S32 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



in view of their not excessive fecundity. Yet it is remarkable 

 that, despite the persecution to which this carnivore is subjected, 

 its numbers would appear to show no appreciable diminution* in 

 recent years (Mr. F. Hutchings and others). The amount of 

 woodland in North Cardiganshire is not great, and it seldom bears 

 the undergrowth necessary to shelter animals. It seems but rea- 

 sonable to infer that, in order to survive and maintain its numbers 

 on the Coastal Plateau in North Cardiganshire, there must exist 

 some kind of natural " reservoirs " whence the Polecat spreads- 

 It has been shown that such exist, in some degree at least, in 

 the Borth and Tregaron Bogs. The suggestion is now advanced 

 that the edge of the High Plateau, and at least some portions of 

 its interior, also foster this animal, and such few facts as I have 

 been able to gather are confirmatory of this statement. The 

 constant process of extinction that proceeds in the valleys and 

 preserved areas is compensated by the influx of animals from the 

 adjacent hills. 



Not only does the common Polecat hold its own in the district^ 

 but it would even appear probable that, during the last ten or 

 twelve years, a distinct colour-variety has arisen.t In Mr. 

 Forrest's ' Vertebrate Fauna of North Wales,' two examples of 

 the Polecat, obtained in North Cardiganshire in the years 

 1902-3, are recorded. Mr. Forrest notes their light reddish- 

 brown colour, and comments upon the absence of the usual facial 

 markings borne by the common type. In the ' Souvenir of the 



* In certain districts at the foot of the hill-barrier. In other places it is 

 now very seldom seen. 



t It may be objected that the introduction of ferret blood among the wild 

 Polecats has tended to produce this lightness of colour. Mr. T. Hopkins told 

 me that he lost a Ferret for a considerable time, but subsequently trapped 

 her with her three or four young, which were all of a light-brown colour. 

 I do not know how closely these young animals resembled the light-coloured 

 Polecat described by Mr. Forrest and in the present paper. In this instance 

 the colour of the male parent is not known, and it must be remembered that 

 several of the light Polecats were taken in this neighbourhood (Crosswood) 

 Consequently this record is an isolated and unsatisfactory one. The red- 

 brown animals are exceedingly uniform in colour, and their young (of the 

 first generation — nothing is known concerning the second) breed quite true 

 to type. "Polecat-Ferrets" show considerable diversity as to colour, but 

 after much inquiry I am unable to mention a single case where these hybrids 

 could be mistaken for the wild light variety of Polecats. 



