THE MARTENS, POLECATS, AND WEASELS 639 



The general habits of the grison appear to be very similar to those of the tayra. 

 It is described as being the Carnivore most commonly encountered on the coasts of 

 South America ; but in Brazil it is stated to be less frequent than its cousin. By 

 preference it appears to select the open country, although it may also be found in 

 forests. It frequents plantations, and commits great depredations upon domestic 

 poultry. Hollow trees, clefts in rocks, and deserted burrows are its favorite re- 

 treats; but it is said that, when hunted with dogs, the grison will never attempt to 

 climb, and invariably takes shelter under rocks, or beneath the roots of trees. 

 Fossil remains of various species of this genus have been found in the caverns of 

 Lagoa Santa, in Brazil ; while, what is more noteworthy, others have been obtained 

 from the superficial deposits of the United States, thus indicating that the genus 

 formerly extended far to the northward of its present limits in Mexico. 



THE MARTENS, POLECATS, AND WEASELS 

 Genus Mustela 



The martens and their near allies the polecats, stoats, and weasels, constitute 

 the typical group of this subdivision. By many writers the large martens are sepa- 

 rated as a genus from the smaller polecats, stoats, and weasels, the three latter being 

 grouped together under the title of Putorius, but in this we are not disposed to con- 

 cur. It is true that the martens have one more pair of premolar teeth in each jaw 

 than their smaller relatives ; but we cannot in any case attach much importance 

 to such a difference, and its triviality is proved by extinct species, which exhibit 

 a considerable amount of diversity in this respect. 



Regarding, then, all the animals above mentioned as constituting but a single 

 genus, we have to indicate the features by which the group is distinguished. 



In the first place, the number of teeth may either be the same as in the tayra, 

 or there may be an additional premolar tooth on each side of both the upper and the 

 lower jaw, thus raising the number of teeth to forty. The upper flesh-tooth, as 

 already mentioned, differs from that of the tayra by having the lobe on its inner side 

 placed close up to its front edge. With regard to external characteristics, the mar- 

 tens and weasels are distinguished from the members of the preceding genus by 

 their habit of walking almost entirely on their toes (digitigrade), and also by their 

 short compressed claws being capable of partial retraction. Their tails are either 

 long or of medium length, and more or less bushy. It may be added that the lower 

 flesh-tooth of the martens and weasels is characterized by the small size or total ab- 

 sence of the cusp on the inner side of the second lobe of the blade ; and as the heel 

 at the hinder end is also rather small and furnished with a cutting edge, the whole 

 tooth consists of three main cusps, of which the two end ones are similar. Such a 

 tooth is, therefore, totally unlike the lower flesh-tooth of a civet. 

 Pine-Mart ^^ e we ^'^ nown European pine-marten, or yellow-breasted marten 



(M. males'), may be regarded as the typical representative of the 

 martens, all of which possess the following features in common. First of all, they 

 have four pairs of premolar teeth in each jaw ; while the flesh-tooth of the lower 



