Quadrupeds. 2281 



when grubbing up an old hedge. It lay concealed in a very snug manner, nestled 

 amidst the smaller fibrous roots, and, I imagine, had sought that place as a retreat 

 against the cold. It made little effort to escape, appearing half dormant ; but when 

 handled, bit my finger very savagely, through a thick leather glove. When kept in 

 confinement it refused to eat, and died in a few days. December 27, 1845. — Noticed 

 one travelling over the snow. September 11, 1848. — A third specimen taken alive 

 amongst some stubble in a barley-field : bit very savagely : taken some distance from 

 water. 



Oared Shrew (Sorex remifer). One captured alive March 30th, 1848, in a small 

 rivulet bordered with rank herbage. It dived with ease and rapidity into the water, 

 and ran with such nimbleness amongst the rushes as for a quarter of an hour to baffle 

 the endeavours of four persons to secure it. When caught it showed a most pugna- 

 cious spirit, biting through the skin of a labourer's hand, which is hard and horny, 

 and drawing blood. When pursued it uttered a shrill cry, like the common shrew. 

 I am not aware of any other individual having been taken in this county. 



Before concluding my account of the shrews, I think it advisable to mention a 

 specimen which was taken in September, 1848. It was smaller in size than the com- 

 mon shrew, similar in shape, but differed materially in having a light sandy-coloured 

 band or broad stripe on each side, shading down gradually to its belly, which was 

 darker than the common species. This band was so conspicuous as to arrest the at- 

 tention of a labourer who was engaged in husbandry, and to induce him to kill it. 

 When I saw it the flesh was in a state of decomposition, and after taking a descrip- 

 tion of the colour, &c, it was put away as useless. This description I submitted to 

 Wm. Yarrell, Esq. (to whom I have ever applied in cases of doubt, and always re- 

 ceived the most polite attention), who suggests that it " perhaps was a species new to 

 the British Catalogue." I have therefore thought well to mention the circumstance, 

 in order that other naturalists may look out for the species or throw some light 

 upon it. 



Badger {Meles taxus). See Zool. 615. 



Otter (Lutra vulgaris) See Zool. 714. I have never known this animal to breed 

 here, but it occasionally does so on the river Soar, about eight miles distant. A person 

 who has frequently taken the young describes the female as a revengeful animal 

 during the breeding season, and gave me an account of one which had wounded his 

 leg so severely with its teeth that he suffered some months from the effects. 



Weasel (Mustela vulgaris). In weasel " runs," along hedgerows, I sometimes find 

 the remains of redwings and fieldfares, which I think are taken by these animals, as 

 they roost on the ground. June 11, 1844. — A small terrier killed a weasel with a 

 field-mouse in its mouth : being a doe, the animal was probably carrying the prize to 

 her young. It was a curious sight to see her trotting along the bank-side, carrying 

 her burden in as clever a manner as a cat would do in a similar situation. I imagine 

 that when a party of weasels is seen (as I have occasionally noticed them) in pursuit 

 of a hare or rabbit, it consists of the old pair and their young, the former of whom are 

 perfecting the latter in the art of taking their own food. January 29, 1845. — I no- 

 ticed an individual which had taken up his abode in an old barn, and made himself a 

 very snug retreat from the cold, by getting a mass of soft chaff for his bed. He came 

 out on most open days about the neighbouring stacks and buildings, or took short ex- 

 cursions through the orchards and gardens, at some hundred yards from his nest. He 



