There are birds wherever man lives. They differ in color, form, and habit according to environment. The pupil who seems to be interested least in the ordinary things of the text book in geography is the very one, as a rule, to be caught with the birds and animals of the various parts of the earth. The pupil who will not retain information about the products of a country may be induced to consider intelligently something about the fauna of that country and pass readily to an interested study of the flora, and from what grows there to what is shipped from that place. THE MINK. (_Putorius vison._) This soft fur bearing animal has been described by Audubon and Prince De Wied. Its nearest relatives are very closely allied to the polecat and differ from it only by a flatter head, larger canine teeth, shorter legs, the presence of webs between the toes, a longer tail, and a lustrous fur, consisting of a close, smooth, short hair, resembling otter fur. Its color is a uniform brown. The fur of the American mink is much more esteemed than that of the European, as it is softer and of a more woolly character. According to Audubon the mink ranks next to the ermine in destructive capacity, prowling around the farmyard or duck-pond, and its presence is soon detected by the sudden disappearance of young chickens and ducklings. Audubon had a personal experience with a mink which made its home in the stone dam of a small pond near the home of the naturalist. The pond had been dammed for the benefit of the ducks in the yard, and in this way afforded the mink hunting-grounds of ample promise. Its hiding-place had been selected with cunning, very near the house and still nearer the place where the chickens had to pass on their way to drink. In front of its hole were two large stones, which served the mink as a watch tower, from which it could overlook the yard as well as the pond. It would lie in wait for hours every day and would carry away chickens and ducks in broad daylight. Audubon found the mink to be especially plentiful on the banks of the Ohio river, and there observed it to be of some use in catching mice and rats. But it was also addicted to poaching and fishing. The naturalist observed it to swim and dive with the greatest agility and pursue and attack the quickest of fishes, such as the salmon and trout. It will eat frogs or lizards, but when food is plentiful it is very fastidious, preying upon rats, finches and ducks, hares, oysters and other shell fish; in short, Brehm says it adapts itself to the locality and knows how to profit by whatever food supplies it may be able to find. When frightened it gives forth a very fetid odor like the polecat.