The Zoologist — January, 1874. 3829 



Hobhj near Plymouth. — In my last notes I omitted to mention 

 that a fine young hobby was killed, on the 1st of October, in the 

 neighbourhood of Plymouth, 



John Gatcombe. 



8, Lower Durnford Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth, 

 December 7, 1873. 



Female Roedeer with Horns.— On the 31st of October I killed a roedeer, 

 and was surprised to find, on handling the deer, that it was a female with 

 the head of a buck. The horns were short and soft, the same as if they 

 had been ten or twelve days cast and had begun to grow again. The deer 

 had also a great deal of milk upon her, but no other deer of any kind could 

 be found near the place, although the ground was all disturbed. Is not 

 this a very unusual and curious circumstance? The same thing never 

 happened to me before (and I have had some experience with roedeer), nor 

 others to whom I have mentioned the circumstance. — ' Field,'' November 8, 

 1873. 



Food of Water Shrew. — On the 26th of July I watched a water shrew 

 diving for food, which it landed in order to devour. After watching for about 

 a quarter of an hour, during which it rarely had an unsuccessful dive, 

 I made a search in order to ascertain on what it was feeding, and found it 

 to be the caddis-worm, which it seemed to remove from its domicile with 

 ease. At the place where it landed I found quite a heap of empty cases. — 

 W. Jeffery, jiiii. ; Batham, Chichester. 



Dormice Breeding in Confinement. — I had occasion to-day to visit the 

 establishment of Mr. Nicholson, naturalist, of High Street, Portsmouth, and 

 was rather astonished to see about twelve or fourteen small cage boxes, each 

 containing the female and young of the common dormouse {Myoxus avel- 

 lanarius) in all stages of development, from the naked, blind httle thing of a 

 few hours old to the full-grown animal, with its beautiful eyes, ruddy coat 

 and amusing activity. Mr. Nicholson has upwards of two hundred, all bred 

 and born in confinement, in litters or nests of from three to eight or nine 

 young ones. Did a similar instance ever come under your observation ? — 

 ' Field; November 8, 1873. 



Birds obserred at Glenarm Castle. — On the 18th of October a fine speci- 

 men of the common buzzard was shot near Glenarm ; weight thirty-two 

 ounces ; contents of stomach, the remains of a rabbit. It is the fourth I 

 have seen shot in this neighbourhood, two of which are in my own collec- 

 tion. On the 20th of October (wind blowing a gale N.W.) a specimen of 



SECOND SERIES VOL. IX. E 



