NOTES AND QUERIES. 3^1 



and the only difference that I can point out is that the tail is not quite so 

 full at the end as in some Scotch examples. According to Macgillivray, 

 however, Scotch cats vary in this respect; speaking of the tail, he says 

 (' British Quadrupeds,' p. 191), " Generally as broad to the end as the base, 

 although often narrowed at the tip." In the Lincolnshire example, which 

 is a fine old " tom," the canine teeth are remarkably developed and very for- 

 midable ; the tongue across the middle is covered with strong horny papilla 

 directed backwards; ears large and triangular, and directed forward ; fur very 

 thick and close, general colour a yellowish grey, with the lateral stripes on 

 the body and limbs a darker grey, two small stripes below the eyes, and four 

 across the head to the nape, which are dark brown, almost black ; there is 

 also a black irregular stripe down the centre of the back ; and the tail, 

 which is cylindrical and covered with long hairs, has alternate rings of black 

 and grey, the tip for two inches black; feet yellowish, soles black, claws 

 horn-coloured and very strong. Bullington Wood was the last haunt of 

 the Kite in Lincolnshire ; a pair nested there in 1870. The Pine Marten 

 still lingers in the district, examples being obtained almost every year. 

 The Polecat is very numerous, also the Stoat and Weasel. The wood itself 

 is one of an almost continuous chain of great woodlands extending from 

 Mid-Lincolnshire to near Peterborough. Much of this district has never 

 been preserved for game, the shooting being left in the hands of the neigh- 

 bouring farmers. Keepers are few and far between, hence the wild animals 

 have enjoyed an almost complete immunity from persecution. Cats are 

 known to have bred in these woods in a wild state for generations, and 

 there is no improbability that the subject of this notice may have descended 

 directly from the old British Wild Cat. That it should be a reversion from 

 the domestic cat to the wild type is scarcely probable, so closely does it 

 agree with the original wild race, unless we are prepared to allow for a 

 strong admixture of original blood coming directly from pure wild ancestors 

 which at no distant period inhabited the district. — John Cordeaux (Great 

 Cotes, Ulceby). 



Weasel in Skye. — At p. 12 of the ' Mammalia of the West of Scotland,' 

 drawn up by the late Mr. Alston, it is stated that the Weasel is absent 

 from all the Western Isles with the exception of Islay, where it is rare. 

 At the present moment the Weasel is well established in Skye. I have 

 seen it trapped in a district where it is more numerous than the Stoat. — 

 H. A. Macpherson (Carlisle). 



BIRDS. 



The Birds of Pembrokeshire. — As only the county of Carmarthen 

 separates us from the county of Pembroke, it may be worth while to com- 

 pare those birds which have occurred here, but which Mr. Mathew, in his 

 interesting paper (p. 211), has been unable to identify in Pembrokeshire; 



