man, and digs a subterraneous residence, where it spends, at least, three fourths of its existence, and never ventures forth but in search of food. It burrows in the ground with particular facility, as its body is rather of an oblong form, and its claws, those especially of the fore feet, are very long and compact. The hole which it thus forms often proceeds to a great depth below the surface of the earth, and the passage to it is always oblique and winding.

The fox, who is less expert at such excavations, often appropriates to his own convenience the labors of the badger.

Unable to compel him from his retreat by force, it drives him from it by stratagem, often remains a fixed sentinel at the mouth of the passage, disturbs it, and, as an infallible expedient, it is said, emits his ordure. The badger gone, he immediately assumes possession of it, enlarges it, and every way accommodates it to his own purpose. Though forced to remove to another habitation, this animal does not, however, remove to another country. At a little distance from its old burrow, it forms a new one, from which it never stirs but at night. The dogs easily overtake it when it is at any distance from its hole, and then, using all its strength, and all its powers of resistance, it throws itself upon its back, and defends itself with desperate resolution. It has one single advantage over its assailants. The skin is so thick, and especially so loose, that the teeth of the dogs can make little impression on it, and the badger can turn himself round in it, so as to bite them in their tenderest parts.

The young badgers are easily tamed; they will play with young dogs, and, like them, will follow any person whom they know, and from whom they receive their food; but the old ones, in spite of every effort, still remain wild. They are neither mischievous nor voracious, as the fox and the wolf are, yet they are carnivorous; and though raw meat is their favorite food, yet they will eat any thing that comes in their way, as flesh, eggs, cheese, butter, bread, fish, fruit, nuts, roots, &c. They sleep the greater part of their time, without, however, being subject, like the mountain rat or the dormouse, to a torpor during the winter; and thus it is that though they feed moderately, yet they are always fat.

Their hole they keep exceedingly clean, nor are they ever known to void their ordure in it. The male is rarely to be found with the female. In summer she brings forth, and her usual number at a birth is three or four. These she feeds at first with her milk, and afterwards with such petty prey as she can surprise. She seizes young rabbits in the warren, robs birds of their young, while yet in the nest, finds out where the wild bees have laid up their honey, where field-mice, lizards, serpents, and grasshoppers are to

the second and third pointed, the fourth cutting on the external side, the fifth tuberculous and large; body low upon the legs; pentadactyle; nails robust; tail short; an anal pouch, containing a fetid secretion.

be met with; and carries all to her expecting brood, which she frequently brings forward to the mouth of her hole.

These animals are naturally of a chilly temperament. Such as are reared in a house seem to be never more happy than when near a fire. They are likewise very subject to the mange; and, unless carefully washed, the dogs that penetrate into their burrows are seized with the same distemper. The hair of the badger is always filthy; between the anus and the tail there is an opening, which, though it has no communication with any interior part, and is hardly an inch deep, continually emits an oily liquid. This the animal is fond of sucking. Its flesh, when the animal is well fed, makes excellent hams and bacon; and of its skin are made coarse furs, collars for dogs, and trappings for horses. The hair is used for painters' brushes.

THE AMERICAN BADGER.1

THE American badger, as compared with the European, is generally less in size, and of a lighter make; the head, though equally long, is not so sharp towards the nose, and the markings on the fur are remarkably different. A narrow white line runs from between the eyes towards the back, the rest of the upper part of the head is brown, the throat and whole under jaw are white, the cheeks partly so; a semicircular brown spot is placed between the light part of the cheeks, and the ears.

The American badger frequents the sandy plains or prairies, which skirt the Rocky Mountains, as far north as latitude fifty-eight degrees. It abounds on the plains watered by the Missouri, but its exact southern range has not, as far as I know, been defined by any traveller. The sand prairies, in the neighborhood of Carlton-house, on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and also on the Red River, that flows into Lake Winnipeg, are perforated by innumerable badger-holes, which are a great annoyance to horsemen, particularly when the ground is covered with snow.

Whilst the ground is covered with snow, the badger rarely comes from its hole; and I suppose that in that climate it passes the winter from the beginning of November to April, in a torpid state. Indeed, as it obtains the small animals on which it feeds by surprising them in their burrows, it

1 Tarus Labradorica.

has little chance of digging them out at a time when the ground is frozen into a solid rock. Like the bears, the badgers do not lose much flesh during their long hibernation; for on coming abroad in the spring, they are observed to be very fat. As they pair, however, at that season, they soon become lean.

This badger is a slow and timid animal, taking to the first earth it comes to, when pursued; and as it makes its way through the sandy soil with the rapidity of a mole, it soon places itself out of the reach of danger. The strength of its fore feet and claws is so great, that one which had insinuated only its head and shoulders into a hole, resisted the utmost efforts of two stout young men, who endeavored to drag it out by the hind legs and tail, until one of them fired the contents of his fowling piece into its body. Early in the spring, however, when they first begin to stir abroad, they may be easily caught by pouring water into their holes; for the ground being frozen at that period, the water does not escape through the sand, but soon fills the hole, and its tenant is obliged to come out.

