to the Giver of all good; she continues sipping and advancing gradually; she has now approached the fatal rocks, when with a sudden rush the Mink has seized her; ere he can regain his hole however, our gun's sharp crack is heard and the marauder lies before us."

"We acknowledge that we have little inclination to say anything in defence of the Mink. We must admit, however, that although he is a cunning and destructive rogue, his next door neighbour, the ermine or common weasel, goes infinitely beyond him in his mischievous propensities. Whilst the Mink is satisfied with destroying one or two fowls at a time, on which he makes a hearty meal; the weasel, in the very spirit of wanton destructiveness, sometimes in a single night puts to death every tenant of the poultry-house!"

"Whilst residing at Henderson, on the banks of the Ohio river, we observed that Minks were quite abundant, and often saw them carrying rats which they caught like the weasel or ferret, and conveyed away in their mouths, holding them by the neck in the manner of a cat."

Along the trout streams of our Eastern and Northern States the Mink has been known to steal fish that having been caught by some angler, had been left tied together with a string while the fisherman proceeded farther in quest of more. An angler informed us that he had lost in this way thirty or forty fine trout, which a Mink dragged off the bank into the stream and devoured, and we have been told that by looking carefully after them, the Mink could be seen watching the fisherman and in readiness to take his fish, should he leave it at any distance behind him. Mr. Hutson of Halifax informed us that he had a salmon weighing four pounds carried off by one of them."

"We have observed that the Mink is a tolerably expert fisher. On one occasion, whilst seated near a trout-brook in the northern part of the State of New York, we heard a sudden splashing in the stream and saw a large trout gliding through the shallow water and making for some long overhanging roots on the side of the bank. A Mink was in close pursuit, and dived after it; in a moment afterwards it re-appeared with the fish in its mouth. By a sudden rush we induced it to drop the trout, which was upwards of a foot in length."

"We are disposed to believe, however, that fishes are not the principal food on which the Mink subsists. We have sometimes

seen it feeding on frogs and cray-fish. In the Northern States we have often observed it with a Wilson's meadow-mouse in its mouth, and in Carolina the very common cotton-rat furnishes no small proportion of its food. We have frequently remarked it coursing along the edge of the marshes, and found that it was in search of this rat, which frequents such localities, and we discovered that it was not an unsuccessful mouser. We once saw a Mink issuing from a hole in the earth, dragging by the neck a large Florida rat."

"This species has a good nose, and is able to pursue its prey like a hound following a deer. A friend of ours informed us that once while standing on the border of a swamp near the Ashley 'river, he perceived a marsh-hare dashing by him; a moment after came a Mink with its nose near the ground, following the frightened animal, apparently by the scent, through the marsh.

"In the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina, a hen-house was one season robbed several nights in succession, the owner counting a chicken less every morning. No idea could be formed, however, of the manner in which it was carried off. The building was erected on posts, and was securely locked, in addition to which precaution a very vigilant watch-dog was now put on guard, being chained underneath the chicken-house. Still, the number of fowls in it diminished nightly, and one was as before missed every morning.

"We were at last requested to endeavour to ascertain the cause of the vexatious and singular abstraction of our friend's chickens, and on a careful examination we discovered a small hole in a corner of the building, leading to a cavity between the weatherboarding and the sill. On gently forcing outward a plank, we perceived the bright eyes of a Mink peering at us and shining like a pair of diamonds. He had long been thus snugly ensconced, and was enabled to supply himself with a regular feast without leaving the house, as the hole opened toward the inside on the floor. Summary justice was inflicted of course on the concealed robber, and peace and security once more were restored in the precincts of the chicken yard.

"This species is very numerous in the salt-marshes of the Southern States, where it subsists principally on the marsh-hen, (Rallus crepitans,) the sea-side finch, (Ammodramus maritimus,) and the sharp-tailed finch, (A. caudacutus,) which, during a considerable. portion of the year, feed on the minute shell-fish and aquatic in

sects left on the mud and oyster-banks, on the subsiding of the waters. We have seen a Mink winding stealthily through the tall marsh-grass, pausing occasionally to take an observation, and sometimes lying for the space of a minute flat upon the mud: at length it draws its hind-feet far forwards under its body in the manner of a cat, its back is arched, its tail curled, and it makes a sudden spring. The screams of a captured marsh-hen succeed, and its upraised fluttering wing gives sufficient evidence that it is about to be transferred from its pleasant haunts in the marshes to the capacious maw of the hungry Mink.

