STOAT OR ERMINE. 16. 



year round, in the same manner as ptarmigans shed 

 their feathers, and that so long as the weather is mild, 

 the growing hairs are brown on the upper parts, but 

 white when it is very cold. Thus, in March 1 834, 1 

 was presented by Mr Ferguson of Raith with a most 

 beautiful specimen on which there was not a single 

 red hair. As to the change effected in coloured hair 

 by intense cold, direct experience alone can determine 

 what we are to believe concerning it, and as yet 

 Ermines have not been subjected to this kind qf 

 observation. 



It appears that in England, generally, the Er- 

 jmine is less common than the Weasel ; but in 

 Scotland, even to the south of the Frith of Forth, 

 it is certainly of more frequent occurrence than that 

 species ; and for one Weasel I have seen at least 

 five or six Ermines. It frequents stony places and 

 thickets, among which it finds a secure retreat, as 

 its agility enables it to outstrip even a dog in a 

 short race, and the slimness of its body allows it to 

 enter a very small aperture. Patches of furze, in 

 particular, afford it perfect security, and it some- 

 times takes possession of a rabbit's burrow. It 

 preys on game and other birds, from the grouse and 

 ptarmigan downwards, sometimes attacks poultry, 

 or sucks their eggs, and is a determined enemy to 

 rats and voles. Young rabbits and hares frequently 

 become victims to its rapacity, and even full-growL 

 individuals are sometimes destroyed by it. Al- 

 though, in general, it does not appear to hunt by 

 scent, yet it has been seen to trace its prey like a 



