Dr. N. Severtzoff on the Mammals of Turkestan. 47 



and closer-set than those of the Turkestan or European spe- 

 cimens, and in winter the hairs are longer. Their colour is 

 bright brownish black ; the under-fur is hardly to be seen, 

 being nearly altogether covered by the long hair, and is light 

 grey with smoke-coloured ends, a little darker than in the other 

 two species of marten. The spot on the throat is variable : 

 usually it consists of several pale yellow or yellowish white 

 spots placed in the form of a triangle, of which one angle 

 points towards the mouth ; these spots often reach to the fore 

 legs. Sometimes there are even two lines formed by spots, 

 which are even more irregular than in M.foiyia^ in which the 

 M. intermedia approaches the sable. The tail is longer by about 

 one fourth than the stretched hind legs, and is a little shorter 

 than one half of the whole body, the neck and head included — 

 for instance, 18 inches from the tip of the nose to the root of 

 the tail, 6 inches from the root of the tail to the claws of the 

 hind legs, 8 inches length of the tail. If the marten is 18 inches 

 long, the tail measures 10 inches ; in a sable of the same size 

 the tail measures only 6 inches. 



In summer M. intermedia has the long hair of a blackish 

 brown colour, a little shorter and duller than in winter ; the 

 under-fur is shorter and coarser, and of a darker brownish 

 grey colour. 



The price of marten-skins in Tashkent ranges from 3 to 5 

 roubles, according to their quality aud the number of skins 

 brought for sale by the Kirgies. Those of M. intermedia^ or 

 "Cashgar sable," fetch twice as much, say up to 10 roubles. 

 The Kirgies sell them wholesale at a uniform price ; but they 

 are sorted afterwards before resale by the Tashkent dealers. 

 The trapping is carried on during the autumn and winter. 



The martens which approach to M. martes live in the fir- 

 woods of the Semiretchje and Saeleysky Alatan and about 

 Issik-kul ; those which resemble M. foina inhabit all the 

 Thian-Shan mountains (at Merke they descend in winter into 

 the steppes and plains in pursuit of mice and birds) ; and, 

 finally, M. intermedia inhabits the fir-woods at extremely high 

 elevations, as well as the bilberry-bushes, and even beyond the 

 limit of the tree-growth. Altogether M. intermedia keeps in 

 the central and highest parts of the Thian-Shan mountain- 

 chains, at both sides of the Narin river. 



All this information was given to me by the Kirgies, to 

 whom I showed the different marten-skins, asking them where 

 they had met with them. Some of the Kirgies consider 

 them to be one species, but always distinguish them by the 

 localities they inhabit. 



For the definite determination of the Turkestan martens 



