i 4 o 



NOTE— ORNITHOLOGY. 



Little Auks near the Spurn. — We have had a great many Little 

 Auks [Mergulus alle Linn.) about here since the last week in February to 

 20th March ; very man}- have died. — P. W. Loten, Easington, 29th March 

 1900. 



NOTE— HVMENOPTERA. 



Sirex gigas at Ashby, Line. N. — I got about 40 Sirex gigcis from 

 a spruce trunk last July, many in the larval or pupal state. — R. T. Cassal, 

 Ashby, Doncaster, nth F'ebruary 1900. 



NO TE — LEPIDOPTERA . 



Eupithecia pygmaeata at Ashby, Line. N. — At present the best 

 insect I can report is Eupithecia pygmceata , on 4th June 1899, flying in 

 the sunshine at Ashby. I did not know the insect at the time, or could 

 have taken several. Mr. Porritt identified it. — R. T. Cassal, Ashby, 

 Doncaster, nth February 1900. 



-» ♦ 



NOTE— MAMMALIA. 



Badgers at Tathwelf, near Louth, etc.— Mr. Edward Preston 

 Rawnsley. Master of our Southwold Foxhounds, told me the following, 

 when meeting last week, for the last time this season, on my moor : — 



On Monday, 25th September 1899, the Southwold Hounds met at Tath- 

 well, near Louth. A Badger (Meles meles) was on foot in Lawrence Wood. 

 The hounds got on the scent and ran it hard. The Badger, a fine dog 

 specimen, could get little or no shelter when once in the open, as the 

 Tathwell fields are the largest in the county, some of 300 acres to one field, 

 and hedges therefore are few and far apart. However, he gave them 

 a good run of more than an hour. These hounds are very swift, but he was 

 well up to the pace, and took the ground in a drain tunnel, whence he 

 emerged occasionally to fight the hounds. They were the bitch pack, and 

 he fought so stubbornly that they could not face him. To cut matters 

 short, the Hon. H. Heneagfe at last despatched him with a blow on the 

 head from a stout stick. He weighed 29 lbs. This is a very good weight. 

 I see that a Badger, accidentally killed in Ware Park, Herts., last month 

 (March 1900), and said to be in splendid condition, weighed 18 lbs. 



Badgers are said to be very useful in a fox-hunting country, as they 

 often live in the same den as the Fox, and keep it clean, to his advantage, 

 as the Fox is not a cleanly animal. 



On the 5th of this month (April) a dog Badger and two cubs were taken 

 at Preston, near Upping'ham ; they were in the den of a Fox, which, with 

 the female Badger, managed to escape. This male weighed 24 lbs. 



I was glad to learn from the Master that Badgers are on the increase in 

 many of our coverts. — J. Conway Walter, Langton Rectory, Horncastle, 

 13th April 1900. 



BOOK NOTICE. 



We have to thank Mr. R. Taylor Manson, F.G.S.-, of Darlington, for 

 a little pamphlet entitled ' Outlines of the Geology of South Durham ' 



which has been reprinted from the Darlington Half Holiday Guide — which 

 (the reprint) is on sale at the modest price of 3d. (W. Dresser & Sons, 

 publishers, Darlington). The little pamphlet gives a general account of 

 the various formations, which is illustrated by various blocks of geological 

 sections. It will be most useful to all who wish to learn something of the 

 Darlington neighbourhood. 



Naturalist, 



