128 



NOTES—MAMMALIA. 



Deep drop for a Weasel— Last September, whilst partridge shooting 

 in Cumberland, I saw a Weasel jump from the top of a limestone pit into some 

 water, a distance of thirty or forty feet, and then swim across the pool, — -T. K. 

 PoSTLETHWAiTE, Hallthwaites, Millom, Cumberland, December 8th, 1884. 



Badgers in North Lancashire.— in May last the sons of Mr. O. 



Hayhurst, of AVhittingham, about five miles from Preston, observed the tracks of a 

 large animal, which they supposed to be of a fox, in a dense and secluded wood 

 called the Cockshoots, adjoining his farm. On following up this track a large 

 burrow was discovered in the wood, and a strong steel trap being set, the following 

 morning they were greatly surprised to find caught in it an animal with which they 

 were totally unacquainted. They took it to an old farmer living near, and he at 

 once pronounced it to be a young Badger. It weighed about eight pounds, and 

 was dead when found. A few days afterwards another one was pulled out of the 

 hole by a dog, and a week later a systematic hunt was organised, resulting in the 

 capture of two others. One was killed by the dogs, but the other was rescued 

 from them before being much injured. This was kept alive for over a month, and 

 became very tame, although savage at first. Unfortunately, whilst it was being 

 examined by one of the numerous visitors who went to see it, he accidentally or 

 otherwise let it fall to the floor, and it was so injured that it died the day following. 

 A full-grown one — most likely the parent of those captured — was seen a few weeks 

 ago, but it has hitherto escaped capture. 



The occurrence of Badgers in this locality is interesting, as they are now very 

 seldom met with. This instance of the occurrence of the Badger in Lancashire will 

 probably interest some readers, and I think it highly jDrobable that this particular 

 family may have migrated from a considerable distance in search of a more suitable 

 abode, and personally I feel very sorry that they should have been molested. — 

 R. Standen, Goosnargh, near Preston, Lancashire, November 19th, 1884. 



Black Ra.t at Newcastle. — in No. 112 is a note on the subject of the 

 Black Rat by Mr. Southwell ; Mr. Gurney's specimen therein noticed must have 

 been from Gateshead, though it is quite probable that it had migrated from New- 

 castle, or had escaped from some ship. The Black Rat has not been recorded as 

 occurring in this town, because probably it has not been sought for. A paper on 

 ' The two species of Rat in England ' was read in 1850 (see Vol. ii.. Trans. Tynes. 

 Nat. Field Club), and the specimen therein described was from Stockton-on-Tees. 

 We now know that the Black Rat exists in some old premises in the Close, a narrow 

 street in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, by the river side, above the bridge, where it appears 

 to have been for some time, and that it has been seen at times on board ships lying at 

 the Quay, and thereis therefore great likelihood of its existing in most seaport towns, for 

 like its iDrown congener, it is a wanderer. It has been found in London, Plymouth, 

 Stockton, Newcastle, and Gateshead, and also in the United States (see an article 

 in Nahire^ April 24th, 1879, in which it is shown that the Black was superseded by 

 the Brown Rat in the States in very much the same way as occurred in England). 

 In the magnificent new Museum of Natural History in this city — which we owe to 

 the energy and skill of our distinguished naturalist, Mr. John Hancock — are two 

 cases, each containing two prepared skins of the Black Rat, brought alive in the 

 year 1864 or 1865, with others, by Mr. J. H. Richardson from Plymouth. From 

 all these four specimens the black colour has disappeared, owing, probably, to the 

 influence of light, and they are now nearly all over of a brown colour like that of 

 Mtis deaimamis ; one, however, is distinctly piebald — brown and drab on the head 

 and neck. They are still distinguishable from the Brown Rat by their smaller size 

 and longer hair. Mr. Wright, custodian of the Natural History Museum when on 

 the former site, had a few of the above Black Rats in a cage. They now and then 

 got out and ran about the place, and the morning after were found in the cage again, 

 having escaped from the rude attentions of their brown cousins, as it tvas believed, 

 which were too wary to follow them into the cage, fearing a snare or trap. They 

 eventually disappeared altogether. The sex of Mr. Southwells specimen is not 

 mentioned, but it was smaller than that described in the paper first above men- 

 tioned. Is the female Black Rat bigger than the male? — D. Embleton, M.D., 



4, Eldon Square, Newcastle-on-Tyne, November i8th, 1884. 



Naturalist, 



