376 COMMON WEASEL. % 
Common weasel. 
This is an active little animal, well known in oui 
Own country. Its length, exclusive of the tail, is 
about seven inches ; and its height, not above two 
and a half. The colour of its upper parts is a pale 
reddish brown ; and its breast and belly are white * 
but on each side, below the corners of the mouth* 
is a brown spot. The ears are small and rounded* 
and the eyes black. 
It is very destructive to young birds, poultry, 
rabbits, and several other animals ; and it slicks 
eggs with great avidity. In this latter operation, 
it begins by making a small bole at one end, from 
which it licks out the yolk, leaving the shell be- 
hind ; whereas rats and some other animals, always 
drag the egg out of the nest, and either make a 
large hole in it, or break it to pieces. By this cir- 
cumstance the attacks of the weasel may always 
be distinguished. 
Its form is elegant, but, like some others of this 
genus, it has an unpleasant smell. It lives chiefly 
in ca vities under the roots of trees, and in the banks 
of rivulets ; from w hence it sallies out on the ap- 
proach of evening, to commit its devastations. 
M. de Bufxon supposed the weasel tobeuntame- 
able ; but Mademoiselle de Laistre, in a letter on 
this subject, gives a very pleasing account of the 
education and manners of a weasel which she took 
tinder her protection. This she fed with fresh 
meat and milk, the latter of which it was very 
fond of. It frequently ate from her hand, and seem- 
ed to be more delighted with this manner of feed- 
ing than any other. 
“If I pour,” says this lady, “ some milk into 
my hand, it will drink a good deal ; but if I do 
not pay it this compliment, it will scarcely take 
