A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE Asylum, wrote : ' On 20 January, 1889, coming from Granville Road to my daily service here by the path on the north-west side of the old racecourse about 10.30 a.m., I saw a hare coming from Knighton way at top speed. She crossed my path within easy shot, and went down away to the allotments by the railway in the direction of the Gaol.' Mr. W. J. Horn con- siders them rare near Market Harborough, as he says that during a residence of ten years in that district he does not remember having seen more than ten hares in the immediate neighbourhood. 29. Common Rabbit. Lepus cunlculus, Linn. Resident and common. Introduced by some means into the Abbey Park, Leicester, these pests became so numerous in 1887, that it was necessary to extermi- nate them, and hence resulted the novel spectacle of small shooting parties in the heart of Leicester ; and as, through the existence of brushwood and the presence of onlookers chiefly street arabs the rabbits were not very easy to hit, the unsuccessful gunners were considerably cheered and refreshed by the running fire of criticisms indulged in by the spectators. Malformations and varieties constantly occur, and the museum donation-book records the presentation, on 18 October, 1851, by Mr. J. Knight, of Ayle- stone, of the head of a wild rabbit killed at Blaby, showing a remarkable development of the incisors. Harley mentioned that in Bradgate Park, ' where it abounds, black and parti-coloured varieties are met with.' I received a white one in the autumn of 1 88 1 from there, and in the spring of 1884 I saw a black one run out from a little spinney at Knighton, on land farmed by Mr. Lander. On 17 April, 1885, I was with Mr. John Hunt, at Thurnby, on land in his possession, and amongst a great number of rabbits which were feeding out, we saw several white and parti-coloured ones, no less than five being seen at one time. So near were they, that we were able to see that two or three had sandy patches on their ears and other parts of their bodies, whilst others were pure white. Being in close proximity to dwelling- houses, it is, of course, possible, nay probable, that these varieties may have been produced by crossing with tame ones. A specimen with the incisor teeth abnormally prolonged was presented to the Leicester Museum in 1902 by Mr. J. H. Cave. Mr. Horn, writing from Market Harborough in 1907, tells me that black, white and parti-coloured ones are numerous in that vicinity ; he saw a young rabbit leave an island in a small pond, swim to the side and commence to feed. Upon his approach it swam back again. UNGULATA 30. Red Deer. Cervus eiaphus, Linn. Locally, Stag, Hart (male), Hind (female), Calf (young). Of early Pleistocene Age, and has survived as a species until the present time, being semi-domesticated in a few parks in the county ; nowhere more numerous than at Bradgate Park, where it breeds. Nothing apparently is known of its introduction, and it is extremely probable that the deer now to be seen there may be the descendants of ancient herds. Some interesting figures of these deer are given in a book written about 1 840 by a Mr. John Martin of Steward's Hay. 15 A fine specimen of a 'Royal Stag' was shot at Bradgate in 1881, expressly for the Leicester Museum, for which it was subse- quently mounted. 31. Fallow-Deer. Cerviu Jama, Linn. Locally, Buck (male), Doe (female), Fawn (young). Resident and breeding in semi-confinement in the 15 Sketches of Deer in Bradgate Park, by an Amateur . deer-parks of Beaumanor, Bosworth, Bradgate, Crox- ton, Gopsall, Staunton Harold, &c. The dark race, common at Bradgate and Gopsall Parks, is stated by Bell 16 to have been introduced from Norway by James I ; but Mr. Harting has shown" that this statement, which has been repeatedly copied, is with- out foundation, and that a dark race of fallow-deer existed in England long before, and was, in fact, noted as early as 1465. An old deed, dated 1247, quoted by Potter (pp. 117-19), relates to the hunting and taking of deer in Bradgate Forest, and is interesting as being the earliest known hunting agreement in existence. A young buck or brocket with budding snags was shot close to Leicester, at Knighton, on 1 1 Novem- ber, 1887. It was of the dark race, and Mr. Thomas Lander, who presented the skull to the Leicester Museum for the Index Collection, thinks it had probably strayed from Bradgate or Bosworth Park. Col. F. Palmer wrote from Withcote : ' Occasionally one has been seen in the neighbourhood ; probably escaped from some park.' 16 British Quadrupeds. W Essays on Sport and Natural History, 166
