STJBKINQDOM VERTEBRATA. 



Fig. 50. 



Putorius erminSw, Weasel in winter. |. 



These alterations are effected, not by shedding the coat, but 

 by changes in the color of the hair. Weasels destroy mice, 

 and hence are beneficial to farmers.* 



Fig. 51. 



Putorius erminSus, Weasel in summer. J. 



* Their carnivorous propensities are, however, not unfrequently displayed in the 

 hen-roost. An ermine has been known to kill forty full-^rowu fowls in a 



