540 An Attempt to ascertain the 



Plecotus auritus, Geoff'. (Long-Eared Bat.) In Shropshire 



this bat is decidedly more common than the preceding - . 



Erinaceus Eukop/Eus, Linn. (Hedgehog.) Common. It has 

 been said that this animal feeds on eggs. Although I confined one for 

 some time, and deprived it of other meat, I was unable to persuade 

 it to touch one. 



Talpa EuropjEa, Linn. (Mole.) Common. Albinos have seve- 

 ral times occurred. 



Sorex araneus, Linn. (Common Shrew.) Common. 



Sorex fodiens, Pall. (Water Shrew.) An albino of this species 

 is in my collection, captured near Shrewsbury ; and a paper will be 

 found in Vol. ii. p. 219, of Loudon's Magazine of Nat. Hist., en- 

 titled, " Some account of the Water Shrew, a mouse supposed to 

 have been lost for about a century, by John F. M. Doveston, Esq. 

 A. M. Oxon of West Felton, near Shrewsbury," which gives the best 

 account we have of its habits, and of its occurrence near that place. 



Meles taxus, Flem. (Badger.) Formerly common in this coun- 

 ty, but becoming more scarce every year. In North Wales, however, 

 there are still plenty. 



Mustela putorius, Linn. (Polecat.) Common. 



Mustela erminea, Linn. (Stoat.) Common. Stoats will occa- 

 sionally pursue moles in their burrows. A mole-catcher once inform- 

 ed me, that he had caught a mole and stoat in the same mole-trap. 



Mustela vulgaris, Linn. (Weasel.) Common. 



Mustela. (Martes, Ray,') Foina, Linn. (Common Marten.) 

 North Wales. Not uncommon ; but I have never seen a Shropshire 

 specimen. 



Martes abietum, Ray. (Pine Marten.) Two specimens have 

 been taken in Shropshire at Stapleton, near Shrewsbury. It also 

 occurs in the neighbourhood of Snowdon, and near Barmouth, North 

 Wales. That this and the foregoing species are not really distinct, 

 I have scarcely any doubt. A specimen is now in my collection, 

 which appears to be intermediate between the two. The test of 

 anatomical character is, however, the only mode in which this can be 

 determined. 



Lutra vulgaris, Desm. (Otter.) A common animal on the 

 rivers both of Wales and Shropshire. I once shot one with a ball near 

 Holyhead at sea. He rose in the act of struggling with a large con- 

 ger eel, no doubt with the intention of making a meal upon him. 

 He appeared, however, to have quite as much as he could manage, 

 the conger being coiled round him. The ball passed through the 