"It is at low tide that this animal usually captures the marshhen. We have often at high spring tide observed a dozen of those birds standing on a small field of floating sticks and matted grasses, gazing stupidly at a mink seated not five feet from them. No attempt was made by the latter to capture the birds that were now within his reach. At first we supposed that he might have already been satiated with food and was disposed to leave the tempting marsh hens till his appetite called for more; but we were after more mature reflection inclined to think that the high spring tides which occur, exposing the whole marsh to view and leaving no place of concealment, frighten the Mink as well as the marsh-hen; and as misery sometimes makes us familiar with strange associates, so the Mink and the marsh-hen like neighbour and brother hold on to their little floating islands till the waters subside, when each again follows the instincts of nature. An instance of a similar effect of fear on other animals was related to us by an old resident of Carolina: some forty years ago, during a tremendous flood in the Santee river, he saw two or three deer on a small mound not twenty feet in diameter, surrounded by a wide sea of waters, with a cougar seated in the midst of them; both parties, having seemingly entered into a truce at a time. when their lives seemed equally in jeopardy, were apparently disposed peaceably to await the falling of the waters that surrounded them.

"The Minks which resort to the Southern marshes, being there furnished with an abundant supply of food are always fat, and appear to us considerably larger than the same species in those localities where food is less abundant.

"This species prefers taking up its residence on the borders of ponds and along the banks of small streams, rather than along large and broad rivers. It delights in frequenting the foot of

rapids and waterfalls. When pursued it flies for shelter to the water, an element suited to its amphibious habits, or to some retreat beneath the banks of the stream. It runs tolerably well on high ground and we have found it on several occasions no easy matter to overtake it, and when overtaken, we have learned to our cost that it was rather a troublesome customer about our feet and legs, where its sharp canine teeth made some uncomfortable indentations; neither was its odour as pleasant as we could have desired. It is generally supposed that the Mink never resorts to a tree to avoid pursuit; we have, however, witnessed one instance to the contrary. In hunting for the ruffed-grouse, (T. Umbellus,) we observed a little dog that accompanied us, barking at the stem of a young tree, and on looking up, perceived a Mink seated in the first fork, about twelve feet from the ground. Our friend, the late Dr. WRIGHT, of Troy, informed us that whilst he was walking on the border of a wood, near a stream, a small animal which he supposed to be a black squirrel, rushed from a tuft of grass, and ascended a tree. After gaining a seat on a projecting branch, it peeped down at the intruder on its haunts, when he shot it, and picking it up, ascertained that it was a Mink.

"We think, however, that this animal is not often seen to ascend a tree, and these are the only instances of its doing so which are known to us.

"This species is a good swimmer, and like the musk-rat dives at the flash of a gun; we have observed, however, that the percussion-cap now in general use is too quick for its motions, and that this invention bids fair greatly to lessen its numbers. When shot in the water the body of the Mink, as well as that of the otter, has so little buoyancy, and its bones are so heavy, that it almost invariably sinks.

"The Mink, like the musk-rat and ermine, does not possess much cunning, and is easily captured in any kind of trap; it is taken in steel-traps and box-traps, but more generally in what are called dead-falls. It is attracted by any kind of flesh, but we have usually seen the traps baited with the head of a ruffed grouse, wild duck, chicken, jay, or other bird. The Mink is exceedingly tenacious of life, and we have found it still alive under a dead-fall, with a pole lying across its body pressed down by a weight of 150 lbs., beneath which it had been struggling for nearly twentyfour hours.

"This species, as well as the skunk and the ermine, emits an

offensive odour when provoked by men or dogs, and this habit is exercised likewise in a moderate degree whenever it is engaged in any severe struggle with an animal or bird on which it bas seized. We were once attracted by the peculiar and well-known plaintive cry of a hare, in a marsh on the side of one of our Southern rice-fields, and our olfactories were at the same time regaled with the strong fetid odour of the Mink; we found it in possession of a large marsh-hare, with which, from the appearance of the trampled grass and mud, it had been engaged in a fierce struggle for some time.

“The Mink, when taken young, becomes very gentle and forms a strong attachment to those who fondle it in a state of domestication. RICHARDSON saw one in the "possession of a Canadian woman, that passed the day in her pocket, looking out occasionally when its attention was roused by any unusual noise." We had in our possession a pet of this kind for eighteen months; it regularly made a visit to an adjoining fish-pond both morning and evening, and returned to the house of its own accord, where it continued during the remainder of the day. It waged war against the Norway rats which had their domicile in the dam that formed the fish-pond, and it caught the frogs which had taken possession of its banks. We did not perceive that it captured many fish, and it never attacked the poultry. It was on good terms with the dogs and cats, and molested no one unless its tail or foot was accidentally trod upon, when it invariably revenged itself by snapping at the foot of the offender.

"It was rather dull at mid-day, but very active and playful in the morning and evening and at night. It never emitted its disagreeable odour except when it had received a sudden and severe hurt. It was fond of squatting in the chimney-corner, and formed a particular attachment to an arm-chair in our study.

"The Mink brings forth about five or six young in the latter part of the Spring, but it does not appear that more than one litter is produced in the season."

ARTICLE XL.-The Common Weasel, (Putorius erminea.) PUTORIUS ERMINEA.-Linn.

WHITE WEASEL.-STOAT.

The common Weasel of Canada is the true ERMINE, the animal which in the feudal ages yielded the fur for the most choice