EXPERIENCES OF SPOR7. 



other he still held a small rabbit. We were 

 watching this fight with intense interest fur 

 and feather flying gaily about when another 

 actor made his appearance in the arena in the 

 shape of a stoat, who immediately rushed on 

 the weasel ; the latter fought very pluckily, but 

 was soon forced to succumb to the superior size 

 and weight of the stoat. As the weasel scudded 

 off I laid him low, and the keeper polished off 

 the stoat. On looking at the owl we found he 

 was just dead, having been bitten badly about 

 the neck ; his claw was so deeply embedded in 

 the skin and flesh of the rabbit that it was with 

 difficulty we could get it out. No doubt had 

 he been able to use it he would have proved too 

 much for the weasel, who must have crept on 

 him unawares. The following curious anecdote, 

 which appeared in the " Weymouth and Dor- 

 chester Telegraph," shows what a bird, not 

 naturally one of prey, will do when pushed by 

 hunger : 



" During the snow storm of last week, Ser- 

 geant-Major Collins, of the Dorset Militia, ob- 

 served a common starling (sturnus milgaris) 

 perched upon the top rail of a fence in the 



