k { 
106 BULLETIN NO. VII 
and perseverance in following up his line to eat the bait, and 
even the sables themselves may be captured. I have accounts 
from Hudson’s Bay trappers of a sable road fifty miles long, 
containing 150 traps, every one of which was destroyed through- 
out the whole line twice—once by a wolf, and once by a wolverine. 
The marten is exceedingly shy, and never ventures into human 
enclosures; nevertheless, when captured, it makes a rather 
amiable pet and has little of the offensive odor of the family.” 
GENUS PUTORIUS. 
Dental formula: i, 3; ¢, 4; pm. 3; m, 3*2=34. Sectorial of lower 
jaw without an internal cusp. Skull flat, rostral portion short 
and turgid. Zygomatic arch usually not higher behind than in 
front. Periotic region, bullee, etc., little inflated. 
The body is usually very slender and lithe, the head short 
and fierce, with orbicular ears. The legs are short and stout, 
the tail uniformly terete. The genus is divided into four 
sections: Gale (ermines and weasles), Cynomyonax (American 
ferret), Putorius (ferrets), and Lutreola (minks). The Amer- ~ 
ican ferret is confined to the central plateau. The ferrets 
proper are stout-bodied forms confined to the Old World, thus 
leaving two of the groups to be considered. 
The weasels proper are grouped under Gale, and have the 
following characters: The skull is smooth, with no sagittal 
crest. Frontal profile strongly convex and declivous. Ptery- 
goids with small hamular processes, or none. Bulle auditorize 
nicked at end by orifice of meatus. Skull moderately abruptly — 
constricted near the middle; post orbital processes slight. 
Small animals of slender, serpentine form, of terrestrial habit. 
Most northern species become white in winter. We have in 
Minnesota two species. 
Putorius vulgaris ALDROV. 
LESSER WEASEL. 
(FIG. 8B.-COMMON ERMINE WEASEL.) 
Mustela vulgaris, Earlier authors generally. 
Fetorius vulgaris KEYSOR and BLASIUS. 
Mustela gale PALLAS. 
Mustelu nivalis FORSTER. 
Mustela pusilla DEKAY. 
Putorius pusillus AUDUBON. 
Putorius cicognani RICHARDSON. 
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