Weasel and some of its Subspecies. 43 



Colour [of British specimens) . ^Joue reddish brown of variable 

 depth, the darkest specimen being a large male from Elgin, 

 Morayshire, Scotland^ dated 29th September, 1894 : a very 

 pale male from Froyle, Hants, dated 30th January, 1893, 

 almost approaches P. nivalis Stoliczhanus in tint. On the 

 whole I think the most intensely coloured specimens of both 

 sexes are those obtained in September and October. 



Beneath. At all ages pure white, which, however, may 

 become dirty when the coat is very old, as is the case with a 

 male from Cambridgeshire, labelled May 24th, and another 

 from Wales, labelled June 15th. The wavy uncertain 

 line of demarcation between the colours of the two surfaces 

 is in its very variability exceedingly characteristic and 

 naturally causes an equal variability in the area of the white 

 colour of the belly. The latter in large specimens (males) 

 usually reaches a breadth of 25 millim. or upwards. In 

 some individuals, however, as in a male from Tring, Herts, it 

 is very much constricted in the region behind the chest and 

 does not exceed a breadth of 11 millim. ; in another specimen, 

 a male from Cambridge, there is a complete band of the 

 brown colour extending right across the belly. Posteriorly 

 the brown colour usually, but not always, encroaches on to 

 the belly, preventing the extension of the white as far back- 

 wards as the anus. There are frequently isolated patches ot 

 brown colour irregularly distributed over the belly, even in 

 the middle line. Some of the variations bear a very close 

 resemblance to those shown by the Irish stoat, P. ermineus 

 hihernicus, Thos. & Barr.-Ham. 



The fore feet are partially white. 



A trace of the assumption of a white winter coat is visible 

 in two specimens from Cromarty, viz. a male killed on the 

 30th October, 1895, and a female killed on the 21st March, 

 1896, which, especially the male, show many white hairs on 

 the flanks and a few on the dorsal region, the latter forming 

 an indistinct saddle-like band over the back. 



Although in coloration the sexes are identical, males are far 

 larger than females, have the skull proportionately broader, 

 and show a stronger development of the sagittal crest. The 

 following is a summary of the dimensions (in milliuietres) of 

 sixteen adult males and eight adult and two immature females, 

 all British, taken from the British Museum and from my own 

 collections, and for which we are indebted to the kindness of 

 Messrs. F. Austen, J. L. Bonhote, Sir VV. G. Gumming, 

 W. E. Ogilvie Grant, E. H. Caton Haigh, S. F. Harmer, 

 E.Hartert,W. L.S.Loat, J. C. Mansel-Pleydell, G. St. Quen- 

 iin, the Hon. W. Eothschild, and A. Wright. 



