NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 189 



him as Beech Martins have proved to be only light coloured 

 specimens of the present species. 



CARNIVORA. ' FELIDAE. 



Wild Cat, Felis catus. Linn. 



The " British Tiger," as Pennant calls it, is now also a thing 

 of the past on the banks of Loch Lomond. At one time it was 

 well known, and specimens have at no very distant date been 

 taken, both on the Luss estates on the west side of the loch, and 

 on the Duke of Montrose's property on the east. A fine pair 

 from the latter district are now in the Hunterian Museum, 

 Glasgow, presented by the late Duke. 



CA RNI VORA. CA NIDAE. 



Common Fox, Canis vulpes. Linn. 



A few are sometimes killed on Ben Lomond and some of the 

 other hills, but their numbers have been much reduced witliin 

 the last twenty or thirty years. 



RODENTIA. SCIURIDAE, 



Common Squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris. Linn. 



Very common in all the woods round the loch. According to 

 Mr John Colquhoun,* the first squirrel ever seen in the district 

 was "in the autumn of 1830," when the " strange beast" paid for 

 its enterprise with its life, after being chased from tree to tree by 

 the boys of the neighbourhood. The species is gradually extending 

 its range over Scotland. In some places an occasional raid is 

 made against them, on account of the damage they do to larch and 

 spruce plantations by nipping off the tops of the young shoots. 

 Squirrels seem to be fond of a variety of food, — young shoots of 

 trees, acorns, beech and hazel nuts, and I have observed them 

 eating fungi, and can vouch for their liking for cherries. 



RODENTIA. MURIDAE. 



Long-tailed Field Mouse, Mas sylvaticus. Linn. 

 A very common species ; often caught in considerable numbers 



* " Lecture on the Ferae Naturae of the British Isles," by John Colquhoun, 

 Edin., 1873. 



