2754 The Zoologist— September, 1871. 



preservation between the years 1852 and 1867; and a birdstufFer 

 in this cily told me that in one year sixteen passed through his 

 hands alone. The weight of a full-grown Norfolk otter appears to 

 be from eighteen to twenty-eight or even thirty pounds, and the 

 length from forty-four to forty-eighl inches. One fine fellow, killed 

 during the present winter on the ice at Ranworlh, is said to have 

 weighed thirty pounds and measured four feet nine inches in length. 

 The female does not reach so great a weight as the male. Mr. 

 Guruey gives some interesting particulars of the habits of the otter 

 in the ' Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' 

 Society' for 1869-70, p. 24. 



Weasel. — Common. The female is locally known as the " mouse- 

 hunter." The weasel climbs trees with great expertness in search 

 of food or to escape pursuit. Mr. Gurney saw one which, when 

 pursued, climbed an oak tree, and curled itself up on a branch fully 

 thirty feet above the ground : he remarks " that it seemed to climb 

 as well as a squirrel." 



Stoat. — The stoat in Norfolk is called the " lobster," which it is 

 suggested may have originally been " leapstcr," and have arisen from 

 its habit of progressing by a succession of leaps or bounds ; another 

 suggestion is that it derives its name from the red colour of its fur. 

 It is frequently found in the full white winter dress in Norfolk. 



Polecat. — Although generally met with, by no means common 

 in Norfolk. About Diss the Rev. II. T. Frere finds it common : 

 he says, " They seem to leave the lower grounds about October. 

 I once caught seven, two old ones and five young, in a barn at 

 Roydon. On two or three occasions I have turned out burrows on 

 the Roydon fen, which have contained eels and frogs, generally half- 

 decomposed. I saw the tracks of several in the last snow." 



Comnwn Marten ? — Paget, writing in 1834, says, " The marten 

 was formerly found at Hcrringfleet, but is now extremely rare." 

 Mr. Gurney was informed by an old woodman that " marten cats" 

 were found in Brook Woods " during the latter part of the last 

 century ;" and he adds, " It is probably impossible now to ascertain 

 to which of the two races of martens found in Great Britain those 

 formerly inhabiting Norfolk belonged." 



Fox. — But for the protection afforded by sportsmen the fox 

 would long ago have been extinct; as it is, frequent importations 

 are necessary to keep up the stock : it can, therefore, hardly be 

 said to exist in a stale of nature. Probably the foxes found in 



