392 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



Weasel Feeding upon Frogs. — Noticing a Weasel that was 

 evidently interesting itself in a three months' old pullet that was 

 wandering about my orchard, my son and I decided to watch for 

 further developments. The Weasel stalked the chicken by working 

 from behind a large pear tree, up to within some ten feet of it. Here 

 it seemed to decide that its quarry was too large for its further 

 attentions, and it returned nearer to where we stood. Here for fully 

 a minute it gambolled about in a most remarkable way, and in one 

 action apparently turned a complete somersault in the air. It then 

 came to within a few feet of us, and proceeded to work a patch of 

 coarse grass, and eventually pounced upon a victim, which action 

 was accompanied by a squeal, but whether uttered by the Weasel in 

 its excitement, or its prey, we could not satisfy ourselves. It quickly 

 emerged carrying a full-grown Frog in its mouth, and made its way 

 to a hole in the root of one of the orchard trees, but we succeeded in 

 making it drop the Frog before it gained the entrance. The Frog 

 had been seized across the back, just behind the head, and was 

 apparently dazed with fright, as it took some time to recover its 

 activity. We eventually killed the Frog and placed it near where 

 the Weasel had left it, whence it was soon after removed. — J. Steele 

 Elliott (Dowles Manor, Salop). 



Albino Water- Vole in North Notts. — On September 7th through 

 the kindness of a friend I had the pleasure of adding a albino Water- 

 Vole (Microtus amphibius) to my collection, which was obtained 

 locally ; he was walking by the side of a stream when the Vole came 

 out of its burrow and swam across the stream ; its burrow was easily 

 found, and was just level with the water. He stopped the entrance 

 with a stone, and waited results ; the Vole shortly returned, and in 

 the attempt to regain its burrow, it became entangled in the water- 

 weeds that were on the surface of the water close to its burrow, and 

 was then easily captured. An albino specimen was killed by a shot 

 from a catapult on the same stream, not far from the place where the 

 one under notice was obtained, but the person who obtained it cut off 

 all the feet and made a flat skin of it, and converted it into a little mat 

 for his dressing-room table. — William Daws (Mansfield, Notts). 



