56 EXTINCT BRITISH ANIMALS. 
then with their teeth pare it down into fine shavings. 
They are very cleanly in their habits, as they often 
clean out their house, not casting away the refuse, 
but using it either on the top of the house or the 
embankment of the dam to patch up a hole. 
‘Their food in winter consists wholly of the bark 
of trees ; had they a choice I have no hesitation in 
saying they would prefer the willow and_ poplar. 
These not growing in the enclosure they had just to 
adapt themselves to circumstances, and take a share 
of what trees they could get, consisting of oak, plane 
tree, elm, thorn, hazel, Scotch fir, and larch. Of the 
hardwood, they seem to prefer elm to plane tree, 
then oak, of which they eat sparingly. Of the firs, 
the Scotch has the preference ; as for the larch they 
did not touch it till early in 1878, since which time 
they have taken to it very well. As for the alder 
and spruce fir, they eat almost nothing of them. 
Along with all these, we have always given them a 
supply of willow. In summer they eat freely of the 
common bracken, likewise grass, and young shoots of 
every description growing in the place. In autumn 
they grub up and feed upon roots, chief among which 
is the tormentil (Potentilla tormentilla), better known 
to Scotch people as ‘ tormentil root,’ and the young 
tender shoots of the common ‘spurts’ before they 
appear above ground, at the same time cutting down 
a tree now and again and feeding on the bark. 
“‘ As to the tree-felling it is all done at night ; the 
number which they have cut down amounts now to 
187 trees from tive feet in circumference downwards. 
