66 
MAMMALIA. 
which it returns every twenty-four hours or thereabouts. My experi- 
ence, in certain cases at Jeast, proves the contrary. On the banks of a 
stream, along which 1 once had a line of traps, I noticed at intervals 
of two or three weeks, the tracks of an unusually large Mink. After 
a long while I succeeded in tracking him to an old bridge, in a pas- 
ture, and on lifting the planks at one end discovered his nest (or one 
of them). It consisted of a mass of dead leaves, a foot or more in 
thickness, well lined with feathers. Alongside it were the remains of 
a muskrat, a red squirrel, and a downy woodpecker, but the Mink 
was not there — he had gone on up the stream. Concealing a good 
Newhouse steel trap in the approach to his nest, I replaced the old 
planks and went away. This was about the middle of October. 
Two weeks passed without any indication of his return, but the time 
had arrived when he might be expected to “ happen around” almost 
any day. I therefore made daily visits to the stream to search for 
his tracks, taking' care to avoid the immediate neighborhood of the 
bridge. A heavy snow-storm now set in and next morning a foot of 
newly fallen snow covered the ground. During this storm the Mink 
returned and was caught. He was the largest and handsomest Mink 
I have ever seen, and I regret to have lost the record of his dimen- 
sions, taken at the time. Some idea, however, of his size and the 
quality of his fur may be had from the fact that his pelt sold for four- 
teen dollars. 
This, and other more or less similar experiences, have convinced 
me that the Mink frequently, if not commonly, makes long excursions, 
like the Otter, following one water-course and then another, and re- 
turning over the same route; and 1 believe that they have a number 
of nests scattered at convenient intervals along these circuits. This 
habit may be confined to the old males, but whether it is so or not 
remains to be proven. 
Concerning its manner and actions when caught we have the fol- 
lowing graphic account from the facile pen of Dr. Coues : “ One who 
has not taken a Mink in a steel trap can scarcely form an idea of the 
