FUE^CLAD FIGHTERS. 131 



has recorded the common color of the weasel as a 

 variable mahogany brown, and he cites this peculiar 

 liver color as an exception to the rule ; but I must 

 say that the weasels which I was fortunate enough to 

 see last summer in broad daylight (at ten o'clock in 

 the morning) were an unmistakable seal brown of a 

 lightish tone, or liver brown — i. e., a color produced 

 by mixing six parts sepia with one part crimson lake. 

 But a mahogany-colored weasel I have never seen. 



The weasel is an inquisitive little animal, cease- 

 lessly active, and ever on the scent of his prey ; this, 

 it is said, he pursues with the intelligence of a hound. 

 Mr. Thomas Bell describes the 

 weasel's hunt as follows : " In 

 pursuing a rat or a mouse it 

 not only follows it as long as it 

 remains within sight, but con- Head of little brown wea- 

 tinues the chase after it has dis- ^f "^j;°f *^ narrow form 



adapted to the exploration of 

 appeared, with the head raised small animals' homes under- 

 ^^ ground. 



a httle above the ground, fol- 

 lowing the exact track recently taken by its destined 

 'prey. Should it lose the scent, it returns to the 

 point where it was lost, and quarters the ground with 

 great diligence till it has recovered it ; thus, by dint 

 of perseverance, it will ultimately hunt down a 

 swifter and even a stronger animal than itself. But 

 this is not all: in the pertinacity of its pursuit it 



