231 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



Carnivorous Propensity of the Badger. — On Sept. 28th a male 

 Badger (Meles taxus), recently sent from Ireland and scarcely yet full- 

 grown, escaped from the yard in which it had been placed, and killed 

 a tame Eaven (a very strong bird, but pinioned), a large hen Turkey, 

 and two fowls, eating a considerable part of each of them, and appa- 

 rently making some attempt to bury the remnants, as they had soil on 

 them when found. Four young chickens were also missing, and these 

 were laid to its charge as well. After this the Badger secreted himself 

 for a short interval, but was presently heard of in a " rookery " wood 

 at no great distance, where twenty-three fowls had been used by a 

 gamekeeper for rearing Pheasants. Ten of these soon disappeared, 

 and, as " cackling" was heard by a cottager living near on more than 

 one night, there was little doubt that the Badger had been chasing 

 them about the wood, but only one dead fowl was found. After this 

 episode the animal probably went to sleep for a while in some hole, 

 and, though suspected of purloining some vegetables, was not certainly 

 heard of until the first week in November, when he was ascertained to 

 have travelled some four miles. Here he crept into a chicken-house 

 which stood by itself in a field, and in the space of about six days had 

 - despatched forty full-grown chickens. Of these the carcases of thirty- 

 six, or rather the scattered bits which remained of them, were subse- 

 quently counted by the owner. On Nov. 11th the Badger was found 

 sleeping off the effects of this heavy meal in a corner of the chicken- 

 house amid a pile of the feathers of the slain, and the next day was 

 successfully snared. According to the best authorities, the ordinary 

 diet of the Badger is roots and young Rabbits, and one would have 

 thought there were plenty of both to be found in the county of Norfolk. 

 J. H. Gukney (Keswick Hall, Norwich). 



Bat Swimming. — About midday on May 7th my son and younger 

 daughter were watching the fish in a pond near this house, when a 

 Great Bat suddenly dropped into the water about ten yards from the 

 bank, and, to their surprise, swam to shore without the least difficulty. 

 They described his movements as being very much like those of a Dog, 



