ACCOUNT OF THE AMERICAN FERRET. 149 



American or Black-footed Ferret. 



Putorius (Cynoiuyonax) iii^ripes. 



Plate VII. 

 Putorius nigripes, Aud. &, Bach." Q. X. A. ii, 1851, 297, pi. 93 (Lower Platte River).— 5d. 

 M. X. A. 1857, 180 (from the foregoing).— G^ray, P. Z. S. 1865, 110 ; Cat. Cam. Br. Mua. 

 1869, 88 (its validity queried).— Cowes, Am. Sportsman Nov. 20, 1874 (call for speci- 

 mens).— Ames, Bull. Minn. Acad. 1874, 69 (presumptively attributed to Minnesota) . 



Hab. — Region of the Platte River, and other portions of the central 

 plateau. Has been found in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and 

 Colorado; north to Milk River, Montana. 



Specific characters. — Above pale brownish, mixed with a few blackish- 

 tipped hairs, especially on the lower back ; below nearly white ; hairs every- 

 where white at the roots ; general color-aspect brownish-white ; a broad 

 stripe across forehead, the feet and the end of the tail, black. Length 19 

 inches ; tail-vertebno 4, with hairs 5i ; fore leg 4. Skull 2.60 long ; rather 

 under 0.50 broad at point of greatest constriction (zygomatic width un- 

 known). 



General account of the species, 



CTntil very recently, nothing was known of this remarkable 

 animal beyond what was given by Audubon. The original of 

 his figure, if ever preserved, does not appear to have been ex- 

 amined by other naturalists. Doubt has been cast upon the 

 existence of such an animal, t and the describer has even been 



* Digest of the original description. — Dentition strictly as in Putorius (teeth 

 34). Form elongate ; forehead arched and broad ; muzzle short ; ears short, 

 broad at base, triangular, closely furry both sides ; feet covered with hair 

 on both surfaces. Tail narrowly cylindrical. Pelage finer than that of the 

 Mink or Pine Marten, and even shorter (relatively) than that of the Er- 

 mine ; the outer hairs few, short, and coarse. All the pelage white at the 

 roots ; the bases of the longer hairs with a yellowish tinge, their ends broadly 

 reddish-brown ; soft under fur white, with a yellowish tinge, giving the 

 animal on the back a yellowish-brown appearance, in some parts apj)roach- 

 ing to rufous ; on the sides and rump, the color is a little lighter, gradually 

 fading into yellowish-white. Nose, ears, sides of head, throat, under surface 

 of neck, belly, and under surface of tail white ; a shade of brownish on the 

 chest between the fore legs. A broad black patch on the forehead, enclosing 

 the eyes and reaching near the tip of the nose ; legs to near the shoulders 

 and hips brownish-black ; end of tail black for about two inches. 



Type procured by Mr. Alexander Culbertson on the lower waters of the 

 Platte. Stated to inhabit the wooded parts of the country to the Rocky 

 Mountains, and to be perhaps found beyond that range, though not observed 

 by any travellers from Lewis and Clarke to the present day. Habits said to 

 resemble those of the Ferret of Europe. " It feeds on birds, small reptiles 

 and [other] animals, eggs and various insects, and is a bold and cunning foe 

 to the rabbits, hares, grouse and other game of our western regions.' 



t Dr. J. E. Gray, for instance, with characteristic sagacity, queried it 

 amidst a number of purely nominal species he admitted without question. 



