128 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



sporadically in most English counties ; while in some districts, 

 owing to the protection they receive at the hands of land- 

 owners, they are actually on the increase. Within the last 

 thirty years the presence of Badgers has been recorded in up- 

 wards of twenty-nine English counties. Its former abundance 

 in England is attested by the frequency with which its title 

 enters into the names of places, and it is curious that in all these 

 cases it is the ancient name of "Brock,"and not the more modern 

 one of "Badger,"that is employed in the compound word. Thus 

 we have, as pointed out by Mr. Harting, the names of Brockhurst, 

 Brockenhurst, Brockenborough, Brock ford, Brockhall, Brock- 

 hampton (in four counties), Brockham Green, Brockholes (in 

 two counties), Brock-le-Bank, Brocklesby, Brockley (in four 

 counties), Brockmoor, and Brockworth. The name Brock, it 

 may be observed, apparently refers to the striped face which 

 forms such a characteristic feature in the animal under con- 

 sideration. As an instance of the apparent increase in the 

 number of Badgers in certain parts of England, we may mention 

 that, in Leicestershire, according to Mr. Montagu-Browne, they 

 now breed in several places and seem to be more abundant 

 than formerly. On the other hand, in certain districts where, 

 from the wild nature of the country, they might naturally have 

 been expected to have survived, they have been more or less 

 nearly, if not completely, exterminated. Thus in the Lake 

 district, according to the Rev. H. A. Macpherson, Badgers 

 appear to have been completely extirpated since the end of 

 the first third of the present century, when a few individuals 

 still survived on the fells of Windermere and Cartmell. It is 

 true that a few solitary Badgers are now and then recorded 

 from the districts in question, but these are all stated to be 

 individuals that have escaped from confinement. We may 

 mention, however, that Badgers have been re-introduced on 

 one or two estates in Westmoreland, so that there is some 



