2 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ago (say 1876), and many other notices might be gleaned from 

 ' The Field,' ' The Zoologist,' and other periodicals. But the 

 distribution of the Badger in Scotland is far from being general, 

 many large tracts being unfrequented, and others well stocked. 

 Protection has a good deal to do with this in certain localities, and 

 persecution in others, apart from the amenity of the situations. 



Owing to the trade in live Badgers, and the escape of 

 individuals from confinement, some of the records may not be 

 considered so reliable for the purpose of comparing the past and 

 present distribution, as if they all related to truly wild animals ; 

 but it would be next to impossible to separate these two classes 

 of records, and I have not attempted to do so in the present 

 article. Proof of its former abundance also may be gathered 

 from the fact that of old there was no specific name in Gaelic 

 for a fox-hunter, but such a man was invariably known as a 

 " Brocair," i. e., the Badger-man, or Badger-killer. 



It is curious to find that no mention is made of the Badger, 

 or Brock, in the ' Boke of St. Albans,' one of the oldest books in 

 the English language,* nor do we find any notice of it in Maddox's 

 'History of the Exchequer,' or in Burke's 'Heraldic Illustrations'; 

 but later, in heraldry, we find it in common use. Thus, in ' The 

 List of the Baronetage,' the crest of the Brokes, and also of the 

 Brookes of Colbroke, was a Badger. 



One of my correspondents remarks, no doubt correctly, that 

 1842 was a sad year for the poor Badgers, owing to the revival 

 of the Highland dress after the Queen's visit to Scotland. 



The Badger occurs, or occurred, all over the mainland of 

 Scotland, but does not appear to be indigenous to any of the 

 islands, specimens which were caught in Jura about twenty- 

 five years ago by Mr. Cox, gamekeeper at Culzean, Ayrshire, 

 having in all probability been introduced. Badgers have also 

 been introduced to the island of Ailsa Craig. Five were obtained 

 from Peebleshire about six years ago, and were put upon the 

 Craig by Mr. Cox, and the introduction has been successful, as 

 young ones have been seen there since. 



From the following notes, collected from various parts of 

 Scotland, some idea may be formed of their past and present 



* In 'The Boke of St. Albans' the Badger is referred to (f. iiij rev.) as 

 " the Grave," a name by which it is frequently mentioned in mediaeval 

 Household Books. — Ed. 



