26 On the Fur-hearing Animals 



and covered densely on both sides with a short velvety fur, over- 

 laid with coarser hairs. The legs are robust, rather short, and 

 clad with a closer and stiffer hair than that on the body. The 

 claws are about half an inch long, not very stout but sharp, well 

 curved, and white in color. The tail is considerably less than 

 half the length of the body generally, though it is sometimes 

 longer ; it is well covered and tolerably bushy. The feet are 

 comparatively large, densely covered with short woolly fur, mingled 

 with stiflfer hairs, which prevents the naked balls of the toes from 

 being visible in winter, though they are distinctly so when the 

 animal is in summer pelage. 



The winter fur of this species is full and soft, about an inch and 

 a half deep with a number of coarse black hairs interspersed. The 

 tail is densely covered with two kinds of hair, similar to those of 

 the back but coarser. The hairs on the top are longest, measur- 

 ing 2j inches and giving the end a very bushy appearance. The 

 fur is in full coat from about the end of October until the begin- 

 ning of May, according to locality. When in such a condition 

 the cuticle is white, clean, and very thin. From the latter of 

 these dates the skin acquires a darker hue which increases until 

 the hair is renewed, and then gradually lightens until the approach 

 of winter, the fur remaining good for some time before and after 

 these changes. When casting its hair the animal has far from a 

 pleasing appearance, as the under fur falls off leaving a shabby 

 covering of the long coarser hairs, which have then assumed a 

 rusty tint. The tail changes later than any other part, and is 

 still bushy in some miserable looking summer specimens now 

 lying before me. After the fall of these long hairs, and towards 

 the end of summer a fine and short fur pushes up. When in this 

 state the pelage is very pretty and bears a strong resemblance to 

 a dark mink in its winter coat. It gradually lengthens and thick- 

 ens as winter approaches, and may be considered prime after the 

 first fall of snow. 



It is diflScult to describe the color of the martin fur accurately. 

 In a large heap of skins (upwards of fifty) which I have just 

 examined minutely, there exists a great variety of shades darken- 

 ing from the rarer of yellowish-white and bright orange, into 

 various shades, of orange-brown some of which are very dark. 

 However, the general tint may with propriety be termed an orange 

 brown, considerably clouded with black on the back and belly, 

 and exhibiting on the flanks and throat more of the orange tint. 



