NOTES— ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. igg 



gentleman of that county lias been successful in breeding them in confine- 

 ment, he was recently asked to supply a pair for the Forest. Unfortu- 

 nately, at the moment he possesses only two females, though he has seven 

 in all, and is naturally reluctant to part with one, as that would materially 

 injure his chance of rearing more; but at a future time he may be able 

 to comply with the request. There is a fair prospect of the martin becoming 

 once more a tenant of the woods. Another rare animal that used to be not 

 uncommon here and is now extinct is the Polecat. 3 Two were recently 

 offered, but they are so destructive that, after due consideration, it was 

 decided not to have them. At present the woodland is thronged with bird 

 and beast. In the twenty odd j'ears during which the Forest has been public 

 property and under protection, the timber and undergrowth have vastly 

 improved and now afford abundant cover. In consequence the emigrant sonc 

 birds resort thither in vastly increased numbers ; there are more thrushes 

 blackbirds, robins, bullfinches, gold-crests and other familiar home-birds. 

 Even the broods of pheasants last season would not have shamed a game- 

 preserve. One would not like to see a devouring polecat introduced amonc' 

 them. Already there is a large number of Stoats in the Forest ; one 

 sees them everywhere, but especially about Connaught Water, where, but for 

 them, the rabbits that breed under the impenetrable thickets would over- 

 run everything. If any further check were required on the multipli- 

 cation of birds it would be supplied by the Weasel and large Brown 

 Rats, of which there are more than enough. I do not know if the accom- 

 plishment be peculiar to the Forest stoat, but on being chased by a dog, or 

 otherwise startled, he will sometimes run up a tree with the agility of a 

 cat, or of one of the squirrels that enjoy a happy time here under the new 

 regime. Twenty years ago the}^ were considered to be almost extinct." 



3 We have it on very good authority, that the Polecat is still occasionally seen in the 

 woody country (some of it within the forest district) bordering the Lea Valley. — Ed. 



NOTES— ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 

 ZOOLOGY. 



MAMMALIA. 



Otters in Essex. — There may be two views of the question referred to 

 on page 141 ante where the otter hunter is condemned with all his ways ! Fox 

 hunting alone causes the protection of our foxes, save perhaps in the forest ; 

 may we not by analogy anticipate that otter hunting will indirectly tend to 

 increase the supply of this charming tenant of some Essex waters ? Fisher- 

 men who haunt the lovely trout streams of the west complain loudly of the 

 depredating habits of the otter, but in the sluggish streams of Essex, fishing is 

 perhaps of less consequence. Otter hunting may be so regulated as to 

 increase rather than exterminate the breed, and shooting otters may someday 

 lead to social disgrace as shooting foxes does now in the world of sport. — I. C. 

 Gould, Loughton. 



Fox V. Ferret. — " On Friday, Dec. 15th, 1899, some ferreting was going 

 on, on a marsh about a mile on the Colchester side of Brightlingsea close to 

 the railway. The keepers heard a curious sort of barking going on inside the 

 burrow — a strong one — when out bolted a strong old fox with a ferret on his 

 back ; as he raced towards the Upland woods the ferret loosed hold, and 'tis 

 probable that this same fox will be cautious in future about lodging in a rabbit 

 earth." — Essex Standard, December 23rd, 1899. 



