io8 
NATURE NOTES 
blackbirds, starved and frozen to death, lying, huddled together, 
in the entrance to an earth in which they had vainly sought 
shelter. 
In these haunts the stoat and weasel, or even the otter if 
water is near, will take up their quarters. At Wanstead Park, 
a few years back, a stoat resided for a long period in some holes 
where rabbits were plentiful, without, so far as was known, 
interfering with his neighbours. But the extended truce was 
followed by an outbreak. One day a keeper, passing by, saw 
the stoat suddenly attack an old buck rabbit, which retaliated 
so furiously that the assailant was forced to retreat ; and it is to 
be hoped was taught better manners for the future. Familiarity 
had perhaps bred contempt on the rabbit’s part. Hence his 
valorous and successful defence. 
Mr. John Watson, F.L.S., describes an occasion when 
among other strange tenants unearthed were a brown owl, 
stock-dove, and sheldrake ; each of which happened to be 
breeding in the same mounds. Both stock-dove and sheldrake 
are semi-burrowing birds, i.e., they take advantage of any 
cavity in the ground for nesting purposes, a proceeding which 
is occasionally followed by the owl, jackdaw, and even other 
birds. 
In Scotland badgers and wild cats at times share together the 
seclusion of the cairns on the lonely hillsides. 
A peculiar incident was recently reported in the Field. Two 
gentlemen were rabbit-shooting near Lancaster. A ferret was 
put into a small burrow from which bolted, in the order named, 
a rat, three rabbits, and a cat. Some years ago a similar case 
was reported by the same paper ; in which also appeared an 
account of the dislodging from an earth of a fox, cat, and seven 
rabbits. 
Adders are often perceived in warm weather, basking in the 
sun, in the proximity of rabbit holes, into which they dart if 
alarmed. The late Mr. Jesse, half a century back, stated that 
in the digging of a drain at Walton-on-Thames, a common snake 
and slow-worm were found in close company with some vipers, 
all in a torpid state. 
Many other instances could be quoted, but those given afford 
sufficient idea of the singular communities which inhabit these 
hidden retreats. 
There is another phase of animal life which may be alluded 
to as coming within the title of the present article, viz., that 
of animals acting as foster-parents towards the young of a totally 
different species or even order. The hen hatching and rearing 
ducklings, pheasants, or partridges, through man’s interven- 
tion, is a case in point, just as in Nature the hedge-sparrow 
or other small bird ministers to the wants of the young cuckoo. 
There are other events where brute instinct is entirely super- 
seded, which are more puzzling to understand. The domestic 
cat, by way of example, is not renowned for her tenderness of 
