NATURE'S CALENDAR 107 



in some dry chamber in the hill-side, or. May 21 



perhaps, in an old log or dead stump. " 



The porcupine can hardly be said to 

 have a home, the prickly mother seek- 

 ing temporary safety in a hollow tree- 

 trunk, or in a little cave among the rocks. 

 *' Its young, generally one or two in num- 

 ber, are born about the ist of May, and 

 are monstrous for the size of the species. 

 They are actually larger," according to 

 Dr. Merriam. "and relatively more than 

 thirty times larger than the young of the 

 black bear at birth." 



This is the month when weasels bear 

 young. Merriam says that the nests of 

 the larger species, the stoat or ermine, 

 "are usually made in an old stump or 

 log -heap, or under some out-building, 

 and from four to six young are common- 

 ly brought forth early in May." The 

 young, he adds, are likely to remain 

 during the summer in the vicinity of the 

 nest. Thomas Bell, the companion of 

 Audubon, recorded of the least, or New 

 York weasel, that " the female brings 

 forth four, or more frequently five, young, 

 and is said to have two or three litters a 

 year. The nest is composed of dry leaves 

 and herbage, and is warm and dry, being 

 usually placed in a hole in a bank, in a 

 dry ditch, or in a hollow tree." 



Three other fur-bearing mustelids are 

 also breeding now — the mink, the sable, 

 and the fisher, or pekan. 



The mink nests in burrows or hollow 



