J. CORDEAUX : SOME FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW. 73 



The prints of Shrew Mice are somewhat similar, but smaller, and 

 with a distinct tail-trail, which is not apparent in the former species, 

 They appear to wander considerable distances from hedge-sides, and 

 burrow in the snow, and through and about heaps of dead leaves or 

 collected rubbish. 



I find tracks of the Stoat {Mtisfela erminea) far more frequent 

 than those of the Weasel {M. vulgaris). The Pole-cat {M. putorid) 

 is by no means exterminated. There are to-day hunting-lines of 

 three distinctly shown along the banks of watercourses. These show 

 they hunt leisurely, with frequent digressions to examine tufts of 

 grass, and the thickets of dead willow herbs and yellow rushes. They 

 search also any hollow beneath the bank and the underside of snow 

 cornices. Sometimes we see where the creature has suddenly broken 

 into a gallop with spaces measuring from twenty-four to twenty-eight 

 inches between each bound. 



The warm springs and ' blow-wells,' with their fringe of broken- 

 down and withered reeds, on which snow rests in broad patches, offer 

 special attractions, in the never-freezing water, to the pilgrims of the 

 night. Here are long straight trails of the Water-hen {Gallinula 

 chloropus)^ each foot put down exactly in front of the last, the hind 

 claws showing an alternate right and left inclination; their prints 

 mostly lead to the willow beds, and to a stack of coarse marsh hay, 

 which is tracked all round in a score of places. 



Returning to the well we find paddlings of both Teal {Qiierque- 

 dida crecca) and Mallard {Anas boscas), and dirty trails of Water Voles 

 {Arvicola amphibia)^ littered with fragments of nibbled flags. Foxes 

 {Canis vulpes) have been here, and the Foumart {Mustela piitoria)^ 

 too, has searched in and out of nook and corner. On an isolated 

 tussock a Heron {Ardea chierea) has had his stand, perhaps for hours, 

 and there are indications in certain scattered fronds of duck-weed on 

 the snow that the watch has been not without some success. 



Passing in a straight course through the willows are the round 

 cleanly-marked pads of a Cat — a creature not suspected as haunting 

 this lonely spot. Here, too, on the outskirts, and following a tiny rill, 

 almost concealed from view by watercress and brooklime, are the 

 prints of a Woodcock {Sco/opax rusticiila). The tracks of numerous 

 Partridges {Ferdix cinered) intersect in many directions. The birds 

 are now, doubtless, well within the centre of the willows. 



Along the back-water drain, for more than a mile, are the 

 paddings of a Fox. How leisurely the varmint has moved, fre- 

 quently stopping to look round, or to cunningly break through the 

 snow cornice with nose and paws. Here the tail feathers of a Snipe 

 {Gallinago coelestis)^ and there those of a Fieldfare {Ttirdus pilaris)^ 



March 1887. 



