214 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 
between the weather-boarding and the sill. On 
gently forcing outward a plank, we perceived 
the bright eyes of a mink peering at us and 
shining like a pair of diamonds. He had long 
been thus snugly ensconced, and was enabled to 
supply himself with a regular feast without leav- 
ing the house, as the hole opened toward the 
inside on the floor. Summary justice was in- 
flicted, of course, on the concealed robber, and 
peace and security once more were restored in 
the precincts of the chicken-yard. 
This species is very numerous in the salt- 
marshes of the Southern states, where it sub- 
sists principally on the marsh-hen, the sea-side 
finch, and the sharp-tailed finch, which, during 
a considerable portion of the year, feed on the 
minute shell-fish and aquatic insects lef on the 
mud and oysterbanks, on the subsiding of the 
waters. We haveseen a mink winding stealthily 
through the tall marsh-grass, pausing occasion- 
ally to take an observation, and sometimes lying 
for the space of a minute flat upon the mud: at 
length it draws its hind-feet far forwards under 
its body in the manner of a cat, its back is 
arched, its tail curled, and it makes a sudden 
spring. The screams of a captured marsh-hen 
succeed, and its upraised fluttering wing gives 
sufficient evidence that it is about *o be trans 
