276 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



1913. 



[ Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



Apr. 



May 



June 



July 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov. Dec. 



Total. 



i 

 Stoats 



1 











3 



2 



1 



1 



2 



4 



14 



Weasels . . 



3 



5 



2 



5 



5 



6 



11 



13 



7 



3 



1 



61 





5 



8 



5 



3 



1 



1 







2 



2 





27 





18 



6 



8 



6 



3 



3 



3 



7 



9 



3 



4 



70 



Hedgehogs 







3 



2 





1 



2 



3 



11 



4 





26 



Hawks .... 









1 









1 



2 









4 



Owls* 







2 









2 



4 



5 



8 



3 



24 



Crows .... 





























Books .... 





























Jackdaws . 











2 

















2 



Magpies .. 







3 





3 



3 





1 











10 











1 



1 



4 















6 





244 



In 1913 an assistant keeper was also employed, but a detailed 

 list was not retained, but an additional one hundred and sixty-two 

 " vermin " were destroyed by him. The considerable destruction of 

 Owls is regrettable, probably three-fourths of those killed being 

 Little Owls. Tawny Owls, Barn Owls, and Long-eared Owls all met 

 a similar fate. Of the Hawks, the Kestrel and Sparrow-Hawks 

 would be about equal in the numbers destroyed. These accounts I 

 know are often difficult to procure, as it is very seldom on shooting 

 estates that the law is strictly adhered to, and many protected species 

 are wilfully slaughtered, and I regret to think that that abominable 

 and illegal means of destruction, the "pole-trap," is still freely used. — 

 J. Steele Elliott (Dowles Manor, Salop). 



Notes on Nest-boxes. — The Tawny Owls which have nested in 

 our church-tower for several years past deserted the place this year 

 after the second egg was laid, but I have every reason to believe that 

 they hatched off successfully on the property adjoining the church- 

 yard, where they are strictly protected. Our own pair occupied an 

 old cask in an elm close to the house, and brought off three young 

 ones. One of these when in the down was much more yellow than 

 the others. An old kettle was twice occupied by Robins, but the 

 second brood were destroyed by a Rat or other marauder. In our 

 boxes we had the Great Tit, Blue Tit, Coal Tit (one), Marsh Tit (one, 



* I have a note, May 4th, 1913, counting nineteen Little Owls and 

 twenty-six Magpies, all recently killed, hanging on one of the " keeper's 

 gibbets," and on a later date four Tawny Owls and one Barn-Owl hanging 

 alongside the ride opposite a pole-trap. 



