36 Natural History Notes. 



tioiis permit. They have their agricultural pursuits. At the 

 proper season the young turnips have to be pulled up and the 

 roots inspected for grub and wire-worm ; tithe of the grain and 

 potato crop must be secured ; and those places where the enemy 

 has sown the tares have to be visited early in the morning, before 

 he is out with his gun. But besides all this the rook tinds time 

 to attend to the chicken and duckling department, and success- 

 fully acts the part of a low-class predatory bird. I have seen 

 them destroy a whole family of starlings, dragging the young 

 birds from the nest one by one, and tearing them limb from limb 

 before the eyes of their shrieking parents. Quite lately I saw no 

 less than four at a time fly over my fields, each carrying a hen 

 egg in its beak. In the interests of game-preserving, and farming 

 as well, more should be done to reduce the number of the rooks. 



The hedgehog is another much persecuted animal, and though 

 destructive to game I think he deserves better treatment for the 

 good he does by destroying slugs, which I have known to develop 

 into a serious pest on some farms. Slugs are the usual food of 

 the hedgehog, eggs and game being only occasional luxuries. A 

 year or two ago I saw a hedgehog family flitting, which is more, 

 I think, than most people can say. The nest having been 

 exposed by the cutting of some long grass near my house, the 

 young were removed one by one to some brushwood about a 

 hundred yards ofl'. In some cases the young were coaxed to 

 follow the parent hedgehog, whose anxiety was very visible. 

 The others had to be carried, the mother holding them in her 

 mouth by the loose skin of the region of the stomach, which is 

 free from prickles. 



If let alone, I tliink it would not be long before our lost birds 

 of prey would reappear. Very uncommon species often appear 

 suddenly, where any unusual abundance of their favourite food is 

 to be found. For example, the vole plague brought the short- 

 eared owl. After the decline of the voles the woods about 

 Terregles were full of tliese owls, noticeable by their habit of 

 flying by day. Many years ago I remember a similar invasion 

 of king-fishers when the Cargen was temporarily diverted from 

 its course for deepening operations, the small fry left in pools in 

 the bed of the stream being the attraction. The plague of goose, 

 berry caterpillars brought that shy bird, the cuckoo, to my garden 

 in considerable numbers. The severe frost a few years ago was 

 thought to liave killed or banished all the herons from this 



