CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 5. CARNIVORA. 299 



sedgy plains and in the woods of Texas and Mexico, its retreats being hollows beneath the roots 

 of trees, holes in the fallen trunks, or cavities in rocks. Its food consists of grubs, beetles, and 

 other insects, with eggs, birds, and small quadrupeds. It is quite destructive to the poultry on 

 the plantations. 



This animal is shy and timid, but does not ordinarily attempt to escape from man, unless it 

 chances to be near its burrow. Its white, bushy tail, being carried erect, often betrays it to the 

 hunter, even when the body is concealed in the grass. 



.The California Skunk, or Zorilla, Mephitis zorilla, resembles the preceding, but is smaller, 

 being but about a foot long. It lives in holes in the earth, or beneath the roots of trees, or in 

 crevices of the rocks, and feeds on insects, birds, and small quadrupeds. It has an offensive odor- 

 ous liquid similar to that of the common skunk. It is found in California. This is to be distin- 

 guished from the African zorilla, which will be noticed hereafter. 



The three species of skunks which we have thus described are the only ones found in the United 

 States; of the more southern species we have few well-authenticated details, and can give little 

 more than names. Among them there are the M. mesomelas, M. interrupta, M. varians, and M. 

 Mexicana, all found in Mexico; a species bearing the local name of Mapurito, found in New Gra- 

 nada; the M. quitensis, the Gulo quitensis of Humboldt, found in Peru; the M. Feuillei, found 

 in the vicinity of Montevideo; the M. Chilensis of Chili, and the M. Castania, a small species 

 found in the more southern portions of South America. It is possible that all these are not enti- 

 tled to the rank of distinct species, and there are no doubt other species of which we have no very 

 reliable accounts. All these, whether species or varieties, have a general resemblance to the 

 kinds we have described, the chief differences being in size and the distribution of the light and 

 dark colors. The signal quality of each is that which characterizes the genus — the possession of 

 the peculiar fetid odor for a weapon of defense. 



THE MUSTELINS. 



This tribe includes a number of very remarkable species, several of which are of considerable 

 size and heavy mould, in these respects resembling the badgers; others are much smaller, but of 

 great activity and energy, and all are in the highest degree carnivorous and voracious. 



Genus GLUTTON: Gulo. — Of this there is a single species, the Glutton of Europe and Wol- 

 verene of the United States. It furnishes a curious instance of the diversity of names which 

 have been bestowed on a single animal, not merely in different languages, but by different writers. 

 It is the Gulo luscus of Linnaeus; the Carcajou of the French Canadians ; the Carcajou-kinkajou 

 ' of Charlevoix ; the Quickhatch of Ellis and others; the Quiquihatch of Graham ; the Kablee-arioo 

 of the Esquimaux; the JVaghai-ch of the Chippeways; the Okeecoohawgees of the Algonquins; 

 the Rosomak of the Russians; the Timmi of the Kamtschatkans ; the Ursus gulo of Pallas; 

 the Taxus gulo of Tiedemann; Gulo arcticus of Desmarest; Gulo vulgaris of Griffith and Cuvier, 

 to which we may add the Quadruped vulture of Buffon. The name of Glutton, which is the 

 prevalent one, it is said, originated in a blunder, but mankind suited the description to the title 

 they had given it. The name of this animal in the Finnish language is Ficel-Frass, which means 

 a "dweller among rocks." The Germans popularized this into Vielfrass, which means a gorman- 

 dizer, a glutton. The old writers, in the days when fiction was as good as fact, had no difficulty 

 in making up stories to justify the terrible name which the animal had thus acquired. Accord- 

 ingly, Olaus Magnus said, "It is the custom of this creature, when it has found the carcass of 

 *>me large beast, to eat until its belly is distended like a drum, when it rids itself of its load by 

 squeezing its body betwixt two trees growing near together, and again returning to its repast, 

 soon requires to have recourse to the same means of relief." 



Other writers followed in a similar vein, and to this charge of disgusting voracity, added. the 

 ittribute of the most wonderful craft and dexterity. It was said to climb trees, and throw down 

 ; noss which the reindeer is fond of, and when they were enticed within reach, the glutton would 

 xmnce upon their backs and destroy them. Even Buffon was led to adopt these romances. He 

 ; ays of this creature: "The defect of nimbleness he supplies with cunning: he lies in wait for 

 inimals as they pass ; he climbs upon trees in order to dart upon his prey, and seize it with advan- 



