246 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
THe WeaseEL, Mustela vulgaris. 
The old axiom of “ Give a dog a bad name and hang him” may 
be well bestowed on our poor little friendly weasel. That he is an 
egg-sucker no one would be rash enough to deny ; but I know, from 
personal knowledge of his habits, that the good he does in the 
destruction of field mice far outbalances any harm he may do to 
the young of game or poultry. I never destroy a weasel or allow 
one to be destroyed if | can prevent it, yet | defy any one to show 
a better head of either ground or winged game on the same 
extent of open country than | can. That the weasel bore a bad 
character, even in Shakspeare’s time, will appear from the following 
quotations. 
Its propensity for eggs is referred to by the melancholy Jaques, 
who says— 
*T can suck melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks eggs.” 
As You Like It. Act ii., Scene 5. 
“ As quarrelous as a weasel” (Cymbeline, Act iii., Scene 4) may 
be termed a Shakspearian proverb. 
Even at the present day, many sportsmen and country people, 
who really ought to know better confuse this animal with the 
weasel; we are, therefore, less surprised that Shakspeare does not 
mention the stoat or ermine. No doubt much of the mischief 
attributed to the weasel could be rightly laid to the credit of its 
larger and more powerful congener, the stoat. 
THe Orrer, Lutra vulgaris. 
Only once do we find that Shakspeare mentions the otter, and 
then apparently only to record the ancient belief that it was a 
very mysterious animal—a kind of hybrid between fish and beast. 
That he was better informed is pretty evident from the fact of 
his entrusting the description of it to our amusing friend Falstaff 
(Henry IV., Part I., Act ili., Scene 3). 
Tue Bapeer, Meles taxrus. 
The very cruel practice, unworthy the name of sport, of badger- 
baiting, could scarcely have been indulged in in Shakspeare’s time, 
otherwise we should probably find some allusion to it. Once only 
does our poet mention this poor persecuted animal, under its more 
