THE WEASEL* 



297 



parts enables him to overcome animals vastly his 

 superior in size. His attack upon the hare and rabbit 

 is always uniform and decisive : he fixes his teeth into 

 the neck of these animals just behind the ear, and 

 death follows the bite in a very few minutes. 



Some two or three months ago, I heard the 

 squeal of a rabbit, whilst I was working in the 

 flower-garden ; and on arriving at the place whence 

 it proceeded, I found the keeper there before me, 

 with a fine old rabbit in his hand. He had seen the 

 weasel on the rabbit's back, as he was proceeding 

 down the hill ; and he had scarcely rescued it from 

 the grasp of its destroyer ere it died in his hand. 

 I took out my penknife, and I dissected the death- 

 wound, which was just under the ear. There was 

 no laceration to be seen. Two small punctures 

 merely appeared, as though they had been done 

 with the point of a pin ; and they were surrounded 

 by a spot of extravasated blood about the size of a 

 sixpence. 



The rabbit is what may be termed short-winded, 

 and is easilj^ run down ; whilst, on the contrary, 

 the hare is known to afford a long chase ; hence the 

 rabbit has not so good a chance as the hare of 

 escaping from the weasel. 



Individuals of the weasel tribe pursue their prey 

 by the scent ; but cats trust to their eye, and pounce 

 on their quarry at a single bound. 



On a summer s evening, in the year 1815, I went 

 over, with my air-gun, to my neighbour Sir William 

 Pilkington, in order to thin his abundant crop of 

 rabbits ; and I sat me down on a lonely bank, within 



