68 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
reserve of more than 300,000 acres, which it is proposed by the Government 
to set aside “for climatic purposes.” These clear tops are fringed by a belt of 
thick, almost impenetrable, scrub, from half a mile to a mile broad. Below 
this line lies birch, gradually changing to mixed forest on the lower levels, 
full of excellent food for Deer, the home of numerous wild cattle; and in 
the neighbourhood of Mount Holdsworth and Mitre Peak several tracks 
cut on to the clear mountain-tops, afford ready access to the Deer. 
Wild Dogs in New Zealand.— From the Report above quoted we learn 
that towards the northern end of the ranges mentioned, Wild Dogs (that is, 
dogs which have run wild) are very numerous, hunting in packs, on the 
lower levels, where they find plenty of food in the shape of pigs, Weka- 
rails, and occasionally even young cattle. It is chiefly from this end of the 
range that they make raids on the stations on the outskirts of the bush, 
doing considerable damage by killing sheep. In the interests of stock- 
owners it is proposed to have poison laid for them on the northern end of 
the Tararua Range, and on the Ruahine and Pukatoi Ranges, especially in 
the river-beds near the head waters of the Ruamahunga, Mangahuo, 
Maungatainoko, and Makakahi, where these animals are said to abound. 
Fur-bearing Animals of Siberia.—The Russian Government is, it is 
stated, about to take steps to preserve the fur-bearing animals of Siberia, 
which, with the present demand for furs, stand in much danger of exter- 
mination. At the great fur fair of Irbit last summer no fewer than 
3,180,000 Squirrel-skins were sold ; but there were only half-a-million Black 
Squirrel-pelts offered, against 1,200,000 of the previous year. The other 
skins sold numbered 1,300,000 Hares, 140,000 Marmots, 30,000 Polecats, 
11,000 Blue Fox, 10,000 Badgers, and a smaller quantity of Bear and 
Wolf. 
Pied Squirrel in Norfolk.x—Three years ago I reported, in the 
Naturalist columns of ‘ The Field,’ the occurrence of a pure white Squirrel 
with pink eyes and claws, the editor, in a footnote, remarking that such a 
variety was very uncommon. On the 24th October last I received a pied 
variety of this little animal, procured near Holt. It had a white saddle 
across its back, all four legs and about half the tail white, also a white tip 
to the nose.—C. B. Dacx (Holt, Norfolk). 
Whiskered Bat in Derbyshire——On New Year's Day I took a male 
Whiskered Bat, Vespertilio mystacinus, in Lathkill Dale, near Bakewell. 
It was hanging asleep in a damp place, its fur being quite wet, in a tunnel 
connected with some disused lead-mines. The Bats of this species which 
I have taken in the copper-workings at Alderley Edge, Cheshire, have 
frequently been a hundred yards or more from the mouth of the tunnel, 
but the Lathkill example was within a few feet of the entrance, sleeping 
