466 
Ermine (Mustelci ermineci). May 20th, 187G. Mr. Gaff (the 
game-keeper at Bluestone Wilderness, Hcydon) tells me that stoats, 
polecats, and weasels have as many as nine young at a birth. I 
have seen no ermines for the last three or four years in their white 
winter coat. April 15th, 187G. The Hockering keeper told me he 
caught (three weeks ago) a stoat in which were nine young stoats. 
Polecat ( Mustelci pufonusj. April 15th, 1876. I saw hang- 
ing up in Hockering wood a largo polecat, which the keeper said 
was a ? , killed about three weeks ago. They are very rare there, 
and the game-keeper thought it was a ferret. I feel sure it was a 
polecat. 
Cat (Fells ?). Largo yellowish grey cats with dark 
stripes breed in Foxley wood. I saw one or two several times, and 
on one occasion a kitten of the same colour in the wood a year or 
two ago. I should much like to obtain an old one, to see if they 
have reverted at all to the wild form, as I fancy they have lived 
there for many years. 1878. 
Fox (Vidpes vulgaris ) . There seem to be two or three varieties 
of this beast in Norfolk. Some are much redder than others. I 
have one which is very grey, and the under surface of body and 
tail nearly black. They vary much in size and weight also. I 
found an earth of fox cubs in Foxley wood in 1877, May 2nd. 
Near the spot were several bits of stick an inch or two in diameter, 
nibbled into the form of that well-known boys’ toy — the “ tip-cat.” 
Several square yards of ground were cleared of grass and weeds, 
and beaten down hard and smooth ; in the long grass round this 
space were several “ forms ” or hiding-places, so that although I did 
not see the cubs till some time afterwards, when they wero nearly 
full-sized, I think they must have been born earlier than April. 
Although foxes have frequently bred in this wood, they hardly 
ever steal a fowl from their immediate neighbours. Mr. Bush 
hoops fowls within a few yards of the wood, and when I gave him 
a hint to shut up his fowls at night last year, he told me ho never 
found that necessary, though he had kopt fowls there for many 
years. Another farmer, who keeps a great number of turkeys and 
other fowls close to the wood, did not even believe there was a fox 
in the wood last year, until a day’s cub-hunting proved tho fact. 
