HARDWICKE'S SC 1EN CE-GOSS I P. 



257 



ZOOLOGY. 



' The Squirrel— For many years I was of opinion, 

 although a shooting man, that the squirrel was 

 perfectly harmless,— that it was, strictly speaking, a 

 vegetarian. I have/ too, read works by shooting- 

 men which mention the fact, that this beautiful little 

 denizen of our preserves may be spared. But the 

 other day I was rudely shocked. During a walk in 

 the country I saw a commotion going on at the edge 

 of a covert, and stepped in to see the cause. There 

 were a little rabbit and a full-grown squirrel in full 

 combat ! Although the rabbit tried hard to shake 

 off his opponent, the smaller animal had evidently 

 the best of it, and no doubt would very shortly have 

 put an end to the existence of his prey, for such I 

 must perforce call it, had I not stepped in. The 

 squirrel easily got away ; not so the poor little rabbit, 

 which had a severe wound on its head between the 

 ears. After this, I am afraid, as a game preserver, 

 I shall have small sympathy for the squirrel, how- 

 ever much he may contribute to the beauty of the 

 country.— F. A. F. 



Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquutus). — I saw a soli- 

 tary specimen of this handsome and lively bird on 

 Salisbury Plain on the 15th September, on my way 

 to Stonehenge. Will auy Wiltshire correspondent 

 say if this bird is often seen ? For myself, I never 

 observed it there before.— W. W. Spicer, Itchen 

 Abbas. 



How Fishes breathe, is the title of an ex- 

 cellent article by John C. Galton, M.A., in the 

 " Popular Science Review " for October. 



Small Eggar [Friogaster lanestris). — I thank my 

 "Reading" friend, and also your correspondent 

 " J. R. S.C.,"for their notes on this moth in your last 

 impression. It would be interesting to find out the 

 cause of the mortality which is prevalent among the 

 larvaj of this species. It is an [extremely abundant 

 caterpillar, but I do not recollect ever observing or 

 capturing the moth on the wing. 1 One would be 

 led to suppose, considering the extreme abundance 

 of the larva?, that the perfect insect would be more 

 frequently observed; but it appears to be'quite the 

 contrary— here at any rate— I don't know how it is 

 in other localities. It would be interesting to me 

 to know. I am inclined to share the belief of your 

 correspondent " J. R. S. C," and attribute it to a 

 disease (which it would be interesting to find out if 

 it could be) which tends to diminish their numbers. 

 Newman on this species (" British Moths," p. 42), 

 gives out, — " the moth appears the folloicing Feb- 

 ruary," which, according to my experience, is very 

 rarely the case.— R. Laddiman, tit. Augustine's, 

 Norwich. 



The Squirrel.— Really your correspondent 

 George Cox ought to be highly complimented on 

 the success of his spirited and clever analysis of my 



little story'of the squirrel. Permit me to correct 

 two errors in that gentleman's handling of the case- 

 First, I am not aware that I stated in No. 80 that 

 my friend " brought to my feet a bleeding misshapen 

 mass." The expression would be capital for the 

 London Journal or Miss Braddon's latest sensation, 

 but hardly fit for Science-Gossip. The sportsman 

 who killed that squirrel is acknowledged one of the 

 best shots in England, and hit the animal in the 

 head, so there was not much blood, if any, to be 

 seen. Second, I did not say that " a ghost had been 

 at mischief." There is no necessity for anybody to 

 throw the ghost of a doubt upon my statement. 

 Supernatural disappearances and ghosts I do not 

 believe in, nor would any sensible person believe a 

 ghost story upon any evidence, even Mr. Cox's own 

 " ocular proof," I fear. That gentleman must try 

 to realize the fact that there are some people in the 

 world who speak the truth, even if they happen to 

 be only gamekeepers ; and that, fortunately for these 

 poor fellows, there are masters who believe them, 

 and can be relied on in their turn. However, I will 

 write to my friend, who is a Dorset nobleman, and 

 well known as a close observer of the habits of 

 animal life, and he will, I have no doubt, prove 

 beyond dispute that squirrels did and do eat the 

 game eggs in his preserves. It is no visionary dream 

 of ghost and goblin disappearance of the egg that I 

 refer to, but a veritable gobbling of the articles 

 named. Mr. Cox has surely never lived in the 

 country, or he would have known that pheasants 

 leave their eggs often in a very unprotected state. 

 I should really be sorry to offer unpmchasable com- 

 modities for sale or publication, especially if my 

 knowledge of natural history, small as it is, were as 

 limited as my worthy questioner's ! It must be a 

 relief to the gentleman's mind to find that all the 

 " other vermin" including the " old hedgehog," had 

 been nailed to his barn-door "years ago.' Lucky 

 man! There are only his pet squirrels left, and 

 they are too pretty to grace a barn-door. Happy 

 little squirrels ! I hope they have plenty of nuts ; 

 and that for the sake of the pheasants' domestic 

 peace there are no game preserves in the neigh- 

 bourhood. Not that I would care to awaken Mr. 

 Cox from his dream of the blissful innocence of the 

 little animal. Surely he has lived long enough to 

 find out that beauty does not always carry virtue 

 with it. The most lovely, gorgeous, and elegant 

 forms of creation are not always free from faults, or 

 the best models to copy ; perhaps, as in the case of 

 our friend the squirrel, that very beauty and elegance 

 are all the good qualities he possesses.— Barbara 

 Wallace Fyfe, Nottingham. 



P.S.— An old naturalist has just informed me that 

 he has often observed squirrels eating the game 

 eggs. He has lived in the neighbourhood of New- 

 stead Abbey for years, and those grounds abound 

 with game. 



