THE LIVING WORLD. 
633 
nor does it show any preference for these, so that its name probably arose from 
the accident of its having first been found there ; it seems to require only the 
neighborhood of water. It does no damage to the farmer, though where meat is 
stored in pits it is likely to prove a trespasser. 
The Sable of Asia (. Mustela zibellina ) furnishes the most valuable sable— 
that fur among furs. The principal hunting ground is Siberia, and involves 
great hardship, though 
this counts for nothing 
where human life is so 
cheap, and the caprices 
of the wealthy and pow¬ 
erful are so absolute. 
The animals are caught 
by trapping, and as it 
requires more than one 
skin to make a single 
muff, the costliness and 
regal magnificence of 
cloaks made of this material may well be conceived. 
The European Pine Marten, or Sweet Marten (. Mustela 
martes ), loves to live in the pine forests. Its body is about 
a foot and a half in length, and is set off by a long, bushy tail. Its brown 
coat is quite handsome, but the animal is not numerous enough to tempt the 
cupidity of man. Its habitat is in the northern portion of each continent. 
The Beech Marten, White-throated Marten, or Stone Marten ( Mustela 
foina ), is probably a distinct spe¬ 
cies, although regarded by some 
as merely a variety of the pine 
marten. It is white-throated and 
white-breasted, and is given to 
hanging about farm-yards and 
•dwellings as a simple means of 
gratifying its appetite for birds, 
•eggs and poultry. 
SABEE AND MARTEN IN THEIR WINTER ROBES. 
CARNIVORA.—DOGS, FOXES. 
The Otocyon, or Big-eared 
Fox {Otocyon lalandii ), is gray, 
with black for the color of its legs 
and its tail. Its habitat is South 
Africa, where its erect furred ears, 
so large as to exceed its head in 
size, make it a noticeable creature. 
The Coast Fox, or Short- pennant marten. 
tailed Fox ( Vulpes littoralis) , is 
small in size, and colored black, changing to cinnamon-brown on the fore-legs 
and sides of the neck. 
The Gray Fox ( Vulpes, or urocyon cinereo-argentatus ,) is quite common m 
the United States. 
