MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 97 



had had a run just before,) does not appear. I am inclined to think its 

 discovery was purely accidental, as, whether a true Fox or not, had the 

 hounds caught it after a chase, they would not surely have let it alone. 

 At first it was very wild, and snapped at every one that came near, but 

 by care and good feeding it has become quite tame, and will follow its 

 master about the yard. I have well examined it with others, and we all 

 are decided in our opinion as to its being a veritable cross between the 

 Dog and Fox. The shape of the head and body is that of the latter 

 animal, but the legs are long and clumsy, like those of a Dog, while the 

 feet, again, and long claws, especially of the hinder pair, are those of a 

 Fox. Its tail is a decided brush, even to the white tip. The ears and 

 eyes are exactly those of a Fox, but the nose, though long and pointed, 

 is not so slim and fine as is usually found in that animal, and partakes 

 somewhat of the canine character. The general colour is foxey, except down 

 the front of the breast and on the fore legs, which are white, as are also 

 the hind feet. The hair is like that of a Fox, especially about the head 

 and back, and the whole animal, which is a full-grown female, distinctly 

 combines the characteristic features of the two species; and, what is most 

 remarkable, from the appearance of the teats, it seems to have lately 

 suckled young itself. No doubt it was brought up in the woods, and its 

 dam was a Fox, for, had it been the offspring of a female Dog, it would 

 never have been allowed to run wild, or been discovered in the state in 

 which it was found. — F. M. Burton, Uppingham, December 2nd., 1857. 



Ocurrence of the Otter at Fakenham. — A fine male Otter, weighing twenty- 

 four pounds, was killed near Fakenham, about the middle of January 

 last. — T. Southwell, Hempton, Fakenham, February 9th., 1858. 



A Black Hare. — I had to preserve a beautiful specimen of a Black Hare 

 captured at Merton, the seat of the Bight Hon. Lord Walsingham, near 

 Thetford, on December 23rd., 1857. — H. Bevnolds, Thetford, Norfolk. 



Mildness of the Season. — Your note in the last number of the Naturalist 

 respecting the mildness of the early winter in Yorkshire, has induced me 

 to send the following notice to shew the extreme degree of mildness of 

 this mid-winter season in Cornwall. On New Year's Day, I gathered from 

 a garden in Looe, the following flowers: — Nasturtions, two varieties of Boses, 

 Siberian Primroses, Sweet Violets, Venus' Looking-glass, whilst I saw in another 

 garden fine varieties of Fuchsia, Heliotrope, Campanula, Scarlet Geraniums, 

 Scarlet Salvia, Periwinkle, Boses, Mignionette, Ten-weeks' Stock, Pyrus 

 Japonica, all in full bloom, growing without the least protection from the 

 weather, shewing a greater degree of mildness than has ever before been 

 remembered at this season. I also saw during a country ride to-day the 

 following flowers: — Bough Bobin in great abundance in every hedge-row, a 



VOL. VIII. o 



