REPTILIA, BATRACHIA, AND MAMMALIA. 473 



I do not know whether it is found in Alderney, and it seems almost 

 certain that it is absent in Sark. The local name is very misleading, and 

 it is this error which has no doubt led to the insertion of the weasel in 

 Ansted's list. Many persons maintain that the}^ have frequently seen, 

 and even killed, the weasel, but in every case that I have been able to 

 investigate, the animal has proved to be the stoat. It is certain that the 

 weasel does not occur in these islands. 



The stoat of these islands seems to show a slight variation from the 

 type, viz. : a broadening of the palate, but a sufficient number of sjoeci- 

 mens has not been examined to make this point absolutely clear. 

 Although the winters in the Channel Islands are j^roverbially mild, the 

 stoat dons a sj)ecial winter dress, becoming fairly, and sometimes com- 

 pletely, white. Frequently the change is rather peculiar, patches of 

 pure white occurring on the otherwise brown ground, giving it a pretty 

 piebald effect. I have not seen an}' mention of this variation of dress in 

 the descriptions of the stoat which I have consulted, and so I do not know 

 if it is a local characteristic. 



Hedgehog". (Local name as French, Hcrisson.) Common in Jersey and less 

 so in Cruernsey. I doubt whether it is indigenous in Jersey, and it is 

 universally considered to have been intentionally introduced into Guern- 

 sey during the early part of last century. The hedgehog is certainly far 

 more abundant here now than it was fifty years ago. ^Specimens have 

 been brought over from France and from England for keeping in gardens, 

 and it is very probable that the i^resent stock results from escaped indi- 

 viduals. 



This useful and inoffensive little animal is very much persecuted, 

 and by most of the country people always killed at sight, for it is charged 

 with being a terrible robber of orchards, and also with milking cows to 

 dryness dm'ing the night. How the cow would admit such a prickly 

 customer, or how the little stomach could accommodate a couj)le of 

 gallons or more of milk, does not seem to trouble them. The snake, it is 

 stoutly maintained, is also guilty of the second offence. These beliefs 

 are general in all the rural j^a^i'ts of Jersey, and I used to argue the 

 matter with my country friends, but have now abandoned the effort 

 owing to failing strength. 



Mole. (Local name as French, Taupe.) Occurs in Jersey and Alderney only. 

 In the former island it is so abundant throughout that the professional 

 mole catcher {Taujner) is an institution. Usually considered an unmiti- 

 gated pest, owing to its upheavals of the soil, and its long tunnels which 

 cause the drying up of the roots of plants. The good that it may do, in 

 the way of the destruction of ground grubs and other insect enemies of 

 the farmer, is not placed to its credit, as this is not so openly done and 

 so evident. A cream -white variety, which niciy be either the albino form 

 of the ordinary mole, or a separate race, occurs sparingly in several parts 

 of Jersey, chiefly at St. Lawrence and St. Martin's ; and two white moles 

 were captured in Alderney in March, 1906. The fur of these cream- 

 white ones seems to be longer than that of the black, and to have a more 

 backward direction. There is a fine specimen of this variety in the 

 Guille-Alles Museum. 



Common Shrew. (Local name Souris naisquine, owing to the musky 

 odoiu" common to all the shrews.) Very abundant and generally diffused 

 in Jersey. I have seen no sj^ecimens from the other islands and do not 

 believe it extends to them. What is known as the common shrew in 

 Guernsey is the next species. 



Musk Shrew. Plentiful in Guernsey. Kare in Jersey. I have no record 

 of it for the other islands. 



Pipistrelle Bat. (Local name, as for all the bats, Caiique ■■ioicris, no doubt a 

 corrux)tion of the French Chauve souria.) Very abundant in all the 



