List of the Fauna of the County. 169 



only be considered as stragglers. It has been killed in the 

 Blackwater, in the mouth of the Thames, and elsewhere ; but 

 one great difficulty and source of error in consulting records 

 of the capture of Phocidae is that one can rarely be certain 

 of the species, in consequence of the specimens having seldom 

 been examined by competent naturalists. 



Cystophora cristata. Hooded Seal.— In 1B47 a specimen 

 of this seal was taken in the Orwell, and is now preserved in 

 the Ipswich Museum. As the Orwell empties into Harwich 

 harbour I think we are entitled to place this animal in our 

 Essex fauna, although its normal habitat is within the 

 Arctic circle. The above two species are the only seals that 

 I am able to give as visiting the Essex coast without any 

 doubt, but I do not see why the Grey Seal {Halichmms gnjphus) 

 should not occur, as one of its breeding- stations, the Fame 

 Islands, is on the Northumberland coast ; it is a common 

 species in the Hebrides and Shetland, and has been taken in 

 the Isle of Wight. 



EODENTIA. SciURID^. 



SciURUs VULGARIS. Common Squirrel. — This elegant and 

 active little animal is so well known that very little need be 

 said about it. It occurs in all parts of the county in suitable 

 spots — that is, where there are woods. It is almost omnivorous 

 in its tastes ; birds' eggs and insects are occasionally eaten, 

 but vegetables are its main support. In the early spring, 

 when the beech is coming into leaf, I have noticed as many 

 as six squirrels busily feeding m one tree on the young shoots, 

 biting off and throwing down the leaves, and only consuming 

 the stalk — that is, the young branch. In the autumn I have 

 seen squirrels strip off the loose bark from dead branches, 

 and carefully scrape out with their teeth the fangus fre- 

 quently found in such situations. Whenever I have seen 

 this going on I have noticed the position adopted for feeding 

 is not the usual one ; instead of sitting on its haunches, the 

 squirrel almost invariably hangs head downwards. It is 

 said to hybernate, but I much question whether it does so 

 as a rule. It may occasionally take a prolonged sleep, but 



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