422 Quadrupeds. 



door, quadruped and bird were doomed to weather a few winters at 

 most. The fur and the feather were carried fast away piecemeal by 

 the wind and the storm. The muscles and ligaments dissolved by the 

 rain or dried up and cracked by the sunshine, the bones one after an- 

 other fell down to rot in the earth, until the skull alone remained. 

 Even this last vestige was to be seen but for a time, — it soon follow- 

 ed the rest of the body, or was torn off to make way for some other 

 "rara avis," that had fallen a prey to the rustic's firelock or the keep- 

 er's trap. A more suitable place of exhibition has lately been erected, 

 — The Elgin Museum, one of the most elegant structures in a town 

 already of some note for its public buildings, ancient and modern. 

 The interior, vieing in beauty with the exterior, is both commodious 

 and well arranged, but as yet miserably deficient in what would most 

 enhance it in the eyes of many a visitor, viz., in specimens, animal, 

 mineral or vegetable, illustrative of the natural history of the county 

 and neighbourhood. A gallery, amply sufficient for this purpose, has 

 been set apart by the directors, who earnestly solicit contributions to 

 this the most important portion of every provincial museum. There 

 is no gentleman in the country who might not assist in this matter ; 

 while the avocations of sportsmen and their keepers, and the resi- 

 dence of others at the different fishing stations along the coast, are 

 particularly fitted for securing many desiderata of our Fauna. 



I. MAMMALIA * 



Badger, " Brock," Meles Taxus" Occasionally trapped in the 

 woods by gamekeepers and others. Its nocturnal habits and seques- 

 tered retreats prevent any satisfactory estimate of its numbers in this 

 part of Scotland. 



Pine Marten, Mustela Martes. A marten, killed some years ago in 

 the Oakwood near Elgin, was probably of this species, as its throat 

 and breast were yellowish. It were well that some more distinctive 

 and palpable mark were given between this and M. Foina, than those 

 given in our systematic works. 



Polecat, " Foumart," " Fozzle," M. Putorius. 



Weasel, M. vulgaris. 



Ermine, M. Erminea. Occasionally seen perfectly white in winter 

 and spring, but not always so even in the severest weather. This 

 species and the former seem equally common and are both known by 

 the provincial name of Whit ret. 



* The older and nomenclature adopted in Jenyns' Manual are followed here. 



