336 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



specimen, even the back of the ears being brown instead of the usual velvety 

 black. This appeared to be the head of a full-grown Fox, but not very old, 

 judging from its teeth; indeed, in alluding to the light colour, I do not 

 refer to broken-teethed, grey-muzzled creatures resembling an old dog. 

 Whether the dark heads and tails, in the hands of the taxidermist, usually 

 belong to a similarly dark-coloured body, I am unable to say ; but it is not 

 necessarily so, as the following will prove. In November last a Fox with a 

 very dark tail was observed to frequent a furze-brake on the borders of a 

 wood ; eventually it was hunted and killed, and I saw both head and 

 " brush " ; the latter was unusually dark, with no white tip, but the head was 

 of the ordinary rufous colour, and, most remarkable, it had a conspicuous 

 white mark— rather elongated, about the size of a sixpence— j ust in the 

 centre of the forehead. I had previously seen one somewhat similarly 

 marked, but in that case the white spot was not very large, although 

 plainly visible at a little distance. During last winter I was informed that 

 a Fox had been seen in East Dorset with white fore-feet, but I have heard 

 nothing of it since ; all the Foxes I have ever seen had, as usual, black 

 "pads."— G. B. Coebin (Ringwood, Hants). 



Squirrels and Conifers.— Mr. A. 0. Walker, in the last-published part 

 of the Chester Society's 'Proceedings' (No. 4, p. 203), writes: — "I have 

 a good many Conifers of various kinds in my grounds, at Colwyn Bay, and 

 I should guess almost as many Squirrels. At any rate, it is certain that if 

 each Squirrel bit off only one leading shoot in each year, I should not have 

 an unmolested fir-tree in the place; whereas, on the contrary, it would 

 require a long and careful search to find a single tree so disfigured. It is 

 well known that Conifers sometimes lose their leaders from other causes in 

 places where there are no Squirrels." 



Cats catching Butterflies and Moths.— Some Cats have quite an 

 entomological taste, especially in the way of catching and devouring crickets 

 and cockroaches ; indeed, an old wife's theory I have often heard is that Cats 

 grow thin from eating them. With regard to Lepidoptera, both diurnal and 

 nocturnal, their movements are, as a rule, quicker and more out of reach 

 from pussy's sharp claws, but I am sure that many entomologists will bear 

 me out when I say that Cats will often catch moths with great dexterity. 

 A friend of mine, who has a large garden, used often to remark how his 

 Cat would, of an evening, lie in wait and catch moths, especially some of 

 the larger species ; and on one occasion I received a good specimen of the 

 death's-head moth taken by this feline collector. Such an instance is far 

 from unique, for other species of moths have from time to time been obtained 

 under similar circumstances. I have also seen a Cat catch and chew — I can 

 scarcely say eat — both the garden white (Pieris rap®) and orange-tip butter- 

 flies. I believe, however, that few, if any, Cats catch moths or butterflies 