The American badger appears to be a more carnivorous animal than the European one. A female which I killed, had a small marmot, nearly entire, together with some field mice, in its stomach. It had also been eating some vegetable matters. - Richardson.

THIS animal has a broad, compact head, which is suddenly rounded off on every side, to form the nose. In the shape of its jaws it resembles a dog. Its ears are low, rounded, and much hid by the surrounding fur. The back

Gulo arcticus. The genus Gulo has six upper and six lower incisors; two upper and two lower canines; ten or eight upper and twelve lower molars. The three first molars in the upper and the four in the lower jaw small, succeeded by a large carnivorous tooth, and a small tuberculous one at the back; body low; head moderately elongated; ears short and round; tail short; feet pentadactyle; toes with crooked nails; no anal pouch.

is arched, the tail low and bushy; the legs thick and short; and the whole aspect of the animal indicates strength without much activity. The fur bears a great similarity to that of the black bear, but is not so long, nor of so much value.

The wolverene is a carnivorous animal, which feeds chiefly upon the carcasses of beasts that have been killed by accident. It has great strength, and annoys the natives by destroying their hoards of provision, and demolishing their marten traps. It is so suspicious, that it will rarely enter a trap itself, but beginning behind, pulls it to pieces, scatters the logs of which it is built, and then carries off the bait. It feeds also on meadow mice, marmots, and other rodentia, and occasionally on disabled quadrupeds of a larger size. We have seen one chasing an American hare, which was at the same time harassed by a snowy owl. It resembles the bear in its gait, and is not fleet; but it is very industrious, and no doubt feeds well, as it is generally fat. It is much abroad in the winter, and the track of its journey in a single night may be traced for many miles.

This animal inhabits northern Europe and America. It is about the size of the badger. The above description is from Dr Richardson.

Is about seventeen inches in length; of a deep chocolate color, nearly approaching to black; has short ears, tipped with white, and the tail is covered with longish hair. In summer he generally lives in woods, thick brakes, or rabbit warrens. His burrow is about two yards deep, and commonly ends under the root of a tree. In winter, he haunts barns, hay-lofts, and other out-houses, whence he sallies forth on the poultry.

When heated, or enraged especially, it sends forth and diffuses a stench that is absolutely intolerable. The dogs will not eat its flesh; and even its skin, though good in itself, sells at a very low price, as it can never be entirely divested of its natural odor.

These animals are very destructive to young game of all kinds, and commit dreadful devastations among pigeons when they get into a pigeon-house. Without making so much noise as the weasel, they do a great deal more mischief; dispatching each victim with a single wound in the head, and satiating themselves with copious draughts of blood, after which they carry off the prey or if the aperture by which they entered will not admit of this, they first eat the brains, and then carry away the head, leaving the body behind. They are also extremely fond of honey, and are frequently known,

1 Mustela putorius, LIN. The genus Mustela has six upper and six lower incisors; two upper and two lower canines; eight or ten upper and ten or twelve lower molars. Body elongated; head small and oval; ears short and round; legs short; feet pentadactyle, armed with sharp, hooked claws. No anal pouch.

in winter, to attack the hives, and drive away the bees. Rabbits, however, seem to be their favorite prey, and a single polecat is often sufficient to destroy a whole warren. They will also catch and eat fish, though, probably, this is done by them only when other food is not attainable. This animal is not a native of America.

THIS animal is by nature a mortal enemy to the rabbit. If even a dead one is presented to a young ferret, which had never seen one before, it springs at it, and tears it with fury; if it be a living one, it seizes it by the neck and nose, and instantly begins to suck its blood. When the ferret is let loose into the burrows of the rabbits, it is necessary to muzzle him, that he may not kill them at the bottom, but only oblige them to run out, and thereby fall into the net laid for them at the entry. If he is allowed to go unmuzzled, there is a risk of losing him, because, after having sucked the blood of the rabit, he will fall asleep; and the smoke which is raised at the mouth of the burrow does not always prove a sufficient expedient for bringing him back, as there are often more issues than one, and as one burrow generally communicates with others, in which the ferret is apt to be the more bewildered, the more he is surrounded with the smoke.

The ferret has a yellowish fur, and red eyes. It is nearly fourteen inches long, and is thought by Cuvier to be only a variety of the polecat.

THE common weasel is as frequent in temperate and in hot countries, as it is scarce in cold ones.

The weasel is the smallest of the class to which it belongs, and is an active and handsome little animal. Exclusive of the tail, it is not seven inches in length; and its height is not more than two and a half. The tail, which is bushy, measures about two inches and a half. The color of the weasel is a pale reddish brown on the back and sides, but white under the throat and

1 Mustela furo, LIN.

2 Mustela vulgaris, LIN.