A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



captured in Middlesborough and Stockton 

 (R. Lofthouse). 



20. Common Seal. Phoca vitullna, Linn. 



A large colony of seals formerly existed and 

 bred on Seal Sand at the mouth of the Tecs ; 

 but the great development of the Cleveland 

 iron industry and the consequent increase of 

 traffic on the river, together with the extensive 

 works of the Tees Commissioners, have led to 

 the complete desertion of the place. Mennell 

 and Perkins state that about a thousand seals 

 frequented the Tees mouth between 1820 and 

 1830 ; from the excellent account of the 

 colony given by Mr. R. Lofthouse in the 

 Naturalist for 1887, it appears that it was 



reduced to twenty or thirty seals by about the 

 year 1867. The final desertion probably took 

 place not long afterwards. But seals arc still 

 frequently seen on the coast (Canon Tristram, 

 R. Lofthouse, and others), and sometimes enter 

 the rivers. Tiiey appear to retain a preference 

 for the vicinity of Hartlepool and tlic Tees. 



21. Grey Seal. Ha Ikhisrus grypus, Ys.hr. 



This large seal probably visits the Durham 

 coast only very rarely. One was found at 

 Beaton Snook in 1871 (Clarke and Roebuck) ; 

 and Mr. R. Lofthouse mentions several 

 instances in which large seals, probably of this 

 species, have been seen about the mouth of 

 the Tees. 



RODENTIA 



22. Squirrel. Scturus leucourus, Kerr. 



Bell — Scturus vulgaris. 

 The squirrel is plentiful in the wooded parts, 

 though perhaps hardly so abundant on the 

 whole as in the more southern counties. 

 Formerly it appears to have been scarcer or at 

 least less evenly distributed than at present. 

 Canon Tristram writes,' in my boyhood it was 

 unknown here,' that is, about the city of 

 Durham, and in Mennell and Perkins' 

 catalogue he reported it as having been 

 ' once seen ' at Castle Eden. 



23. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanariuSy 



Linn. 

 Bell — Myoxus avellanarius. 



The dormouse is certainly rare in the county, 

 but the recorded instances of its occurrence 

 suggest that it might be found more frequently 

 by careful watching. Mennell and Perkins 

 state that ' it has been taken occasionally in 

 the woods which clothe the valley of the 

 Derwent, at Gibside, Winlaton Mill, and 

 near Ebchester (Tram. Nat. Hist. Soc. i.,p. 335).' 

 It has also been seen by Mr. N. M'Lachlan 

 at Headlam {Zoologist, 1885); Mr. J. Greenwell 

 mentions ' one taken near Hamsterley about 

 iii">.y years ago,' and Mr. J. Cullingford in- 

 forms me that he has had two from close to the 

 city of Durham within the last four years. A 

 mouse described by Mr. F. Fenwick from the 

 Wolsingham district is most likely of this 

 species — ' chestnut coloured, with white breast, 

 builds its nest in hazel bushes of dried grass ; 

 rare.' 



24. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas. 



As common here as elsewhere. Mr. R. 

 Lofthouse {Naturalist, 1887) notes the fact that 

 it 'swarms in all the reclamation embankments 



constructed by the Tecs Commissioners, par- 

 ticularly those constructed of slag.' 



25. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn. 



This interesting species is probably not yet 

 quite exterminated in the county of Durham. 

 Mennell and Perkins, in 1863, were able to 

 mention ' Stockton, where, as in many other 

 places in our district, the species still lingers, 

 though in constantly diminishing numbers.' 

 It still existed in old warehouses at Stockton 

 in 1887 (Lofthouse), and in all probability 

 survives there at the present day. Examples 

 from Stockton (1868) are in the Newcastle 

 Museum, and Canon Tristram also has one 

 from there (1873). For p.-irticulars of its 

 former presence in Durham I am again 

 indebted to Canon Tristram, who tells me in 

 a letter, ' There was a colony of black rats in 

 and about Durham Cathedral which had been 

 there from time immemorial. When at 

 Durham School, in the thirties,I knew of them, 

 and they were said to visit the school, which 

 was then in the churchyard. The last known 

 to have been taken was in the year 1879 ; a 

 trap was set for it by the verger.' IVIr. J. 

 Cullingford doubts whether the black rat is 

 even now exterminated in Durham, and tells 

 me that about seven years ago one was killed 

 near the town by the late Mr. F. Greenwell. 



26. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn. 

 Very common about habitations everywhere. 



27. Long-tailed Field Mouse. Mus sylvaticus, 



Linn. 

 This species is plentiful, at any rate in the 

 wooded and cultivated parts of the county. 



28. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas. 

 The harvest mouse appears to have been 



very rarely noticed in the county of Durham 



195 



