sense of its hostility to
them, so much so that when it is introduced into a house they are
observed to hurry away in all directions, being apprised, no doubt,
of its presence by the peculiar odour it emits. Its ferocity and
courage are made subservient to the amusement of the rich, who train
it to attack large fowls, geese, and even goats and sheep. It seizes
these by the great artery of the neck, and does not quit its hold
till the victim sinks exhausted from the loss of blood--a cruel
pastime which one could only expect of a barbarous people.

NO. 182. MUSTELA (GYMNOPUS: _Gray_) STRIGIDORSA.
_The Striped Weasel_ (_Jerdon's No. 99_).

HABITAT.--Sikim.

DESCRIPTION.--Dark chestnut-brown, with a narrow streak of long
yellow hairs down the back; edge of upper lip, chin, throat, chest,
and a narrow stripe down the centre of the belly, yellow, or
yellowish-white.

SIZE.--Head and body, 12 inches; tail, 5-1/2 inches without the hair,
6-1/2 inches with it.

This is similar to the last, but is slightly larger, and
distinguishable by the dorsal stripe.

NO. 183. MUSTELA ERMINEA.
_The Ermine or Stoat_.

HABITAT.--Europe, America and Asia (the Himalayas, Nepal, Thibet,
Afghanistan).

DESCRIPTION.--Brown above; upper lip, chin, and lower surface of
body, inside of limbs and feet yellowish-white; tail brown, with a
black tip. In winter the whole body changes to a yellowish-white,
with the exception of the black tip of the tail.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 10 inches; tail, 4-1/2 inches.

This is about the best known in a general way from its fur being used
as part of the insignia of royalty. The fur however only becomes
valuable after it has completed its winter change. How this is done
was for a long time a subject of speculation and inquiry. It is,
however, now proved that it is according to season that the mode of
alteration is effected. In spring the new hairs are brown, replacing
the white ones of winter; in autumn the existing brown hairs turn
white. Mr. Bell, who gave the subject his careful consideration, says
that in Ross's first Polar expedition, a Hudson's Bay lemming
(_Myodes_) was exposed in its summer coat to a temperature of 30
degrees below zero. Next morning the fur on the cheeks and a patch
on each shoulder had become perfectly white; at the end of the week
the winter change was complete, with the exception of a dark band
across the shoulder and a dorsal stripe.

Hodgson remarks that the Ermi