8 



R. LOFTHOUSE : THE RIVER TEES. 



Migration of Birds for the year 1883 (P^g^ 5^)? reference is made 

 to the occurrence of a large Seal, seen at the Tees mouth on 

 the 1 8th of November, 1883, probably also referable to the above 

 species. 



Porpoises {Fhoccena commimis) are abundant in the sea at the 

 mouth of the river, and frequently enter and are sometimes captured 

 in the river. One was seen in the river at Newport, near Stockton, 

 quite recently ; efforts were made to capture it, but without success. 

 They are generally mentioned together with Seals in old records; and 

 Forciis viarinus appears to have been a favourite dish with the old 

 monks and the aristocracy, as appears from numerous entries in the 

 ^Durham Household Book' before mentioned, and from their frequent 

 mention in bills of fare of famous feasts. Otters {Lutra vulgaris) are 

 found in the higher reaches of the Tees, but not often at the estuary. 

 Some years ago one was caught at the Middlesbrough Docks, and I have 

 heard of another caught near Stockton Racecourse. Brewster, in his 

 ' History of Stockton ' before referred to, states that the Otter is rare, 

 but occasionally caught in the Tees. Two were seen on the rocks at 

 Winston Ridge, about the end of April, 1883. The' Water Rat 

 {Arvicola amphibia) is common in all the tidal 'stells' which run into 

 the Tees. The common or Norway Rat {Miis decumanus) swarms 

 in all the reclamation embankments constructed by the Tees Com- 

 missioners, particularly those constructed of slag, and make short 

 work of any wounded birds taking refuge there. The old English or 

 Black Rat {Mus rattus) still lingers in some old warehouses at 

 Stockton, and, I believe, in an old building at Middlesbrough, and 

 probably at Yarm also. Three fine specimens in Newcastle Museum 

 were procured at Stockton, in 1868 ; they are jet black, and finer 

 and larger than some other specimens in the same museum from the 

 south of England. Hares {Lepus timidus) have a peculiar partiality 

 for the reclaimed land on the Tees' banks ; at one place where the 

 game is preserved they are very numerous. In the Saltholm and 

 adjoining marshes several Kestrels {Falco ti7inunculus) may often be 

 noticed at the same time, hovering over the rough grass, on the look-out 

 for Mice and Shrews, which there abound, particularly the Long-tailed 

 Field Mouse {Miis sylvaticus)^ the Field Vole {Arvicola agrestis), 

 and the Common Shrew (Soi^ex tetj-agonurus). Notwithstanding the 

 aversion which the carnivora are supposed to have for the latter, 

 I once shot a Weasel {Mustela vulgaris) which was carrying one in 

 its mouth, but on picking the Shrew up I found it impossible to 

 find any wound on it whatever. We have also in the neighbourhood, 

 I believe, two Water Shrews, S. fodiens and S. refnifer Macg. I have 

 myself caught the latter with eight young. In the drier part of 



Naturalist, 



