560 ON A BLACK FOOTED POLECAT. 



with its behaviour in captivitj^, suggests that it belongs to one of 

 the warningly coloured species of Mustelidae. Although the upper 

 surface of the head, neck, and body is tinted with buff, owing 

 to the terminal portion of the long hairs being that colour, 

 the Avhiteness of the underfur, and of the basal portion of the 

 long hairs of these areas, together with that of the sides and 

 under surface of the body and of the greater part of the tail and 

 face, gives the impression of a whitish animal which must be 

 conspicuous against any dark background. Sharply contrasted 

 with the creamy tint of the body is the jet-blackness of the legs 

 and of the tip of the tail ; while the whiteness of the face is 

 emphasised by a broad black band stretching across the lower 

 part of the forehead and the base of the nose and involving the 

 bright bead -like eye on each side. 



Apart from its coloration, this Polecat exhibits in un- 

 mistakable manner that fearlessness which is so marked a 

 ■feature of pi'otected animals. It never makes any attempt to 

 keep in the background or lie hid, like a savage cat, when 

 disturbed, but comes boldly to the bais of the cage with threatening- 

 aspect, as if eager to attack the intruder, utteiing every now 

 and again a shrill chattering scream. Its obstinate pertinacity, 

 indeed, in keeping to the front when any human being is in 

 sight makes the opening and shutting of the door of the 

 cage foi- cleaning and feeding purposes a matter of serious 

 difficulty. Nothing but a bass-broom, which few small mammals 

 will face, has any effect in making it beat a retreat. Finally, 

 when actively interfered with bj^ being netted, it emits the 

 foetid odour so characteristic of species of the genus Putorius. 

 The combination of characters here mentioned — namely, the 

 repulsive smell, tiie courage and fearlessness of exposure, the 

 conspicuous coloration — are all found in the Skunks, the stock 

 examples amongst the Mammalia of protected self-advertisers. 

 Added to these attention-arresting characters is the penetrating 

 scream comparable as a warning signal to the rattling of a 

 Porcupine's tail. These facts justify the placing of the Black- 

 footed Polecat in the category of aposematic Mustelines, an 

 account of which has alread}^ been published by the Society *. 



(4) The antlei^s of an old male of the Manchurian Wapiti [Cervus 

 xanthopygus), that recently died in the Gardens, to show the 

 natural variation in the position and growth of the second or 

 "bez" tine. In one antler this tine was much smaller than the 

 first or " brow" tine, and was situated nearly midway between it 

 a,nd the third or "trez" tine, apparently as in the specimen of 

 this Deer described by Mr. Lydekker as C. hedfordi ; but in the 

 other antler the bez-tine was as long as the brow-tine and placed 

 close above it as in normal antlers of the stags of this gi-oup. 



* R. I. Focock, P. Z. S. 1909, jip. 941^959. 



