244 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and they have their love-tones when they are calling to and 

 pursuing one another. 



But I must defer to a future occasion all I have noted of the 

 ways of the Cheiroptera, else I shall take up too much valuable 

 space. When going round the hedgerows with a lantern it makes 

 such a picture to come across a Hedgehog feeding on a fat worm 

 he has tugged out of its burrow that I wish it were possible for 

 me to get a snapshot of it with my camera. The comical surprise 

 and bewilderment at the sudden flashing on to him of the bright 

 light made a picture well worth preserving. Sometimes it may 

 be a pair of Hedgehogs engaged in amorous play — possibly, by 

 great good luck, they may have little ones with them. I must 

 not include in this account of South Cambridgeshire wild life 

 what I have seen in the lonely fenland, in the woods of the 

 Breckland, and in the recesses of Epping Forest — all splendid 

 places in which to observe wild life ; else I might say more about 

 Hedgehogs and their family ways. 



Another nocturnal animal my portable search-light reveals to 

 me when out at night is the Shrew. Shrews were very common 

 about the district I have just been describing. The Water- Shrew 

 was then to be seen by daylight, even, early on a summer morn- 

 ing on the banks of the Stur rivulet. It still occurs, I believe, on 

 the rivers Bhee and Granta. 



In the days when our professional duties took us over to 

 Orwell, Badgers were not at all infrequent over that way. There 

 is much of the ancient wild life still persisting in that district, 

 and I should be glad to see the County Council or Government 

 establish a sort of miniature Yellowstone Park, and preserve this 

 remnant from destruction. It is the only part of Cambridgeshire 

 where I can assuredly say the Badger still breeds. When oppor- 

 tunity has offered I have regarded it as a pretty sight to see at 

 early dawn a group of young Badgers and their parents returning 

 to their burrow. The little ones are far less shy and suspicious 

 than the old ones. I like, when observing wild life, to have a few 

 tit-bits in my pocket or haversack. By patience and quiet move- 

 ments I succeed in getting a near sight of creatures it would be 

 impossible to observe effectively otherwise. Young Badgers, for 

 instance, are very fond of dates, and a couple of pounds of these 

 is a good investment if one wishes to make friends with them. 



