MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 163 



"yellowish-brown," and the third much lighter than the second. The 

 habitat of the first is given as the " Rocky Mountains " ; of the second, 

 " Fort Franklin " ; that of the third is not stated, and may be supposed 

 to be general, or at least those districts not occupied by the others. It 

 is evident, however, that these ditferent varieties are not local, as they 

 occur more or less frequently at the same localities, and likewise at as 

 distant points as the two sides of the continent. Dr. Gray refers to a 

 series of specimens of the American pine marten in the British Museum, 

 collected by Dr. Lord during his excursion with the Boundary Commis- 

 sioners, that " vary greatly in color, from pale brown to nearly black," and 

 have " the throat variously mottled with yellow." * Mr. Bernard R. Ross 

 says that the farther north the skins are obtained the darker the pelage, 

 and that on the Youkon River they strongly resemble the Siberian sable.f 

 While in general the specimens from North America are of the white- 

 headed or sable, rather than of the marten, type, dark -headed ones also 

 occur, not exclusively on the western side of the continent, as some have 

 supposed, but more or less frequently at all points. 



Professor Baird has described J specimens from the West Coast that do 

 not differ essentially from others from the Adirondacks, though having 

 the head much less white. Dr. Brandt's series of American skins from the 

 Northwest Coast, as far south as Columbia, on the contrary, had the head 

 very light colored, and hence resembled in this respect the generality of 

 specimens from New York, Maine, and Nova Scotia. In other general 

 characters he also found a close agreement with the Asiatic sable, and, as 

 already stated, he believed them specifically identical. Dr. Gray also 

 mentions a close resemblance in the color of the head between speci- 

 mens from Russia and the Northwest Coast of America. Professor 

 Baird, after comparing American with Swedish specimens, states that " in 

 some respects, as in certain features of the skull and teeth, the American 

 marten approximates to the beech marten, M. foina, more than to the 

 European true marten " ; and that it differs from the latter (M. viartea) 

 in certain proportions of the skull, in the texture and paler colors of the 

 pelage, in the relatively longer tails of the latter, and in the extent of the 

 naked pads of the feet. He also finds resemblances in color to the Russian 

 M. zibcllina, but finally concludes, after quoting Dr. Brandt's reasons for 

 considering them identical, by saying that he is "far from admitting the 

 identity of the American marten with the Russian sable, although it oc- 

 cupies a position intermediate between the latter and the M. martes in size, 



* L. c, p. 107. 



t List of Mammals, Birds, and Eggs observed in the McKenzie's River District. Nat. 

 Hist. Rev., July, 1862, p. 272. 

 J Mam. N. Am., p. 153. 



