THE COMMON WEESEL. 177 



that the way is clear, and that no attack is threat- 

 ened. 



When the Weesel enters a hen-roost, he never 

 attempts to seize the old and strong birds; but, 

 with great sagacity, singles out the pullets and 

 young chickens. These he kills by biting them on 

 the head; and he then, one by one, carefully car- 

 ries away what he has destroyed. All his ma- 

 noeuvres in pursuit of prey are conducted with 

 the greatest silence, so that oftentimes it is_ not 

 possible to discover his depredations till some time 

 after they have been committed. In addition to 

 the destruction he makes amongst poultry, he 

 will suck their eggs with great avidity. In this 

 operation he begins by making a small hole at one 

 end, from which he contrives, without difficulty, to 

 lick out the contents. 



The motion of this animal on the ground con- 

 sists of unequal and precipitate leaps. The Weesel 

 is not, indeed, so active as some others of its tribe. 

 School-boys very often pursue, and would always 

 overtake it, had it not generally the cunning to 

 ascend the first tree that it comes to. 



In return for the depredations which the Weesel 

 is guilty of, it renders itself useful to the farmer by 

 ridding him of Rats, Mice, and other vermin of this 

 description. It likewise occasionally enters the 

 habitations of Moles, in pursuit of these animals. 

 This is proved by its being, at times, caught in the 

 traps laid by Mole catchers. 



N The 



