NOTES AND QUERIES. 297 



space of a month not less than twenty-seven individuals of various kinds of 

 poultry before it was shot" (Proc. Philad. Acad. Nat. Soc. vol. vi. 1853, 

 p. 307). Dr. Hart Merriam also, in his ' Birds of Connecticut,' 1877 

 (p. 97), states that he has known one of these birds to kill and decapitate 

 three Turkeys and several hens in a single night, leaving the bodies 

 uninjured and fit for the table. In portions of the country where game 

 birds are common the depredations among them are nearly, if not fully, as 

 great as in the poultry yard. Ruffed Grouse particularly seem to suffer, 

 probably on account of their conspicuous size. Mr. E. E. Seton found two 

 Ruffed Grouse and a Hare in the nest of a species in Manitoba ('Auk,' 

 vol. ii. 1885, p. 21). A number of stomachs recorded in the table drawn up 

 by Dr. Fisher contained the remains of this noble game bird. Domesticated 

 Pigeons seem to be particularly agreeable to the Owl's taste, and the 

 neighbouring dovecotes suffer correspondingly. With these authoritative 

 statements in view, therefore, it seems to us that it would be extremely 

 unwise to adopt Mr. Bosse's suggestion, and we trust that the Australian 

 authorities will be warned in time against taking any such step as that 

 proposed. 



Date of Birth of Young Otters.— On May 27th last a female Otter, 

 Lutra vulgaris, weighing 17 lbs., was killed in the river Irt near Holmrook, 

 by the West Cumberland Otter-hounds. The huntsman, Mr. Isaac Fletcher, 

 when cleaning it, found three perfectly formed young ones in utero. He 

 preserved one in spirits and destroyed the other two. I believe I am 

 justified in stating that the young in this instance would have been 

 produced about the middle of July. — John R. Denwood (Kirkgate, 

 Cockermouth). 



Fecundity of the Stoat. — A few summers ago I had reason to believe 

 that a pair of Stoats were rearing their offspring beneath the debris of an 

 old haystack near to Ashlands, in Leicestershire. A trap, baited with a 

 House Sparrow, was set overnight some twenty yards away, with the result 

 that the following morning the female Stoat was found dead in it, but the 

 bait gone. Thereupon I worked down to the presumed nest, from which 

 the male bolted and was shot, and in due course I came upon thirteen 

 young ones and the dead sparrow, quite intact, lying in their midst. The 

 male had obviously carried the bait from the trap after the female had been 

 caught and killed by it. The young, I may add, were only two or three 

 days old. With regard to the manner in which Stoats convey eggs, and 

 concerning which questions are frequently asked, it may be of interest to 

 state that the eggs are not carried in the mouth, but are rolled along the 

 ground, propelled and directed by the chin and fore feet alternately. At 

 least such is my conviction after ocular experience of the performance at 

 fairly short range. — H. S. Davenport (Skeffington, Leicester). 



ZOOLOGIST, THIRD SERIES, VOL. XX. AUGUST, 1896. 2 A 



