1 J 'EASEL FAMILY. 



59 



ears are rounded, the neck is relatively long, and the tail is bushy. In colour the 

 long hair of the body and limbs is brownish black or black, darkest on the head, 

 tail, feet, and under-parts ; while the ears are white, and there are some brown 

 and white markings on the face and mouth. The woolly under- fur is a pale yellow, 

 or fulvous, and by showing through the long hair communicates a general brown 

 tinge, mingled with yellow, to the whole pelage ; the tint varying considerably in 

 different individuals. The fur is very long and loose on most parts of the body, 

 and is commercially known as " fitch," from the name Fitchet, or Fitcher, applied 

 in many parts of the country to this animal. The range of the polecat includes 

 the greater part of Europe, extending as far northwards as the southerly districts 

 of Sweden and the White Sea, but not including the Mediterranean countries. 



the polecat {\ nat. size). 



In Western and Northern Asia it is replaced by the closely-allied Siberian polecat 

 (M. eversmanni), which appears to be distinguished mainly by the head and back 

 being nearly white, and by certain differences in the form of the skull. A third 

 nearly-allied kind is the Tibetan polecat (M. larvata), inhabiting Laclak and Tibet, 

 which differs only from the last by certain features in the base of the skull. 



Sarmatian The Sarmatian polecat (P. sarmaticus) is, however, a very 



Polecat. distinct species, of rather smaller size than the common kind, and 

 well distinguished by the fur of the under-parts being of a glossy black, while that 

 of the upper parts is a mixture of brown and yellowish white. This species, often 

 known as the mottled polecat, presents, therefore, another instance of that peculiar 

 distribution of dark and light colours which we have already alluded to as 

 characteristic of several members of the family. It is found in South-East Europe, 



