MINK 



Put or ins vis on. 



Few animals are given as many and as diversified powers both 

 for getting a living and for self-preservation as fall to the lot of the 

 mink, who is still to be found not infrequently throughout North 

 America, excepting in the extreme north and south. Equally fit- 

 ted for quickness, whether on land or in the water, is the long, slen- 

 der and supple shape and equally does he divide his time between 

 the two, with a slight preference, perhaps, for the latter, seeing that 

 it offers safer quarters and more easily captured food. He has* 

 spread before him, for most of the year, an exceptionally varied bill 

 of fare, without the trouble of hunting at all, he may regale him- 

 self on mussels, various shellfish and even dead fish cast up along 

 shore. Most fond of diving and swimming, he is seldom unable 



119 



