9430 SucMers. 



of jits having milk in (be inammaa I think it probable that the two whose capture I 

 have recorded above were her oflFsprinn^. The Rev. A. P. Morres, of East Harnham, 

 has the adult specimen ; the two young ones are in my own possession. On the 7th 

 of November a female otter, which weighed fourteen pounds, was killed in the parish 

 of Houghton, a village fifteen miles to the north-east of Salisbury ; and on the following 

 day a very fine male or dog-otter, weighing twenty-three pounds, was trapped on nearly 

 the same spot : both animals were sent to Mr. Cotton, of Stockbridge, to be stuflfed. 

 — Henry Blackmore ; Salisbury, December 12, 1864. 



Common Hare. — Have any of your readers noticed that the hares shot this winter 

 hare more white about their heads and faces than usual ? This seems curious, as the 

 weather has hitherto been very mild. The white is principally on each side of the 

 face between the nose and the eyes, a patch above each eye, and another behind each 

 ear. My attention was first called to the fact by a friend who had observed it in Ayr- 

 shire. It would be interesting to know if it has been also observed in other parts of 

 the country. — E. R. Alston ; Stockbriggs, Lesmahagow, N.B., December 15, 1864. 



Rustic Shrew. — Would you, or some correspondent, kindly give us a short descrip- 

 tion of the rustic shrew (Sorex ruslicus of Jenyns), by which observers might identify 

 that species ? It is not described by Prof. Bell, and perhaps if its characters were 

 better known it mij;lit be found in new localities. — Id. 



A Tame Field Vole. — A friend gives me the following interesting account of a 

 tame field vole, or short-tailed field-mouse {Arvicola agrestis), which he kept for about 

 two months, several years ago. My friend was walking in a field in Ayrshire, when 

 he observed the poor little beast, hardly able to crawl, and covered with some kind of 

 " tick." Picking it up he removed the vermin, and took it home, where a box was at 

 once fitted up for its accommodation, and so familiar was it from the first that it ate 

 from its master's hand as soon as it was taken to the house. Little " Peter," as he was 

 named, soon learned to come when called, and was let out of the box every day to 

 play about the room. Strange to say he showed a decided appreciation of fun, a 

 favourite amusement being to hide himself in a basin of corn which was kept for his 

 benefit. In this he would bury himself, refusing to answer to his name, and evidently 

 expecting to be looked for. If my friend took no notice of him, however, Peter's 

 slender stock of patience soon became exhausted ; first a shrill squeak was heard, then 

 the corn flew up in showers, and at last up came Peter's little round head to the sur- 

 face. By his tricks and lameness he soon became a universal favourite ; but mice, 

 like men, are mortal, and at last, when his master was from home, poor Peter fell a 

 victim to his own popularity. One of the servants gave him a large jargonelle pear 

 before going to church, and on her return she found that Peter had feasted "not 

 wisely, but too well," and was evidently expiring of surfeit! In vain she administered 

 castor oil and wrapped the sufferer in flannel ; in vain she shed tears over his death- 

 bed ; after a few struggles Peter departed for the happy hunting-grounds, " deeply 

 lamented by all who knew him." I do not recollect ever meeting with a similar anec- 

 dote of this species. Of the strict accuracy of the above, however, your readers may 

 rest fully assured. — Id.; December 26, 1864. 



Food of Quadrupeds : Mustela vulgaris. — Rambling along a country lane near 

 Appleby, in Westmoreland, I was startled by what sounded singularly like the feeble 

 cry of an infant not far off. Whilst pausing to ascertain from what quarter the cry 

 came, a full-grown weasel popped its head above some rather long grass growing in a 

 ditch about ten yards before me, and, after eying me curiously for a few seconds, 



