Identifier: familiarlifeinfi00math (find matches)
Title: Familiar life in field and forest; the animals, birds, frogs, and salamanders
Year: 1898 (1890s)
Authors: Mathews, F. Schuyler (Ferdinand Schuyler), 1854-1938 Underwood, William Lyman, phot
Subjects: Zoology
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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darkbrown in summer to white in winter is perhaps themost remarkable thing about the little animal. Thereis an irregular line of demarcation between the upperbrown and the lower buff-white color in summer;this line begins at the mouth, and continues low downon the sides to the tail; all around the latter andover the paws is the same color as the back, but thetip of the tail is black. According to Elliott Coues, the latitudes in whichthe change occurs in this country include the north-ern tier of States and the entire region northward.In this area, he says, the change is regular, complete,and universal; but, Audubon says, in specimensreceived from Virginia the colors of the back hadundergone no change in January. Regarding the cause of the color change, aboutwhich there is much conflicting opinion, to those who, 144 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. like myself, have observed the animal only in theNorth, it would seem as though Dr. Merriams theory,recently expressed, is the one which
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correct,My experi-ence inclinesme to believe thatthe change frombrown to white occursaltogether too suddenly,stances, to admit of any In his winter coat. m many in-other ex- planation than that which Dr. Merriam gives, quotedbelow. Elliott Coues says: As Mr. Bell contends, tem-perature * is the immediate controlling agent. Thisis amply proved in the fact that the northern animalsalways change; that in those from intermediate lati-tudes the change is incomplete, while those from far- * We may safely conclude that if the requisite temperature isexperienced at the periods of renewal of the coat, the new hairswill come out of the opposite color; if not, they will appear ofthe same color and change afterward; that is, the change may ormay not be coincident with shedding. That it is ordinarily notso coincident seems shown by the greater number of specimens inwhich we observe white hairs brown tipped.—Fur-Bearing Ani-mals, page 128, E. Coues. FUR-CLAD FIGHTERS. 145 ther south do not change

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