OEDEE OF CAENIVOEA. 
331 
Similar to the Marten, it frequents inhabited localities, and 
perpetrates the same outrages. After the pairing season, which 
takes place in spring, the male retires into the woods and subsists 
on the resources which they provide. If favoured by such circum- 
stances as enable it to establish itself in a rabbit-warren, it makes 
sad havoc among the legitimate residents. 
The Polecat is found all over Europe. 
rig. 130. — Ermines {M. erminea , Linn.) 
The Yison, or Minx (if. vison , Gmelin), is a North American 
representative of this animal ; but its fur is of much more value. 
The Ermine (Fig. 130) is, like the Sable, a native of the more 
northerly regions of the globe — Sweden, Norway, Russia, Siberia, 
but Arctic America is where it most abounds. Those who 
hunt the Sable generally combine with it the pursuit of the 
Ermine. The prime skins of these animals fetch an exceed- 
ingly high price, and a very important trade in them is 
carried on. The judges and other high officials consume a 
large quantity for their robes. Our ladies, who love to deck 
their delicate persons with this beautiful fur, also show a marked 
