i he 
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 431 
to learn that that useful little creature, the Weasel, is allowed to 
be “universally distributed and abundant everywhere.” 
That tiniest of British quadrupeds, the Harvest Mouse, holds 
a place amongst Yorkshire Vertebrates, as does also the little- 
known Bank Vole, which is reported as occurring in a few 
scattered localities. 
Early in the present century, it appears, Seals used to breed 
in numbers at the mouth of the Tees, and interfered to such an 
extent with the Salmon fishery that in 1802 determined measures 
were proposed for their extirpation. ‘‘ There is no evidence,” says 
Mr. Roebuck, ‘‘ to show that their extermination was so effected, 
but it is hardly probable that they would long survive the rapid 
rise of the Cleveland iron trade and the shipping industries of 
Middlesborough, and in all likelihood the decade 1830 to 1840 
would be that of the final extinction of the Seal as a permanent 
resident in Yorkshire, though solitary individuals have been 
observed to within the last twenty years.” 
Mr. Clarke has a very good account to render of the Birds of 
Yorkshire, and has rescued from oblivion many an interesting 
note of the capture or occurrence of some of the rarer species. 
As several of these records are printed for the first time, they will 
be the more acceptable to ornithologists. Nearly four pages are 
devoted to a history of the former existence in the county of the 
Great Bustard, which, having long ceased to be a resident in 
England, seemed to demand a more lengthy notice than could be 
well bestowed on other species. 
Of the Reptilia, it appears that the Sand Lizard (Lacerta 
agilis) is absent from Yorkshire, or at least has not been observed 
there. This is the case also with the Smooth Snake (Coronella 
levis), although the latter has been found much farther north in 
the neighbourhood of Dumfries. These two representatives of 
the orders Lacertilia and Ophidia affect similar haunts, and might 
well be looked for on the sandy heaths and extensive commons, 
where a light and dry soil would favour their existence. So far 
as we know at present, however, both species seem to be almost 
entirely confined to the southernmost counties of England. 
Amongst the Batrachians the Yorkshire list includes the three 
species of Newt; but Rana esculenta, the Edible Frog, is absent. 
Out of fifty-three species of British Fresh-water Fishes, 
thirty-two have been identified as occurring in Yorkshire rivers 
