196 Natural Objects observed on 



puzzle him, he, like a reasoning creature, made a large circle, 

 going completely outside all the trail : by this scheme he 

 gained on the rat by recovering the scent just where he had 

 gone over the little bank the last time. In a few moments 

 he was in the footpath, and came galloping towards us in 

 fine style, his back arched, his head up, and his tail in a 

 straight line behind him. He passed under us, and in his 

 eagerness overshot the spot where the rat had gone into the 

 bank : it was only for a moment, he came back, quartered 

 the ground, found the trail, and was in the bank in no time. 

 A blackthorn overhung the path ; we saw something move 

 in it ; it was the rat ; the weasel was going up the stem ; he 

 was close after him ; he evidently viewed him ; he gained on 

 him ; the rat dropped himself into the footpath, the weasel 

 did the same, and followed him up the bank within a foot : 

 we heard a shrill cry, first long, then short, shorter, then all 

 was still ; we went quietly to the place ; the weasel left his 

 prey, hissing at us like an angry cat ; the brain of the rat 

 was laid completely bare, but his little heart continued 

 beating for nearly a minute as I held him in ray hand. 

 " Doctor," said my friend, " that is the way of the world." 

 " Exactly," I replied ; " set thief to catch thief." My friend 

 was silent; I fancied he did not relish my proverb. We 

 walked on : the pathway leads through the garden at North- 

 brook. 



A Thrush was shouting out his sonorous vespers from the 

 topmost twig of an old elm tree, which, black, drear, leafless, 

 and budless, offered no token of the spring, which the sweet 

 bird on its summit seemed so blithely to herald ; but it was 

 St. Valentine's day, and he was inspired by love. 



[Additional Facts on the Weasel.~] When I got home I sat 

 down and made these notes for you, and as they do not fill 

 my paper, I will add one or iwo mems. about the weasel, 

 which have for a long time been standing by to be let go : — 

 The weasel is a very awkward-looking animal when running 

 on level ground ; his great length and slenderness of body, 

 and the shortness of his legs, are very much against speed ; 

 but in climbing trees, or threading the long and narrow 

 galleries of field-mice, this seeming disproportion is of the 

 greatest use to him. I have seen him coursing along the 

 boughs of a tree, winding himself round, above or below, just 

 as suited his purpose, with all the ease and agility of a 

 squirrel. I have watched him enter a wheat-rick at the 

 bottom, and in less than a minute seen him peeping out 

 under the thatch : but in mentioning this I am on dangerous 



