STOAT. MOUSE. 20? 



the following curious fact, related to me by Mr. G. 

 Nightingale, of Kingston-on-Thames, and which 

 shews the care animals will take, in order to place 

 their young out of the reach of danger. 



Riding one day with a party of friends in Rich- 

 mond Park, he observed a stoat run up an oak 

 tree, and enter a hole in it at a height of about 

 fifteen feet from the ground. Seeing two boys in 

 search of birds' nests near the spot, he persuaded 

 one of them to ascend the tree, and ascertain what 

 was in the hole. On arriving at it, two old stoats 

 bolted from it, and made their escape. After some 

 hesitation, the boy thrust his hand into the hole, 

 and drew out of it a full grown rabbit, the head 

 only of which had been partly eaten. He then 

 pulled out two young rabbits, each about half 

 grown, and untouched, and afterwards, nine young 

 stoats. When we consider what a very diminutive 

 animal the stoat is, it is surprizing that two of them 

 should have been able to drag a full-grown rabbit 

 to a perpendicular height of fifteen feet. 



A large dead branch on the top of one of the 

 old oak trees in the Home Park, Windsor, was 

 recently sawn off. On measuring the height from 

 the ground, it was found to be seventy feet. Some 

 bees had built their waxen cells in the hollow part 

 of the branch, and on removing the honey-combs, 

 a Mouse jumped out from amongst them, having 

 evidently contrived to ascend that distance, in 



