her would proceed. She soon peeped from her
covert, and made several feints to get at her charge, but was obliged to
run into the hedge again, intimidated by the stick which the man
flourished about. At last she summoned up all her resolution, and in
spite of everything, after a great deal of dodging to avoid the stick,
succeeded in obtaining the object of her solicitude, and bore it off
between the legs of her tormentor.

Weasels sometimes fall a prey to hawks; and I transcribe the following
account from the pages of Mr. Bell. "As a gentleman of the name of
Pinder, was riding over his grounds, he saw, at a short distance from
him, a kite pounce on some object on the ground, and rise with it in his
talons. In a few moments, however, the kite began to show signs of great
uneasiness, rising rapidly in the air, or as quickly falling, and
wheeling irregularly round, whilst he was evidently endeavouring to free
some obnoxious thing from him with his feet. After a short but sharp
contest, the kite fell suddenly to the earth, not far from Mr. Pinder.
He instantly rode up to the spot, when a weasel ran away from the kite,
apparently unhurt, leaving the bird dead, with a hole eaten through the
skin under the wing, and the large blood vessels of the part torn
through."

The nest composed by weasels, in which they will bring forth four or
five young ones, two or three times a year, is of dry leaves and
herbage, is placed in a hole, in a bank, a dry ditch, or a hollow tree,
and if a dog come near it, the mother flies at him, and fastens on his
lips with great tenacity.

OTTERS.

The much persecuted otter presents himself to our notice among the
worm-bodied, digitigrade animals. Their broad webbed feet shew that they
frequent the water, and in fact, they are not only found in rivers and
lakes of most European countries, but at sea. Their elongated body is
flattened horizontally, their tail is broad and flat, and forms an
excellent rudder for their guidance when in the water. Their short legs
are so loosely jointed that they can be turned in any direction when
swimming, and their fur is soft, fine, and close underneath, while a
longer, coarser set of hard shining hairs, are on the outside. Their
teeth are very pointed, and well adapted to hold their slippery prey;
their ears are very small, and close to their head, and they have a
nictating membrane, or third eyelid, for the protection of their bright
eyes. Their movemen