HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 



255 



THE PINE-WEASEL, OR YELLOW- 

 BREASTED MARTIN. 



(La Martc, Buff.) 



INHABITS the North of 4 Europe, Asia, and Amer- 

 ica: it is likewise found in Great Britain, but is 

 not numerous there. It lives chiefly in large 

 forests, especially where the pine-tree abounds, of 

 the tops of which it is very fond. 



North America abounds with these animals. 

 Prodigious numbers of their skins are annually 

 imported from thence : about thirty thousand skins 

 have been brought over from Canada in one year, 

 and from Hudson's Bay nearly fifteen thousand in 

 the same time. 



The principal difference between the Pine- Weasel 

 and the Martin is in the colour. The breast of the 

 former is yellow; the colour of the body much 

 darker; and the fur, in general, greatly superior in 

 fineness, beauty, and value. 



