president’s address. 655 
a whole night’s cooking — were anciently used for home 
consumption ! 
The furze ground on Ruston Common holds a few Hares, 
an occasional Woodcock, and many Rabbits, but the latter 
are very difficult to secure, in consequence of the young 
growth of the bushes being constantly browsed by Donkeys, 
the result being that they present an almost impenetrable 
exterior to any dog larger than the bunnies themselves ; 
and it needs a dog of high courage to face the thick set 
prickly covert. I once took part in an enjoyable and fairly 
successful drive organised by the popular pro tern, lessee of 
the sporting rights. Every parishioner who owned a canine 
friend was invited to bring him out for a hunt, the nondescript 
pack of yelping curs performing their part better than we 
had anticipated; their owners were, perhaps, propitiated by 
a good lunch from poaching for a few Sundays following, and 
the hustled Rabbits gave very sporting shots as they rapidly 
dodged from bush to bush ! Total bag to five guns : 
33 Rabbits, ir Hares, 3 Pheasants, 2 Snipe, and a Woodcock. 
I have frequently seen the trail of Otters on the common 
after a fall of snow. Frost compels them not only to travel 
far from their usual haunts, but also, sometimes, to depart 
from their usual fare and attack poultry. A Canadian Goose 
was killed by an Otter at Westwick last winter. Long and 
severe winters sometimes result in Otters taking up their 
abode permanently in new localities, and thus fresh colonies 
are founded where an abundant food supply is found. Last 
winter I tracked an Otter that left foot-prints as large as those of 
a big Retriever. The claw marks are not so heavy and blunt 
as those made by a Dog, and on ice-clad ditches an Otter will 
visit each blow hole in search of fish, and the swish of his tail 
may every now and then be noticed on the snow, thus 
differentiating his tracks from those made bv a Dog. 
Harvest Mice (Mns mussorius) are found in local corn 
stacks, chiefly, or most numerously, in early spring, which 
