140 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



When I first made its acquaintance it was about a year old, and was 

 allowed to run about the garden, and at times followed some of the family 

 into the village. As it was found to be alarming to visitors, and was now 

 and then attacked by strange dogs, a railing was placed around its barrel, 

 and it was only allowed out on occasions. After reading the account in 

 ' The Zoologist' I offered it some raisins, but it would not touch them, nor 

 will it eat any fruit. What it most enjoys is a snail, and the rattle of a 

 shell withiu the railing is certain to draw " Billy" from his barrel. It has 

 now grown sedate, but when from one to four years old its gambols were 

 most absurd and amusing. It created a sensation at a large tenuis party 

 one day by suddenly appearing, through the hedge, in the midst of some 

 ladies, many of whom immediately took to the chairs and seats. It is not 

 shy of strangers, and is perfectly quiet. I have several times taken it up 

 and carried it about when I have been staying at the Rectory, and it has 

 never shown the slightest inclination to bite me. — II. St. B. Goldsmith 

 (The Square, Biidgewatei). 



Courage and Sagacity of the Weasel.— As a nephew of mine was 

 walking through one of his meadows at Springfield, near Dorking, Surrey, 

 about the middle of December last, he saw a Kestrel struggling with some- 

 thing on the ground, and, on getting nearer, the bird rose about thirty feet 

 in the air and let something drop. On going to the spot, he found a Weasel 

 hanging on to a dead Kit about three parts grown. The Weasel imme- 

 diately made off to the hedge some twenty yards distant. My nephew 

 then picked up the Rat, and removing it to another spot, retired to a ditch 

 to watch. He had not been there more than a minute before the Weasel 

 came out and commenced hunting for the Rat, behaving exactly like a dog 

 workin" a field. The Weasel was some little time finding it. He repeated 

 the experiment half-a-dozen times, moving the Rat each time to a different 

 spot, and each time with the same result, viz., its eventual discovery by the 

 Weasel. He then left the Weasel and the Rat to settle matters between 

 themselves. This appears to me a remarkabls instance of courage and 

 perseverance on the part of the Weasel, especially after his little aerial trip 

 with the Kestrel. — Wm. Borrer (Cow-fold, near Horsham). 



Weasels killing Frogs. — Seeing a note in ' Nature' (Dec. '29th, 1887, 

 p. 208) about Weasels killing Frogs, I thought that the following fact 

 would be a further confirmation. I was walking near the village of Clifton 

 Hampden in August last, when I saw a Weasel, carrying a good-sized Frog 

 in its mouth, come cautiously out of the rank grass by the roadside; directly 

 the Weasel perceived me it dropped its prey on the road and retreated to 

 the cover of the grass. The Frog was dead. I kept silence, and the 

 Weasel left its hiding-place, and advanced a few steps, but again retreated. 

 Soon, after several advances and retreats, it rushed out, seized the Fiog 



