142 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly May 



Grantham to the Humber. The undulating country of 

 the Lincolnshire Wold presents many attractive and char- 

 acteristic features, not a little surprising to those whose 

 impressions of the county are based upon experience of 

 the southern fen-lands, and comprises some of the richest 

 agricultural districts in the kingdom. 



With the Gull-Ponds at Twigmore it is unnecessary to 

 deal further here, since they were fully described in the 

 article already referred to. In the same paper mention 

 was made of other curiosities in natural history for which 

 the neighbourhood is remarkable. Chief among these 

 must be reckoned the warren at Crosby, a hamlet within 

 a mile or so of Scunthorpe, where until very recently a 

 peculiar breed of grey or silver-haired rabbits was plen- 

 tiful. The origin of the colony seems to be generally un- 

 known ; but of its existence there is no doubt. Mr Sutton- 

 Nelthorpe, of Scawby, states that he distinctly recollects 

 shooting over Crosby when a boy, and testifies to the 

 frequency of the silver rabbits and the popularity of their 

 skins as curiosities. As might be expected, the luckless 

 bunnies paid dearly for their peculiar distinction. Their 

 extermination, however, came about in indirect fashion. 

 So long as the silver skins were fashionable for use as fur 

 and for other purposes, their owners enjoyed special pro- 

 tection, and were well looked after by the keepers. In 

 course of time, however, with the changes of fashion, the 

 skins became no longer in demand. The prime reason 

 for protection ceased to exist, and very soon the rabbits 

 ceased to exist also. Whether any specimens of the 

 breed still linger at Crosby is doubtful ; but if so, such 

 are rare indeed. 



Even nearer to Scunthorpe than Crosby is a stretch of 

 open land known as Black Rabbit Warren. As the name 

 indicates, here lived at one time a breed of wild rodents 

 scarcely less remarkable than their silver brethren at 

 Crosby. Tradition, however, is less clear upon the sub- 

 ject of these black rabbits, and information as to the 

 period at which (if indeed at all) they flourished is not 

 forthcoming. The warren is principally interesting at the 



