308 PENNANT'S MARTEN OR FISHER. 



CHARACTEES. 



Head and shoulders, mixed with gray and brown ; nose, lips, legs, 

 and tail, dark brown. 



SYNONYMES. 



Le Pekan, Buffon, vol. xiii., p. 304, A.D. 1749. 

 Mhstela Canadensis, Schreber, Saugeth. p. 492, 1775. 

 McsTELA Pennanti, Erxleben, Syst., p. 470, A.D. 1777. 

 FisHEB, Penn., Arct. Zool., 4 vols., vol. i., p. 82, A.D. 1784. 

 MusTELA Canadensis, Gniel., Lin., vol. i., p. 95, 1788. 

 Wejack, Hearne's Journey. 



Fisher, or Black Fox, Lewis and Clarke, vol. iii., p. 25. 

 Fisher, Weasel, or Pekan, Warden's United States. 

 Mustela Pennanti, Sabine, Frank. First Journey, p. G51. 

 MosTELA Canadensis, Harlan, F., p. 65. 



" " Godman, vol. i., p. 203. 



MnsTELA GoDMANi, Less., Mamm., p. 150. 

 Mustela Canadensis, Rich., F. B. A., p. 52. 

 Pekan, or Fisher, Dekay, Nat. His. N. Y., p. 31. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The head of this species bears a stronger resemblance to that of a dog 

 than to the head of a cat. Its canine teeth, in the upper jaw, are so long 

 that with the slightest movement of the lip they are exposed. Head, 

 broad and round, contracting rather suddenly toward the nose, which is 

 acute. Eyes, rather small and oblique ; ears, low, broad, semicircular, 

 and far apart, covered on both surfaces with short soft fur ; w^hiskers, 

 half the length of the head ; body, long, and formed for agility and 

 strength. 



The pelage is formed of a short fine do^vn next the skin, intermixed 

 with longer and coarser hairs about an inch and a half in length ; these 

 hairs are longer on the posterior parts of the animal than on the 

 shoulders. 



The feet are robust. Fore-feet, shorter than the hind-feet, thickly 

 clothed with rather fine and short hairs ; nails, long, strong, curved, and 

 sharp ; soles, hairy ; the toes on all the feet are connected at the base 

 by a short hairy web ; the callosities consequently make only a slight 

 impression when the animal is walking or running on the snow. 



Tail, long, bushy, and gradually diminishing to a point toward the 

 extremity. 



This species has so strong a smell of musk, (like the pine marten,) 



