would be more formidable than the lion or the tiger, and infinitely more destructive, as they kill, when opportunity offers, by wholesale, sucking the blood and devouring only a portion of their victims, thereby effecting a waste of life within the sphere of their predatory operations.

Subtle and bold, the weasel tribe usually take their prey by surprise, and no animals are better endowed by nature for an insidious attack. Their form is long and slender; and such is their snake-like pliability, that they can twist themselves in the most extraordinary manner, and insinuate themselves into holes or crevices VOL. X.-3 N

which one would think it impossible for them to enter. The limbs are short but powerful, and the toes are armed with sharp claws; hence they climb trees, or the sides of rough walls or buildings, with great agility. In their movements they appear to glide along, but they can bound and spring with considerable vigour, and know well how to fasten on their adversary.

In attacking their victim they generally aim at the neck, below the ear, where they pierce the large veins with their teeth; or they fix upon the back of the head, and drive their canine teeth through the skull.

Their habits are nocturnal or crepuscular. The day is passed in their retreats, such as the hollows of decayed trees, burrows in the ground, holes in walls and ruined masonry, and fissures in rocks. As evening shades prevail, they rouse from their repose and begin their prowl.

A polecat in the neighbourhood of a farm-yard is as mischievous as a fox, and even more so; whole broods of chickens are often all destroyed during a single night, and the bodies left on the spot. The shortness of the muzzle, the arrangement of the teeth, and the solidity of the skull, afford a good index of the natural habits of these animals. In the skull of the common polecat (Mustela Putorius) we find the distance from the anterior edge of the orbit to the front teeth three-quarters of an inch, while from the same point to the back of the skull or occiput the admeasurement is two inches and one-eighth. The skull is long and flattened in its contour, and a broad space of seven lines intervenes between the orbits. The dentition is as follows:upper jaw, incisors six; canines on each side, one; false molars on each side, two; followed by a tricuspid laniary molar, to which succeeds a bi-lobed tubercular molar. In the lower jaw the false molars are three. The subgenus Martes is distinguished by the muzzle being somewhat more lengthened, and by an additional rudimentary false molar in each jaw.

In accordance with the contour of the skull, the head presents a triangular flattened shape, and terminates a long flexible neck. The eyes are sharp and piercing; the ears small; and the senses of sight, smell, and hearing are acute. In all the species the subcaudal glands secrete a fluid of unpleasant odour, and especially so in the polecat.

The polecat, or, as it is called in various counties, fitchet, or foumart, is very common in some parts of our island, where the farmer and the sportsman make common cause against it; for both hold it as detestable "vermin." To the farmer, indeed, it often occasions serious losses. We have often heard persons in the wilder parts of Derbyshire lament, with sundry vows of vengeance, the desolating results of a nightly visit of one of these pests to the poultry-yard. Poultry, young and old, ducks, and even geese and turkeys, fall a prey to its sanguinary disposition; nor is it contented with killing one and making a meal, but all within its reach are sacrificed. Mr. Bell instances one case in which sixteen large turkeys were killed by a polecat during the course of one night; and another in which ten ducks were similarly destroyed; and the perpetrator of the outrage, when in the morning the door of the outhouse in which they were shut was opened, marched out, licking his bloody jaws, without the slightest alarm. Many similar instances have come under our own personal knowledge. The predilection of the polecat for the brains and the blood of poultry is well known: it seldom touches the rest of the carcass; and we may here observe that rats display the same taste for the brains of birds. We could adduce many instances, within our own knowledge, in which birds kept in aviaries have been destroyed by rats, the brain of the victims.being in every case eaten out of the skull.

It is generally in winter that the polecat haunts the farm-yard; in summer it resorts to plantations, woods, and preserves of game, where it makes sad havoc among leverets, young partridges, and pheasants; nor are the nests of birds safe from its attacks, the eggs or callow brood being equally acceptable. No animal is so pernicious in a rabbit-warren; it can follow its prey throughout their subterranean galleries, which the fox cannot do; besides which its love of slaughter seems insatiable. Buffon indeed with some justice observes that a single polecat will speedily depopulate a warren of considerable extent. It would seem that the tenants of the water are not safe from the attacks of this animal; Mr. Bewick, on his own testimony, affirms that in one instance eleven fine eels were discovered in the retreat of one which inhabited a bank near a rivulet, to which its nocturnal visits were rendered apparent by tracks in the snow, both of its feet and of the writhing eels. In Loudon's 'Magazine' (vol. vi., p. 206) an instance is related in which the nest of a female polecat was opened, containing five young ones; while in a side hole were packed forty large frogs and two toads, barely alive, each having been paralyzed by a bite through the brain.

The polecat makes a vigorous resistance when attacked either by a dog or man, and will defend itself to the last.

