more distant, and seen a few others. This seems noteworthy, because the valley is perfectly dry as a rule, but a landspring broke out in consequence of the wet summer of 1903, and these water shrews seem to have anticipated it, and some were obtained before the water appeared. No doubt they would find moisture before the water was sufficient to be perceptible to human beings. One of these caught alive on 8 August gave birth to a litter of four or five young during that night; they were blind and naked, and hardly larger than common house flies, not nearly so large as bluebottles. She had had no time to prepare a nest, and after taking every care of them for two whole days, she ate them during the third night.
Up to the time of writing she has thriven on a ' diet of worms,' occasionally varied by a beetle, grub, moth, etc., and captured a fly which incautiously came of its own accord within reach. A cockchafer was evidently considered a great (in both senses) prize, and she attacked it standing on three legs, one or other forepaw in turn being held raised, ready for action perhaps in case the victim resented being eaten piecemeal. It is amusing to watch her with a large worm when the latter is lively; the encounter then becomes heroic. She does not care for snails so long as the worms continue in such plenty. Of these I reckon that she eats quite once and a half her own bulk daily, and fully twice her own weight. The amount which passes from her, consisting chiefly of the earth contained in the worms, is on a correspondingly surprising scale. When excited she utters a rather shrill chatter, which is always, so far as I have noticed, sustained for half a minute or so, and never limited to a single note. As may be expected from the elongated, delicate snout, the shrews hunt their prey by scent. This specimen raises its long flexible nose nearly straight up, and bends it on itself rapidly from side to side, and very quickly discovers the whereabouts of a worm. When yawning the flexible nose is turned considerably up nearly to a right angle with the gape, and the upper incisor teeth then show as of surprising length. Mr. C. Harper of Grendon Underwood informs me that he once saw a pair of water shrews in a brook near Brill, and watched them ' sporting about ' for some time; and in May 1 903 he saw one in a brook close to Aylesbury. Dr. J. C. Baker, M.B., M.B.O.U., and Mr. F. H. Parrott of Aylesbury inform me that the water shrew is found in colonies on the banks of the canal between that town and Aston Clinton, nearer the latter; attention was directed to them from finding piles of empty snail shells on the banks. The Sorex remifer, or oared shrew, is now admitted to be merely a variety of this species.
CARNIVORA
[Wild Cat. Felts catus, Linn.
The wild cat has so long been exterminated in the county that no record or tradition of it remains. It must have been already very scarce if not altogether gone, when first the churchwardens of the different parishes took to paying rewards for the killing of various carnivorous animals, as I have in no case met with an entry referring to it. On two occasions at Great Marlow I trapped cats which I am convinced were feral cats that had never been under a roof in their lives, but born in a wild state, descendants of run-away ancestors. They were coloured and marked almost exactly like wild cats, so much so that my animal keeper, who is in daily touch with specimens of the true Felis catus, in both cases thought they were real wild cats; but the smooth coat, thin tapering tail, and inferior bone, left me in no doubt even momentarily as to their nature. I once lost a wild cat at Great Marlow, which for all I ever heard to the contrary may still be roaming the county! In captivity I have usually found the gestation to be sixtyeight days, in one case sixty-six, and in one other sixty-five days.]
14 . Fox. Vulpes vulpes, Linn.
BellVulpes vulgaris.
A few have been turned down in the county, but probably a much larger number have been poisoned. One of the latter, a vixen suckling a strong litter, was found by me on my farm in Hambleden (but not poisoned there!) on 15 March 1901. Mice, probably any species they meet with, and moles certainly enter largely into the dietary of this species, and fruits (in their season) of almost any kind obtainable. I have kept several specimens in captivity, but finally gave up doing so, on account of the strong and lasting smell which is beyond comparison worse than that of badgers and polecats, which are usually credited as special offenders in this respect. Foxes, however tame, have an underhand way of sneaking up to one from behind, in marked contrast to the
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