NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
199
gentleman of that county has been successful in breeding them in confine-
ment, he was recently asked to supply a pair for the Forest. Unfortu-
nately, at the moment he possesses only two females, though he has seven
in all, and is naturally reluctant to part with one, as that would materially
injure his chance of rearing more ; but at a future time he may be able
to comply with the request. There is a fair prospect of the martin becoming
once more a tenant of the woods. Another rare animal that used to be not
uncommon here and is now extinct is the Polecat.3 Two were recently
offered, but they are so destructive that, after due consideration, it was
decided not to have them. At present the woodland is thronged with bird
and beast. In the twenty odd years during which the Forest has been public
property and under protection, the timber and undergrowth have vastly
improved and now afford abundant cover. In consequence the emigrant song
birds resort thither in vastly increased numbers ; there are more thrushes,
blackbirds, robins, bullfinches, gold-crests and other familiar home-birds.
Even the broods of pheasants last season would not have shamed a game-
preserve. One would not like to see a devouring polecat introduced among
them. Already there is a large number of Stoats in the Forest ; one
sees them everywhere, but especially about Connaught Water, where, but for
them, the rabbits that breed under the impenetrable thickets would over-
run everything. If any further check were required on the multipli-
cation of birds it would be supplied by the Weasel and large Brown
Rats, of which there are more than enough. I do not know if the accom-
plishment be peculiar to the Forest stoat, but on being chased by a dog, or
otherwise startled, he will sometimes run up a tree with the agility of a
cat, or of one of the squirrels that enjoy a happy time here under the new
régime. Twenty years ago they were considered to be almost extinct."
3 We have it on very good authority, that the Polecat is still occasionally seen in the
woody country (some of it within the forest district) bordering the Lea Valley.—Ed.
NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
ZOOLOGY.
MAMMALIA,
Otters in Essex.—There may be two views of the question referred to
on page 141 ante where the otter hunter is condemned with all his ways ! Fox
hunting alone causes the protection of our foxes, save perhaps in the forest ;
may we not by analogy anticipate that otter hunting will indirectly tend to
increase the supply of this charming tenant of some Essex waters ? Fisher-
men who haunt the lovely trout streams of the west complain loudly of the
depredating habits of the otter, but in the sluggish streams of Essex, fishing is
perhaps of less consequence. Otter hunting may be so regulated as to
increase rather than exterminate the breed, and shooting otters may someday
lead to social disgrace as shooting foxes does now in the world of sport.—I. C.
Gould, Loughton.
Fox v. Ferret.—"On Friday, Dec. 15th, 1899, some ferreting was going
on, on a marsh about a mile on the Colchester side of Brightlingsea close to
the railway. The keepers heard a curious sort of barking going on inside the
burrow—a strong one—when out bolted a strong old fox with a ferret on his
back ; as he raced towards the Upland woods the ferret loosed hold, and 'tis
probable that this same fox will be cautious in future about lodging in a rabbit
earth."—Essex Standard, December 23rd, 1899.