The female breeds in the spring, making a nest of dry grass in her burrow; the young are from three to five in number. The adult polecat measures about one foot four or five inches, exclusive of the tail, which is comparatively short. The body is covered with a woolly under coat; and this, with the base of the long hairs which form an outer garment, is of a pale yellow; the extremities of the long hairs are of a deep glossy blackish brown. The margins of the ears and part of the lips are white. Though by no means so valuable as that of the sable or marten, the fur of this animal (known generally by the name of Fitch) is imported very extensively from the North of Europe, and is abundant in the furrier's shops in our metropolis. Closely allied to the polecat is the ferret (Mustela Faro); so closely indeed, that many naturalists regard them as mere varieties of the same species;- the more especially as a mixed breed between them may be procured. This opinion however is not, we think, correct; the polecat is a native of temperate and northern Europe; the ferret, of Africa, whence, as we are told by Strabo, it was imported into Spain for the purpose of destroying rabbits, with which, at one period, that country was injuriously overrun. From Spain it has spread through the rest of Europe, not as a wild, but as a domesticated animal. From the earliest times the ferret was used in the capture of rabbits, by being turned muzzled into their burrows. Pliny alludes to the practice in his eighth book.

The colour of the ferret is yellowish-white, but we have frequently seen specimens of a brown colour; these indeed were said to be of the mixed breed between the polecat and ferret, and probably were so, as they were always larger and stouter than the white. One of the brown kind, in the possession of a relative of the writer's, was so tame as to be allowed the liberty of the house, and it slept in his chamber-a dangerous experiment, as instances have been known of their attacking persons and wounding them severely. An instance in which an infant nearly fell a sacrifice to a ferret is related by Mr. Jesse in his Gleanings,' and quoted by Mr. Bell The child had the jugular vein and the temporal artery opened; the face, neck, and arms lacerated, and the sight of one eye destroyed. The ferret is not only employed by the warrener, but also by the ratcatcher, who prefers the mixed breed.

·

The ferret is very sensitive of cold, and requires to

be kept snug and warm, especially during winter, as it perishes if exposed to the severity of the season.

The weasel (Mustela vulgaris) is so well known, that any description of its form and colour is useless. Small as this animal is, it has all the courage and ferocity of its race, and will prey upon leverets, chickens, young pigeons, and ducklings; its favourite food however are mice, rats, water-rats, and even moles. In the farmer's stack-yard and granary it is of the greatest utility, and well repays by valuable services the occasional abstraction of a chicken, a pigeon, or a few eggs. Of this indeed many farmers are well aware, and encourage it for the sake of the incessant warfare it keeps up against mice and rats, which, from their excessive numbers, often occasion a serious loss in grain, besides undermining the barns and out

houses.

The weasel climbs trees and runs up the side of a wall with facility, its movements being singularly graceful. When it attacks its prey, it fixes its teeth on the back of the head, and pierces the brain, which it then devours. It is said to prefer putrid flesh to that just killed, but this is very doubtful, and has arisen most probably from the circumstance of dead birds in a putrid state having been found in its hole or near its retreat, left by their destroyer. The weasel hunts by the scent, like a dog; and follows mice and moles with the utmost perseverance, tracking them through all their runs or winding galleries. It will even cross the water in the pursuit, if its prey be in sight, nor does swiftness avail, for onwards will the weasel travel, till its victim fails from exhaustion. The wolverene of North America (Gulo arcticus) pursues the beaver and other prey in a similar manner.

Instances are on record in which several weasels

have united in attacking men, who with difficulty have prevented the fierce little animals from lacerating their throats, and certainly twelve or fifteen weasels would prove no mean adversaries.

The weasel often falls a prey to hawks, owls, and kites; but sometimes succeeds in coming off victorious. Many anecdotes are on record of weasels and stoats bringing eagles or large hawks to the groundand Mr. Bell gives an instance, assuring us of its truth, in which a kite that had seized a weasel and mounted into the air, was observed to wheel irregularly, and at length to fall to the ground dead; the determined little animal have torn open the skin and large blood-vessels under its wing.

The weasel breeds two or three times in a year, having a litter of five at each birth. She makes her nest of dried herbage; a hole in a bank side, among brambles, or in an aged tree, is the usual place of her retreat; and when molested, she defends herself and her progeny with indomitable courage.

The stoat (Mustela erminea) is allied very closely to the weasel, but is considerably larger, being upwards of nine inches long, excluding the tail. Its habits are precisely those of the weasel, but it preys habitually on larger game, as hares, leverets, &c., not excluding the rat and water-rat. Of the latter, indeed, it destroys great numbers, following them into their burrows. It hunts its prey by the scent. Some idea of the extent of the depredations of this animal may be conceived from the circumstance of two leverets, two leverets' heads, two young partridges, and a pheasant's egg having been found in the retreat of one. In our climate the stoat becomes partially white during the winter, but in more northern regions this change is complete, the tip of the tail alone remaining black. In this state it is called the ermine. Large importations of ermine-fur are made from Russia, Norway, and Siberia to our country. In 1833, the importation amounted to 105,139 skins.

