THE LIVING WORLD. 
A very strange but well-authenticated story is 
ing up a stage full of passengers. As the stage 
told about a skunk's hold- 
approached it deliberately 
opened its batteries, and "so astonished the travellers that in their consternation 
they awaited the punishment which 
his impish majesty inflicted upon 
them. Even so distinguished a na¬ 
turalist as Audubon made his ac¬ 
quaintance with the skunk by per¬ 
sonal experiment. 
The Martens ( Mustela ) are 
abundant in the more northern por¬ 
tions of both hemispheres. Their 
fur robes consist of long, soft hair, 
whose color is uniform, and when 
brought into the marts of mankind 
are called sables—the fur which has 
become so famous through the pens 
of clever writers. 
The Pennant Marten, Black 
Fox, or Black Cat (.Mustela pen- 
nanti ), is about four feet in length, 
of which more than a quarter is 
claimed by the tail. In spite of its 
stoutness it is an agile climber, and 
nests high up in some tree, where 
it can find a hole in which to house 
its young—generally twins, but 
sometimes four in number. Mice and frogs are its chief articles of diet, but it 
will on occasion feed upon other species of its own family . 
The American Sable, or Pine Marten (Mustela americana ), is about as 
large as a cat, but not so tall, as 
it indulges in great economy in 
the matter of legs. Like the gal¬ 
lants who wore vest over vest, or 
the circus-rider who divests him¬ 
self of garment after garment, the 
American sable wears a triple gar¬ 
ment, of which the outermost cov¬ 
ering consists of long, glossy hair; 
the innermost, of short, soft wool; 
the middle one, of hair, short and 
kinky, but of greater length than 
that of the covering below, and of 
shorter than that of the covering PIllE MARTBK . 
above. Like the cuckoo, it quite 
frequently takes possession of nests belonging to other animals, such as the 
squirrel, when to prevent any further question of rightful ownership it converts 
the squirrel into a repast. It will, at times, build its nest underground or use 
the natural little caves made by the rocks. It is not confined to pine forests, 
ERMINE AND SABLE MARTEN. 
