The Squirrel, _Sciurus vulgaris_, is thinly distributed, and may occasionally be seen in most of the large woods, as for instance, those in Sutton, Hagley, and Arbury Parks, where the dreys are built on the forked branches of the trees. The Dormouse, _Myoxus avellanarius_, is also rare, but is occasionally met with by hedgers, when dressing fences. As it is semi-gregarious, when one is found more may be expected. The nest is built of grass, compact, globular, about five inches in diameter, with the entrance near the base. A nest was taken at Cofton Reservoir, near Barnt Green, in April, 1885. The Harvest Mouse, _Mus minutus_, is the smallest of our quadrupeds, building a small round and firm nest among the ears of corn, or stems of reeds. It is generally distributed, and has been taken near Stratford-on-Avon, Merivale and Atherstone. The long-tailed Field Mouse, _M. sylvaticus_, is plentiful, and often turned up by the spade or plough. The Common Mouse, _M. musculus_, abundant in buildings. The Black Rat, _M. rattus_, although rare, is still to be found in small colonies, generally in the cellars of large towns, where it is comparatively secure from the attacks of its greatest enemy and destroyer, the Brown Rat. A single recent example has been taken within the last six months at New Parks, near Leicester, and is now in the possession of Mr. F. T. Mott. The rarity of the occurrence justifies this record, although the locality is outside the radius agreed upon. The Brown Rat, _M. decumanus_ is abundant in both buildings and hedgerows. The Water Vole, _Arvicola amphibius_, better known as the Water Rat, is common on all the streams of the Midlands. The common Field-Vole, _A. agrestis_, is plentiful in the meadows, where their nests are frequently exposed by the mowers. The Red Field or Bank-Vole, _A. glareolus_, is much more rare and distinguished from the last species, by its rich chestnut fur; several of these were taken at Belvoir Castle, in July, 1885. The Hare, _Lepus timidus_, and the Rabbit, _L. cuniculus_, have been greatly reduced in numbers since the passing of the Hares and Rabbits Bill in 1881.
The Red Deer, _Cervus elaphus_, as recently as 1800, roamed wild over Cannock Chase and Needwood Forest, but is now confined to the areas of the large parks, such as Gopsall and Beaudesert. The Fallow Deer, _C. dama_, formerly existed in thousands on Cannock Chase, and is now the chief ornament of the parks. The Roe Deer, _Capreolus caprea_, was also common, but has become extinct. The Wild Cattle, _Bos taurus_, under the fostering care of the Lords Ferrars, at Chartley, near Stafford, still constitute the greatest curiosity among the Midland mammals. Garner, in his history of Staffordshire, relates that these animals at one time roamed free over Needwood Forest, and how, in the thirteenth century, William de Ferrariis enclosed a thousand acres of high-lying moorland, the turf of which is in the same condition now as then, and within this enclosure the animals are maintained in their pristine purity. At the present time this herd consists of about thirty head, comprising three bulls, the oldest aged nine years, a magnificent beast, with deep chest, black muzzle and ears, black-tipped, wide-spreading horns, and forefeet also flecked with black, the prevailing colour being a rich creamy white. So sensitive are these cattle, as the result of their high breeding, that calves unduly handled are forsaken by their mothers; and older beasts, if subjected to forcible restraint, will often, as the keeper put it to the writer, “just wag their tails and die.” When the calves are with them the cows are dangerous to approach.