194 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



very destructive one to boot. He will enter the 

 shieling, and murder the small but valuable stock of 

 poultry, with all the ferociousness of his tribe. 

 Still they have been tamed, the whole of the tribe, 

 but they are not to be depended on. Ladies have 

 brought up weasels from the nest — weasel kittens — 

 and sometimes all has gone well ; but I have known 

 accidents happen of a very unpleasant nature. At 

 times their natural thirst for blood will come back 

 without any warning. 



The love for living creatures as pets has increased 

 of late to a great extent, and more is known now 

 about the animals and birds of our native land than 

 has ever been known before. What was often said 

 to me in my childhood rings in my ears still : " A 

 place for everything, and everything in its place." 

 It is an old saw, but a wise one. From the marten 

 downwards, his whole tribe in their own place act 

 as natural police, and keep within due bounds other 

 creatures that otherwise would seriously incon- 

 venience man himself. The very creatures he pro- 

 tects—game of all kinds, for instance— would, if not 

 killed, become a pest to those who cultivate the 

 land. I can remember vast tracts of land, at one 



