CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 5. CARNIVORA. 
311 
EEMINE-WEASELS. 
more frequent occurrence ttan that species ; and for one weasel I have seen at least five or six 
ermines. It frequents stony places and thickets, among which it finds a secure retreat, as its 
agility enables it to outstrip even a dog in a short race, and the slimness of its body allows it 
to enter a very small aperture. Patches of furze, in particular, afford it perfect security, and it 
sometimes takes possession of a rabbit's burrow. It preys on game and other birds, from the 
grouse and ptarmigan downward, sometimes attacks poultry or sucks their eggs, and is a deter- 
mined enemy to rats and moles. Young rabbits and hares frequently become victims to its 
rapacity, and even full-grown individuals are sometimes destroyed by it. Although in general 
it does not appear to hunt by scent, yet it has been seen to trace its prey like a dog, following 
its track with certainty. Its motions are elegant, and its appearance extremely animated. It 
moves by leaping or bounding, and is capable of running with great speed, although it seldom 
trusts itself beyond the immediate vicinity of cover. Under the excitement of pursuit, how- 
ever, its courage is surprising, for it will attack, seize by the throat, and cling to a grouse, hare, 
or other animal strong enough to carry it off, and it does not hesitate, on occasion, to betake 
itself to the water. Sometimes, when met with in a thicket or stony place, it will stand and 
gaze upon the intruder, as if conscious of security ; and, although its boldness has been exaggera- 
ted in the popular stories which have made their way into books of natural history, it cannot be 
denied that, in proportion to its size, it is at least as courageous as the tiger or the lion." 
Mr. Bell was informed by the Rev. F. W. Hope that the latter, while shooting in Shropshire, 
was attracted by the loud shrill scream of a hare which he thought had been just caught in a 
poacher's snare. He ran toward the spot, and there saw a hare limping off, apparently in great 
distress, with something attached to the side of the throat. This proved to be a stoat, and 
the stricken hare made its way into the brushwood with its enemy still holding on. In Eng- 
land it takes advantage of the galleries of the mole for its winter retreat, as well as the rabbit- 
burrow. 
Captain Lyon, in the polar regions of America, saw the ermine hunting the footsteps of mice 
as a hound would hunt a fox, and observed their burrows in the snow, which were pushed up in 
