132 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. 



will readily take the water, and swim witli great ease 

 after its prey." 



The female weasel, a much smaller animal than 

 the male, brings forth four, or more frequently five, 

 young, and has two or three litters in a year. The 

 nest is composed of leaves and herbage, and is warm 

 and dry ; usually it is built in a hole under some 

 river bank or in the hollow of a tree. 



As a rule the little brown weasel will most likely 

 be seen in the woody borders of the meadow, not far 

 from the river. Last June, during a most unpre- 

 cedented flood of the Pemigewasset River, N. H., 

 caused by violent rains, the weasels were driven from 

 the river banks to the higher land at the foot of the 

 hills. To my unspeakable surprise, I saw, one morn- 

 ing while weeding the garden bed in front of the 

 house, a number of weasels traveling Indian file 

 down the brick walk directly toward me. The baby 

 (aged three) stood on the bricks, and as I handed 

 him a bachelor's button in compliance with his re- 

 quest, I noticed that he seemed a trifle disturbed by 

 something near his feet. No wonder ! there were a 

 number of long-necked, ratlike creatures plodding 

 slowly along, within six inches of his toes, and grunt- 

 ing discomposedly like little pigs. On they came, 

 the queer, dark-brown, bold-faced things, apparently 

 with no thought except that the brick walk was the 



