^34 
NATURE NOTES 
Summary of Branch Payments 
Made since March 31, 1905. 
Branch. Paid for Nature Notes. Contribution.s. 
Bath ... 
... £4 
0 
0 
£3 
0 
0 
Brighton ... 
2 
6 
0 
5 
0 
Clapton 
4 
8 
10 
I 
I 
0 
Croydon ... 
5 
0 
4 
— 
Ealing 
5 
6 
2 
I 
12 
I 
East Riding 
1 16 
10 
0 
10 
0 
Rape of Lewes (1904) 
0 
2 
2 
0 
6 
8 
Rother Valley (Midhurst) 
2 
6 
8 
0 
12 
0 
J > > > ii 
donation 
I 
10 
0 
£25 
3 6 
;^8 
16 
9 
The subscriptions from the following branches for 1904 have been paid 
in full, and these are included under the heading of subscriptions : Kensington, 
Portsmouth, “ Richard Jefferies,” Rother Valley (Petersfield), and Sutton. 
SELBORNIANA. 
Original Research.— In order that a proper return may be 
made to the British Association, the Council hope that any 
members who have been engaged in any original scientific 
research, or have published any such work between June i, 1904, 
and May 31, 1905, will let the Honorary Secretary have a note 
of the subject of their investigation as soon as possible. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
254 . Wild Animals and Man.— Mr. A. Nicol Simpson’s note on the 
unsuspecting squirrel in June Nature Notes reminds me of an experience of 
mine which I quite intended reporting at the time. I was standing on the foot- 
bridge crossing the Elwy at Cefn one day last summer, leaning with my back 
against the handrail, reading, when I felt something shake the bridge, which, by 
the way, is very old and rickety. On looking up I saw a squirrel just a few feet 
from me, evidently considering whether it was wise to proceed. I kept perfectly 
quiet, and after hesitating a moment he came leisurely forward and passed under 
me ; he had no sooner crossed when another came along without a moment’s 
hesitation, and, following its mate, disappeared up a tree. There is no doubt 
that I moved and so aroused the suspicions of the first ; but the second squirrel 
had no consciousness of my presence. 
Rhyl. F. L. Rawlins. 
256 . A year or two back a stoat ran over my hands resting on a plank at 
the head of a lake where 1 was fishing. Several times a kingfisher has settled 
on my rod, and also a swallow. 
W. A. Shaw. 
256. Hedgehogs and Steel Traps. — One afternoon I saw a hedgehog 
alive in a steel trap, where it must have been lingering in pain and misery for 
hours. It being the time of year when there are young, this poor animal’s 
family probably died of starvation. 
Of all inventions for the capture of the lower creatures, none surpass the steel 
trap in cruelty, which through man’s thought le.ssness often keeps its victim in 
untold agony lor hours or even days. A question has lately been asked in Parlia- 
ment .about taking rabbits with steel traps in one of the Royal parks, which, it is 
to be hoped, will call attention to the matter. If it be useless to hope that these 
