PUTORIUS ERMINE A. 5 ~j 
the mere sake of killing, and its entire existence is almost one con- 
tinuous course of bloodshed. 
Dr. Coues speaks thus of its general aspect : “A glance at the 
physiognomy of the Weasels would suffice to betray their character. 
The teeth are almost of the highest known raptorial character; the 
jaws are worked by enormous masses of muscles covering all the side 
of the skull. The forehead is low, and the nose is sharp; the eyes 
are small, penetrating, cunning, and glitter with an angry green light. 
There is something peculiar, moreover, in the way that this fierce 
face surmounts a body extraordinarily wiry, lithe, and muscular. It 
ends a remarkably long and slender neck in such a way that it may 
be held at a right angle with the axis of the latter. When the crea- 
ture is glancing around, with the neck stretched up, and flat triangu- 
lar head bent forward, swaying from one side to the other, we catch 
the likeness in a moment — it is the image of a serpent.” * 
The foregoing forcible picture fits the Weasel well when under 
conditions of excitement and anger; but there are times when its 
appearance in no wise suggests its sanguinary propensities. In cer- 
tain states of pelage it is very beautiful, and when at rest a more 
innocent and harmless looking creature can hardly be found. On 
the approach of any of the animals that constitute its prey, how- 
ever, its bearing is instantly changed, and its fiendish nature is soon 
revealed. 
I once put a very large rat into a square tin cage with a Weasel 
of this species. The rat had been caught in a steel trap, by the toes 
of one of its hind feet, and was in no way injured. He was very 
ugly, biting fiercely at the trap and the stick with which I assisted 
him into the eagre of the Weasel. No sooner had he entered the 
cage than his whole manner and bearing changed. He immediately 
assumed an attitude of abject terror, trembled from head to foot, and 
crawled into the nearest corner. The Weasel advanced toward 
5 
* Fur-bearing Animals, 1877, p. 129. 
