89 
captivity, one killed and ate the other, picking the bones 
clean . 1 Their cannibalistic tendencies and the work of the 
trapper may account for their comparative scarcity. 
The Mink. - — - Minks feed along water courses, where they 
kill a water-fowl now and then. They also make excursions 
overland, killing mice, as does the weasel. At times they 
kill many domestic fowls and some birds. Mr. Brewster 
has recorded, in “ Bird-lore/’ the almost complete destruc- 
tion of a colony of bank swallows by one or more minks. 
Mr. H. B. Bigelow says : “ Minks kill few if any quail or 
partridges, but a good many ducks on the marshes. I have 
found black ducks, evidently killed and partly eaten by 
them.” Their fur is valuable now; they are trapped much, 
so they are rather rare, which is fortunate for birds and 
poultry. 
The Skunk. — The skunk is a sluggish and rather stupid 
animal, but knows enough to steal young chickens from under 
the mother at night. When a boy I once surprised a skunk 
apparently eating some grouse eggs, while the bird hovered 
about, afraid to come to close quarters. Wishing to inter- 
rupt the proceedings, I undertook to investigate, but was so 
warmly received by the undaunted animal that it was soon 
left in undisputed possession of its ill-gotten meal. Prob- 
ably the injury done by skunks to birds has been exagger- 
ated. While occasionally they may stumble on a nest of 
eggs or young birds, they are too slow to pursue and over- 
take any bird that is able to use its wings or legs. I have 
seen forty fowls roosting two and one-half feet from the 
ground in safety, while, night after night, skunks came and 
ate refuse from the ground in the same coop. 
Hunters, finding the nest of a game bird despoiled of its 
contents, are very likely to attribute it to a skunk, without 
sufficient evidence. Most people who have been much in 
the woods believe that skunks eat many birds’ and turtles’ 
eggs; but thus far I have been able to find but one man 
who has seen the skunk eating birds’ eggs. This may be 
mainly because the skunk usually hunts at night; but Mr. 
Martin L. Sornborger writes from Haydenville that he has 
actually seen the skunk eating the eggs in a grouse’s nest. 
1 “ Squirrels and Other Fur Bearers,” John Burroughs, p. 87. 
