

 STOAT AND ERMINE. 51 



Their smell is strong and offensive, and much more 

 perceptible during hot than cold weather. The female 

 generally produces her five or six young ones, in a com- 

 fortable nest, of straw, leaves, or moss, in some out- 

 house or decayed tree. Numerous instances have oc- 

 curred of Weesels, when caught young, being tamed ; 

 and in this state they become mild and engaging. Their 

 smell, though unpleasant, may, in a great measure, be 

 dispelled by means of perfumes. In cold climates they 

 change their colour, and in the winter become perfectly 

 white. 



The length of the Weesel is about seven inches, and of 

 the tail two inches. The tail is somewhat pointed, and 

 not bushy towards its extremity. All the upper parts of 

 the body are of a yellowish -brown colour, and the under 

 parts white. On each side of the head, a little below the 

 corner of the mouth, there is a dark brown spot ; and at 

 the posterior angle of each eye, a white spot. The ears 

 are whitish at the edges. 



Stoat and Ermine. In these animals, which are of the 

 same species, the appetite for food, the mode of pursuing 

 and killing their prey, and the manner of forming their 

 nest and producing their offspring, are similar, in almost 

 every respect, to those of the WeeseL They are excessively 

 bold and ferocious, and have frequently speed fairly to run 

 down either a hare or a rabbit. During the summer-time 

 the upper parts of their body are of a brown colour, and 

 in this state they are called Stoats ; but, in the northern 

 countries of Europe, they become white in the winter 

 except the tip of the tail, which always continues black, 

 and under this appearance they have the name of 

 Ermines. Their skins, when white, are a valuable article 



D 2 



