Weasel and some oj its Subspecies. 43 



Colour {(if liritish specitnens) . ^iyud recldisli brown of variable 

 deplli, tlie darkest specinuMi being a large male from Elgin, 

 Morayshire, Scotland, dated 20tli September, 1891 : a very 

 pale male from Froylc, Hants, dated liOth January, 1893, 

 almost nj)proaclie3 P. nivalis Stoliczkdrius in tint. On the 

 whole I think the most intensely coloured specimens of both 

 sexes are those ol>tained in September and October. 



Beneath. At all ages pure white, which, however, may 

 become dirty when the coat is very old, as is the case with a 

 male from Cambridgeshire, labelled May 24th, and another 

 Irom Wales, lalnUed June 15lh. The wavy uncertain 

 line of demarcation between the colours of the two surfaces 

 is in its very variability exceedingly characteristic and 

 naturally causes an equal variability in the area of the white 

 colour of the belly. The latter in large specimens (males) 

 usually reaches a breadth of 25 millim. or upwards. In 

 some individuals, however, as in a male tVom Tring, Herts, it 

 is very nuuh constricted in the region behind the chest and 

 does not exceed a breadth of 11 millim. ; in another snecimen, 

 a male from Cambridge, there is a complete band of the 

 brown colour extending right across the belly. Posteriorly 

 the brown colour usually, but not always, encroaches on to 

 the belly, preventing the extension of the white as far back- 

 wards as tlie anus. There are frequently isolated patches of 

 brown colour irregularly distributed over the belly, even in 

 the middle line. Some of the variations bear a very close 

 resemblance to those shown by the Irish stoat, P. ermineus 

 hihernicus, Thos. & Barr.-IIanu 



The fore feet are partially white. 



A trace of the assumj)tion of a white winter coat is visible 

 in two specimens from Cromarty, viz. a male killed on the 

 iiOth October, 1{^95, and a female killed on the 21st March, 

 lb96, which, especially the male, show many white hairs on 

 ihe flanks and a few on the dorsal region, the latter forming 

 an indistinct saddle-like band over the back. 



Although in coloration the sexes are identical, males are far 

 larger than females, have the skull proportionately broader, 

 and show a stronger development of the sagittal crest. The 

 following is a summary of the dimensions (in millimetres) of 

 sixteen adult males antl eight adult and two immature females, 

 all British, taken from the British Museum and from my own 

 collections, and for which we are indebted to the kindne:-s of 

 Messrs. F. Austen, J. L. Honhote, Sir W. G. Cumming, 

 W. K. Ogilvie Giant, E. H. Caton llaigh, S. F. llarmer, 

 K. llarterl, W. L.S. Loat, J. C. .Mansel-ricydill, G. St. Qiien- 

 tin, the Uon. ^V. liothschild, and A. Wright. 



