124 



CARNIVORA. 



attracted much notice from scientists, having escaped 

 being split up into species, which we find so often the 

 case with other animals living in nearly the same lati- 

 tudes. Take, for instance, the Hare, which has nearly 

 as wide a range, and which is divided into several species, 

 two alone of these, however, being well defined, whilst 

 the Ermine, varying so much in many respects, and 

 inhabiting three large continents, has only been de- 

 scribed as one. 



It inhabits North America, Great Britain, Ireland, 

 Norway, Eussia, and Siberia. The North American 

 Ermine, which is found in Labrador, York Fort 

 district, and province of Canada, is small and white ; 

 it is not particularly abundant : 5,417 skins were 

 sold in London in 1891 by the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany. 



The well-known English Stoat, which is found in 

 most counties of England, is brown on the back ]and 

 white underneath, and rarely assumes its white winter 

 coat. In Scotland, however, it invariably changes in 

 winter to a pure white, with the exception of the tip of 

 its tail, which always remains black. 



Siberia, where most of the Ermines are ^taken, 

 produces examples of widely divergent sizes and 

 characteristics. 



The Barabinsky type is the largest ; it is perhaps two 

 or three times as large as the diminutive Slisky, which 

 is even smaller than the American or Scotch. 



Those found in the province of Irschim are larger and 

 white, with rich fur. 



The Tomsky and Baschirsky are well-known medium 

 sorts. 



Those from the province of Yakutsk are small, some- 

 what similar to its American cousin on the opposite 



