A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



1 900), and another killed near Bawdsey ferry 

 on 7 September 1891. Some years ago a 

 young seal was killed on the steps of the 

 landing-place at Walberswick ferry near 

 Southwold. Another young one was shot 

 on 9 September 1878 while lying on the end 

 of the Minsmere sluice between Dunwich and 

 Sizewell. It is gratifying to be able to give 

 a single instance where one of these beautiful 

 and intelligent animals met with kind treat- 

 ment instead of serving as a mark for a rifle 

 bullet. Mr. T. Southwell (ZW. 1 890, p. 384) 

 writes as follows : ' On the 8th August I went 

 to Corton to see a seal which had been 

 caught on the beach there, I believe, the 

 same morning ; this was nearly full grown, 

 and so won the hearts of the ladies at Cliffe 

 House by its mild beseeching looks, and evi- 

 dent discomfort, that Mrs. Colman bribed its 

 captor to liberate it, and we had the pleasure 

 of seeing it swim ofiF to sea.' 



21. Hooded Seal. Cystophora cristata, Erxle- 

 ben. 



' The first fully identified British example 

 of this seal, and for a long time the only one 

 known, was killed in the river Orwell on 

 29 June 1847. ^^ ^^ preserved in the 

 Ipswich Museum, but on my last visit to 

 that institution I was unable to identify it ; 

 the stuffed seals were without labels, and the 

 then curator did not seem aware of the 

 treasure he should have in his charge.' 



To the above account of this rare British 

 animal, for which the writer is indebted to 

 Mr. T. Southwell, F.Z.S., the following 

 particulars, taken from Mr. H. Layer's 

 Mammalia of Essex, p. 56, may be added : 

 ' The capture of this specimen was recorded 

 by Mr. W. B. Clark in the Zoologist for 1847, 

 p. 1870, where a full description of it is to 

 be found. It was presented to the museum 

 by Mr. Ransome.' 



RODENTIA 



22. Squirrel. Sciurus leucorus, Kerr. 

 Bell — Sciurus vulgaris. 

 Inhabits woods, parks and plantations in 

 most districts, and was at one time very 

 abundant in the Scotch fir belts about 

 Mildenhall. It is however destroyed on 

 some estates as an enemy to game, and is 

 probably much less numerous in Suffolk than 

 in many English counties. In sparsely wooded 

 districts squirrels make long journeys from 

 wood to wood, taking advantage as much as 

 possible of roadside trees and hedges. On 

 4 November 1872, in a wide stretch of 

 marshes near Leiston, which, with the ex- 

 ception of a very few scattered pollard 

 willows, are quite bare of trees, a squirrel 

 was caught by a dog in a clump of sedge at 

 the very edge of a ditch, only just clear of 

 the water, and on the same open marshes in 

 December 1873 one was seen and chased by 

 a man at work near by. A large and hand- 

 some example, of a pale fawn or cream 

 colour throughout, for at least two years fre- 

 quented a garden and plantation at Blaxhall. 

 In the Field of 22 November 1902 will be 

 found an interesting note on the squirrels in 

 Christchurch Park, Ipswich, whose gambols 

 among the branches of the fine old oaks and 

 chestnuts add greatly to the attractions of the 

 place. 



23. Dormouse. 

 Linn. 



Muscardinus avellanariuSy 



Bell — Myoxus avellanarius. 

 The distribution of the dormouse in Eng- 

 land, and especially in East Anglia, is very 



curious, and difficult to understand. Though 

 found in many parts of Essex, it appears to 

 be absent from a large portion of the neigh- 

 bouring county of Suffolk, amounting perhaps 

 to more than half of it, while in Norfolk it is 

 only known to occur in one locality, restricted 

 to some three or four adjoining parishes. As 

 regards the eastern half of the county of 

 Suffolk, from the VVaveney in the north to 

 the Stour in the south, no instance has, as 

 far as I am aware, been recorded of the dor- 

 mouse having been met with except in the 

 neighbourhood of Ipswich and the wooded 

 country about Belstead and Bentley. This 

 little animal appears to be commonest in the 

 west central district lying to the south-west 

 of the railway connecting Bury St. Edmunds 

 with Haughley and extending as far as Long 

 Melford on the Essex border. No recent 

 information has been received of its occur- 

 rence in west Suffolk further north than 

 Thurston. The Messrs. Paget however re- 

 fer to it as ' occasionally seen in small woods, 

 etc.,' about Yarmouth in their time (1834). 

 Mr. W. G. Clarke, in reply to an inquiry on 

 this subject, writes as follows : ' I have never 

 met with the dormouse in the Thetford dis- 

 trict, nor is there any record of its occurrence, 

 although this may be due to lack of systema- 

 tic observation.' Mr. Travis, the Bury St. 

 Edmunds taxidermist, considers this animal as 

 by no means rare in the neighbourhood of 

 that town, and Mr. W. H. Tuck informs 

 me that it is ' not uncommon about Tostock. 

 The Rev. J. G. Tuck, rector of that place, found 

 one in a birds' nest-box on an elm tree, some 



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