228 The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 



latter was not committing a great error in wood- 

 craft. The tail of the wolverene is rather short, 

 hangs low, and is covered with long pendulous 

 hairs. In common with the other fur-bearing 

 animals before described, it has two coats, an upper 

 and an under. The latter is of a deep chestnut 

 brown, a shade lighter near the roots ; whilst the 

 longer hairs are blackish-brown throughout their 

 whole length, and much resemble the fur of a bear. 

 The eyes, nose, and whiskers are black ; a pale 

 reddish-brown beard commences behind the shoulder 

 and running along the flanks, turns up on the hip, 

 and unites near the tail with similar markings on 

 the opposite side. There is a brownish-white band 

 across the forehead running from ear to car. On 

 the sides of the neck there are tufts of white hair 

 extending nearly in a circle from the inside of the 

 legs around the chest. The colour varies greatly 

 in different specimens, hence many naturalists 

 have attempted from these varieties to multiply the 

 species, but the best authorities agree in regarding 

 them as belonging to exactly the same. It was 

 also once thought that the glutton and wolverene 

 were distinct animals, but this is now recognised as 

 an error. 



The wolverene maybe said to vie with the beaver 

 in the numerous miraculous stories that have been 



