel. Emmons, Mass. Report, 1838, p. 24 ; of 1840, p. 38. 



Black Cat of the New-York hunters. 



Characteristics. Greyish over the head and anterior parts of the body ; dark brown or black 

 behind. Tail bushy. The largest of the genus. 



Description. Form of the body typical. Head broad ; nose-acute. Ears about three inches 

 from the nose, broad, rounded and distant. Canines long, more particularly those of the upper 

 jaw ; penultimate molar with a process on its inner anterior margin. Fore feet shorter than 

 hind feet, robust, and covered with long hair. Soles of the feet thickly covered with short 

 hair. Toes connected partially by a short hairy web ; the nails sharp, strong, and incurved. 

 Tail moderately long, bushy and acuminated at the tip, the hairs reaching two and a half to 

 three inches beyond the vertebrae. Fur long, fine and lustrous, increasing in length on the 

 posterior parts of the animal ; it consists of two kinds, a short brown down, and longer and 

 more rigid hairs ; longer and blacker in winter than in summer. 



Color. The markings are somewhat irregular ; and there is a variety which, with the ex- 

 ception of the nose and feet, is entirely white. The general and more usual distribution of 

 the colors is noted in the specific phrase. The long rigid hairs are brown at the base, and 

 greyish towards the tips. This greyish color predominates so much on the head, neck, 

 shoulders, upper and anterior portions of the body, as to give to those parts a hoary appearance. 

 Towards the posterior part of the body, and including the tail, the color deepens into a dark 

 brown or jet black. Throat, legs and belly blackish brown, with occasionally a small white 

 spot on its throat, and a trace of another on the belly, sometimes unspotted beneath. Chin and 

 nose brown. Ears margined with yellowish white. It is said to be lighter in winter than in 

 summer. Length of head and body, 24' ; of tail (vertebras), 1 1 ■ 0. 



The Fisher or Black Cat of our hunters, is a large and powerful animal, standing nearly a 

 foot from the ground. It was formerly very abundant in this State, but is now confined to 



