This important fur-producing animal is found in the northern parts of both hemispheres under various specific forms, the most important of which are the European Mink (_P. lutreola_) and the American Mink (_P. vison_). Although most nearly allied to the Stoats and Weasels, it shows a certain resemblance to the Martens in its larger and stouter body, which attains a length of from fifteen to eighteen inches, the tail being about seven or eight inches long, and bushy at the tip. Like most of its allies, it has two kinds of fur--“a soft matted under fur, mixed with long, stiff, lustrous hairs.” The colour varies from dull yellowish-brown to dark chocolate-brown; the upper lip is usually white in the European, dark in the American species. The scent-glands are well developed, and their secretion is second only in offensiveness to that of the Skunk. The habits of the Mink differ altogether from those of the other species of the genus. As Dr. Coues observes, “It is to the water what the other Weasels are to the land, or the Martens to the trees. It is as essentially aquatic in its habits as the Otter, Beaver, or Musk Rat, and spends, perhaps, more of its time in the water than it does on land. In adaptation to this mode of life, the pelage has that peculiar glossiness of the longer bristly hairs and felting of the close under fur which best resists the water.” It feeds chiefly upon aquatic or amphibious animals, such as fish, frogs, crayfish, molluscs, and the like, but also preys largely upon the smaller Mammals. It is stated that it is not an indiscriminate slaughterer, but kills only what is necessary for its actual wants. In America the Mink has been regularly domesticated and trained as a Rat-catcher, like the Ferret. “Minkeries” have been established in connection with farm-yards, and have proved in more than one instance eminently successful. The animals soon allow themselves to be handled, and besides becoming good Ratters, bring their owner a very considerable profit by their fur, for which alone it is well worth while to breed them, as the expense of keeping them is trifling. THE GRISON.[175] This is a Weasel-like animal, found only in South America, and distinguished from its nearest relations, the Martens and Weasels, by the fact that the colour of the upper is lighter than that of the lower surface of its body, the former being grey, the latter dark brown. Its whole length is rather under a yard; of this not more than a third is taken up by the tail. It is found in plantations and in the neighbourhood of buildings, and makes its abode in hollow trees, clefts in rocks, and holes in the earth.