THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 779.— May, 1906. 



EXTRACTS FROM CHURCHWARDENS' ACCOUNTS OF 

 BEDFORDSHIRE. 



By J. Steele-Elliott. 



Before placing on record the following extracts from the 

 Churchwarden Accounts for the county of Bedford, I should 

 like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the clergy and others 

 who have so willingly given me particulars of such extracts 

 from their parish books — frequently a voluminous undertaking, 

 covering several centuries of entries. In such parishes that are 

 omitted altogether, either no records of such payments exist, or 

 do not appear to have been made ; or, as in a few instances, the 

 parish has only been formed in recent years after such payments 

 ceased in the county. I have endeavoured to obtain fac-simile 

 entries, but possibly these have not always been given. 



Many interesting points are derived from a consideration of 

 the extracts as a whole. The entire absence of any mention 

 of the birds of prey is noticeable ; also the very few instances in 

 which Rats are included. Stoats and Weasels appear much 

 less frequently than the Polecat, but this is more easily accounted 

 for by the greater destructiveness of the latter in the poultry- 

 yards and rabbit-warrens ; in fact, in most parishes the former 

 were probably not considered worthy of "head money" being 

 paid. Hedgehogs seem to have suffered invariably, most likely 

 owing to their destructiveness to the eggs of poultry, and possibly 

 also to the superstitious belief of their sucking dry the cows' 



Zool. 4th aer. vol. X., May, 1906. o 



