NIGHTINGALE ROAD 47 



and presently the head and neck were cautiously pro- 

 truded. 



I made the usual call with the lips, but the creature 

 instantly returned to cover. I waited again, hiding this 

 time, and after an interval the creature moved and 

 hastened away from the poles, where it was, in a measure, 

 exposed, to the more secure shelter of some bushes. 

 Then I saw that it was of a clear white, while so-called 

 white ferrets are usually a dingy yellow, and the white 

 tail was tipped with black. From these circumstances, 

 and from the timidity and anxious desire to escape 

 observation, I could only conclude that it was a white 

 stoat. 



Stoats, as remarked previously, are numerous in these 

 hedges, and it was quite possible for a white one to be 

 among them. The white stoat may be said to exactly 

 resemble the ermine. The interest of the circumstance 

 arises not from its rarity, but from its occurring so near 

 the metropolis. 



