162 NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELID.E. 



long as the head and bodyj the terminal pencil is only as long 

 as the hairs of the tail in general. Unlike the Martens, the 

 Mink has small low ears, smaller than those of the Weasels. 

 The ears are scarcely longer than the adjacent fur, though they 

 overtop it a little, as the fur lies flat; they are rounded, and 

 well furred both sides. The general shape of the head — long, 

 low, flat, subtriangular— is as in other Futorii. The small eye 

 centres over the angle of the mouth, half-way between the nose 

 and ear. The whiskers are in four or five series, the longest 

 reaching opposite the occiput ; they are stiff and strong 5 other 

 bristles grow over and behind the eyes, on the cheeks, and on 

 the middle of the chin ; similar bristles are usually seen upon 

 the wrists and ankles. The extremity of the snout is protub- 

 erant and definitely naked. The feet are broad ; the hinder 

 have a slightly oblique set j the fore have ten balls, the hind nine, 

 as in other Futorii (five digital pads at the ends of the digits, 

 five palmar, and four plantar). The palmar and plantar pads 

 are not separated by hairy spaces (except the hindmost outer 

 palmar one), there being only a crease between them. Ordi- 

 narily, the pads are conspicuously naked, but in northern and 

 some winter skins they must be searched for amidst the over- 

 growing hair. This is a purely fortuitous circumstance. The 

 palms and soles are always furry around the pads. Qn the 

 top of the feet, the hairs reach to or rather beyond the^ends of 

 the nails. The digits are all webbed at bases for a considerable 

 distance, especially the middle ones. The third and fourth fin- 

 gers are subequal and longest ; the second and fifth not so 

 nearly equal, and both much shorter; the first is quite short. 

 The toes of the hind feet have almost the same relative propor- 

 tions. The pelage consists of a dense, soft, matted under fur, 

 mixed with long, stiff, lustrous hairs, on all parts of the body 

 and tail. The gloss is greatest on the upper parts ; on the tail 

 the bristly hairs predominate. Northern specimens have the 

 finest and most glistening pelage, though the long hairs are the 

 stoutest; in southern specimens there is less difference be- 

 tween the under and over fur, and the whole pelage is coarser 

 and harsher. 



In color, the Mink ranges from a light dull yellowish-brown, 

 not very different from that of a Marten, or of some styles of 

 the Euroi)ean P. fatidus, to a rich blackish chocolate-brown. 

 These extremes (which will be presently considered) aside, the 

 aiiiin:;! is onliiiMii'v of a r\v}\ dark bro'.vii, s"arc(-ly or not piiler 



