MUSTELID^E 



587 



on the under parts of the body. In very rare instances the tail is 

 tipped Avith white. The fur, like that of most of the animals of 

 the group to which it belongs, is an important article of commerce. 

 The principal characteristic of the Mink in comparison with its 

 congeners is its amphibious mode of life. It is to the water what 

 the other Weasels are to the land, or Martens to the trees, being as 

 essentially aquatic in its habits as the Otter, Beaver, or Musk-Rat, 

 and spending perhaps more of its time in the water than it does 

 on land. It swims with most of the body submerged, and dives 

 with perfect ease, remaining long without coming to the surface to 

 breathe. It makes its nest in burrows in the banks of streams, 

 breeding once a year about the month of April, and producing five 

 or six young at a birth. Its food consists of frogs, fish, freshwater 



FIG. 268. The Common Polecat (Mustela putorius). 



molluscs and crustaceans, as well as mice, rats, musk-rats, rabbits, 

 and small birds. In common with the other animals of the genus, 

 it has a very peculiar and disagreeable effluvium, which, according 

 to Coues, is more powerful, penetrating, and lasting than that of 

 any animal of the country except the Skunk. It also possesses the 

 courage, ferocity, and tenacity of life of its allies. When taken 

 young, however, it can be readily tamed, and lately Minks have 

 been extensively bred in captivity in America, both for the sake of 

 their fur and for the purpose of using them in like manner as 

 Ferrets in England, to clear buildings of rats. 



The Polecats include four species confined to the northern 

 hemisphere, the best known of which is the Common Polecat 

 (M. putorius, Fig. 268). The Ferret is a domesticated variety of 

 this species, generally of a yellowish-white colour : whereas the Wild 



