As Billy Mink sat there on the Big Rock every one had a good look at him. One glance would tell any one that he was a cousin of Shadow the Weasel. He was much larger than Shadow, but of the same general shape, being long and slender. His coat was a beautiful dark brown, darkest on the back. His chin was white. His tail was round, covered with fairly long hair which was so dark as to be almost black. His face was like that of Shadow the Weasel. His legs were rather short. As he sat eating that fish, his back was arched.

Old Mother Nature waited until he had finished his feast. "Now then, Billy," said she, "I want you to answer a few questions. Which do you like best, night or day?"

"It doesn't make any particular difference to me," replied Billy. "I just sleep when I feel like it, whether it be night or day, and then when I wake up I can hunt. It all depends on how I feel."

"When you go hunting, what do you hunt?" asked Old Mother Nature.

Billy grinned. "Anything that promises a good meal," said he. "I'm not very particular. A fat Mouse, a tender young Rabbit, a Chipmunk, a Frog, Tadpoles, Chickens, eggs, birds, fish; whatever happens to be easiest to get suits me. I am rather fond of fish, and that's one reason that I live along the Laughing Brook and around the Smiling Pool. But I like a change of fare, and so often I go hunting in the Green Forest. Sometimes I go up to Farmer Brown's for a Chicken. In the spring I hunt for nests of birds on the ground. In winter, if Peter Rabbit should happen along here when I was hungry, I might be tempted to sample Peter." Billy snapped his bright eyes wickedly and Peter shivered.