390 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. XL 



a chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company at many different posts, 

 has handled hundreds of Fisher pelts, but never saw one without some 

 Porcupine quills in it." (/. c, p. 943.) 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam says: ''During a recent visit to the north shore 

 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence I was informed, both by an agent of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company and by the trappers themselves, that porcu- 

 pines constitute a large and important element in the food supply of the 

 Pekan. Mr. Nap. A. Comeau, of Godbout, who secured for me a large 

 and handsome male of this species, tells me that its intestine contained 

 hundreds of porcupine quills, arranged in clusters, like so many pack- 

 ages of needles, throughout its length. In no case had a single quill 

 penetrated the mucous lining of the intestine, but they were, apparently, 

 passing along its interior as smoothly and surely as if within a tube of 

 glass or metal."* 



Most authorities agree that the Fisher makes its nest in a hollow 

 tree, usually at a considerable distance from the ground, but it has 

 been known to breed in hollow logs and rocky crevices. MacFarlane 

 tells us that in the northern Mackenzie River district the nest is in a 



Mustela pennant! 



Map illustrating approximate range of Mustela pennanti during the latter part of the last century 

 in eastern United States and Canada south of latitude 52°; in the Northwest its range extends at least 

 to latitude 60°. At the present time it is unlikely that it occurs south of the Michigan peninsula or 

 extreme northern Wisconsin. 



* Mamm. Adirondack Reg., 1886, p. 49. 



