NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
227 
was in a fearful state, utterly unable to move and very thin. I do not think it 
could have lived for many more days, if it had not been found. Eventually it 
recovered ; but its neck must have received some serious injury, for sometimes 
it could not move it, apparently suffering great agony. No doubt it had hurt 
itself in trying to jump up out of the cellar. In time it became so bad that we 
had to put an end to its life. The chapel was ne.xt door, so no doubt it had been 
there the whole three weeks. 1 also h.ad a pigeon which was in a chimney for 
fifteen ilays, and was apparently none the worse. 
48, Cforgt Square, Edinburgh. RicharI) C. Lowtiikk. 
Squirrel in North London. — It may be of interest to those living in 
North London, to learn that a wild squirrel is still living in the neighbourhood of 
Clapton Common. One morning last month it was seen running along the 
garden path, quite near the observer ; then, darting up the trunk of a lime tree, 
it got caught in some wire netting, and could not extricate itself for some time. 
This gave a good opportunity of watching the pretty creature. When it had freed 
itself from the netting it sprang up the tree, darting front bough to bough with 
many pretty antics. Two days after, it was seen the other side of the road, in 
some park land belonging to an old disused house. A few years ago, before so 
many houses were built, squirrels had several times 'been noted about here, but 
it was thought that they had disappeared. 
Water Shrews. — A pretty little animal occasionally to be noticed at the 
edge of a stream or pond is the water shrew. The ways of these creatures are 
most fascinating. I have seen them quietly emerge from the grass, run down the 
side of the bank into and along the bottom of the stream. While under the water 
their movements are very rapid : they scrape away on the bottom with their feet, 
thrusting their long snouts into the mud, and under stones or leaves in search of 
insects on which they feed. They then retire a little way up the bank for a 
moment or two to take breath, and hurry back to their work once more. I have 
never seen water shrews dive. They simply run in and out of the stream, as if air 
and water were both alike to them, and they were equally at home in either 
element. When under the water they look as if they were covered with minute 
silver pearls owing to the particles of air adhering to their furry bodies. Land 
and water shrews are not of the mouse tribe. They have the sharpest and most 
delicately beautiful teeth imaginable, and live entirely on insect food. They are 
therefore harmless and useful creatures. Kestrels, owls, and cats often kill them 
in mistake for mice, but seldom, if ever, carry the mistake so far as to make a 
meal off them. If they do, it makes them sick, and they do not repeat the dose 
a second time. 
Market IVeston, Thetford. Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
March, 1902. 
The Strange Nesting Place of a Skylark.— .Some years ago, while 
walking along a grassy path in a wood, I noticed a bird rise from the ground a 
few yards in front of me. I recognised it as a skylark. Taking no particular 
notice of this, I sat down on a seat which was quite close to where the bird had 
risen from. Then I noticed that a stone of some size showed itself above the turf 
of the path, while on one side of the stone there was a tuft of grass. Going down 
on my hands ‘and knees I found that there was an opening in the grass, and that 
there appeared to be a hole underneath the stone. Out of this hole came the 
unmistakable sound of young birds. By putting in my fingers I could just reach 
them as they lay some nine inches in. My interest being aroused I sat down 
again on the seat, and very soon the mother returned, without being at all 
frightened by my presence on the seat. The path at this point ran through an 
open part of the wood, being edged by bracken and young birches. It would 
not be a very frequented path, for it was in the grounds of a Hydropathic 
at Grange-over-Sands, but the seat was rather a favourite one with the visitors. 
The nest was almost in the centre of the path, which would be some si.x feet 
wide. 
48, George Square, Edinburgh. 
Richard C. Lovvther. 
