CATCHING A TARTAR. 65 



to break his long fast since the previous night. A Httle weasel, Hkewise bent on 

 an evening's marauding amid some oft-visited poultry yard, is quickly spied by the 

 Owl, and, faster than the eye can follow, the stoop is made, and the nimble quad- 

 ruped is a prisoner in the sharp claws of its winged foe. Rising again, the Owl 

 mounts above the trees, and pursues his way towards a ruined tower that has served 

 the purpose of a dining-room to him many times before. The bats wing their 

 erratic flight around, and, with many a curious evolution, attend him as he goes. 

 But suddenly, even in mid-air, his strokes become feeble, a single, harsh note is 

 uttered, the wings then cease to beat and become fixed, and the upward course 

 changes to a downward one ; and with outstretched claws and stiffened body, the 

 bird falls headlong to the earth — a long line of escaped feathers floating lightly 

 away from him as he descends. The reason of this catastrophe is soon told. 

 When struck by the Owl, the weasel was seized by the back, and as he was borne 

 aloft, the supple creature, like all of his tribe, was not inclined to yield without a 

 struggle, and therefore twisting himself around, even as he was carried along, he 

 seized the bird by the throat, and in mid-air slew it with his sharp teeth. No sooner 

 was the earth reached than, springing lightly away, the nimble animal disappeared ; 

 and the inanimate body of the bird alone remained to remind us, how often in 

 the world, the cunning of an apparently feeble creature has proved more than 

 a match for the strength of the most powerful. 



