1 96 FROM SPRING TO FALL. 



haunt in some adjoining copse or wood, Frogs, 

 mice, rats, birds, and fish may all be found in his 

 larder, when his home is in the wilds ; but he preys 

 on finer and more valuable creatures when he has 

 his home near man and his belongings. 



A dark-coloured ferret, commonly called a polecat 

 ferret, is so much like him that if the two were 

 placed side by side you would scarcely be able to 

 tell the difference between them. The name foumart 

 is evidently a corruption of foul marten, given him 

 on account of his offensive odour, which proceeds 

 from a fatty substance secreted by a gland beneath 

 the tail. The fur is mostly dark brown, nearly black 

 in colour ; it is of little value, and is sold under the 

 name of fitch. He often makes his nest in an old 

 rabbit-burrow. To both rabbits and hares he is a 

 more ferocious enemy than the stoat. 



The stoat, or ermine, is a bright, active creature, 

 handsome, too. He is smaller than the polecat, the 

 body being scarcely ten inches long, apart from the 

 tail, which is about four and a half inches long, and 

 bushy at the tip. His upper part is brownish red, 

 the under part creamy white. If he crosses your 

 path, he is not put out in the least, but will even 



