246 HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 



to every thing that is corrupt : A Weasel was 

 taken in his neighbourhood, with three young ones, 

 out of the carcase of a Wolf that had been hung on 

 a tree by the hind feet. The Wolf was almost 

 entirely putrefied ; and the Weasel had made a 

 nest of leaves and herbage for her young in the 

 thorax of the putrid carcase. 



THE STOAT. 

 (Mnstcla Erminca, Linn. Lc Rosclct, Buff.) 



THE difference in shape between this animal 

 and the Weasel is so small, that they have fre- 

 quently been described under the same denomina- 

 tion ; a small Stoat being sometimes mistaken for 

 a Weasel. 



Its length is about ten inches; the tail five inches 

 and a half, very hairy, and tipt with black at the 

 end; the edges of the ears, and ends of the toes, are 

 of a yellowish white: in other respects, it perfectly 

 resembles the Weasel in colour as well as form. 



