THE WEASEL. 
285 
pass which, will not quite as readily suffer the passage of the W easel ; and as the W easel is 
most determined and pertinacious in pursuit, it seldom happens that rats or mice escape when 
their little foe has set itself fairly on their track, 
Not only does the Weasel pursue its prey through the ramifications of the burrows, but it 
possesses in a very large degree the faculty of hunting by scent, and is capable of following its 
prey through all its windings, even though it should not come within sight until the termina- 
tion of the chase. It will even cross water in the chase of its prey. When it has at last 
reached its victim, it leaps upon the devoted 
creature, and endeavors to fix its teeth in the 
back of the neck, where it retains its deadly 
hold in spite of every struggle on the part of 
the wounded animal. If the attack be rightly 
made, and the animal be a small one, it can 
drive its teeth into the brain, and cause instan- 
taneous insensibility. The gamekeeper has some 
reason for his dislike to the Weasel, as it is very 
fond of eggs and young birds of all kinds, and 
is too prone to rob the nests of eggs or young. 
It is said that an egg which has been broken by 
a Weasel can always be recognized by the pecu- 
liar mode which the little creature employs for 
the purpose. Instead of breaking the egg to 
pieces, or biting a large hole in the shell, the 
Weasel contents itself with making quite a 
small aperture at one end, through which it 
abstracts the liquid contents. 
So determined a poacher, is the Weasel 
that it has been seen to capture even full-grown 
birds. A Weasel has been seen to leap from the 
ground into the midst of a covey of partridges, 
just as they were rising on the wing, and to 
bring one of them to the earth. When the spec- 
tator of this curious occurrence reached the spot, 
he found the Weasel in the act of devouring 
the bird, which it had already killed. This weasel .-Musteia vulgaris. 
adventure took place about the end of the month 
of October. The birds were more than two feet from the ground when the attack was made 
upon them. 
Another Weasel was seen to capture and kill a rook in a somewhat similar manner. The 
rooks had discovered the Weasel in a field, and after their custom on such occasions, had 
gathered round it, and commenced mobbing it. Suddenly, just as one of the rooks made a 
lower stoop than usual, the Weasel leaped at its tormentor and dashed it to the ground. The 
dissonant cries of the rooks as they scolded the Weasel attracted the attention of a horseman 
who was passing by, who arrived at the spot just as the bird had been killed. It lay on the 
ground dead, from a wound in its neck ; its murderer having taken shelter in a neighboring 
hedge. As soon, however, as the horseman withdrew, the Weasel emerged from its hiding- 
place, and dragged the dead rook under the shelter of the bushes. 
Although the Weasel proved the victor in this instance, it does not always meet with 
equal success, especially when it matches its mental powers against those of a superior kind. 
The predilection of this animal for eggs has already been mentioned, and the W easel will take 
great pains in order to secure the coveted luxury. A gentleman, who had discovered a furtive 
nest made by one of his hens in a hedgerow, was witness to a curious scene. Just as the hen 
had laid an egg, she issued from her nest, cackling triumphantly, as is the manner of hens 
upon such occasions. A Weasel, which had been observed at a great distance stretching its 
