MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 161 



that tliey had not heard of it to the north of the State of Maine.* Dr. 

 Emmons gives it as " rare in Massachusetts." t Mr. C. W. Bennett in- 

 forms me that he knew of the capture of two specimens in Leominster 

 a few winters since. The skins of this species frequently seen in our 

 fur stores come, so far as I have learned, altogether from Eastern 

 Virginia and the Southern Atlantic States. 



MUSTELINE. 



6. Mustela Pennantii Erxl. (M. canadensis, Emmons Rep. ; 

 Martcs\ Pennantii Gray.) Fisher. Probably still of rare occur- 

 rence in the Hoosac ranges. In 1840 Dr. Emmons wrote: "It is 

 occasionally found in the vicinity of Williamstown, particularly in that 

 range of mountains which extends northeast through Stamford, Ver- 

 mont." § 



This species seems to be the only one of the old Linnrean genus Muslela 

 (Marline? of recent authors) peculiar to the northern parts of North Ameri- 

 ca, with no very near ally in the corresponding portion of the Old World. 



7. Mustela martes Linn. {Martes americana Gray ; " Mustela 

 americana Turton " of recent American authors ; M. zibellina Brandt.) 

 Pine Marten. Sable. Occasional in the mountains of Berkshire 

 County. Thirty years since Dr. Emmons mentioned it as not infre- 

 quent there, but as most common " where pine forests abound. It is, 

 however," he says, " often found in beech woods, where it is sure of a more 

 ready supply of food. Its nocturnal habits, and native shyness, effec- 

 tually screen it from observation, even in districts where it abounds." || 



The variations presented by the sables and martens, at single localities as 



* Quad., Vol. I, p. 172. | Rep., p. 31. 



% Each of the three generally recognized genera of the sub-family Martina (" tribe 

 Mustelina" of Gray) — Mustela embracing the sables and martens; Putorius, the 

 minks, weasels, and ermines, and Gulo, the wolverine — has been recently subdivided, 

 the sections being ranked by some as sub-genera, and by Dr. J. E. Gray as genera. In 

 his Revision of the Genera and Species of Mustelidm (Proc. London Zool. Soc, 

 1S65, pp. 100- 154), lie restricts Mustela to the weasels and ermines, and Putorius to the 

 polecat, while the sables and martens he places under Martes, and the minks under 

 llson; the distinctions, based on differences either in the dentition, form of the skull 

 or color, are, however, very slight. 



§ Rep., p. 30. || Rep., p. 41. 



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