-THE AMERICAN GREY SQUIRREL IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 195 
at present to number from 150 to 200, in spite of the recent order 
for their extermination. At Kingston Hill they are reported 
as abundant, and as frequent at St. Anne’s Hill, Chertsey, and 
as occurring in gardens at Wimbledon and at Putney. The 
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have become one of the strong- 
holds of the species and Sir David Prain has kindly given me 
authoritative information about this. Two pairs were intro- 
duced from Woburn on 8th May, 1908, and speedily increased 
in numbers. One year they did great destruction to the tender 
young shoots of oak-trees and a ukase was issued on that occa- 
sion, and about 120 killed. The following year there seemed 
to be no diminution in their numbers, and they are still increas- 
ing and have found their way across the Kew Road and into 
the gardens of houses in Kew and that portion of Richmond 
mext to Kew Gardens. Other Surrey localities from which I 
have records are Leatherhead and Caterham Valley, where the 
Species was first seen some three years ago.t? I have a note of 
one seen swimming across the Thames near Fel Pie Island. 
Between 1910 and 1912 a pair was once seen in Alice Holt Wood, 
Rowledge,?! but apparently did not secure a footing. It is 
not known in the Haslemere district!? nor at Chiddingfold*s 
where the dominant tree is the oak, nor at Oxshott where the 
woodland is almost pure Scots Pine. I mention these and other 
negative records as they may be of some relative value in the 
course of time. : 
KentT.—In this county the greysquirrel is well-distributed 
and abundant in some places, particularly about Chislehurst, 
Knole Park, Rivershill, and Sevenoaks. At the last-named 
place Capt. C. W. R. Knight tells me they were liberated about 
twelve years ago by an enthusiast, and that they are increasing 
and spreading rapidly in spite of efforts to keep them down. On 
one estate last winter (I921) two hundred were killed and most 
of the keepers shoot them in these days. Capt. Knight offers 
to show me a single tree with four or five grey squirrels’ dreys 
amongst its branches. Many albinos occur in this district 
and one captured recently was pure white with ruby eyes." 
At Maidstone the species is well established and the Museum 
ro fide Mr. Richard Kearton. 
ees. W. Swanton. 
13 fide V. N. Gauntlett & Co. Ltd. 
14 Lieut.-Col. J. M. Rogers, The Field, 23rd December, 1922. 
