A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



26. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn. 



I have seen a drawing of a typical M. rattus 

 made by W. Arderon, F.R.S., from a Nor- 

 wich killed specimen in 1749. He speaks of 

 the species as 'very mischievous' and evidently 

 regarded it as a rarity. Messrs. Paget speak 

 of it in 1834, as still remaining at Yarmouth, 

 ' though its numbers are gradually decreasing,' 

 and Mr. Lubbock, in 1845, merely observes 

 ' that it is still occasionally found in the City 

 of Norwich.' The only Norfolk killed ex- 

 ample I ever met with, until those I shall 

 shortly have to mention, was at Lynn, where 

 I saw a single specimen about the year 1850. 

 From this evidence I was inclined to think 

 the species had long been very rare in this 

 county, and in 1871 I was constrained to 

 speak of it as probably extinct as a native. In 

 1896, Mr. Patterson discovered this species 

 in considerable numbers in certain localities 

 in Yarmouth, where it seems to have estab- 

 lished itself, and from that time to the present, 

 he has had no difficulty in obtaining all he 

 required. I have several times obtained Afus 

 alexandrinus in Norwich, and Mr. Patterson 

 has sent me specimens from Yarmouth. Pro- 

 bably both these forms are importations from 

 southern ports in grain ships. 



27. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn. 

 Common. 



28. Wood Mouse or Long-tailed^ Field Mouse. 



Mus sylvaticuSy Linn. 

 Common. 



minutus, Pallas. 



29. Harvest Mouse. Mu 

 Common. 



30. Water Vole. Microtus amphibius, Linn. 



Bell — Arvicola amphibius. 

 Common. The black variety is often met 

 with in Norfolk, and an albino has been 

 killed. 



31. Field Vole. Microtus agrcstis, Linn. 



Bell — Arvicola agratis. 

 Common. Mr. Lubbock speaks of this 

 species as ' the mouse of the marshes, the 

 staff of life, as it were, of the weasel and the 

 kestrel hawk.' (In the Fauna of Norfolk, 

 edit. 2, p. 10, I have inadvertently quoted 

 this remark as applied to M. sylvaticus.) 



32. Bank Vole. Evotomys glareolus, Schreber. 



Bell — Arvicola glareolus. 

 Not uncommon, probably frequently passed 

 unnoticed. 



33. Common Hare. Lepus europaus, Pallas. 



Bell — Lepus timidus. 

 Varieties with 'fur like chinchilla,' parti- 

 coloured, and perfectly black, have been 

 recorded. 



34. Rabbit. Lepus cuniculus, Linn. 

 Common. A black or silver-grey race of 



rabbits has long been established about Thet- 

 ford and Brandon. 



CETACEA 



35. Atlantic Right Whale. Balana biscay- 

 ensis, Eschricht. {Balana glacialis, Bon- 

 naterre.) * 



The only reliable record of the occurrence 

 of a true Balaena on the Norfolk coast is one 

 mentioned by Messrs. Paget in their Nat. 

 Hist, of Yarmouth, under the head of B. 

 mysticetus. Granting this to have been a right 

 whale (which there seems to be no reason to 

 doubt), from the season of the year — 8th July, 

 1784 — as well as from its small size, it could 

 only have belonged to this species which 

 inhabits the temperate seas of the northern 

 hemisphere ; it is known as the Atlantic right 

 whale, and is now of very rare occurence. 



* The names in brackets are those advocated by 

 Dr. F. W. True, of the United States National 

 Museum, in his revision of the names of the 

 European Whalebone Whales (Proc. U.S. Nat. 

 Mus., xxi. 617-635). 



36. Common Rorqual. Balanoptera musculus, 



Linn. {Balanoptera physalis.) 

 By no means infrequent off our coast, 

 several have also been stranded or washed 

 ashore dead. 



37. Lesser Rorqual. Balanoptera rostrata, 



Fab. (Balanoptera acuto-rostra, Lac6- 



pWe.) 

 Much less frequent than the preceding 

 species. I have only four records of its 

 occurrence on the Norfolk coast. 



38. Sperm Whale. 

 Linn. 



Physeter macrocephalus. 



250 



The occurrences of several stranded ex- 

 amples of the sperm whale on the Norfolk 

 coast are recorded by Sir Thomas Browne 

 about the year 1626, the skull of one of 

 .rhich is still to be seen in the court yard at 



