rainy weather; and its short life is still more abridged, by continuing in a state of torpidity during the winter; when it is frequently found hanging by its hooked claws, to the roofs or sides of caves, unaffected by every change of weather, and regardless of the eternal damps that surround it. The varieties of this animal, particularly in England, are but few, and the differences scarcely worthy

enumeration.

Or foreign bats, this animal is the most curious and numerous; being larger than the former, and more deformed. It is a native of Africa and Madagascar, and is furnished with a horn like the rhinoceros bat. The other kinds generally resort to the forest, and the most deserted places; but these come into towns and cities, and, after sun-set, cover the street like a canopy. They are the common pest both of men and animals, effectually destroying the one, and often distressing the other. The inhabitants of these warm countries, are obliged by the excessive heat, to leave open the doors and windows of their bed-chambers, by which means the vampire enters; and if it finds any part of the body exposed; it invariably fastens upon it, insinuates its tooth into a vein, with all the art of the most experienced surgeon; and continues to suck the blood till it is satiated. And it frequently occurs that persons, when awaked from their sleep, (through loss of blood), have not sufficient strength left to bind up the orifice. The reason why the puncture is not felt, besides the great precaution with which it is made, is the gentle refreshing agitation of the bat's wings, which contributes to increase sleep, and soften the pain.

THE weasel kind may be distinguished from other carnivorous animals, by the length and slenderness of their bodies, which are so fitted as to wind, like worms, into every small opening after their prey; and they have received the name of vermin, from their similitude to the worm in this particular. All of this kind are still more marked by their habitudes and dispositions than their external form. Cruel, voracious, and cowardly, they subsist only by theft, and find their chief protection in their minuteness; and, as the shortness of their legs renders them slow in pursuit, they owe their support to their tience, cunning, and assiduity. As their prey is precarious, they sometimes live a long time without food; and if they happen to fall in where it is plentiful, they destroy all about them' before they attempt to satisfy their appetite, and suck the blood of every animal before they begin to touch its flesh.

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The weasel is the smallest of this numerous tribe; its length not exceeding seven inches from the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail; yet even this length appears very great, when compared with the height of the animal, which is not above an inch and a half: the tail also, which is bushy, measures about two inches and a half, and adds to the apparent length of the body; the colour of the weasel is a pale redish brown on the back and sides, but white under the throat and the belly; the eyes are small and black; the ears are short and roundish, and the nose is furnished with whiskers, like those of a cat. In its wild state, the night is the time during which this animal may be properly said to live. At the approach of evening, it is seen stealing from its hole, and creeping about the farmers' yards in quest of prey. If it enters the place where poultry are kept, it never attacks the cocks or the old hens, but immediately aims at the young ones, which it kills by a single bite near the head, and with a wound so small as scarcely to be perceptible.

It also breaks and sucks the eggs, and sometimes kills the hen that attempts to defend them. It makes war upon rats and mice with still greater success than the cat; for being more active and slender, it pursues them into their It is holes, and after a short resistance, destroys them. also particularly destructive to young pigeons, sparrows, and all kinds of small birds; and such is its avidity for animal food, that it even seems to delight in the vicinity of putrefaction.

THE ferret is about a foot long, and resembles the weasel in the slenderness of its body, and the shortness of its legs; but its nose is sharper, and its body smaller in proportion to its length; the hair on the tail is also much longer than in the weasel. It is commonly of a cream colour, but there are many varieties, as white, brown, party-coloured, &c.

This animal, being a native of the torrid zone, cannot bear the rigours of our climate, without care and shelter; but it generally repays the trouble of its keeping by its agility in the warren, where its business is to enter the holes, and drive the rabbits into the nets that are prethe ferret purpose pared for them at the mouth. For this is always muzzled; for it is such an inveterate enemy of the rabbit kind, that if a dead one be presented to a young ferret, it instantly bites it, with an appearance of rapacity; or if it be living, the ferret instantly seizes it by the neck, winds itself round it, and continues to suck its blood till it be satiated. They are usually fed with bread and milk, and kept in boxes of wool, with which they make themselves a warm bed, to defend them from the inclemency of winter. Upon the whole, the ferret is an useful, but disagreeable animal; its scent is foetid, its nature voracious, and its appetite for blood so strong, that it is dangerous to trust them among children.

THIS animal is about the size of the ferret. Its body is slender, and covered with hair of an ash-colour, mixed with tawny; the sides of the face are black; at the hind part of the head there are four black lines. extending from thence towards the shoulders; the tail is long and annulated with black; its eye is full, round, and black, which gives it a wild and mischievous aspect.-It inhabits the Island of Madagascar, Guinea, Cochin-China, and the Phillippine Isles. It feeds on flesh and fruits, but prefers the latter, and is peculiarly fond of banannas. It is very fierce, and not easily tamed.

THE polecat so nearly resembles the ferret in form, that some writers have supposed them to be one and the same animal; yet the distinctions between them are sufficiently obvious. This, for instance, is several inches longer than the ferret, and its body is not quite so slender. The prevailing colour is a deep chocolate; but the mouth and ears are diversified with white.

These animals are very destructive to young game of all kinds, and commit dreadful devastations among pigeons, when they succeed in getting into a dove-house. Without making so much noise as the weasel, they do a great deal more mischief; dispatching each victim a with 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 carry away the heads, and make a delicious repast upon the brains. They are also extremely fond of honey, and are frequently known, in winter, to attack the hives, and drive away the bees. Rabbits, however, seem to be their favourite prey, and a single polecat is often sufficient to destroy a whole warren. In winter they frequent houses, and make a common practise of robbing the hen-roost and the dairy; but in general, they reside in woods, or thick brakes, making holes under ground of about two yards deep, commonly ending among the roots of large trees, for greater security.

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THIS animal differs from the polecat, in being about four or five inches longer, its tail also is longer in proportion, and more bushy at the end; its nose is flatter; its cry is sharper and more piercing; its colours are more elegant; and its scent, instead of being offensive, is considered as a most agreeable perfume. The martin may indeed be stiled the most beautiful of all British beasts of prey. head is small and elegantly formed; its eyes are lively; its ears are broad, rounded, and open; its back, its sides, and tail, are covered with a fine downy fur, with longer hair intermixed; the roots of an ash colour, the middle of a bright chestnut, and the points black; the head is brown, with a slight cast of red; the legs and feet of a chocolate colour, and the throat and breast white. The claws are large and sharp, well adapted for the purpose of climbing, but, as in other animals of the weasel kind, incapable of being sheathed or unsheathed at pleasure.