164 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



yielded such a rich harvest of mammalian remains in the neigh- 

 bouring counties of Derby and York, our knowledge of the 

 ancient fauna is comparatively scanty, though it would probably 

 be considerably extended by the investigation of old MSS. 

 relating to the county — a field of research pertaining to the pro- 

 vince of the antiquary rather than the naturalist, 



There can be little doubt that the Wolf (Canis lupus) formerly 

 abounded in the Cheshire forests, and its remains are of frequent 

 occurrence in the superficial deposits of Wirral (A. Hume, ' Anti- 

 quities of the Cheshire Coast,' p. 350). 



Skulls of Bos primigenius have been found in the peat-beds at 

 Leasowe and Wallasey, and at various places in the bed of the 

 Manchester Ship Canal. The smaller domesticated Ox (B. longi- 

 frons) was probably abundant. We have seen skulls from the 

 peat-beds at Leasowe, the bed of the Mersey near Warrington, 

 Chester, and several places on the line of the Ship Canal. 



The forest recesses and the reed-beds fringing the meres 

 afforded suitable covert for the Wild Boar (Sus scrofa), whose 

 memory is preserved in the place-name Wild Boar Clough, near 

 Macclesfield. Its tusks are of frequent occurrence near Roman 

 stations (Hume, op. cit. p. 350), and some years ago a skeleton 

 was dug up from a peat-bog at Mobberley (Wm. Norbury, ■ Proc. 

 Lane, and Chesh. Antiquarian Society,' vol. ii. p. 65). 



We have etymological evidence of the existence of the Koe- 

 buck (Capreolus caprcea) in Boelau, one of the hundreds into 

 which the county was formerly divided ; and in Domesday Book 

 we read that at Wivreham (Weaverham) and Chingeslie (Kingsley), 

 both in the hundred of Roelau, there were respectively one and 

 four* hays for roes. 



* The word haia is frequently mentioned in Domesday Book under the" 

 heading of Audlem, Wrenbury, Bredbury, Adlington, Worleston, &c. ; but 

 haia capreolorum occurs only in connection with Weaverham and Kingsley. 

 The following explanation of the word is given by Beamont (' A Literal 

 Extension and Translation of the portion of Domesday Book relating to 

 Cheshire and Lancashire,' Introduction, p. xxxi) : — " The word hay, in its 

 original, is Saxon, and signifies a hedge, whence the quickset, its most frequent 

 material, is a hawthorn, or, in our Lancashire vernacular, a haythom. The 

 transition was easy from that which enclosed to that which it enclosed, 

 and so the latter naturally became a hay. The hays were chiefly made 

 in the woods and forests, and, except such as were intended for the roe, 

 were forbidden to be made of any great height ; and they were so contrived 



