WUSTELIDE 589 
Its skull, although smaller, resembles that of the common species : 
but the coloration is very different, all the upper part: baie 
mottled with large irregular reddish spots on a white ground, and 
the under side, limbs, and tail deep shining black. The tail is long. 
The Common Polecat occurs in a fossil condition in the cave- 
deposits of Europe. 
The remaining members of the genus comprise the true Weasels 
and Stoats, which are of almost cosmopolitan distribution. In the 
Common Weasel (Jf rulgaris, Fig. 269) the upper parts, outside of 
limbs and tail, are a uniform reddish-brown, the under parts pure 
Fic, 209.—The Common Weasel (Mustela ruljuris). 
white. In very cold regions, both in Europe and America, it turn: 
completely white in winter, but less regularly and at a lower 
temperature than the Stoat, from which it is easily distinguished br 
its smaller size, and by its wanting the black end of the tail. The 
length of the head and body of the male is usually about 3 inches, 
that of the tail 2! inches: the female is smaller. 
This species is pretty generally distributed throughout Europe, 
Northern and Central Asia, British North America, and the northern 
portions of the United States. It possesses in a full degree all the 
active, courageous, and bloodthirsty disposition ot the rest of the 
genus, but its diminutive size prevents it attacking and destroying 
any but the smaller mammals and birds. Mice, rats, voles. moles, 
and frogs constitute its principal food It is generally found on or 
