MUSTKLID.K. MAMMALIA. MLSTELID.K. 



'J3 



pounce on some object on the ground, and rise with 

 it in his talons. In a few moments, however, the kite 

 began to show signs of great uneasiness, rising rapidly in 

 the air, or as quickly falling, and wheeling irregularly 

 round, whilst it was evidently endeavouring to force 

 some obnoxious thing from it with its feet. After a 

 short but sharp contest, the kite fell suddenly to the 

 earth, not far from where Mr. Finder was intently 

 watching the manoeuvre. He instantly rode up to the 

 spot, when a weasel ran away from the kite apparently 

 unhurt, leaving the bird dead, with a hole eaten through 

 the skin under the wing, and the large bloodvessels 

 of the part torn through." Respecting the geographi- 

 cal distribution of the weasel, it has a range almost 

 coextensive with that of the ermine. Even in this 

 country the fur of the weasel has been observed to 

 grow whitish on the approach of winter, while in the 

 higher American latitudes it usually becomes as white 

 as the ermine after the cold season has fairly set in. 

 In these cases the tail retains its normal light reddish- 

 brown colour. In the spring the female produces 

 either four or five young ones at a single birth. 



THE VISON (Vison lutreola).T:h\s species has 

 been described under a variety of names, such as the 

 vison- weasel, the mink, the minx-otter, and the jackash. 

 It is a very common animal throughout Canada and 

 the United States, as far south as Carolina. The body 

 is nearly a foot and a half in length, exclusive of the 

 tail, which would add seven or eight inches more. The 

 head is small, terminating anteriorly in a short, flat, 

 and abrupt muzzle. The ears are small and oval, the 

 eyes being placed well forward. The cheeks are fur- 

 nished with very strong, short, brown-coloured whis- 

 kers. The jaws are provided with thirty-four teeth, 

 of which there are eighteen molars, four on either side 

 above, and five correspondingly opposed below. The 

 limbs are short, the toes being connected together by a 

 membrane and entirely covered with hair; the claws 

 are almost straight, and project very slightly. The fur 

 is of a rich chocolate brown colour, paler on the head 

 and underneath the body, but approaching to black on 

 the back towards the tail. Near the root of this latter 

 organ there are to be found the usual pair of anal 

 glands, which give out a highly fetid secretion. Re- 

 specting its habits, Sir John Richardson remarks that 

 " the vison passes much of its time in the water, and 

 when pursued seeks shelter in that element in prefer- 

 ence to endeavouring to escape to land, on which it 

 travels slowly. It swims and dives well, and can 

 remain a considerable time under water. Its short fur 

 forming a smooth glossy coat, its tail exactly like that 

 of an otter, and the shortness of its legs, denote its 

 aquatic habits. It preys upon small fish, fish-spawn, 

 fresh-water mussels, &c., in the summer ; but in the 

 winter, when its watery haunts are frozen over, it will 

 hunt mice on land, or travel to a considerable distance 

 through the snow in search of a rapid or fall, where there 

 is still some open water." The same authority further 

 observes that the vison " is not very timid when in the 

 water, and will approach near to a canoe out of curiosity, 

 diving, however, instantly on perceiving the flash of a 

 gun, or any movement from whence it apprehends 

 d mger. It is easily tamed, and is capable of strong 



attachment. In a domestic state it is observed to sleep 

 much in the day, and to be fond of warmth. One 

 which I saw in the possession of a Canadian woman, 

 passed the day in her pocket, looking out occasionally 

 when its attention was roused by any unusual noise. 

 Like a cat, a tame visoii is easily offended, and will, ou 

 a sudden provocation, bite those who are most kind to 

 it." The female produces from four to seven young at 

 a birth. The fur is not much valued by traders, never- 

 theless it appears to be of good quality, being soft, fine, 

 and downy; the principal defect is^ that it is very 

 short. 



THE OTTER (Lutra mtlgaris}^ Plate 10, fig. 35. 

 The genus of which this well-known animal forms a 

 type is partly characterized by the possession of thirty- 

 six teeth, and of these there are twenty molars, the 

 sectorial or laniary grinder of the upper series being 

 enormously developed, while the corresponding carnas- 

 sials of the lower jaw are tuberculated at the posterior 

 half; there are, in all, six true molars one on either 

 side of the upper jaw, and two to each divisional series 

 below. In all the members of the genus the body is 

 much lengthened, and in the species under considera- 

 tion it is upwards of two feet long, exclusive of the 

 tail, which would add nearly a foot and a half more. 

 A full-sized otter will weigh about twenty-four pounds, 

 but the naturalist Pennant has recorded one captured 

 in the river Lea which weighed as much as forty 

 pounds. The head of the common otter is broad and 

 compact, and it terminates anteriorly in an abrupt wide 

 muzzle, the upper lip being particularly thick and 

 overlapping the lower. The ears are small, short, 

 rounded, and widely separated ; the eyes are remark- 

 ably prominent and placed far forward, about an inch 

 from the tip of the nose. The limbs are short, and end in 

 palmatedpentadactylousfeet, theseveral digitsbeing con- 

 nected together by a strong thick membrane, and they 

 are also armed at the tip with short, non-retractile, but 

 slightly elevated claws. The tail is flattened from 

 above downwards, being immensely strong and broad 

 at the root, in which latter situation, below, there occur 

 the two usual anal glands similar to those described in 

 other musteline genera. The fur is made up of two 

 qualities of hair ; the one kind is soft, fine, short, com- 

 pact, of a whitish colour, save at the tips, where it 

 is brown; the other is long, course, stiff, smooth, 

 and somewhat darker externally at the point. This 

 combination therefore, is such that, while offering 

 little or no resistance to the water during the 

 forward progress of the animal, it, at the same time, 

 preserves the body from sudden changes 'of tempera- 

 ture. In every part of the animal the muscular system 

 is very highly developed, and to those who, like our- 

 selves, affect to see much that is attractive even in the 

 so-called dry details of myological anatomy, we could 

 not point out a more beautiful display of muscles than 

 such as may be witnessed by a careful dissection of the 

 neck of the common otter. In point of fact, this crea- 

 ture is exquisitely organized both for rapidity of motion 

 through the lambent waters of a rolling stream, and for 

 overtaking and seizing the swiftest of its finny prey. 

 The spindle-shaped body, elastic to a high degree, and 

 bounded by harmonious curves the -projecting eye- 



