Volume 22, Plate XII / Mammalia (Mammals)

Stoat or Ermine in Winter

Mustela Erminea

A very beautiful, lively, and active little animal with much elongated body, longish neck, oblong flattened head, and short feet, its fur in winter white tinged with yellow but in summer brownish-red above and white beneath, the tail-tip always black. Frequenting stony places and thickets, it bounds with great speed and surprising courage, preys on birds, rabbits, hares, rats, and voles, and is more frequent in Scotland than in England, its white winter coat prized as ermine.