274 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



Notes on Surrey Mammals. — During last month (June) I caught 

 several young Moles about half-grown above ground, and found 

 several dead — this usually after a heavy shower of rain. They had 

 probably been washed out of their runs. Country people about 

 here seem to be able to distinguish three kinds of Weasels, viz. the 

 Stoat, which is known as the "Brush-tailed Weasel"; the Common 

 Weasel ; and the female of this, which is usually very small, the 

 " Cane." In White's ' Selborne,' the author there speaks of the 

 " Cane," and this, of course, is now known to be only an abnormally 

 small Weasel. I have lately examined several of these " Canes," and 

 was much struck by their small size. Gamekeepers tell me they make 

 use of Mole runs to get into the Pheasant coops. It is perhaps not 

 generally known that Hedgehogs visit patches of cow-dung in the 

 fields in the evening to eat the beetles found therein. Gilbert White 

 says that in his garden at Selborne the Hedgehogs eat the roots of 

 plantains growing on the lawn. This is nowadays denied by most 

 naturalists, who say it is the work of a nocturnal caterpillar. Last 

 year I found a number of plantains rooted up on a grass-plot by some 

 animal or other, and feel convinced this was the work of Hedgehogs, 

 as I could find no trace of an insect whatever. If the Hedgehog does 

 not eat the roots, might it not visit the plants for the sake of this said 

 nocturnal caterpillar, and to get at it thus uproots the plantain ? The 

 Common Shrew, here, goes by the local name of " Pig-mouse." — 

 Gordon Dalgliesh (Brook, Witley, Surrey). 



AVES. 



Blackbird Laying Twice in same Nest. — A similar event to that 

 recorded (ante, p. 235) occurred in our garden last year. The female 

 commenced to sit on four eggs March 26th, and the young left the 

 nest April 20th. During the first week in May five more eggs were 

 laid, and ultimately hatched out, but the young birds never lived to 

 leave the nest. I found all five of them dead May 21st, which may 



