37 é 
The extremity of the snout is naked and protuberent. The feet are 
broad, the pads, as in all of the genus, ten on each front, and nine on 
each hind foot (five isolated pads, one at the end of each digit, five 
palmar and four plantar). These may or may not be covered with hair, 
according to season and latitude; ordinarily they are naked. 
The digits are webbed at base for some distance, particularly the mid- 
dle ones. The third and fourth fingers are nearly equal, and are the 
longest ; the second and fifth not so equal, and much shorter ; the first is 
quite short. The toes of the hind feet have about the same relative pro- 
portions. 7 | 
The color runs from a light, dull, yellowish brown to a rich, blackish, 
chocolate brown. The ordinary color is a rich, dark brown, scarcely or 
not paler helow than above. The tail is quite blackish ; the white chin 
is rarely absent. Not positive in extent, but usually present, are the 
white patches of the under parts, particularly on the chest between the 
fore legs, and on the belly between the hind legs. The tail is rarely tip- 
ped with white. 
Variations in “aternal Appearance.—T wo species of the Mink have been 
recognized in North America—P. vison, Gapp., and P. nigrescens, Aud. & 
Bach.: the ‘“ Brown Mink,” and “ Little Black” or “ Mountain Mink,” of 
hunters and trappers. 
Audubon and Bachman based nigrescens on the smaller size and davies 
colors, less deeply palmated feet, and softer and glossier pelage. This is 
the variety that furnishes the most valuable pelts, formerly often yield- 
ing to the hunter from three to five dollars. There is probably no fur 
which so nearly approaches the famous Sable of Russia, as the northern 
Black Mink. As with most furs, the caprice of fashion determines the 
value, the price of this skin increasing tenfold in a decade. 
Professor Baird admitted the Little Black Mink as a distinct species 
“with great hesitation,” not being able “to make such examinations and 
comparisons as satisfy me of the difference.” 
Professor Coues concludes, from results of the examination of numer- 
ous specimens in the Smithsonian Institution, from all parts of North 
America, that the Black Mink does not require formal recognition, being 
simply one stage of individual variation, shading by insensible degrees 
into the ordinary form, so that it is impossible to set any line of demar- 
cation between “ P. nigrescens” and the Common Mink. 
That the small blackish varieties are found breeding, has no weight 
in specific diagnosis, as they grow in stature some time after being sex- 
ually mature. Under three years old, the fur, in season, is very hand- 
some, often almost a pure black, with a thin and pliable skin of almost 
