COMMON WEESEL. 421 
quest of birds, field-mice, &c. It even attacks 
young Rabbets and other animals of far superior 
size to itself; but its chief prey, at least in this 
country, seems to be the field-mouse, of which it 
destroys great multitudes. From the extreme 
flexibility of its body, and its wonderful activity, 
it readily ascends the sides of walls, and by this 
means pursues its prey into the most distant re- 
tirements; and is a frequent inhabitant of barns 
and granaries. The A\'eesel produces four or five 
young at a time; preparing for them a bed of 
moss, grass, &c. An instance is given by the Count 
de Buffon of a Weesels nest being found in the 
carcase of a Wolf, which had been hung up near 
a wood : the nest was made in the cavity of the 
thorax. The Count de Buffon, in his first de- 
scription of the Weesel, affirmed that it was a 
perfectly untameable animal; but he afterwards 
received very authentic accounts of Weesels which 
had been so completely tamed as to exhibit every 
mark of attachment to their benefactors, and to 
be as familiar as a cat or lap-dog. An account 
of this kind is given by one of his correspondents 
in the 7th supplemental volume of his Natural 
History, which amply confirms the truth of this ; 
and, among other curious particulars, it is ob- 
served, that, when asleep, the muscles of this 
little animal are in a state of extreme flaccidity, 
so that it may be taken up by the head, and 
swung backwards and forwards, in the manner of 
a pendulum, several times before it wakes. Ma- 
demoiselle de Laistre, in a letter on this subject 
