206 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
last time I ascended that mountain (which, however, is some years ago) 
I caught a glimpse (there being a thick mist at the time) of one running 
amongst the short bent just ahead of us. During the winter the Common 
Scoter (locally called ‘‘doucker”) is very plentiful in Morecambe Bay, and 
on one occasion I shot a bird of this species on an inland tarn two or three 
miles from the sea. At high tide, especially in wild weather, large flocks 
of the common Wild Duck collect in the bay to the seaward side of the 
embankment of the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway, just where it crosses 
the estuary of the Leven, and apparently they pay but little attention to 
the passing trains. The Goldeneye is often seen during hard weather 
on the inland ponds and tarns, and a few years ago I shot a Tufted Duck 
on the Leven, which runs out of Windermere. ‘That Woodcocks breed in 
the district is undoubted, nor do I think the fact at all exceptional, as they 
may frequently be seen on a summer evening in High Furness flitting past 
in the twilight. This particular portion of the district is almost an 
unbroken area of coppice-wood, and for this reason, as it seems to me, 
all endeavours to get up any considerable head of Pheasants have hitherto 
proved useless, as the birds have so far to run to reach any open cultivated 
space either for natural food or for sunning purposes. The Common 
Buzzard I have seen in Eskdale, and there also I have known the Marten 
(locally called ‘sweet mart,” in contradistinction to the “foul mart,” 
i.e. Polecat) to be trapped. The only instance I ever heard of a Badger 
being seen in this district was some years ago when one was run over by a 
train on the Furness Railway near Broughton. Hill Foxes are plentiful 
enough. Otters fairly so. Last year there was one of the latter which 
varied its scene of operations a good deal, sometimes choosing the Leven, 
sometimes the Crake, or the brook running down Rushand Valley. I do 
not think Woodcocks make their appearance here in autumn in anything 
like the numbers they did formerly. I remember, when a boy, an old 
farmer telling me he had in one season snared sixty with a “ springe” 
set in the soft bottoms. Last season they were, however, rather more 
plentiful; but probably, as high farming progresses, increased drainage 
will still further lessen their numbers. Quantities of eels are caught every 
autumn in a fish-coop at a mill on the Leven. This migration from 
the lake only lasts a short time, during which I understand immense 
quantities come down, the river; but the moment that the first snow 
whitens the tops of the highest hills the movement is suddenly and 
mysteriously checked.—Epwarp T. Batpwin (Woodcroft, Ulverston). 
Goats EATING YEw.—From personal experience I am able to state that 
I have frequently seen goats eat yew with impunity. For many years 
I kept goats with my cows, but they used to get into my shrubberies and 
ass 
