MusTELiDiE. MAMMALIA. Mdstelid.®. 93 
pounce on some object on the ground, and rise with 
it in his talons. In a few moments, however, the kite 
began to show signs of great uneasiness, rising rapidly in 
the air, or as quickly falling, and wheeling irregularly 
round, whilst it was evidently endeavouring to force 
some obnoxious thing from it with its feet. After a 
short but sharp contest, the kite fell suddenly to the 
earth, not far from where Mr. Finder was intently 
watching the manoeuvre. He instantly rode up to the 
spot, when a weasel ran away from the kite apparently 
unhurt, leaving the bird dead, with a hole eaten through 
the skin under the wing, and the large bloodvessels 
of the part torn through.” Respecting the geographi- 
cal distribution of the weasel, it has a range almost 
coextensive with that of the ermine. Even in this 
country the fur of the weasel has been observed to 
grow whitish on the approach of winter, while in the 
higher American latitudes it usually becomes as white 
as the ermine after the cold season has fairly set in. 
In these cases the tail retains its normal light reddish- 
brown colour. In the spring the female produces 
either four or five young ones at a single birth. 
THE VISON {Vison lutreola ). — This species has 
been described under a variety of names, such as the 
vison-weasel, the mink, the minx-otter, and the jackash. 
It is a very common animal throughout Canada and 
the United States, as far south as Carolina. The body 
is nearly a foot and a half in length, exclusive of the 
tail, which would add seven or eight inches more. The 
head is small, terminating anteriorly in a short, flat, 
and abrupt muzzle. The ears are small and oval, the 
eyes being placed well forward. The cheeks are fur- 
nished with very strong, short, brown-coloured whis- 
kers. The jaws are provided with thirty-four teeth, 
of which there are eighteen molars, four on either side 
above, and five correspondingly opposed below. The 
limbs are short, the toes being connected together by a 
membrane and entirely covered with hair; the claws 
are almost straight, and project very slightly. The fur 
is of a rich chocolate brown colour, paler on the head 
and underneath the body, but approaching to black on 
the back towards the tail. Near the root of this latter 
organ there are to be found the usual pair of anal 
glands, which give out a highly fetid secretion. Re- 
specting its habits, Sir John Richardson remarks that 
“ the vison passes much of its time in the water, and 
when pursued seeks shelter in that element in prefer- 
ence to endeavouring to escape to land, on which it 
travels slowlj^. It swims and dives well, and can 
remain a considerable time under water. Its short fur 
forming a smooth glossy coat, its tail exactly like that 
of an otter, and the shortness of its legs, denote its 
aquatic habits. It preys upon small fish, fish-spawn, 
fresh-water mussels, &c., in the summer ; but in the 
winter, when its watery haunts are frozen over, it will 
hunt mice on land, or travel to a considerable distance 
through the snow in search of a rapid or fall, where there 
is still some open water.” The same authority further 
observes that the vison “ is not very timid when in the 
water, and will approach near to a canoe out of curiosity, 
diving, however, instantly on perceiving the flash of a 
gun, or any movement from whence it apprehends 
danger. It is easily tamed, and is capable of strong 
attachment. In a domestic state it is observed to sleep 
much in the day, and to be fond of warmth. One 
which I saw in the possession of a Canadian woman, 
passed the day in her pocket, looking out occasionally 
when its attention was roused by any unusual noise. 
Like a cat, a tame vison is easily offended, and will, on 
a sudden provocation, bite those who are most kind to 
it.” The female produces from four to seven young at 
a birth. The fur is not much valued by traders, never 
tireless it appears to be of good quality, being soft, fine, 
and downy ; the principal defect is, that it is very 
short. 
THE OTTEE {Lutra vulgaris), Plate 10, fig. 35. — 
The genus of which this well-known animal forms a 
type is partly characterized by the possession of thirty- 
six teeth, and of these there are twenty molars, the 
sectorial or laniary grinder of the upper series being 
enormously developed, while the corresponding carnas- 
sials of the lower jaw are tuberculated at the posterior 
half ; there are, in all, six true molars — one on either 
side of the upper jaw, and two to each divisional series 
below. In all the members of the genus the body is 
much lengthened, and in the species under considera- 
tion it is upwards of two feet long, exclusive of the 
tail, which would add nearly a foot and a half more. 
A full-sized otter will weigh about twenty-four pounds, 
but the naturalist Pennant has recorded one captured 
in the river Lea which weighed as much as forty 
pounds. The head of the common otter is broad and 
compact, and it terminates anteriorly in an abrupt wide 
muzzle, the upper lip being particularly thick- and 
overlapping the lower. The ears are small, short, 
rounded, and widely separated ; the eyes are remark- 
ably prominent and placed far forward, about an inch 
from the tip of the nose. The limbs are short, and end in 
pahnatedpentadactylousfeet,theseveral digitsbeing con- 
nected together by a strong thick membrane, and they 
are also armed at the tip with short, non-retractile, but 
slightly elevated claws. The tail is flattened from 
above downwards, being immensely strong and broad 
at the root, in which latter situation, below, there occur 
the two usual anal glands similar to those described in 
other musteline genera. The fur is made up of two 
qualities of hair ; the one kind is soft, fine, short, com- 
pact, of a whitish colour, save at the tips, where it 
is brown; the other is long, course, stiff, smooth, 
and somewhat darker externally at the point. This 
combination, therefore, is such that, while oflering 
little -or no resistance to the water during the 
forward progress of the animal, it, at the same time, 
preserves the body from sudden changes of tempera- 
ture. In every part of the animal the muscular system 
is very highly developed, and to those who, like our- 
selves, affect to see much that is attractive even in the 
so-called dry details of myological anatomy, we could 
not point out a more beautiful display of muscles than 
such as may be witnessed by a careful dissection of the 
neck of the common otter. In point of fact, this crea- 
ture is exquisitely organized both for rapidity of motion 
through the lambent waters of a rolling stream, and for 
overtaking and seizing the swiftest of its finny prey. 
The spindle-shaped body, elastic to a high degree, and 
bounded by harmonious curves — the projecting eye- 
