236 Note on the Water Shrew. 
when he lost all traces of the weasel, and could follow it no 
farther. As there was no appearance of a hole, he was much 
surprised ; and paying close attention to the track of the ani- 
mal, he came to be convinced that it had sprung upon one of 
the birds, which had flown away with it. As he is a person of 
uncommonly acute observation, sound judgment, and strong 
sense, I have the utmost confidence in the correctness of his 
judgment regar ding this curious circumstance. The conclu- 
sion is, that the stoat knew quite well what it was about, and 
would keep its hold until it came to the ground again, under 
similar circumstances with the eagle. The matchless agility 
and comparative strength of this bold little creature would 
enable it to save itself during the fall; before which took 
place, it had probably, as in the femmes strange instance, 
destroyed the life of its more harmless prey. 
The Water Shrew. — In Vol. I. p.219., Mr. Dovaston gives 
avery delightful and fascinating account of his discovering 
somewhat of the manners and habits of the water-shrew (Sd- 
rex fodiens), and seems to think that this elegant little animal 
had become nearly extinct in the island: rare it assuredly is. 
My eyes have been searching after such sorts of objects, in a 
cursory way, for these thirty’: years and more, and I only have 
seen two of them. ‘The first time was about six years ago: I 
noticed it swimming across a clear rill that descends from high 
pieane nea - Abbotsford. A gentleman present knew the 
eature by ie English name: and after much tender care 
ee its capture, antl examining it as minutely as its impa- 
tience and our fear of hurting it would permit, we set it at 
liberty. It was, as nearly as I could judge, one third re 
than the common shrew, of the colour of the mole, or full 
near black, if my recollection is correct. In fact, I ihouphe 
when I first saw it, that it was some rare and undescribed 
species of mole. ‘The belly was singularly flat, and only re- 
moved from a pure white ‘by a ‘ouch of silver grey. The 
small stream where it was swimming runs through a deep 
chasm covered with old oaks and brushwood, and runs gene- 
rally on a rocky bottom. ‘The other I saw early last spring: 
it was dead; newly killed by a cat, as I thought (which kills, 
but does not eat, the common shrew). The head of this was 
destroyed. I fund it in a pond surrounded by a young wood, 
at W hitehope on Barrow. I could only compare the two 
from recollection; but I think the last, whose habitat was 
very dissimilar, was considerably less; fhe colour had more 
of a shade of brown. Some time afterwards my daughters 
found another, likewise dead. I was then from home ; and so 
had, at neither time, the luck to precure a specimen: the 
