56 POLECATS. 



17. The Digitigrades provided with a single tuberculous tooth 

 in each'jaw, form A SMALL NATURAL GROUP, designated under the 

 name of Vermiform Carnivora, on account of their long, lank 

 body, and short legs. They have five toes on all the feet, and 

 exhale an odour more or less strong, caused by a liquid which is 

 secreted by two glands situated near the anus. Although of small 

 stature, these animals are very sanguinary ; and from their lank 

 form, they can pass through the smallest apertures ; they are 

 divided, as we have already seen, into Polecats, Mullens, Skunks, 

 and Otters. 



18. The POLECATS, Putorhis, are the most sanguinary 

 of all. Their head is round and the short muzzle extends be- 

 yond the mouth ; the ears are rounded, and much wider than 

 long ; the tongue is covered with rough papillae ; the coat is well 

 furnished, shining and soft; their tail is long, and they have 

 glands on each side of the anus which secrete a viscid and foetid 

 matter. Their mode of life is solitary and nocturnal. They are 

 found in both the old and new world. 



19. The common Polecat, Mustela Putorivs, is brown with 

 yellowish flanks and white spots on the head, and is from fifteen 

 to eighteen inches in length, without including the tail, which is 

 six inches long. It is the terror of hen-roosts and rabbit warrens. 

 It approaches dwellings, mounts on the roofs, and establishes it- 

 self in hay-lofts, in barns, and in places seldom visited, from which 

 it goes forth only at night in search of its prey. It glides into 

 poultry yards, mounts into dove-cots, where, without making as 

 much noise as the Beech Marten, (Weasel,) it commits more 

 havoc ; it cuts or crushes the heads of all the poultry, then carries 

 them off one by one, and stores them away. If, as it often hap- 

 pens, the animal cannot carry them off entire, on account of the 

 hole by which he entered, being too small, he eats the brains and 

 bears off the heads. It is also very fond of honey ; it attacks 

 hives in winter, and forces the bees to abandon them. Pole- 

 cats live on prey in towns, and on game in the country ; they 

 establish themselves in rabbit-burrows, in clefts of rocks, in the 

 trunks of hollow trees, from which they sally only at night to 

 spread over the fields ; in the woods, they seek the nests of par- 

 tridges, of larks, and quails ; they also climb trees to prey ; they 



17. What is meant by vermiform carnivora? By what characters is this 

 group distinguished ? 



18. What is the character of the Polecats ? What is their mode of life? 

 In what parts of the world are they found ? 



19. What are the specific characters of the common Polecat? What are 

 its habits ? On what does the common polecat feed ? 



