18 MAMMALS. 



ft Teeth 84; body slender; feet digitigrade ; tail usually long; 



sectorial tooth without internal tubercle. . PUTORIUS, 2. 



Iff Teeth 38 ; body stout ; feet sub-plantigrade ; tail as long as 



head, very full and bushy GULO, 3. 



** True molar of upper jaw veiy large, sub-triangular, tubercu- 

 lar; fore claws much lengthened, for diggirg. (MELIN.E.) 



a. Body short and stout ; tail very short ; teeth 32. TAXIDEA, 4. 

 *** True molar of upper jaw quadrangular, wide, very large, with 



an outer cutting ridge; claws non-retractile, fore claws 

 lengthened, fossorial. ( MEPHITIN^E.) 



b. Snout pointed ; colors black and white ; fetid glands highly 



developed ; teeth 34 MEPHITIS, 5. 



**** True molar large, quadrate ; teeth 36 ; body elongated ; toes 

 palmate, adapted for swimming. (LUTKIN^E.) LUTKA, 6. 



/. MU STELA, Linnaeus. MARTENS. 



1. M. americana, Turton. SABLE. PINE MARTEN. 

 Chiefly reddish yellow, clouded with black; legs and 

 tail, blackish; length less than two feet. Maine to 

 Oregon, and northward. 



2. M. pennant//', Erxleben. FISHER. BLACK CAT. Color, 

 variable ; belly, legs, tail, and hind parts chiefly black; 

 length more than two feet. Northern N. A. 



2. PUTORIUS, Cuvier. WEASELS. 



1. P. vulgaris, Cuvier. LEAST WEASEL. Liver-brown, 

 white beneath ; usually white in winter ; tail never 

 really black at tip ; body 6 to 7 inches long. N. U. S. 

 and northward, also Old World. 



2. P. ermineus, Cuvier. COMMON WEASEL. ERMINE. 

 Colors various ; tip of tail usually black ; white in 

 winter ? northward. Length of body 8 to 11 inches. 



