OCR Text |
Show 312 MR. C. A. WRIGHT ON THE WEASEL OF MALTA. [Apr. 6, outer of the fore foot very conspicuous, the third twice as strong the second. N o trace of an opening for the eye or ears, or of the tail can be discovered. millim. Totallength 243 Width of the muffle 9 Length of first front claw 4 „ second „ 12 third „ 20 „ ' fourth „ 5 Length of fourth (and longest) hind claw 10 Hab. Pirie Forest, British Caffraria. G. O n the Specific Identity of the Weasel found in Malta. By CHAS. A. WRIGHT, C.M.Z.S. [Eeceived April 5, 1875.] The animal, of the order of Carnivora, a specimen of which I have the honour to exhibit to the Society this evening, inhabits the islands of Malta and Gozo in a wild state, and is by no means uncommon in the neighbourhood of farmyards, where it not unfrequently commits ravages on the poultry and other small inmates. It is also partial to eggs. It is well known to the country people under the name of Ballottra. It has been usual with writers on the natural history of Malta to refer to this animal as Mustela vulgaris, or the Common Weasel of Europe. That they are mistaken a glance at the specimen will show. It will benoticed that it is very much larger than the Weasel, even exceeding in size the Stoat (Mustela erminea), to which perhaps it bears most resemblance. Again, the tail is proportionally longer than in the Weasel; but instead of the end being black, as is the case with the Stoat or Ermine at all seasons, the termination is scarcely perceptibly darker. The colour of the Maltese species is generally chestnut, more or less dark in different individuals, and sometimes mixed with grey, especially in examples in winter. The underparts of the body, neck, and throat, as well as the toes and margin of the upper lip, are creamy white. The specimen I now exhibit does not show the natural colour, it being very much bleached by exposure to the rays of the sun penetrating through a glass case in which the specimen was kept. Its length from root of tail to tip of snout is about 13 inches, and the tail 4 | inches, making a totallength of 17 \ inches. I have frequently met with this species while out shooting, and on one occasion saw one making off across a field with what looked like a young one in its mouth. It takes refuge, and brings up its young, in the loose stone walls which everywhere traverse the country. This animal appears to come very close to the Boccamele, which was first discovered by Cetti, in Sardinia, about a century ago, and |