112 The Naturalist in Siluria. 



Not allowed to carry a gun into the enclosures, their 

 weapons are usually stones and sticks. Their mode of 

 proceeding is for one boy to " swarm" up the tree 

 in which a squirrel is seen, force the animal off it to 

 another, and so on till they get it into a tree standing 

 well apart from the others. Driven out of this, its last 

 stronghold as it were, it has no resource but to leap to 

 the ground, where a " surround " of its pursuers has 

 been previously arranged for cutting off its retreat, in 

 which they are often successful. 



Squirrels are sometimes snared, not by set snares, but 

 a running noose of fine spring wire fastened on the tip of 

 a pole, light and long as a fishing rod. This, cautiously 

 and dexterously handled, is slipped over the squirrel's 

 head, as it lies quiet along the limb of a tree ; when, at 

 length, taking the alarm, and attempting to scamper off, 

 the animal finds itself fast in the wire, to be instantly 

 jerked to earth. 



THE WEASEL FAMILY. 



Writing these notes, specially intended for the com- 

 prehension of those who have given but little attention 

 to zoological studies, I may be pardoned for repeating, 

 what every naturalist knows, that in the British Isles 

 there are six native species of the Mustelidce, or Weasel 

 tribe, and one of doubtful foreign origin. The former, 

 all wild, are the Weasel itself, typical representative 

 and smallest of the family, the Stoat, Polecat, Pine, and 

 Stone Martens ; with the Otter, differing in genus ; the 



