37 



The extremity of the snout is naked and protuberent. The feet are 

 broad, the pads, as in all of the genus, ten on each front, and nine on 

 each hind foot (five isolated pads, one at the end of each digit, five 

 palmar and four plantar). These may or may not be covered with hair, 

 according to season and latitude ; ordinarily they are naked. 



The digits are webbed at base for some distance, particularly the mid- 

 dle ones. The third and fourth fingers are nearly equal, and are the 

 longest ; the second and fifth not so equal, and much shorter ; the first is 

 quite short. The toes of the hind feet have about the same relative pro- 

 portions. 



The color runs from a light, dull, yellowish brown to a rich, blackish, 

 chocolate brown. The ordinary color is a rich, dark brown, scarcely or 

 not paler below than above. The tail is quite blackish ; the white chin 

 is rarely absent. Not positive in extent, but usually present, are the 

 white patches of the under parts, particularly on the chest between the 

 fore legs, and on the belly between the hind legs. The tail is rarely tip- 

 ped with white. 



Variations in ''xternal Appearance. — Two species of the Mink have been 

 recognized in North America — P. vison, G-app., and P. nigrescenn, Aud. & 

 Bach.: the " Brown Mink," and "Little Black" or " Mountain Mink," of 

 hunters and trappers. 



Audubon and Bachman based nigresctns on the smaller size and darker 

 colors, less deeply palmated feet,'and softer and glossier pelage. This is 

 the variety that furnishes the most valuable pelts, formerly often yield- 

 ing to the hunter from three to, five dollars. There is probably no fur 

 which so nearly approaches the famous Sable of Russia, as the northern 

 Black Mink. As with most furs, the caprice of fashion determines the 

 value, the price of this skin increasing tenfold in a decade. 



Professor Baird admitted the Little Black Mink as a distinct species 

 " with great hesitation," not being able " to make such examinations and 

 comparisons as satisfy me of the difierence." 



Professor Coues concludes, from results of the examination of numer- 

 ous specimens in the Smithsonian Institution, from all parts of North 

 America, that the Black Mink does not require formal recognition, being 

 simply one stage of individual variation, shading by insensible degrees 

 into the ordinary form, so that it is impossible to set any line of demar- 

 cation between " P. nigrescens " and the Common Mink. 



That the small blackish varieties are found breeding, has no weight 

 in specific diagnosis, as they grow in stature some time after being sex- 

 ually mature. Under three years old, the fur, in season, is very hand- 

 some, often almost a pure black, with a thin and pliable skin of almost 



