66 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



name of the Pine Marten, Martes martes, which is rather 

 ridiculous ; and we have preferred to retain the Linnean name 

 Mustela martes. The old spelling of the popular name was 

 Martzn, but in recent works, to avoid any possible confusion 

 with the birds of that name, zoologists have agreed to use e as 

 the second vowel when writing of the mammals. 



The Pine Marten is found in all the wooded regions of 

 Europe and into Asia ; northwards from the Mediterranean to 

 the limits of tree-growth. 



Stoat OF Ermine {Mustela ermlnea, Linn.). 



Though the gun and the snare of the gamekeeper and the 

 poultry-farmer levy their toll upon the Stoat equally with the 

 Polecat, and the keeper's gibbet always shows a goodly row of 

 Stoats, the species manages to keep itself well represented, 

 even in the strictly preserved woods of Southern England. 

 There must, therefore, be some additional reason for the 

 scarcity of the Polecat (see p. 74). 



The Stoat is much smaller than the Polecat, its total length 

 being only a little more than fourteen inches, of which about 

 four and a half inches are the long-haired but not very bushy 

 tail. In colour, too, it is very distinct, the upper parts being 

 red-brown and the under surface white tinged with yellow. 

 The tail takes the colour of the upper surface, except its tip 

 which is invariably a tuft of long black hairs. In the Alpine 

 districts of Scotland as in other northern countries, the fur in 

 winter becomes pure white all over, with the exception of the 

 tip of the tail which always remains black. This change takes 

 place also in the North of England, but not so generally, and 

 in the South it is only of rare occurrence, and often only partially, 

 some parts remaining brown, as a ring around the eyes pro- 

 ducing a spectacled appearance. The summer coloration is 

 " protective " inasmuch that it harmonises generally with the 



