18 8 NATURAL HISTORY. 



if placed quite at the hinder end of the chest, instead of in the front of it. The head passes almost 

 insensibly into the neck, and the neck into the body. The head is flattened, and bears little glittering 

 savao-e-lookinw eyes, and small rounded ears. The length from snout to root of tail does not exceed 

 ei^ht inches. The tail is about two inches long. The fur is light reddish-brown above, and white 

 below in northern latitudes the brown parts assume a much lighter colour in winter, so that the 

 Weasel undergoes a change of coat similar to, but less extensive than, that undergone by the Ermine. 



The Weasel is a good climber, and makes use of its skill in this accomplishment to prey upon 

 birds, their eggs, and young. Rats and Mice are, perhaps, its staple food. Of these it makes great 

 havoc, and is therefore a useful hanger-on to the farm-yard, notwithstanding its occasional depredations 

 in the hen-roost. When it catches a Mouse or Rat, it gives it one bite on the back of the head, 

 piercing the most vulnerable part of the brain, and killing instantly. Professor Thomas Bell says : 

 "I have observed that when a Weasel seizes a small animal, at the instant that the fatal bite is 

 inflicted, it throws its long, lithe body over its prey, so as to secure it should the fii*st bite fail, an 

 accident, howevei*, which I have never observed when a Mouse has been the victim. The power which 

 the Weasel has of bending the head at right angles with the long and flexible, though powerful neck, 

 gives it a great advantage in this mode of seizing and killing its smaller prey." The first part eaten is 

 usually the brain. The stories of the Weasel's blood-sucking propensities are probably false, or at any 

 rate grossly exaggerated. 



The Weasel will pursue its prey over fields, in trees, in subterranean burrows, or across water. 

 Like many of the wild Cats, it kills far more than is necessary for its support, and in pursuance of 

 its favourite occupation of slaughter shows an unequalled courage and pertinacity. Its power of keeping 

 its presence of mind under very trying circumstances is well shown in the following anecdote related by 

 Bell : A gentleman, " while riding over his grounds, saw at a short distance from him a Kite pounce 

 on some object on the ground, and rise with it in his talons. In a few moments, however, the Kite 

 began to show signs of great uneasiness, rising rapidly in the air, or as quickly falling, and wheeling 

 irregularly round, whilst it was evidently endeavouring to force some obnoxious thing from it with its 

 feet. After a sharp but short contest, the Kite fell suddenly to the earth, not far from where 

 Mr. Pindar was intently watching the manoeuvre. He instantly rode up to the spot, when a W~easel 

 ran away from the Kite, apparently unhurt, leaving the bird dead, with a hole eaten through the skin 

 under the wing, and the large blood-vessels of the part cut through." 



THE ERMINE.* 



The Stoat, or Ermine, is an important species closely allied to the Weasel, from which it differs 

 chiefly by its greater size, and by the peculiarities of its colouring. In summer the upper parts vary 

 from yellowish-brown to mahogany brown, while the under side is white tinged with sulphur-yellow, 

 except on the throat, which is pure white. The tail is tipped with black. The brown upper and white 

 under surfaces are separated by a perfectly distinct line of demarcation, which extends from the snout 

 to the root of the tail, dipping down at the limbs, so as to include the outer surfaces of the latter in the 

 dark area. In winter, on the other hand, the skin is, with the exception of the tip of the tail, which 

 always remains black, pure white, tinged here and therewith sulphur-yellow. Intermediate states 

 between full winter dress and full summer dress are often found, and these, curiously enough, show 

 their half-way character in two ways. Sometimes there is an alteration in level of the line of demarcation 

 between the white and brown portions of the skin, the latter being occasionally found restricted to a' 

 narrow strip along the back, but remaining still without any admixtui-e of white hairs. In other cases, 

 again, the line of demarcation remains unaltered, but the dark portions become gradually lighter and 

 lighter, until the final white dress is assumed. 



As to the interesting question of the exact manner and cause of this change, it is sometimes 

 stated that the direct influence of cold produces a rapid lightening in the colour of individual hairs, while 

 there are also facts to show that the change is not due to an alteration in colour of existing hairs, but to 

 a renewal of the coat, the hairs of one colour being replaced by those of the other. Dr. Elliott Coues, 

 who has worked up the subject in an able and exhaustive manner, has satisfied himself that the 



* Putorius erminca. 



