Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/337

Rh I have of its claim to this list is its presence on Pagets' list:

"Occasionally seen in small woods." But I have no knowledge of its occurrence in this part of Norfolk in the present day.

(Mus minutus). F.C.—Though not included in Pagets' list, has an undoubted claim to figure in our own. Nests are occasionally found at Haddiscoe; Mr. L. Farman reports finding them in "quantity in the bottom of barley-stacks." Specimens have been procured alive from that locality.

(M. sylvaticus). F.C.—Have met with this species occasionally on the North Denes. Have seen a dead one dug out of the "run" of a hunted Stoat, and seen it actually pursued by the Weasel. It appears to be of a very retiring disposition.

(M. musculus). C.—Far too common. Whilst a local baker was hunting down a stray Rat, he discovered its lair. He was surprised to find several freshly-killed mice in it. The inference is that the Rat had caught these for food. There is a common local saying that "where you find Mice you are free from Rats."

(M. rattus). C.—"This species still remains here, though its numbers are gradually decreasing; it is now seldom found, except in the ceilings and upper stories of old buildings" (Pagets). "Probably extinct in this county" (Trans. Norf. and Nor. Nat. Soc. 1883–84, p. 674). Than at the present moment the Black Rat was never more numerous at Yarmouth. I have known it from boyhood, and in succeeding years have frequently met with examples, generally dead and mutilated, in the Rows, thrown out from malt- and other warehouses. In 1895 it again forced itself into notice by the apparent increase, although, peculiarly enough, it seemed to flourish in the south-western corner of the town, Regent Street forming a margin to its northward distribution. Putting a premium on every specimen brought to me, I received over a hundred examples within a few months. Two were examined by Mr. Eagle Clarke, of Edinburgh, who wrote, March 5th, 1896:—"The Rats you send me are most undoubtedly the old English species, Mus rattus, and their occurrence in abundance in Yarmouth is an interesting fact. M. rattus and M. alexandrinus are considered to be races of the Zool. 4th Ser. vol. II., July, 1898.