178 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
greater mischief might have ensued. ‘And yet,” says Gilbert White, 
“sheep and turkeys, and, as park-keepers say, deer, will crop these trees 
with impunity.” Are Goats, then, also exempt from any ill effects? 
Assuming that the Goats referred to by Mr. Colquhoun were feeding on the 
Irish yew, and not the common species (he does not say which it was), 
this seems to be equally poisonous, at least in the case of other animals. 
Pheasants have been poisoned with both (see ‘ The Field’ of Nov. 25th and 
Dec. 2nd, 1876). This makes me doubt whether it can be possible that 
turkeys can eat yew with impunity, as stated by Gilbert White, not from 
his own observation, be it remarked, but apparently from hearsay only. If 
true, it is as remarkable a fact as that sheep, deer and goats suffer no ill 
effects, while cows and horses are invariably poisoned. Hom is this to be 
explained ?—J. E. Harrine. 
DirrerENcE IN Mope or Arracgktna Turnips BY RABBITS AND 
Rats.—Mr. Miller's note(p. 100) on the difference in the mode of feeding 
in the Rabbit and the Hare, I can neither confirm nor question, for Hares 
are scarce here; but I have always observed a marked difference in the 
method pursued by a Rabbit and a Rat when eating a turnip—a difference 
somewhat similar to that which Mr. Miller has noted in the case of the 
Rabbit and Hare. Rats and Rabbits prefer Swedish turnips to every other 
kind grown about here. If the turnip is growing, and portion of the bulb 
is still in the ground, a Rat generally eats all round the turnip, and leaves 
the centre for the last; whereas a Rabbit begins at the side and works 
right across to the other side. A Rat bites off the skin or rind and leaves 
it in little pellets around the bulb; a Rabbit eats skin and all. This 
I have noticed for twenty years, Rats and Rabbits being very common 
here. Thus one can readily know when Rats have been at work and 
when Rabbits have been the depredators. Rats very often leave a turnip 
half-eaten and go to another; but if they mean to finish the bulb they 
invariably conclude in the middle. The top falls over at last, with a 
truncated portion of the bulb attached. — Ricnarp M. Barrineton 
(Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow). 
Nestino Hasits or THE Kinerisuer.—Kingfishers are amongst our 
early breeders. I have found their eggs on the 12th April; but from the 
23rd to the 30th of that month is the best time to secure them in the 
Midland Counties, unless the season should be an unusually late one, in 
which case the first week in May will be a more likely time. They choose 
either a deserted Water Rat's or Sand Martin's hole, or, what is more usual, 
make one for themselves. It is generally from a yard to a yard and a half 
