MAMMALS OF SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE. 245 



By the way, it is curious what a lot of animals love these sweet 

 fruits. My Cat will beg for them, and eat as many as I like to 

 give her. She is the kitten of one of those half-wild Gats whose 

 progenitors were, I think, the extinct (so far as Cambridgeshire 

 is concerned) Felis catus. Her mother was picked up on a 

 country road, and had undoubtedly been born in a wood. These 

 half-wild Cats with the stripes and short blunt tail, like Felis 

 catus, are the sole representatives of the real Wild Cat now exist- 

 ing in this county. I have had them breed in the plot of ground 

 I have mentioned, which is partly wooded, and one summer, 

 while camping out on it, a kitten or two got on friendly terms 

 with me, and came regularly to share my meals. 



Although I have not for some few years seen the Marten in 

 South Cambridgeshire, it was still to be numbered among the 

 mammals in the days I am writing about. But it has always in 

 my time been a scarce animal in this county, and my knowledge 

 of its ways has had to be gained in other districts. 



There was no necessity to be out very early in the morning 

 in those days, or investigate at night with a portable search- 

 light, in order to see the Stoats. These wild animals might be 

 met with at any hour of the day. I have had one come and in- 

 spect me while eating my lunch by the side of a field, and move 

 so leisurely it was easy to see it was neither a Weasel nor a 

 Polecat. 



My desire has been to see, by close observation, to what 

 extent wild things vary individually in their ways and in different 

 localities. I have long doubted whether the habits of any par- 

 ticular species are stereotyped to the descriptions of the standard 

 text-books. Therefore, I have thought that first-hand notes on 

 the natural history of a district such as that of South Cambridge- 

 shire may have its value, even if it is not to be compared with 

 wilder spots. 



At the same time it is remarkable what a variety there was 

 of wild life within walking distance of Cambridge a quarter of a 

 century ago. The list of mammals observed by me, which I 

 gave in the ' Garner ' for 1886, included, besides the above- 

 mentioned, a white variety of Mole, the Fox, Squirrel, a melanic 

 variety of Mus decumanus (specifically different from M. rattus), 

 the Common Long-tailed (M. sylvaticus) and Harvest-Mouse (M. 



