2282 Quadrupeds. 



seemed to live almost entirely on mice, and I considered him in that respect as ser- 

 viceahle as a cat. 



Stoat (Mustela erminea). February 4, 1844. — Noticed a most beautiful pied ani- 

 mal of this species, which was amusing himself on the bank of a brook by chasing a 

 water campagnol, which he lost near the spot where I stood. He was not daunted by 

 my appearance, but came up to me within a couple of yards, when he made a cast 

 like a fox-hound, and in the most brilliant style, but failed in hitting off the scent. 

 He then, with a bustle and activity truly astonishing, crossed the brook, not by swim- 

 ming nor by a bridge, but by ascending an alder-bush to the top twig, and then leap- 

 ing like a squirrel to another on the opposite bank, when he regained the scent, and 

 coursed away at wonderful speed. I have records of seeing pied individuals of the 

 weasel [? stoat, Ed.'] on February 4th, February 7th, February 12th, 1845, and March 

 1st, 1846. Are these merely varieties of the common species, or are they individuals 

 changing from their winter to their summer coats ? 



Polecat (Mustela putorius). All but banished from our ' Fauna Melbournensis.' 



Wild Cat (Felis catus). There are in our largest woods cats of large size and 

 brindled colour ; but whether they are of domestic origin and strayed away, or bred 

 wild, is difficult to say, but I think the former. 



Fox (Canis vulpes). Of all the wild animals that roam the forest or the field, none 

 have so much money expended upon their destruction as the fox. It has been ascer- 

 tained (I think by Nimrod) that within the circumference of twenty miles round Mel- 

 ton, £100,000 are expended annually upon the chase, — i. e. upon hounds and horses, 

 with men and grooms to manage and wait upon them. Upon the same tract of coun- 

 try, perhaps not more (but probably less) than fifty brace of foxes are killed in a sea- 

 son, so that, according to this calculation, it requires the enormous sum of £ 1000 to 

 kill a fox in a sportsman-like manner. As Melton, however, is the metropolis of Eng- 

 lish fox-hunting, this must not be taken as a sample of hunting expenditure in all 

 localities. When the Donnington covers have been drawn several times, the foxes 

 betake themselves to the hollow trees, and endeavour to secrete themselves by lying 

 curled round in the holes and crevices. I remember a brace once, in the same covers, 

 climbing a tree nearly twenty feet high, which grew in a slanting direction, and hiding 

 themselves amongst the thick branches, whilst the hounds were beating the brushwood 

 beneath. The bitch will display considerable affection for her young, and even — if 

 hard pressed by hounds — reluctantly leave the covert where they are situated. On 

 April 26th, 1842, the Marquis of Hastings' hounds were drawing Staunton Springs, 

 — a large wood near Melbourne, — and found a fox, which for more than an hour de- 

 fied all effort to make it break. Several covers having been drawn blank, the hunts- 

 man was anxious to get it away, and at last got clear off, but only for the fox to 

 return again ; and so, supposing it was a bitch that had cubs, the hounds were 

 whipped off. This proved to be correct ; for some pedestrians, who had been follow- 

 ing the hounds, stumbled upon the nest by accident, and brought the cubs to show 

 the hunters, but afterwards took them back, and they were eventually reared in the 

 wood. The nest was placed at the bottom of a thick honeysuckle bush, through which 

 luxuriant herbage had crept, and afforded excellent concealment. A hole, about 

 three feet in circumference and three inches in depth, was scooped out of the bare 

 ground, and round the edges of the hollow were placed dead oak and beech leaves, 

 which served in some measure as a protective outwork. The young were seven in 



