425 



poultry yard, for when once an attack Is made, there Is no 

 limit to the destruction. When the animal has entered stacks 

 or barns, it has a curious habit of collecting in a particular 

 place the bodies of the Rats and Mice it has slain; thus, some- 

 times, a pile of a hundred or more of their victims may be 

 seen which have been killed in the course of two or three 

 niffhts." 



The activity and strength of the Weasel are such 

 that he is able to elirab trees with great ease, either 

 to escape enemies or to search for food. 



This ability as a tree climber enables him to destroy 

 both the eggs and young of different species of birds 

 which erect their homes in the forest, shade and fruit 

 trees. 



The nests of Ruffed Gr-ouse, Wild Turkeys and Bob- 

 white or Qnail, besides those of other species of the 

 feathered kinds which nest on or near the ground, are 

 often, it is asserted, pillaged by the inquisitive and 

 bright-eyed Weasels. 



Although Weasels hunt both by day and night, the 

 popular idea seems to be that theyi are more nocturnal 

 than diurnal. While it is doubtless true that they sub- 

 sist, to some extent, on various kinds of insects, parti- 

 cularly beetles and occasionally grasshoppers, the 

 amount of insect life which they consume is not, so far 

 as the obsei"vations of the writer have gone, very 

 considerable. 



A RABBIT HUNTER. 



Weasels, like the fox hound or trained and well- 

 bred pointer or setter, follow the tracks of their prey 

 by the scent. In Ihis way large animals such as Gray 

 Rabbits and even the Varying Hare are pursued and 

 overpowered in their securest retreats. 



27»-n 



