A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 1 900), and another killed near Bawdsey ferry on 7 September 1891. Some years ago a young seal was killed on the steps of the landing-place at Walberswick ferry near Southwold. Another young one was shot on 9 September 1878 while lying on the end of the Minsmere sluice between Dunwich and Sizewell. It is gratifying to be able to give a single instance where one of these beautiful and intelligent animals met with kind treat- ment instead of serving as a mark for a rifle bullet. Mr. T. Southwell (ZW. 1 890, p. 384) writes as follows : ' On the 8th August I went to Corton to see a seal which had been caught on the beach there, I believe, the same morning ; this was nearly full grown, and so won the hearts of the ladies at Cliffe House by its mild beseeching looks, and evi- dent discomfort, that Mrs. Colman bribed its captor to liberate it, and we had the pleasure of seeing it swim ofiF to sea.' 21. Hooded Seal. Cystophora cristata, Erxle- ben. ' The first fully identified British example of this seal, and for a long time the only one known, was killed in the river Orwell on 29 June 1847. ^^ ^^ preserved in the Ipswich Museum, but on my last visit to that institution I was unable to identify it ; the stuffed seals were without labels, and the then curator did not seem aware of the treasure he should have in his charge.' To the above account of this rare British animal, for which the writer is indebted to Mr. T. Southwell, F.Z.S., the following particulars, taken from Mr. H. Layer's Mammalia of Essex, p. 56, may be added : ' The capture of this specimen was recorded by Mr. W. B. Clark in the Zoologist for 1847, p. 1870, where a full description of it is to be found. It was presented to the museum by Mr. Ransome.' RODENTIA 22. Squirrel. Sciurus leucorus, Kerr. Bell — Sciurus vulgaris. Inhabits woods, parks and plantations in most districts, and was at one time very abundant in the Scotch fir belts about Mildenhall. It is however destroyed on some estates as an enemy to game, and is probably much less numerous in Suffolk than in many English counties. In sparsely wooded districts squirrels make long journeys from wood to wood, taking advantage as much as possible of roadside trees and hedges. On 4 November 1872, in a wide stretch of marshes near Leiston, which, with the ex- ception of a very few scattered pollard willows, are quite bare of trees, a squirrel was caught by a dog in a clump of sedge at the very edge of a ditch, only just clear of the water, and on the same open marshes in December 1873 one was seen and chased by a man at work near by. A large and hand- some example, of a pale fawn or cream colour throughout, for at least two years fre- quented a garden and plantation at Blaxhall. In the Field of 22 November 1902 will be found an interesting note on the squirrels in Christchurch Park, Ipswich, whose gambols among the branches of the fine old oaks and chestnuts add greatly to the attractions of the place. 23. Dormouse. Linn. Muscardinus avellanariuSy Bell — Myoxus avellanarius. The distribution of the dormouse in Eng- land, and especially in East Anglia, is very curious, and difficult to understand. Though found in many parts of Essex, it appears to be absent from a large portion of the neigh- bouring county of Suffolk, amounting perhaps to more than half of it, while in Norfolk it is only known to occur in one locality, restricted to some three or four adjoining parishes. As regards the eastern half of the county of Suffolk, from the VVaveney in the north to the Stour in the south, no instance has, as far as I am aware, been recorded of the dor- mouse having been met with except in the neighbourhood of Ipswich and the wooded country about Belstead and Bentley. This little animal appears to be commonest in the west central district lying to the south-west of the railway connecting Bury St. Edmunds with Haughley and extending as far as Long Melford on the Essex border. No recent information has been received of its occur- rence in west Suffolk further north than Thurston. The Messrs. Paget however re- fer to it as ' occasionally seen in small woods, etc.,' about Yarmouth in their time (1834). Mr. W. G. Clarke, in reply to an inquiry on this subject, writes as follows : ' I have never met with the dormouse in the Thetford dis- trict, nor is there any record of its occurrence, although this may be due to lack of systema- tic observation.' Mr. Travis, the Bury St. Edmunds taxidermist, considers this animal as by no means rare in the neighbourhood of that town, and Mr. W. H. Tuck informs me that it is ' not uncommon about Tostock. The Rev. J. G. Tuck, rector of that place, found one in a birds' nest-box on an elm tree, some 226
