223 



NOTES— MAMMALIA. 



Otter in the Wear.— On 3rd, February 1900, an Otter {Lutra lutra) 

 was seen in the river Wear, near the confluence of the Gaunless, near to 

 Bishop Auckland. — J. W. Fawcett, Satley, 1st June igoo. 



Otter in the Derwent, Northumberland.— In the last week of May 

 1900, a young - Otter {Lutra Intra) about four feet in leng'th, and weighing 

 i^Vz lbs., was caught in a rabbit trap on the Shotley Hall estate, by 

 Mr. J. G. Pearson, gamekeeper, who has had the animal preserved and 

 stuffed. — J. W. Fawcett, Satley, 1st June 1900. 



Badger in the County Durham. — A Badger [Meles meles) which had 

 been blamed for killing some fowls, was caught alive by dogs, outside 

 a drain by the roadside at West Roddymoor, near Crook, in the fourth 

 week of May 1900. It died, however, from wounds on Saturday, 26th May. 

 It is supposed to have come from the neighbourhood of Hamsterley, in the 

 Wear Valley. — J. W. Fawcett, Satley, Darlington, 4th June 1900. 



De-abdominated Insects. — When walking along our country lanes and 

 footpaths I frequently come across specimens of the larger Beetles and 

 Moths that are minus the abdomen. The wings, thorax, and head in most 

 instances are complete, but on occasion some are short of one wing', some 

 of two, but as a rule it is only the soft, fleshy abdomen that is missing. By 

 what bird or animal is this process of de-abdominating done? Is it the 

 handiwork of Bat, Nightjar, Owls, Shrews, or Voles ? I have watched 

 most of these vertebrates feeding, but do not call to mind any instance when 

 I saw any part of a capture rejected. I spent last night in watching' the 

 Bats hawking over the garden, pond, and field here, but never saw any- 

 thing' let fall by them. I enclose three specimens picked up to-day. — Max 

 Peacock, Ivy House, Bottesford, Doncaster, 19th May 1900. 



[Two of the specimens arrived battered to pieces and quite indeter- 

 minable, but the third is Spilosoma lubricipeda. Will readers g'ive their 

 opinions on the point raised. — Ed. Nat.] 



Natterjack at Seascale. — Referring to the note by Mr. Farrah, of 

 Harrogate, on the finding- of this species by his son at Seascale. ami 

 suggesting' that the discovery might be a record, this theory must, how- 

 ever, be dropped. In Hutchinson's 'History of Cumberland' ( 1 704 ) is 

 a list of the county fauna, drawn up by Dr. Heysham, of Carlisle, the ablest 

 Cumbrian naturalist of his day, in which the Natterjack {Bufo calamita) is 

 described as not uncommon near the coast-line at Allonby, about thirty 

 mill's north of Seascale. Also the late Sir William Jardine reported the 

 occurrence of this reptile in a marsh on the coast of the Solway Firth, in 

 brackish water, and within a hundred yards of spring tide high-water 

 mark. They are, it is added, very abundant for six or seven miles along 

 the coast. Dry spots, however, are its favourite haunts, except at the 

 breeding season, when it visits the water. Writing one day last week to 

 • 1 lady correspondent living at Skinburness, 1 inquired whether she per- 

 sonally knew anything about the amphibian. Her reply is subjoined: — ' If 

 my sister and I are right about the Natterjack, a lighter coloured reptile 

 with a streak down the back, which walks instead of hops, we have often 

 I seen them as far back as we remember.' I have further been assured by 

 another correspondent from the coast-line that Natterjacks are not quite so 

 numerous as they were in the days of his boyhood. Away from the shore, 

 however, the animal is unknown. WM. HODGSON, Workington, 14th June 

 iqoo. 



1900 July 2. 



NO TE — L EP/DOPTERA . 



♦ 



NOTE— AMPHIBIA. 



