392 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



(Zool. 1885, p. 27), iu which case, although the eggs were taken, the old 

 bird was not identified. — Olivfr V. Aplin (Bloxham, near Banbury). 



REPTILES. 



Mode in which Vipers are killed by the Hedgehog. — As some of 

 our readers have expressed themselves a little incredulous with regard to 

 the statements made under this heading (p. 306), it may not be amiss 

 to quote the following corroborative story, which is narrated by Broderip in 

 the second volume of ' The Zoological Journal' (p. 19), his informant being 

 no less an authority than the late Dean Bucklaud : — " It is not so well 

 known, he says, that like the Peccaries these 'hedge-pigs' will devour 

 Serpents. That they will do so appears from the following interesting 

 communication, for which I am obliged to my friend the Rev. William 

 Buckland, Professor of Zoology in the University of Oxford, and President 

 of the Geological Society. Having occasion to suspect that Hedgehogs, 

 occasionally at least, preyed on Snakes, the Professor obtained a Common 

 Snake, Coluber natrix, and also a Hedgehog which had lived in an 

 undomesticated state some time in the Botanic Garden at Oxford, where it 

 was not likely to have seen Snakes, and put the animals into a box together. 

 The Hedgehog was rolled up at their first meeting; but the Snake was in 

 continual motion, creeping round the box as if in order to make its escape. 

 Whether or not it recognised its enemy was not apparent; it did not dart 

 from the Hedgehog, but kept creeping gently round the box ; the Hedgehog 

 remained rolled up, and did not appear to see the Snake. The Professor 

 then laid the Hedgehog on the body of the Snake, with that part of the 

 ball where the head and tail meet downwards, and touching it. The Snake 

 proceeded to crawl,— the Hedgehog started, opened slightly, and, seeing 

 what was under it, gave the Snake a sharp bite, and instantly rolled itself 

 up again. It soon opened a second time, repeated the bite, then closed as 

 if for defence ; opened carefully a third time, and then inflicted a third bite, 

 by which the back of the Snake was broken. This done, the Hedgehog stood 

 by the Snake's side, and passed the whole body of the Snake successively 

 through its jaws, cracking it, and breaking the bones at intervals of half 

 an inch or more, by which operation the Snake was rendered entirely 

 motionless. The Hedgehog then placed itself at the tip of the Snake's tail, 

 and began to eat upwards, as one would eat a radish, without intermission, 

 but slowly, till half the Snake was devoured, when the Hedgehog ceased 

 from mere repletion. During the following night the anterior half of the 

 Snake was also completely eaten up." — Ed. 



BATRACHIA. 

 Enemies of the Toad.— It is currently believed that the Common 

 Toad, Bufo calamita, is so repulsive in appearance as to eacape becoming 



