356 



THE NATURE BOOK 



\vhen alive, certainly gives one that 



impression. This may, in part, be due 



to the frequenc}^ with which he flings it 



back or 



swings the 



w hole 



stretch of 



it at right 



angles t o 



his boch'. 



There is 

 consider- 



SIDE VIEW OF A 

 SKULL 

 Showing the typical dentition in a car- 

 nivore. Points of interest are the ex- 

 trernely larSe size of the canines (D), 

 the "killing" teeth, and the two car- 

 nassials (C), in the upper jaw the 4th 

 premolar, and in the lower jaw the 1st 

 molar. These come together like a pair 

 of shears, the upper being outermost. 

 The teeth in front of these have cut- 

 ting edges, those behind are rounded 



able resemblance in 

 the habits of the 

 two species. The evi- 

 dence that families 

 of them hunt in 

 packs, and that they 

 hunt m ainly by 

 scent, is incontest- 

 able. Packs of both 

 species have been 

 known to attack 

 man. Indeed few 

 wild animals are 

 normally so fearless, 

 though I ha\-e 

 known individuals 

 the reverse. I re- 

 member once meet- 

 ing a Stoat sauntering down one 

 of the gravel walks of my home. 

 I waited for him to pass. \\'ith- 

 out changing his pace, he came, 

 with his head held high and his 

 tail waving from side to side, to 

 within a yard of my feet. He 

 had a good look up at me, 

 stamped impatiently \\ith one 

 foot, and made some offensive 

 remark. Then he walked away (I 

 can hardly call it retreating) with 

 the same dignity as that with 

 which he had approached. Once 

 only he paused to look back over 



UNDER SURFACE OF 

 A WEASEL'S SKULL. 

 In this picture the articu- 

 lation of the lower 

 jaws with the skull 

 should be noticed 

 This articulation, 

 which is typical of 

 carnivorous animals, 

 is formed by a trans- 

 verse development 

 of the condyles (C) 

 fitting very closely to 

 the glenoid cavities 

 (G). The power of 

 Ihe jaw is thereby 

 greatly increased, and 

 the possibility of any 

 side play which might 

 lead to dislocation cor- 

 respondingly dimin- 

 ished. 



his shoulder, show his teeth, and make 

 the same remark. I have known another 

 come into an out-house in which I was 

 lying up to shoot sparrows, and 

 on discovering me, set his back 

 against the wall and scream until 

 I humoured him by withdrawing. 

 I ha\"e known another chi\-ying 

 sparrows on a main road, on 

 either side of which were fields 

 crowded with fruit -pickers. This 

 was about 3 p.m. on a blazing 

 July day. I was fortunate enough 

 to sight the Stoat about fifty 

 yards off, and was able to get a 

 clear view of his proceedings 

 through a field glass. Amuse- 

 ment rather than food was his 

 object. He would wait until a 

 covey of sparrows were busily 

 engaged in their usual occupa- 

 tion, creep along the cover at 

 the roadside, and leap with a 

 beautiful swing into the midst of them. 

 Up would fly the sparrows, to settle 

 down a few yards further off. The 

 Stoat would repeat the manoeuvre from 

 the opposite side of the road. Seven 

 times he put the sparrows up, four 

 times by jumping into the midst of 

 them, three times by running through 

 them. On the latter occasions the non- 

 chalance of the birds was amazing. When 

 he jumped they flew up in a body as one 

 would expect, but, when he ran through 

 them, they merely made way for him with 

 a hop and a flutter, and were back to 

 their occupation almost before he had 

 reached the farther side. The impression 

 one gained was that the Stoat was using 

 the sparrows as playthings, and was 



YOUNG "WEASELS. 



