76 WINTER'S EFFECT UPON FUE AND PLUMAGE. 



and weasels, each of which could tell an interesting story of its winter 

 life. The otter, an inhabitant of the water, and feeding on fish, keeps a 

 passage open to his burrow in the bank and does very well; the fisher- 

 marten is much like him. The skunk, on the other hand, curls up and 

 dozes, with few meals, in some warm nook, whence he now and then 

 makes a foray upon the farmer's hen-house, wilder food failing. 



The badger has his home underground, and behaves much like a 

 woodchuck, but the great wolverine ranges about in search of partridges 

 crouching under the spruce boughs, hares asleep in their forms, ill-pro- 

 tected poultry, and carrion. He is a savage, ugly beast, and annoys the 

 hunters of the northern woods and plains by destroying their traps and 

 stealing the bait. As for the martens and weasels — who ever caught a 

 weasel asleep, winter or summer? They have their holes in the rocks, 

 where they go to rest and get shelter, but they are abroad every night, 

 as much in January as in June, seeking prey. The same is trne of the 

 wolves and foxes, wild-eats and panthers, which bring us to the end of 

 the list of North American quadrupeds.* 



But before closing this hasty review of animals in their winter-quar- 

 ters, I must not forget to call attention to the fact that in many of the 

 fur-bearing quadrupeds the hair changes from its summer brown to pure 

 white in winter. The most notable instances of this are the arctic hare, 

 the various weasels', ermines, and martens, and the arctic fox ; the polar 

 bear is white all the year around.' The same change affects the plumage 

 of several arctic birds, such as the ptarmigan and snow-bunting. In the 

 case of all, however, this occurs only in the most northerly examples, since 

 specimens of the same species remaining in the south turn white only to 

 a small extent, or not at all, at the approach of winter. 



* Exceptional seasons are marked by extraordinary occurrences not only, but often 

 have a lasting influence and effect. Professor N. S. Slialer wrote an instructive article 

 on this head in The American Naturalist, vol. vi., 1872, p. 671, to which inquiring readers 

 are referred. 



