DUBIIN NATUKAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 105 



The hedgehog {Erinaceus lEuropcBus). — I have observed that this 

 animal, which is very common over the coal-measure district, particu- 

 larly about Ennistimon and Lahinch, is very scarce indeed in the lime- 

 stone. "When I was stationed at Ennistimon, there was hardly a day 

 that my terrier did not find one in some thicket or ditch, and the trouble 

 I had in inducing him to leave them rendered them quite a nuisance. I 

 have not met one specimen all over the limestone of Burren. The 

 country people tell me, however, that they are occasionally seen. The 

 Irish name is Granioge, which is also given to the echinus. 



The shrew {Sorex araneus). — Very common, particularly in the 

 limestone, and occurring at upwards of 1000 feet above the sea. Ano- 

 ther specimen, captured in the lowlands, was identified as Sorex 

 araneus. 



The badger {Meles taxus). — Is very abundant in the Burren. South- 

 west of Ballyvaughan, along the boundary between the limestone and 

 coal-measures, there are numerous swallow holes where the soft black 

 shale has sunk down, like the sand in an hour-glass, through holes in 

 the limestone. These are great badger haunts. You can see their tracks 

 for a long distance from the holes, and in the spring of the year there is 

 a heap of withered grass outside the holes, which is the old bed discarded 

 for a new one. The country people tell dismal stories of their dogs going 

 in, and never coming out again, or coming out with the jaws eaten off 

 them. I do not mean from the above description that the badger is 

 anything of a geologist, preferring to live on a geological boundary, for 

 it is also found in many of the glens and ravines all through the 

 Burren. 



The stoat {Mustela erminea). — Is very abundant all through the 

 west of Clare ; on sunny days, in summer, they are frequently to be seen 

 running across and along the road ; when killed, they emit an intole- 

 rable smell, which is perceptible at ten yards' distance or more. I have 

 seen them in unfrequented places, and at an elevation of nearly 500 feet 

 above the level of the sea, at the Glen of Clab. 



The marten cat {Ifartes foina). — This beautiful animal is now be- 

 coming rare in Burren. It was once very common, and some years ago 

 the skin was worth 255. It is called by the country people CatKrine, 

 pronounced Cot Krine, or the cat of the woods. My dog caught one on 

 the 14th of January ; it was a female, measuring 30 inches from tip to 

 snout ; soles of the feet quite bare ; throat and breast of a yellowish- 

 white, with a brownish spot. I had great difficulty in killing it ; I 

 never saw an animal so retentive of life ; it fought manfully, and bit 

 my dog in the nose and lips. They are very destructive to lambs. The 

 specimen is in the Eoyal Dublin Society's Museum. 



The otter {Lidra vulgaris). — Yery abundant in the lakes and rivers 

 of Clare, particularly at Inchiquin lake and the Ennistimon river. But 

 Burren has no lakes or rivers, its supply of water depending on the rain, 

 and consequently there are no inducements for otters to frequent its 

 wilds. 



