SWIMMERS 



disposal than they can possibly eat, even though 

 it does come at a time when there are little minks 

 to support. 



And I have noticed that the females nearly 

 always choose the immediate vicinity of such 

 places for bringing up their families. These 

 families usually keep together, apparently with- 

 out wandering to any great extent until cold 

 weather, with the exception of perhaps the old 

 males, who may spend the summer roving about 

 the country at random, as they do in winter 

 and spring, though I frequently find them in 

 company with the others in the autumn, all 

 having been brought together, perhaps, by the 

 abundance of fish or game at some particular 

 spot. 



For the last three or four centuries, the race of 

 minks has probably had heavier odds to fight 

 against in the struggle for existence than most of 

 our small animals ; and the fact that they are still 

 to be found everywhere, in more or less abun- 



