14 BOOK OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
sucks the eggs, and kills the 
young chickens and ducklings. 
It can climb trees and walls 
with ease, and when it finds a 
bird’s nest, it kills the hen bird 
while sitting, and destroys the 
eggs or young birds. Some 
people say that it does more 
good than harm, by killing or 
driving away rats and mice, 
which are much afraid of it ; 
but it is a sad character to be 
always hunting about for some- 
thing to kill and eat. Another 
animal very like the weasel, 
only a little larger, is the stoat. 
This lives much in the same 
way as the weasel. In cold 
