"On January 27, 1946, my son Percy called my attention to a nest that he had just uncovered in a clover stack that we were using. This nest had originally been made by a Drummond's vole, _Microtus pennsylvanicus drummondii_, and taken from it by the least weasel, _Mustela rixosa_, the tracks of which had been noticed about the stack yard since the first snow in early November. "The nest had evidently been in use for at least three months and the continual additions made to its walls had been so great that they were nearly an inch thick of hair matted together so closely that it appeared to be felt. The hair alone weighed nearly 22 gm., so that with this for protection the weasel must have been warm and comfortable through the severest winter weather. [Illustration: FIG. 28. Map showing occurrences and probable geographic ranges of the subspecies of _Mustela rixosa_ in North America.] "In the nest were two red-backed mice, _Clethrionomys gapperi_, one of which had the base of its skull eaten out. No hair had been removed from either of them, but a _Microtus_ lying in a side tunnel some feet away had the long hair plucked from its back and sides. In and close about the nest were found forty-three front parts of mice skulls which had evidently been discarded because of the sharp teeth in the maxillaries. Seven full stomachs and eleven hind feet of adult _Microtus_ with parts of leg bones were disclosed in, or under, the weasel's bed and a few small bits of skin with hair attached were scattered among the plucked hair of the nest. "This weasel seems to have been rather remiss in its sanitary habits as its pile of dung was almost, or quite, touching the nest and only just to the side of its entrance. It was composed of 117 voids all of which contained much hair and broken bone. "Six other mouse nests found in the same stack, or others adjoining it, had been thinly lined with hair. One of these had two mice in it, a red-backed with its brain eaten out and a _Microtus_ with some hair plucked from its neck. Another nest contained the front part of a skull with teeth and the hind feet and tail of a red-back. Besides the mice found in the nests seven others were discovered tucked away in side tunnels. One of these mice had most of the hair plucked from its back. Whether all these mice and nests belonged to the same weasel or not I am unable to say, but it is usual for them to have several nests in the area surrounding the one that is used as their headquarters or home." =Mustela rixosa eskimo= (Stone) Least Weasel Plates 14 and 15 _Putorius rixosus eskimo_ Stone, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1900:44, March 24, 1900. _Putorius (Gale) vulgaris_, Coues, Fur-bearing animals, p. 102, 1877 (part). _Putorius rixosus Bangs_, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 10:21, February 25, 1896 (part); Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:14, June 30, 1896 (part).