104 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



repast from the brain alone. Fowl-houses 

 suffer considerably from its visits ; and it has 

 been known to kill and afterwards leave 

 untouched as many as sixteen large turkeys. 

 In the nest of a fitcliet which was observed 

 to frequent the banks of a stream, no fewer than 

 eleven fine trout were found. The Gamekeeper 

 persistently dogs this creature both summer 

 and winter. In the latter season, every time 

 it ventures abroad it registers its progress 

 through the snow. It is then that the old man 

 is most active in its destruction. He tracks the 

 vermin to some fence or disused quarry, cuts 

 off the enemy's retreat, and then unearths him. 

 Trapped he is at all times. 



The Stoat or Ermine is almost as destructive to 

 game as the animal just mentioned. Upon occa- 

 sion it destroys great quantities of rats, though 

 this is its only redeeming quality. Partridges, 

 grouse, pheasants, all fall a prey to the Stoat, and 

 hares when pursued seem to become thoroughly 

 demoralized. Water is no obstacle to the 

 Ermine, and it climbs trees in search of squirrels, 

 birds, and eggs. A pair of Stoats took up their 

 abode in a well-stocked rabbit-warren. The 

 legitimate inmates were killed off wholesale, 



