The Zoologist — April, 1866. 159 



buslies. On loolving I saw a Iarg:e barn rat in the bush clasping one of tbe branches, 

 and seemingly as nuith iit lioine as il lie might he a regular visiiant there. The' 

 bushes were covered with haws, many of which were partially eaten, and some of them 

 had nolhiiia; hi.t the .sione left. It was these delicacies, doubtless, which had tempted 

 him t(. perform so unusual a feat. I had a g-ond op|.(ntui.ily of ohserung him, as he 

 stood perfectly siill for a minute or two, inienlly re-arding me wiih his head-like 

 eyes. He then ran nimhly to the groun.l, passing through several bushes in a line 

 with the hedge. I saw the characterisiic grayish brown coat and the long ears and 

 tail, which serve to distinguish this from the water rat. I have twice seeL it in the 

 same position and the same pVdce.— John Peers. 



Notes on ihe Quadrupeds of Lanarkshire. 

 By Edward R. Alston, Esq. 



(Continued from Zool. S. S. 61.) 



Common Weasel— On the 8th of January a weasel was caught here 

 which presented a curious appearance. The whole back was quite 

 bare, and the naked parts were covered with a bright scarlet eruption, 

 probably allied to the " red mange" of the canine tribe. 



Stoat or Ermine. — I am indebted to my friend Mr. R. Gray, Secre- 

 tary of the Nattu-al History Society of Glasgow, for the following 

 interesting anecdote of this species. Writing on the 17th of January, 

 he says:— "A few days ago I got from a keeper in this neighbourhood 

 (Kirrimuir, Forfarshire) a very good illustration of the rapacity of this 

 species. He was walking across some fields near the town, when his 

 attention was drawn by a ploughman to the erratic flight of a duck 

 overhead. Keeping his eye on the bird, which at first was wheeling 

 in curious gyrations high in the air, he waited till it neared the marsh, 

 where he stood, and shot it, when, to his surprise, he found a stoat 

 clinging to its neck. The little brute at once ran oflf on being dis- 

 turbed, but a shot from the other barrel checked his flight, and I 

 have now both the duck and ermine in my possession. The bird is a 

 female mallard, and its bloodthirsty assailant is pure white, except the 

 face, which is of the usual reddish brown. I intend exhibiting the pair 

 at an early meeting of our Society. Instances like this have been 

 already recorded of both the ermine and weasel, but it is sometimes 

 difl5cult to get the occtxrrence authenticated; in the present case it is 

 fortunate I was on the spot." 



Bank Vole. — Since my notice of the occurrence of Arvicola pra- 

 tensis in Scotland was written (Zool. S. S. 9) several more examples 



