104 COLOUR CHANGES IN CORNISH STOATS. 



Mr. Bellamy in his "Natural History of South Devon" 

 says of the weasel, " White specimens and others in progress of 

 change to the white garb are occasionally found;" and of the 

 Stoat, "occasionally found white, or pied, or blotched with white." 

 "We may take it I think that whilst colour changes do occur 

 amongst the weasels, white forms are only occasionally met with 

 in the south-west of England. 



Both red and white types of the Common Weasel, Mustela 

 vulgaris, 'h.,Sin.di of the ^tooi, Mustela erminea,'h.,dii:e well represented 

 in our Museum, the lighter ones in a larger proportion, as their 

 greater rarity made them more curious to their collectors and 

 donors. Amongst them we have illustrations of the various 

 changes from ruddy red through buff and yellow to white. 

 The collection bears out, too, common observation, that colour 

 changes in Stoats are more frequent than in the Common Weasels. 

 Eecently Mr. Thomas Clark, of Truro, procured for us from one 

 of the game-keepers of Mr. Claude Daubuz at Killiow, a stoat 

 caught during the blizzard of last March, and from another 

 game-keeper at St. Allen, another example of the same species 

 caught immediately after the blizzard. The two examples were 

 equally fine animals when living, but in colour are very 

 dissimilar. The example, caught when Cornwall was under a 

 mantle of snow, which fell as winter was almost over, when we 

 had passed through a summer-like February, probably one of 

 the finest on record, is, except a triangular spreckled patch of 

 brown and white between the ears and nose, and the black tip 

 at the tail end — which is never changed — beautifully white. 

 The second example caught after the blizzard is brown. 



In northern latitudes where the rigour of winter comes round 

 with severe regularity, the stoat changes its dress with the season. 

 Even in Britain, in the mountainous parts of the north of 

 Scotland, this change is well marked, but further south it 

 becomes rarer, and in many museums throughout the middle and 

 south of England the white stoat is considered a curiosity. 



The photographs which are thrown upon the screen are 

 from lantern slides prepared by my friend, Mr. George Parkin, 

 of Wakefield, from his collection of Stoats, and illustrate more 

 effectively than words the colour changes of these animals in 

 the north of England. 



