62 
WHITE WEASEL. 
mal, as by capturing one, no signs of other individuals were afterwards 
seen. We have observed it most abundant in stony regions : in Dutchess 
and Ontario counties in Nev-York, on the hills of Connecticut and Ver- 
mont, and at the foot of the Alleghanies in Pennsylvania and Virginia. It 
IS solitary in its habits, as we have seldom seen a pair together except 
m the rutting season. A family of young, however, are apt to remain in 
the same locality till autumn. In winter they separate, and we are in- 
clined to think that they do not hunt in couples or in packs like the wolf, 
but that, like the bat and the mink, each individual pursues its prey with- 
out copartnership, and hunts for its own benefit. 
The only note we have ever heard uttered by the Ermine is a shrill 
querulous cry : this was heard only when it was suddenly alarmed, or 
received a hurt, when its sharp scream was always attended Avith an 
emission of the offensive odour with which nature has furnished it as 
a means of defence. Although nocturnal in its hahits, the Ermine is fre- 
quently met with at all hours of the day, and we have seen it in pur- 
suit of the common rabbit under a bright shining sun at noon-day. 
We doubt whether the Ermine ever digs its own burrows, and although 
when fastened to a chain in a state of confinement we observed it dig- 
ging shallow holes in the ground, its attempts at burrowing were as 
awkward as those of the rat ; the ne.sts we have seen were placed un- 
der roots of trees, in stone heaps, or in the burrows of the ground squir- 
rel, from which the original occupants had been expelled. The rut- 
ting sea.sonis in xvinter, from the middle of February to the beginning 
of March. The young, from four to seven, are born in May, in the 
latitude of New- York. We were informed by a close observer, that in 
the upper country of Carolina, the young had been seen as early as 
the 25th of March. The colour of the young when a week old, is 
pale yellow on the upper surface. 
The Ermine avoids water, and if forcibly thrown into it, swims awk- 
wardly like a cat. It does not, like the fisher and pine marten, pursue 
Its prey on trees, and seems never to ascend them from choice ; but from 
dire necessity, when closely pursued by its implacable enemy, the dog 
One of the most singular characteristics of this species, viz., its change 
of colour from brown in summer to pure white in winter, and from 
white in spring to its summer colour, remains to be considered. It is 
well known that about the middle of October the Ermine gradually 
loses its brown summer-coat and assumes its Ai-hite Avinter-pelage, Avhich 
about the middle of March is replaced by the usual summer colour- 
As far as our observations have enabled us to form an opinion on 
this subject, we have arrived at the conclusion, that the animal sheds 
