118 The " Fisher''' or Pekan. 



" The pelage is formed of a short fine down next the skin, inter- 

 mixed witli 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 con- 

 nected at the base by a short hairy web ; the callosities consequent- 

 ly make only a slight impression when the animal is walking or 

 running on the snow. 



"Tail, long, busby, and gradually diminishing to a point toward 

 the extremity. 



"This species has so strong a smell of musk (like the pine mar- 

 ten,) that we have found the skin somewhat unpleasant to our 

 olfactories, several years after it had been prepared as a specimen. 



COLOUR. 



" Fur on the back, from the roots to near the extremity, chesnut- 

 brown, tipped with reddish-brown and light grey. On the head, 

 shoulders, and fore part of the back, there are so many long 

 whitish hairs interspersed, that they produce a somewhat hoary 

 appearance. Whiskers, nose, chin, ears, legs, feet, and tail, dark- 

 brown ; margins of the ears, light-brown ; hips and posterior part 

 of the back, darker than the shoulders ; eyes, yellowish-brown ; 

 nails, light horn-colour. 



" In some specimens we have seen a white spot on the throat, and 

 a line of the same colour on the belly ; others, have no white 

 markings on the body. We have seen a specimen, nearly white, 

 with a brown head. Another obtained in Buncombe county, 

 North Carolina, was slightly hoary on the whole upper surface. 



DIMENSIOJSrS. 



" From point of nose to root of tail 23 inches. 



Tail (vertebrfE) 12 do. 



" to end of hair 14^ do. 



Breadth of head 3^ do. 



Height of ear 1 do. 



- ..^ Breadth of ear 2 do. 



From point of nose to eye 2 do. 



'^'■■■'^O \ " ^^^^ ^'^ point of longest nail 4? do. 



5^\.^\ Weight, 8i lbs. 



''-' \ '^^ I — AuD. & Bach., p. 30T. 



