112 



LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



the ears and mouth. Length of head and body about 17 

 inches ; of tail, including hair at the end, 7 inches. 



The Polecat, Fitchet, Fitchet-Weasel, or Foumart ( = Foul 

 Marten), as it is indifferently called, is the largest British re- 

 presentative of the sub-genus Futorius, which includes the whole 

 of the remaining species of Mustela. Macgillivray, in the 

 original edition of this work, describes it as follows : " The head 



Polecats and Moorhen. 



is of moderate size, oblong, or oval-triangular, when viewed from 

 above, with the muzzle rather rounded ; the ears short, and 

 broadly rounded ; the neck of moderate length and very thick ; 

 the body very long ; the feet short and strong. On the 

 anterior limb the first toe is very short, the fifth or outer a little 

 longer, the fourth next, the second a little shorter than the 

 latter. On the hind-foot the first toe is also very short, the 



