PUTORIUS ERMINEA. 57 



the mere sake of killino-, and its entire existence is almost one con- 

 tinuous course of bloodshed. 



Dr. Coues speaks thus of its general aspect : " A glance at the 

 physiognomy of the Weasels would suffice to betray their character. 

 The teeth are almost of the highest known raptorial character; the 

 jaws are worked b)- enormous masses of muscles covering all the side 

 of the skull. The forehead is low, and the nose is sharp; the eyes 

 are small, penetrating, cunning, and glitter with an angry green light. 

 There is something peculiar, moreover, in the way that this fierce 

 face surmounts a body extraordinarily wiry, lithe, and muscular. It 

 ends a remarkably long and slender neck in such a way that it may 

 be held at a riy^ht ancfle with the axis of the latter. When the crea- 

 ture is glancing around, with the neck stretched up, and flat triangu- 

 lar head bent forward, swaying from one side to the other, we catch 

 the likeness in a moment — it is the image of a serpent."* 



The foregoing forcible picture fits the Weasel well when under 

 conditions of excitement and aneer; but there are times when its 

 appearance in no wise suggests its sanguinary propensities. In cer- 

 tain states of pelage it is very beautiful, and when at rest a more 

 innocent and harmless looking creature can hardly be found. On 

 the approach of any of the animals that constitute its prey, how- 

 ever, its bearing is instandy changed, and its fiendish nature is soon 

 revealed. 



I once put a very large rat into a square tin cage with a Weasel 

 of this species. The rat had been caught in a steel trap, by the toes 

 of one of its hind feet, and was in no way injured. He was very 

 ugly, biting fiercely at the trap and the stick with which I assisted 

 him into the cage of the Weasel. No sooner had he entered the 

 cage than his whole manner and bearing changed. He immediately 

 assumed an attitude of abject terror, trembled from head to foot, and 

 crawled into the nearest corner. The Weasel advanced toward 



* Fur-bearing Animals, 1S77, p. I2g. 



