348 Quadrupeds. 



the little squirrel forces itself on our observation, as it bounds from branch to branch, 

 or is seen quietly sitting on the top of a larch tree, diligently extracting the seeds 

 from a cone. Should you surprise a squirrel on the lower branches of a tree, or upon 

 the ground, to which it sometimes makes an excursion, it is astonishing to see the agi- 

 lity with which it escapes out of our immediate reach, and the celerity of its ascent 

 till it considers itself safe. When come upon suddenly, I have sometimes heard one 

 utter a sort of chatter in making its precipitate retreat. In climbing a tree when thus 

 surprized, it exhibits a good deal of cunning, and generally contrives to keep on the 

 opposite side of the trunk from its suspected enemy, sometimes however peering round 

 the side to examine the cause of its alarm. I have also at times seen a squirrel as- 

 cend a little way, and then remain perfectly motionless, as if by this manoeuvre to es- 

 cape observation. I once caught a squirrel which I surprized on the ground, and 

 which had not time to reach a tree, but was obliged to hide itself among a heap of 

 stones, where I secured it. The food of the squirrel, as far as I have observed, seems 

 to consist principally of the seeds of the larch and spruce fir, beech-mast, and the ker- 

 nels of haws, which it obtains by cracking the exceedingly hard stone in which they 

 are enclosed, rejecting the fleshy part of the fruit altogether. I have no doubt that 

 nuts and acorns, when they can be procured, form part of its diet also. In walking 

 through the woods, one can easily tell where the squirrel has been at work, the scales 

 of the larch or fir cones strewing the ground under the tree which has been the object 

 of its choice. The squirrel is sometimes guilty, especially in severe weather, of bark- 

 ing trees and of devouring the young shoots ; and thus at times does much mischief, 

 particularly in young plantations of pines and larches, as if the leading shoot of these 

 trees is destroyed, they almost invariably become stunted and good for nothing. The 

 squirrel builds a large bushy nest, near the top of a larch or spruce, but I have occa- 

 sionally seen one in a hard-wood tree. The nest resembles that of the wren, having 

 a hole in the side. The young ones do not acquire the bushy tail for a considerable 

 time after birth. — Archibald Jerdon ; Bonjedivard, September 13, 1843. 



Note on the occurrence of the Bones of a Beaver Src. near Ely. A few weeks since 

 the skull of a beaver {Castor fiber) was found by some labourers, who were claying in 

 a fen, about seven miles north-east of Ely, called Whelpmoor, in the parish of Little- 

 port, in the isle of Ely, and about two miles south of the confluence of the Brandon 

 river and the Ouse. The skull is in a most beautiful state of preservation, the f inci- 

 sors and the \ molar teeth being all in their places, and the bones quite perfect. It 

 was found on the clay, beneath about six feet of moor ; and on a further search, the 

 greater part of the bones of this animal were obtained from the same spot, and are now 

 in the possession of a gentleman at Ely. I also beg to inform you that the skull of a 

 wild boar {Sus Scrofa) was found about four years since in a feu, called Burntfen, in 

 the parish of Mildenhall, about six miles east of Ely. The lower jaw and the incisors, 

 the tusks and two of the small teeth, are wanting. The skull is seventeen inches in 

 length, six inches and a half in width at the cheeks, and three inches and three quar- 

 ters at the insertion of the tusks ; this skull is in my possession. — Marshall Fisher ; 

 St. Mary's, Ely, August 30, 1843. 



Note on Black Mice. A few years ago I was riding past Hampstead-down wood, 

 and heard a great rattling amongst the dead leaves, which I suspected was made by 

 the snakes, but on looking up into the wood (which is situated on a very steep shelv- 

 ing hill) I was surprized to see a number of black mice, travelling gradually over the 



