208 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



reins in its mouth, pulling them with all its strength, and allowed itself to 

 be dragged for a considerable distance, till he actually succeeded in stopping 

 the horse by pulling it round into a gateway : he retained a tight hold of the 

 reins, only relinquishing them when some persons seized the horse's head. 

 This extraordinary effort of what it would be difficult to designate as less than 

 reason, was witnessed by several persons besides the owner of the dog; who, 

 as may be imagined, was both surprised and delighted at an achievement 

 which, besides its singularity, was in all probability the means of preventing 

 a serious accident. — G. P. It. Pulman. 



Young Hares, (Lepus timidus,) nursed hj a Cat. — The following A'ery 

 remarkable circumstance has just come to my knowledge, as having occurred 

 at Acomb, near this city. Many instances have no doubt occurred iij which 

 young Hares have been brought up by the Domestic Cat; but I never before 

 heard of this being done after the Cesarean operation had been performed on 

 their mother. The fact is this: — On Wednesday morning, the 10th. of Sep- 

 tember, ]Mr. J. Jolly, of Acomb Grange, shot a Hare, which proved to be 

 with young; he immediately opened the animal, and took from her three young 

 ones, which he carried in his pocket to his house — the distance of a mile, 

 and placed them in the care of a Cat which had recently kittened. The Cat 

 took to them without any difficulty, and they are now alive and thriving 

 ^ell.— ^. R. M., York, Oct. Srd., 1851. 



The Iceland Falcon, (Falco Icelandicus.) — A very rare bird of the falcon tribe 

 was shot lately at Inverbroom, in Rossshire, by Mr. Grant, gamekeeper to A. K. 

 George, Esq. When first noticed, the hawk was hunting on a hill top, and when 

 shot he had blood on his feet and legs, as if he had just then killed some bird. 

 Seeino- him take notice of a terrier dog he had Avith him, Mr. Grant took 

 advantage of the shade of a rock until the hawk came round it, seemingly 

 threatening the terrier and driving him onwards, circling in the air and 

 uttering a wild and peculiar cackling noise. When in front of the rock a 

 shot ended his hunting career. The keeper seeing that he was a vara avis, 

 sent him off to our friend, Mr, Snowie, Inverness, to be stuffed; but as no 

 specimen of this stranger bird had been seen in that locality, the sava7is were 

 at a loss to give the bird a name or local habitation. Two or three feathers 

 were forthwith dispatched to Charles St. John, Esq., the eminent naturalist, 

 who pronounced the bird to be the Iceland Falcon, and who had seen one a 

 short time before near Elgin. He at once recognised the bird, though not 

 more than two or three have been shot in Britain. The following description 

 will enable ornithologists to understand the difference between the Iceland 

 Falcon and those of this country: — Weight of the bird, three pounds fifteen 

 ounces; length, twenty-one inches; extent of wings, three feet nine inches; 

 beak, blue; tip, black, strong; and deeply-notched; head, ash-colour and white, 

 beautifully blended and mixed; all the back feathers and part of the wings, 

 pale ash, with dull white edges, and several white spots on each feather; tail, 



