The Way of a Weasel 



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relates that he was sitting in an upper room of 

 his house at Easthampton, Mass., one after- 

 noon, when he saw a weasel come up the stairs, 

 enter the room and saunter about, examining 

 everything within reach of his nose, including 

 the parson's square-toed boots, with careful 

 attention. Having completed this survey, it 

 quietly withdrew, pattered softly down stairs, 

 and the dominie went on with his sermon. 

 Whether his visitor also went to hear the ser- 

 mon, I do not know ; and it is a pity, for then 

 perhaps we should learn whether it really were 

 possible to " catch a weasel asleep." 



Ferocity marks all that the weasel does. He 

 constantly kills more than he can eat, seem- 

 ingly just for the joy of seizing and killing, 

 and a pair that make their residence near a 

 poultry-yard will destroy the flock in a short 

 time if not prevented. They are the terror of 

 the wild birds one of the worst of their day- 

 light foes, especially for the ground-keeping 

 birds ; and here again they arouse the anger of 

 the sportsman, whose wild poultry, the quails 

 and grouse and woodcock, they kill before he 



+$7 fc 



