390 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



(Harp, or Saddle-back), the Bearded, and the Hooded (or Bladder- 

 nosed) Seals. The Grey Seal has occurred in the Greenland seas, 

 but is not known to the sealers. 



It is satisfactory to know that a "close time" for Seals has 

 been enforced by legislation for the last five years, and that, in 

 the opinion of experienced sealers like Capt. David Gray, it has 

 been productive of good, although it would seem that many years 

 must elapse ere the Seals recover from the effects of the cruel 

 and short-sighted way in which they have been hunted down. 



With such observant ornithologists in the county as Messrs. 

 Stevenson and Gurney {pere et fils) it is no wonder that the 

 records of Norfolk birds are well kept. In the present number 

 Mr. Stevenson continues his annual series of " Ornithological 

 Notes," which are supplemented, in a separate article, by Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney, jun. 



Mr. Stevenson also has an article on the occurrence of the 

 Dusky Shearwater, Puffinus obscurus, Gmelin, in Norfolk, an 

 event which was first announced by him in 'The Zoologist' for 

 1858 (p. 6096). Having recently had an opportunity of re- 

 examining the specimen, which has, fortunately, been preserved, 

 he is able not only to confirm the opinion which he formerly 

 expressed as to its true species, but to add a careful description 

 of the plumage, instituting at the same time a comparison of its 

 dimensions with those of Puffinus anglorum, our common Manx 

 Shearwater. The specimen in question was found by a game- 

 keeper on the Earsham estate, near Bungay, in April, 1858. It 

 is curious that the only British — in fact, the only European — 

 specimen of another rare Petrel (Procellaria hasitata) was similarly 

 procured in Norfolk in March or April, 1850, when it was picked 

 up on a heath at Southacre, near Swaff ham. And now, in the 

 number of the 'Transactions' before us (p. 474), Mr. Southwell 

 records the occurrence of the Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus, 

 Gmelin, at Lynn, in July, 1851. This bird Mr. Southwell 

 purchased alive, and kept for some days in his garden until it 

 died, when it was preserved for the Lynn Museum. It seems not 

 improbable that Puffinus griseus has been mistaken (as it was at 

 first by Mr. Southwell) for the young of the larger white-breasted 

 P. major, and perhaps it is not so rare in British waters as has 

 been hitherto supposed. 



Those who keep cage-birds would do well to read Mr. John 



