ZOOLOGY. 115 



that of the domestic cat, but the nose is very long and sharp, 

 and the tail very long and large. The color of the animal is 

 dark orrav, with rinsrs of black on the tail. The miners call it 

 the " mountain-cat," and frequently tame it. It is a favorite 

 pet with them, becomes very playful and familiar, and is far 

 more affectionate than the common cat, which it might replace, 

 for it is very good at catching mice. 



The pine-marten (3Iustela americajia) is found in California, 

 but is rare. 



The yellow-cheeked weasel (Putorlus xanthogenys) is found 

 along the coast, in the vicinity of the bay of San Francisco. 



The common mink [Putorius vison) has a skin as valuable 

 as that of the beaver ; the fur is of a dark, brownish, chestnut 

 color, with a white spot on the end of the chin. 



California has two skunks (Jlej^hitis occidentalis and Me- 

 phitis bicolor), very common animals. The JMephitis bicolor, 

 or little striped skunk, is chiefly found south of latitude 39° ; 

 the other in the northern and central parts of the state. The 

 colors of both are black and white. 



§ 91. The Squirrel Phmily. — The Californian gray squirrel 

 (Sciurtfs fossor), the most beautiful and one of the largest ot 

 the squirrel genus, inhabits all the pine-forests of the state. Its 

 color on the back is a finely-grizzled bluish gray, and white 

 beneath. At the base of the ear is a little woollv tuft, of a 

 chestnut color. The sides of the feet are covered with hair in 

 the winter, but are bare in the summer ; the body is more slender 

 and delicate in shape than that of the Atlantic gray squirrel. 

 It sometimes grows to be twelve inches long in the head and 

 body, and fifteen inches long in the tail, making the entire 

 length twenty-seven mches. Dr. Xewberry says: "The Cali- 

 fornian gray squirrel is eminently a tree-squirrel, scarcely de- 

 scending to the ground but for food and water, and it subsists 

 almost exclusively on the seeds of the largest and loftiest pine 

 known {Pinus larahertiana)^ the ' sugar-pine' of the Western 

 coast. The cones of this magnificent tree are from twelve to 

 sixteen inches m length, and contain each one hundred or more 



