APPENDIX. 277 



prevent their climbing over. Within this enclosure is a 

 building fourteen by twenty-four, supplied with running 

 water, from which the mink catch living fish, that are often 

 furnished, with the greatest delight. The building is con- 

 structed with an alley three feet wide around its entire cir- 

 cumference. Within, are two rows of cells four feet deep, 

 and from two and two and a half wide, each having a door 

 ventilated at the top and bottom with wire screens, as is 

 also the outer wall opposite the cell. There is also at the 

 front entrance what the proprietors call the ante-rooms, 

 four by four feet, which must be fastened within every time 

 the building is entered to prevent the escape of the impri- 

 soned animals. On entering the main hall, which the 

 minks have access to (when not rearing their young), they 

 present a very playful group. The person feeding them is 

 often mounted for their food, and their tenacity of hold is 

 so strong that they may be drawn about or lifted without 

 releasing their hold upon the food. The nest of the female 

 is very peculiarly constructed of grass, leaves, or straw, 

 with a lining of her own fur so firmly compacted together 

 as to be with difficulty torn in pieces. The aperture lead- 

 ing to the nest is a round opening just sufficient to admit 

 the dam, and is provided with a deflected curtain, which 

 covers the entrance and effectually secures her against all 

 invasion when she is within. About the middle of March 

 the females are separated from the males until the young 

 are reared. The necessity of this arises from the fact that 

 the male seems inclined to brood the young almost as 

 much as the dam, when both are permitted to remain 

 together. 



" The expense of feeding the animals is almost nominal, 



being supplied pretty much entirely from the usual offal of 



the farm-yard, with occasional woodchucks and game in 



general. They eat this food with equal avidity after 



24 



