138 CARNIVORA. 



and are more abundant than the others. In these 

 striped examples, lateral prongs are sometimes seen 

 branching out from the main fork, and uniting with it 

 again, but we have never seen the fork or stripe with 

 more than two prongs. Sometimes the white stripe is 

 continued down the tail. Eare instances are found of 

 one long, and one short prong. The white mark on the 

 belly is in the same ratio as the amount of white on the 

 back. Specimens are often found of white hairs inter- 

 mixed with the black. Drab or brown Skunks are 

 occasionally met with ; they are of a beautiful light 

 brown colour, with a white fork more or less 

 marked. 



The length of the Skunk is about a foot, and the tail 

 another 6 inches. 



The tail is covered with long bristly hairs, 3 or 4 

 inches in length, especially towards the tip, where the 

 ground is lighter. 



In the striped varieties the tail is beautifully edged 

 with white ; in the white, the tail is pure white. 



The skins collected in the Dominion of Canada are 

 more striped than those from other parts, the northern 

 range and cold climate producing, as usual, a large, 

 thick-furred, and light-coloured variety. These are 

 sometimes called the Hudson's Bay Skunk. The fur of 

 this variety is about l^^ inches long. 



The Skunk is found in the Fort York and Moose 

 Eiver districts, about the same range north as the 

 Fisher ; it is not found in Alaska nor Labrador. As the 

 southern range is approached, the size becomes smaller, 

 and the colour darker. Michigan, Ohio, and New York 

 produce the finest dark skins. New Jersey, Virginia, 

 Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri produce a greater 

 number of black skins, but the fur is coarser and 



