MARTENS, POLECATS, AND WEASELS. I19 



appear are new. Towards December, earlier if the weather be 

 very cold, later if less so, the hairs of the upper-parts become 

 white. In an individual obtained in December, 1834, the 

 colour was a mixture of white and brownish-red. The hairs 

 of the latter colour were not in the least degree faded, and 

 those of the former were much shorter, and evidently just 

 shooting ; so that the change from brown to white would seem 

 to take place by the substitution of new white hairs for those of 

 the summer-dress. But in mild winters the hairs retain their 

 red colour, and if new hairs come in, they are also red ; if the 

 weather become colder, the new hairs that appear are white, 

 although the old hairs do not vary ; and, if there are alterna- 

 tions of severe cold and temperate weather, the animal becomes 

 mottled." Owing to the mild climate in Ireland, the Stoat, 

 which is there very common, does not, according to Thompson, 

 undergo a seasonal colour-change.* 



Distribution. — Unlike the two preceding representatives of 

 the genus, the Stoat is a circum-polar animal, ranging through 

 Northern Europe, Asia, and America. Commonly distributed 

 throughout the British Islands, it appears in England to be 

 less abundant than the Weasel, although the reverse of this 

 obtains in Scotland. In the latter country this animal is an 

 inhabitant of the Hebrides and other islands, but, according to 

 Mr. de Winton, it is absent in Lewis. In common with those 

 of the Polecat and Weasel, fossiUsed remains of the Stoat have 

 been found in several of the English caverns. 



Habits. — As regards its mode of life, Macg'lLvray writes that 



* I have received the following note from Mr. W. E. de Winton : — 

 '* The changes of fur are the same in all the Mustelidce. The Stoat is, 

 normally, yellow in winter and brown in summer. The female turns 

 white in winter more often than the male, and is generally flecked 

 with white, even in summer, in old animals. White males are hardly 

 known in England. The male has a yellow stain through the Avhole 

 pelage, and is paler than the female. " 



