68 CARNIVORES. 
t 
afforded by the partial webbing of the toes, which are also peculiar in possessing 
no long hair between their naked pads. 
The European and North-American minks are such closely-allied animals that 
they cannot be even distinguished from one another externally ; and in our own 
opinion it would be better to regard them as mere local varieties of a single 
species. The European mink has, however, very generally a white upper lip, which 
is but rarely exhibited in its American relative. When the skulls of the two forms 
are compared together it will be found that in the American form the upper molar 
tooth is invariably decidedly larger than in the European; and it is on account of 
this difference that the two are regarded as specifically distinct from one another. 
Like the martens, the minks have a uniformly long and somewhat bushy 
























THE EUROPEAN MINK (3 nat. size). 
tail, differing markedly from that of the weasels; its whole length being approxi- 
mately equal to half that of the head and body. The ears are smaller than 
in any of the allied forms, and scarcely appear above the general level of the fur. 
The pelage consists of a dense, soft, and matted under-fur, mixed with long, stiff, 
and glossy hairs; the gloss being most marked in the fur of the upper-parts, while 
the hairs of the tail are more bristly than elsewhere. In colour the mink, aceord- 
ing to Dr. Coues, varies from a light dull yellowish brown to a rich black chocolate- 
brown; the ordinary tint being a rich dark brown, scarcely, if at all, paler below 
than above. The tail is always decidedly blackish. Our illustration exhibits the 
white upper lip usually distinctive of the European mink. In both the eastern 
and western forms the chin is always white, although the extent of the white are: 
is subject to individual variation. In addition to the white on the chin, there may 
also be small irregular patches of the same colour on the under-parts, while, as a 
rare abnormality, the tail may also be tipped with white. 
