298 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Squirrel killing Small Birds.— As some doubts have been expressed 

 about the Squirrel being carnivorous, perhaps the following fact may interest 

 some of your readers. A few days ago (in July) my daughter's attention 

 was attracted to the top of an ivy-covered garden wall by hearing a sudden 

 commotion there. Upon hastening to the spot she saw a pair of Robins 

 scolding at a large handsome Squirrel which had robbed their nest, and was 

 carrying off a full-fledged young Robin, which was uttering piteous cries. 

 The Squirrel then ran along the garden-wall, and leaped from it to a pine- 

 tree, when it disappeared with its prey. — (Mrs.) Frances J. Battersby 

 (Cromlyn, Westmeath, Ireland). 



Squirrel killing Small Birds. — On July 18th my father had his 

 attention attracted to an oak tree by the plaintive cries and flutterings of 

 two birds which proved to be Flycatchers. The cause of their commotion 

 was soon seen, for sitting on the poor birds' nest was a Squirrel coolly 

 devouring a fledgling which he held in his paws as he would a nut. The 

 nest was situated on the limb of the oak some fifteen feet from the trunk, 

 and about the same distance from the ground. On the next day T procured 

 the nest, and found further conclusive evidence of the carnivorous propensity 

 of that Squirrel. Lying in the nest were two of the young birds' skulls, 

 four legs, and one wing. They were what might be termed picked clean. — 

 Charles Campbell (Dalmeny Park, by Edinburgh). 



Squirrel climbing a House.— On June 13th I disturbed a Squirrel 

 in front of the school buildings at Giggleswick, Settle. On seeing me it 

 ran up the side of the Hostel to the height of forty feet, and remained there 

 for twenty minutes; then it made a jump and came down into the drive, 

 and ran off into the wood behind the school. I have never seen a Squirrel 

 run up a side of a house before. — W. Ramsbotham (Meale Brace Hall, 

 Shrewsbury). 



BIRDS. 



Sand Grouse breeding in Captivity. — The nesting habits of this 

 beautiful group of birds are so little known that the following account of 

 the successful breeding in confinement of Pterocles alchata may be of 

 interest to readers of * The Zoologist.' Two old pairs of this species of 

 Sand Grouse nested in my aviaries this summer. The eggs of one pair 

 were broken unfortunately by being walked upon by a pair of Nicobar 

 Pigeons. The other pair successfully hatched off their young ones. The 

 nests are deeply scratched in the gravel path that surrounds the turf lawn 

 in the outer compartment of the aviary. The number of eggs laid were in 

 one instance four and in the other two. I removed one egg from the pair 

 which had four eggs, knowing that three eggs are the proper complement, 

 and also because I thought that one egg appeared to have a thin shell. 

 Incubation was commenced by the cock, who went on the nest the evening 



