Sucklers. 9517 



8. Chartley Part, Cheshire. Resemble those at Chillingham, but 

 have black ears. (Id.) 



A series of careful experimewts on the breeding of these wild cattle 

 with the domestic race has long been desired by naturalists, but has, 

 I believe, never yet been made. Such au investigation would probably 

 place their specific identity with Bos Taurus beyond a doubt. 



Edward R. Alston. 



205, Bath Street, Glasgow, 

 March 3, 1865. 



Bats fiying in Mid-winter. — If your correspondent Mr. Whurlon will do the 

 'Nalurul History of Quadrupeds' the honour of consultiujj it, at page 24, he will find 

 some remarks on the appearance of the Pipislrelle, even in. mid-winter, which may 

 perhaps interest him. — Thomas Bell ; The Wakes, Selborne. 



Otter near Salinbury. — Since my last notice of these animals (Zool. 9430), another 

 has been killed in this imnsediate neighbourhood : it was a fine male, weighing twenty- 

 one pounds. He was trapped on the 23rd of December, 1S64, in a meadow at West 

 Hornhain, about a mile from this city. This is the fourth, to my knowled';e, that has 

 been killed here this season. — Henry Blachnnre ; Salisbury, Februnry '2b, 1865. 



Cvmmon Hare. — I can corroborate Mr. E. R. Alston's observations (Zool. 9430) 

 respecting the colour of hares this season. I have noticed several which have been 

 killed in this neighbourhood that quite agree with his description; one iu particular 

 which diflered so much from the usual colour, being of a silvery gray shade, with light 

 face, that the dealer into whose hands it came had it stuffed : its colour could not be 

 attributed to age, as it was a young hare, and was shot about three months ago at 

 Clarendon, near Salisbury. — Id. 



Common Hare. — In the 'Zoologist' for February (Zool. 9430) I see a question by 

 Mr. E. R. Alston concerning the peculiar colour of the hares this winter. I had one 

 sent me about three weeks ago by a friend who thought I might like it for stuffing on 

 account of its peculiar colour: it was unusually white all over the face, and its hind 

 quarters were of a silvery gray; it was a young hare, weighing about five and a half 

 pounds. — Arthur P. Morres ; East Hornham, Salisbury, February 18, 1865. 



The Sloth. — If I hud observed that patch on the sloth's back a few years ago 

 I could have managed to make something out perhaps: I did not notice it in the one 

 of which you have a drawing; that one was a female, and brought forth a young one 

 whilst iu my custody ; certainly she did not carry it on her back, but in her lap. The 

 only thing that occurs to me as requiring explauation, without seeing it, is the habit 

 these beasts have of sitting in the fork of a tree, as represented in the drawing afore- 

 said. Can the leaning against a bare branch produce the effect in question P Not 

 very likely, I think, to be the true reason. I have given orders for the purchase of 

 any sloths that may ajipear for sale, and will investigate ; but they are awkward animals 

 to find out about, being chiefly nocturnal. Nevertheless, when the young one is older, 

 it appears to me that the most convenient place would be the mother's back, with its 

 long arms round her neck, and legs-round her waist. — Henry Birchall. 