We

The beech marten (Martes Fagorum) and the pine marten (Martes Abietum) are both natives of our island; but the former, distinguished by a white breast, is said to be the most common. The pine marten is distinguished by a yellow breast and throat. It must be confessed, however, that the specific distinction between these two animals is by no means very apparent, nor indeed is it admitted by many. have many times seen the yellow-breasted or pine marten in the fir-woods which clothe the sides of some of the hills in Derbyshire, and especially near Buxton. It prefers wild and unfrequented places, deep wooded glens, and the depths of forests; and is common throughout northern Europe. The beech marten also frequents woods, but not so exclusively as the former, and often lurks about farm-houses and destroys poultry. Both are destructive to game. They take up their retreats in hollow trees or holes in rocks, and the female makes a nest of leaves and moss for her brood. The agility and gracefulness of these animals are remarkable; they climb trees with the ease of the squirrel, and traverse their branches or leap from bough to bough with admirable address and celebrity. fur, especially that of the pine marten, is full, deep, and soft, and of a beautiful brown, and not far inferior to that of their immediate ally the sable. The marten exceeds the polecat in size, and the tail is long and bushy. The ears are large and open, and the eyes bright and lively. In general instincts they agree with the other Mustela.

Their

Our plate represents the Beech Marten, the Polecat, the Ferret, the Weasel, and the Stoat.

The Norwegian Bonder, or Small Landowner.-If there be a happy class of people in Europe, it is the Norwegian bonder. He is the owner of his little estate; he has no feu-duty or feudal service to pay to any superior. He is the king of his own land, and landlord as well as king. His poor-rate and tithes are too inconsiderable to be mentioned. His scat or land-tax is heavy, but everything he uses is in consequence so much cheaper; and he has that which renders the heaviest tax light,-the management of it by his own representatives, and the satisfaction of publicity and economy in its application. He has the satisfaction of seeing, from Storthing to Storthing, that the taxes are has abundance of fuel; and that quantity of land, in general, diminishing, and the public debt paying off. He is well lodged; which does not place him above the necessity of personal labour, but far above want or privation, if sickness or age should prevent him from working. He has also no class above him; nobody who can look down upon him, or whom he or his family look up to, either to obtain objects of a false ambition or to imitate out of a spirit of vanity. He has a greater variety of food than the same class in other countries; for besides what his farm produces, which is mostly consumed in his housekeeping, the fjelde, the lakes and rivers, and the fiords afford game, fish, and other articles. He has also variety of labour, which is, perhaps, among is recreation in change. His distant seater (tract of land on the the greatest enjoyments in the life of a labouring man; for there moors), his wood-cutting for fuel, his share of the fishery in the neighbouring river or lake, give that sort of holiday-work which is refreshing. His winter toil is of the same kind; as steady agricultural labour in the field is out of the question. It consists in making all the implements, furniture, and clothing that his family may require; threshing out the crop, attending to the cattle, distilling his potatoes, brewing, and driving about to fairs or visits. The heaviest part of it is driving wood out of the forests, or bog-hay from the fjelde. He has no cares for his family, because he knows what their condition will be after his death. He knows that his wife succeeds to him, and as long as she lives unmarried the only difference made by his death is, that there is one less in the family. On her death or second marriage, he knows that each of his children has a right to a share of his property; and according to their number he makes his arrangements for their either living on the land as before, or dividing it, or for being settled in other occupations, and taking a share of the value when it comes to be divided.-Laing's Norway.

CHAUCER'S PORTRAIT GALLERY.

THE MILLER AND THE REVE.

SCARCELY has the good Knight told his noble story of 'Palemon and Arcite,' and the Host expressed his delight at the manner in which his scheme has been practically carried out, before

"The Miller, that for drinking was all pale,

So that unethes upon his horse he sat,"

begins to swear rudely that he too can tell a tale, in return for the Knight's. The Host, not a little indignant at this insubordinate conduct, but like a man whom experience in the matter had taught wisdom, gently endeavours to keep him within due bounds, and tell his tale at the proper time. But the Miller is obdurate, so the host testily cries out

He was short shouldered, broad, a thické guarre*, There n'as no door that he n'old heave off bar, Or break it, at a running, with his head. His beard as any sow or fox was red, And thereto broad, as though it were a spade. Upon the cop† right of his nose he had A wart, and thereon stood a tuft of hairs Red as the bristles of a sowés ears. His nosé-thirlést blacké were and wide; A sword and buckler bare he by his side. His mouth as wide was as is a furnace, He was a jangler § and a goliardeis, And that was most of sin and harlotries. Well could he stealen corn, and tollen thries]]. And yet he had a thumb of gold, pardié. A white coat and a blue hood wearéd he. A baggepipe well could he blow and soun, And therewithal he brought us out of town." The wrestling matches here alluded to, and the prize generally awarded to the conqueror, are genuine old before the period of the composition of the CanterEnglish customs. About a hundred and sixty years bury Tales,' we find recorded the particulars of games of this kind held at Westminster, which were attended by serious consequences. Stow, in his 'Survey of London,' says, "I read that in the year 1222, and the *A gnarre is a hard knot in a tree; it seems here to illustrate the round, rough, and muscular character of the Miller's body. A Saxon word, signifying the top of anything. The old form of the word nostrils.