MUSTELIN.# 587 
on the under parts of the body. In very rare instances the tail is 
tipped with white. The fur, like that of most of the animals of 
the group to which it belongs, is an important article of commerce. 
The principal characteristic of the Mink in comparison with its 
congeners is its amphibious mode of life. It is to the water what 
the other Weasels are to the land, or Martens to the trees, being as 
essentially aquatic in its habits as the Otter, Beaver, or Musk-Rat, 
and spending perhaps more of its time in the water than it does 
on land. It swims with most of the body submerged, and dives 
with perfect ease, remaining long without coming to the surface to 
breathe. It makes its nest in burrows in the banks of streams, 
breeding once a year about the month of April, and producing five 
or six young at a birth. Its food consists of frogs, fish, freshwater 
Fig. 268.—The Common Poleeat (Mustela putorins). 
molluses and crustaceans, as well as mice, rats, musk-rats, rabbits, 
and small birds. In common with the other animals of the genus, 
it has a very peculiar and disagreeable effluvium, which, according 
to Cones, is more powerful, penetrating, and lasting than that of 
any animal of the country except the Skunk. It also possesses the 
courage, ferocity, and tenacity of life of its allies. When taken 
young, however, it ean be readily tamed, and lately Minks have 
heen extensively bred in captivity in America, both for the sake of 
their fur and for the purpose of using them in like manner as 
Ferrets in England, to clear buildings of rats. 
The Polecats include four species confined to the northern 
hemisphere, the best known of which is the Common Polecat 
(IL putorius, Fig. 268). The Ferret is a domesticated variety of 
this species, generally of a yellowish-white colour ; whereas the Wild 
