9358 Sucklers. 
Gudbrandsdal ascending the Dovre, near Dombaas: entire hill-sides 
are composed of firm and compact masses of glistening white earth, 
entirely made up of the small abraded particles scraped from the rocks, 
such as one invariably sees discolouring the water running from the 
foot of a glacier. These ancient masses of ground rock have a greasy 
fee] and fracture, which reminded me of French chalk: I am sure it 
might be turned to some use for polishing metals. 
Drivstuen.—Here I stayed one night, and before retiring to rest 
went down to the Driva with my fly-rod: owing to the quantity of 
snow-water I-could not move any decent fish, but soon filled my bag 
with small trout. In the farm-yard here is a deep draw-well, with 
the usual lever and bucket: on looking into the well, thinking of 
ferns, to my great surprise, I saw that, at about ten feet from the top, 
the sides were still encased with solid ice, a foot and a half thick: 
this little incident was enough to remind one of the rigorous winter 
experienced at this elevation. 
Bjerkager.—Had some excellent trout here for supper: afterwards 
took my rod down to the lake, above the station, but the sides are too 
boggy to allow of a near enough approach. The upper end of the 
lake being very shallow, seemed quite alive with ducks and redshanks ; 
the latter birds amused me much with their singular habit of perching 
on the tops of the spruce firs. In the evening was much delighted in 
listening to the song of the redwing. In the forest here I hear the 
hazel hen (Tetrao bonasia) and capercally are abundant enough in 
the winter time. In driving along the Gudbrandsdal, noticed the 
fields were in places quite purple with the beautiful Anchusa tinctoria, 
and in one particular place the fields were one mass of blue colour 
from the abundance of Dracocephalum Ruyschiana, The pine woods 
were deliciously scented with the beautiful Linnza borealis. 
Here I must bring these hasty notes to an end. 
GEORGE NoRMAN. 
Hull, October 12, 1864. 
Food of Quadrupeds.—As you recently requested your readers to make observa- 
tions on “ the life-histories” of our British sucklers (Zool. 9218), I venture to trouble 
you with the following notes on the food of one or two species :— 
Common Shrew (Sorex tetragonurus).—I kept one of these pretty little animals for 
a few days in a box with moss. It would eat almost any animal substance, but 
seemed to prefer insects and earth-worms: the former it seized with a spring, and it 
would eat seven or eight house-flies at a time; if more were given it hid them in the 
moss. Small worms were caught by one end and munched slowly without being 
