50 The Irish Naturalist. [February, 1900. 



Rough-Icggcd Buzzard near Londonderry. 



On 4th October last Mr. Wm. Kilpatrick shot a fine male specimen of 

 the Rough-legged Buzzard {Butco lagopus^ Gmeliu) at Campsie, about five 

 miles from Londonderry. 



This is the second occurrence of the species in Co. Derry, one having 

 been taken at Castlerock early in November, 1S91, and sent to me for 

 identification. 



D, C, CampbeIvIv. 



Londonderry. 



MAMMALS. 



The Hedgehog and its Food. 



The Irish Naturalist for December, vol. viii., no. 12, contains an 

 interesting note relating to the Hedgehog and its food, by Mr, II, L. Orr. 

 Perhaps a few observations I made on these animals may be of interest 

 to Mr. Orr. I twice found Hedgehogs curled up, and on opening, or 

 rather uncurling them, I found they had slugs sticking to their paws. 

 One slug had a large piece almost completely bitten through I kept a 

 Hedgehog last summer for some days, and fed him on slugs, and small 

 and delicate-shelled snails. He seemed to prefer the slugs, but did not 

 once refuse a snail when offered. Their teeth are very strong and sharp . 

 when they bite a slug they usually take the piece out completely. 



John H O'Connei^i,. 



Dublin. 



I venture to suggest, that the broken snail-shells to which Mr. Orr 

 refers under this heading, in the December number (p. 268), are not the 

 work of the Hedgehog but of the Rat, an animal whose runs are 

 commonly full of such fragments. The Hedgehog's propeusit}^ for eat- 

 ing snails is so well known that it is often kept in gardens to destroy 

 these unwelcome guests, and I have frequently watched it crunching 

 them up, as Mr, Orr describes; but in my experience the Hedgehog 

 crunches up a .shell so completely, that very few fragments are likely to 

 be found afterwards. Last June, having promised to supply a neighbour 

 with a few Hedgehogs, I caught two late one evening, shut them up for 

 the night, and gave them for supper twenty-four large snails {Helix 

 aspersa), as well as some slugs (chiefly Liinax iiiarginatus) — with the result 

 that great crunching was heard during the next half-hour, and on the 

 following morning there was not a vestige of snail or snail-shell remain- 

 ing. Unless, therefore, the shell of Helix nemoralis is exceptionally dis- 

 tasteful, I scarcely think many of its fragments would be left by the 

 Hedgehog, 1 have also seen Hedgehogs, in the wild state, eating Arion 

 ater—3. slug which, I believe, most birds reject. 



C. B. Moffat. 



Ballyhyland. 



