WINTER SHIFTS. 



a snow-covered country. A dim light is all round 

 about, no stars are visible, you can hear yourself 

 breathe. So far from being cold, one feels uncom- 

 fortably warm, A very slight shift in the wind 

 would cause it to thaw a little, but that shift does 

 not come. 



Spots appear in the fields spots that move. 

 They are hares and rabbits feeding. They will soon 

 clear the snow off their nibbling-ground with their 

 fore-feet. Just now they are playing high-jinks, 

 the rabbits are cutting fine capers. Soft white 

 weather does not upset their arrangements, so far as 

 food is concerned. We can see something coming 

 towards us, making for the hares and rabbits right 

 across our path. It ploughs along at a rapid pace : 

 we crouch low to bring our sight on the snow, and 

 know at the first glance that it is that dreaded foe 

 of rabbits, the stoat. I have seen him on the hunt 

 in the snow before. He rushes along, leaving a 

 furrow behind him, where he has parted it in his 

 progress. Now he is close to, passing us sideways. 

 He catches sight of me, and bounds from out the 

 snow most actively, but in the direction of his prey. 

 If he gets near enough to them without being seen 



