LITTLE BEASTS OF FIELD AND WOOD 



Soon after noon, I found the cage empty, with 

 an opening of about her size forced between the 

 wires at the spot where she had made her first 

 attempt at escape. And as nothing is to be 

 found of her, I am forced to conclude that she 

 made her exit from the room through a mouse- 

 hole in the bottom of a cupboard, and is now in 

 all probability chasing the mice somewhere about 

 the walls of the house. 



To-day, I caught a large male ermine in a rat- 

 trap, and, like the last, its fur was as thick and 

 white as in mid-winter. 



And for my part, I have never seen one 

 between November and April that showed more 

 than a faint greenish or creamy tint, and this 

 only on the under surface. And I have taken 

 probably a dozen winter specimens at one time 

 and another. And unless my memory is very 

 much at fault, this includes one perfectly white 

 specimen taken in November, before we had 



