242 DETERMINATION OF HAWK STOAT. [PART II. 



of the other was still suspended, firmly clutched 

 by the neck in her strong gripe, the partridge, of 

 which she had never for a moment relinquished 

 her hold from the time she was taken up, although 

 it had been thus suspended during the whole of 

 his walk to the house, a distance of fully half a 

 mile; so loth was she to part with her ill-gotten 

 booty. 



The following singular instance of the boldness 

 and extreme voracity of the Stoat came under 

 my notice about the same time. I was riding 

 up a lane accompanied by a retriever, when he 

 went to investigate the mouth of a drain closed 

 in by loose stones, but immediately jumped back, 

 evidently startled by something a snake, as I 

 thought. I rode up to see what it was, and he 

 went to have another look at the place, but again 

 retreated, repelled, as I then heard, by a deter- 

 mined spitting hiss. Upon this I got off my horse, 

 tied him up to a gate, and went to satisfy myself as 

 to the nature of the beast from which this noise 

 had proceeded, when I was in my turn similarly 

 saluted, whilst I could distinguish some animal 

 rushing to the mouth of the drain. I then saw 

 something protruding from it, which turned out 

 to be the hind-quarters of a young rabbit stuck 



