150
NOTES.
Voracity of the Adder.—On May 24th last, I found an adder in Monk's
Wood, Epping Forest, with a very large Field Vole (Arvicola agrestis) in its
stomach. The adder weighed four ounces before dissection, and the weight of
the vole was as nearly as possible one ounce, so that the snake had swallowed
one-third of his own weight at a mouthful. He did not seem to be at all incom-
moded by his meal, and was beating a hasty retreat when discovered.—Reginald
W. Christy, Roxwell, June 17th, 1887.
The Badger (Meles taxus).—In my previous note (Essex Naturalist i.,
114) I omitted to state that I have myself seen a badger in Essex. This was nearly
twenty years ago. One evening as we were fishing for jack in the Stour, almost
half a mile above Wixoe mill, we saw a badger go along the meadows towards
Bumpstead. We attempted to follow it, but soon lost sight of the animal some-
where between Science's pit and Watsey bridge. Thanks to Mr. William Eley I
am able to give further information about the Braxted badgers. He writes me:
"In 1851, we had a pair of badgers from Laindon Hills, and they bred both the
succeeding years, having four young ones each time; but the keepers took the
young ones and sold them, and we have not had any since 1854."—Edward
A. Fitch, Maldon, June, 1887.
The Wild Duck (Anas boscas, L.).—I hear that upwards of fifty "flappers''
have been seen in the ditches of South Wick, Southminster Marshes, quite lately.
They breed in this neighbourhood much more rarely than formerly ; in 1875 a
nest of eggs hatched here on my home farm (Brick House), but there has been no
sign of one since. One nest hatched off on Northey Island this year. I have
seen quite fifty young ones in a day in the Canvey fleets, and had rare fun with
them, but I have not been there lately. This spring I saw wild ducks' eggs
selling retail in London at twopence each, while peewits' eggs were making six-
pence apiece ; the latter costing five shillings per dozen wholesale in the market.
I am told that upwards of three hundred peewits' eggs have been taken (stolen !)
off my farms this year.—Edward A. Fitch, Maldon, June, 1887.
Well-section at Roxwell, Essex.—An interesting well-section is now open
in this parish (Roxwell) exposing the boulder clay. The section at present arrived
at is as follows :—Top soil two feet, white boulder clay twenty-eight feet, dark
blue clay twelve feet (not bottomed at present)—total forty-two feet. This lower
clay is totally different from our ordinary clay, and is of a dark blue colour, turn-
ing whiter on exposure to the air. It contains chalk, flint and other boulders,
exactly the same as the upper stratum, but up to the present time only one fossil
besides a few fragments of belemnites has turned up, viz., Gryphaea dilatata.
The sections east of the well do not show any trace of this dark clay, nor do I see
it recorded anywhere nearer than Feering, a village some fifteen miles north-east
of this place. Two miles north-west of Roxwell, however, it occurs again, but
somewhat nearer the surface, as the white clay thins out considerably in that
direction. This is in the parish of Margaret Roothing, which seems to be a part
little worked by the Geological Survey, as no record of sections for some miles
round is given.—Reginald W. Christy, Roxwell, June 17th, 1887.
Danewort or Dane's-blood.—The following extract from the Hon. R. C.
Neville's (afterwards Lord Braybrooke) "Antiqua Explorata" (1847) would
seem to indicate that two plants have in Essex the reputation of springing from
the blood of slaughtered Danes. One, the well-known dwarf-elder or Danewort
(Sambucus ebulis, L.) whereof old Camden thus speaks : "Dane-wort, which with
bloud-red berries, commeth up heere (Barklow) plenteously, the country people
still call by no other name than Danes-bloud, of the number of Danes that were
there slaine, verily beleeving that it blometh from their bloud" ; and the other, a
small purple-blossomed plant. Writing of Hadstock, Mr. Neville says, "Among
the lower orders of this parish, the general impression would seem to be strongly
in favour of a Danish ancestry, as a little purple flower prevalent in the neigh-
bourhood is called 'Danes-bloud,' and to the berries of the dwarf elder the
villagers apply a similar appellation." We shall be glad to hear from local
botanists whether the words "danes-blood" and "danewort" really indicate
distinct plants.—Ed.