WEASEL KIND. 87 



brought forth with the eyes closed, as in all the 

 rest of this kind, and very soon come to a state 

 of perfection. The dam compensates for her own 

 deficiency of milk, by bringing them eggs and 

 live birds, accustoming them from the beginning 

 to a life of carnage and rapine. When she leads 

 them from the nest into the woods, the birds at 

 once distinguish their enemies, and attend them, 

 as we before observed of the fox, with all the 

 marks of alarm and animosity. Wherever the 

 martin conducts her young, a flock of small birds 

 are seen threatening and insulting her, alarming 

 every thicket, and often directing the hunter in 

 his pursuit. 



The martin is more common in North America 

 than in any part of Europe. These animals are 

 found in all the northern parts of the world, from 

 Siberia to China and Canada. In every country 

 they are hunted for their furs, which are very 

 valuable, and chiefly so when taken in the begin- 

 ning of winter. The most esteemed part of the 

 martin's skin is that part of it which is browner 

 than the rest, and stretches along the back-bone. 

 Above twelve thousand of these skins are annual- 

 ly imported into England from Hudson's Bay, 

 and above thirty thousand from Canada. 



THE SABLE. 



MOST of the classes of the weasel kind would 

 have continued utterly unknown and disregarded 



