FIFTH WEEK] 



January 



33 



feathered chameleon, but with changes of colour taking 

 place more slowly than is the case in the reptile. 



We may discover changes somewhat similar, but furry 

 instead of feathery, in the woods about our home. The 

 fiercest of all the animals of our continent still evades 

 the exterminating inroads of man; indeed it often puts 

 his traps to shame, and wages destructive warfare in his 

 very midst. I speak of the weasel, the least of all his 



PTARMIGAN 



family, and yet, for his size, the most bloodthirsty and 

 widely dreaded little demon of all the country-side. His 

 is a name to conjure with among all the lesser wood-folk; 

 the scent of his passing brings an almost helpless paralysis. 

 And yet in some way he must be handicapped, for his 

 slightly larger cousin, the mink, finds good hunting the 

 year round, clad in a suit of rich brown; while the weasel, 

 at the approach of winter, sheds his summer dress of 



