Ground Vermin The Weasel. 239 



in fact, birds of any sort that it is capable of catching and 

 killing. The mole, water vole, field mouse, shrew, and 

 all such animals are liable to its attacks. But far and 

 away is the weasel the most determined and wholesale 

 destroyer of eggs that we have ; not discriminating for one 

 moment between the smallest of our wren's eggs and 

 the large unwieldy production of the goose, the little 

 animal will break the shell and consume a nestful. or, 

 in the case of poultry, a single one, and break and destroy 

 the rest. A determined and agile climber, no nest is 

 secure from its visits, and, except they be indeed placed 

 in holes with most diminutive entrances, there are few 

 of the many birds which build in tree-holes and crannies 

 that may not expect to find, at some time or other, their 

 eggs destroyed or perhaps be captured themselves. Equally 

 rapacious in its pursuit of young birds, the nests are not 

 safe even during the time that the young are being reared, 

 and often does the parent bird return to find the destroyer 

 snugly curled up asleep amongst the dead bodies of its 

 prey. "It will hunt the mole, the field mouse, and other 

 small quadrupeds in their usual haunts, not only by the 

 eye, but also by scent ; and most amusing it is to see one 

 of these flexible agile little creatures tracing up the scent 

 when at fault. They will quarter the ground like a dog 

 till they hit it off, and, to lose no help from the eye, will 

 occasionally sit up, raising themselves on their hind quarters 

 to gain a more extended view around them. Their 

 perseverance will tire larger and stronger animals than 

 themselves, nor will water stop them when their game 

 takes to it for safety." This correct description appears 



