52 COMMON BRITISH ANIMALS 



the ear. Their food consists of birds, birds' egg'S; 

 rabbits, hares, mice, etc.; thus they are one and all 

 pursued with all the skill of which the gamekeeper 

 is capable. Though the marten and polecat would 

 seem to be dwindling in numbers owing to this per- 

 secution, stoats and weasels are still not uncommon. 



The stoat, or '' hob," as he is known in the countr}^, 

 makes his home in stony places or thickets, and there 

 the young stoats are born in spring, the litter usually 

 numbering five to eight. Mr. Millais speaks of a 

 stoat's nest made of fine grass having been found in 

 a hole in a tree trunk fourteen feet above ground, 

 and of others having been found in stumps of trees, 

 rabbit-holes, and even in a nesting-box in a tree. 

 The stoat is an exceedingly graceful animal, moving 

 by leaps and bounds, and so swift that it will escape 

 a dog in a short run. It hunts by scent usually, 

 but often catches its prey by strategy, rolling over 

 and over and performing all kinds of antics calculated 

 to deceive the young and unwary animal. Mr. 

 Millais tells how he was sitting drawing deer in 

 Warnham Park "when I heard an unusual commotion 

 amongst the blackbirds and thrushes in the small 

 cover at my back. Out in the open park, about 

 thirty yards from the cover, were some twenty or 

 thirty young thrushes hopping about and waiting for 

 their parents to bring them food. Presently a stoat 

 looked out of the bushes opposite the young birds, 

 some forty yards from me, and at once commenced 

 a series of somersaults. After each performance it 

 would advance a foot or two towards the stupid 

 youngsters, who seemed lost in wonder at its curious 



