120 BULLETIN NO. VII. 
river bank, and out upon the ice; the trail thence proceeded | 
up the bank of the river on the ice for about half a mile, when 
it disappeared directly in line of a hole in the bank, where we 
discovered the bird half buried, head foremost, into a hole 
about one-half the size of the body, frozen stiff. When discov- 
ered we worked, not without difficulty, at the extrication of the 
bird. It required all our force to draw it out, when, as it broke 
from its fastenings, two large Minks suddenly appeared, and 
darted back into their retreat, the last we saw of the varmints 
after a half hour of close watching. The ground along the 
shore was rough, covered with heavy grass, brush, drift wood, 
and many willows. Here the natural obstacles precluded the 
possibility of such a trip by land, and the little piece of engi- 
neering practiced by this one Mink, in capturing and convey- 
ing home its prize, was truly marvellous. That there was but 
one Mink, the trail bore direct evidence throughout its entire 
length from the scene of the struggle. As we followed the line, 
we could easily trace the wide trail of the mallard, as it was 
dragged bodily along over the fresh snow, and the deep pene- 
tration of its claws into the new ice, spoke volumes of the force 
exerted by that small animal in the completion of so severe 
an undertaking, and the excessive amount of Mink power ex- 
pended in the completion of a successful foraging expedition. 
Here and there thoughout the line of trail were frequent halt- 
ing places, where our Mink had stopped for a@ rest. Hvery 
time there appeared numerous tracks around the body of its 
victim, as though pleased to inspect its trophy before the next 
‘heat, and then as the distance shortened, the strokes of its tail 
atregular intervals of march, marked upon the snow upon either 
side of the trail the determined intention of the animal to go 
through with its meat before it was too cold to squeeze into a 
small space, where the sharp frost would soon fix it perma- 
nently. When drawn out, we found that a couple of ‘square 
meals’ had been made from the head, neck and breast, and 
enough left for several days to come.” 
This account of the Mink’s theft called forth shortly afterward 
in the same paper the following instance of its stealing fish; the 
editor, Mr. Charles Hallock, remarking that he had known 
Minks to carry off fish weighing no less than twelve pounds :— 
‘We were spending our vacation in the woods of Maine, fish- 
ing, and traveling about for a good time in general, One day we 
came across an old dam made to flood a piece of lowland. As 
this looked like a good place to fish we stopped, seated our- 
