318 COMMON AMERICAN SKUNK. 



which is naked ; eyes, small ; ears, short, broad and rounded, clothed 

 with hair on both surfaces ; whiskers, few and weak, extending a little 

 beyond the eyes ; feet, rather broad, and covered with hair concealing 

 the nails, which on the fore-feet, are robust, curved, compressed, and 

 acute ; palms, naked. The trunk of the tail is nearly half as long as 

 the body. Hair on the tail, very long and bushy, containing from with- 

 in an inch of the root to the extremity, no mixture of the finer fur. The 

 glands are situated on either side of the rectum : the ducts are about an 

 inch in length, and are of a somewhat pjTiform shape. The inner mem- 

 brane is corrugated ; the principal portion of the glands is a muscular 

 tendinous substance. The sac is capable of containing about three 

 drachms. When the tail is erected for the purpose of ejecting the nau- 

 seous fluid, the open orifices of the ducts are perceptible on a black disk 

 surrounding the anus. The exit from the duct at the anus when dis- 

 tended will admit a crow-quill. 



This species varies so much in colour that there is some difficulty in 

 finding two specimens alike ; we have given a representation on our 

 plate of the colour which is most common in the Middle States, and 

 which Dr. Harlax described as Mephitis Americana, our specimen only 

 difiering from his in having a longitudinal stripe on the forehead. 



The under fur on all those portions of the body which are dark colour- 

 ed, is dark bro^vn ; in those parts which are light coloured, it is white 

 from the roots. These under colours, however, are concealed by a thick 

 coat of longer, coarser hairs, which are smooth and glossy. 



There is a narrow white stripe commencing on the nose and running 

 to a point on the top of the head ; a patch of white, of about two inches 

 in length, and of the same breadth, commences on the occiput and covers 

 the upper parts of the neck ; on each side of the vertebrae of the tail 

 there is a broad longitudinal stripe for three fourths of its length ; the 

 tail is finally broadly tipped with white, interspersed wdth a few black 

 hairs. The colour on every other part of the body is blackish-brown. 



Another specimen from the same locality has a white stripe on the 

 forehead ; a large white spot on the occiput, extending downwards, di- 

 verging on the back, and continuing do^vn the sides to within two inches 

 of the extremity of the tail, leaving the back, the end of the tail, and the 

 whole of the under surface blackish-bro-svn. 



The young on the plate are from the same nest ; one has white stripes 

 on the back, with a black tail ; the other has no stripes on the back, but 

 the end of its tail is white. 



