﻿456 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  Valley. 
  It 
  was 
  old 
  female 
  ; 
  extreme 
  length, 
  26 
  in. 
  I 
  believe 
  another 
  

   was 
  killed 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  time. 
  Until 
  this 
  

   occurrence 
  I 
  had 
  never 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  hear 
  even 
  a 
  tradition 
  of 
  either 
  the 
  

   " 
  Sweetmart" 
  or 
  the 
  "Foumart 
  " 
  having 
  visited 
  the 
  Valley. 
  — 
  Charles 
  

   F. 
  Archibald 
  (Rusland 
  Hall, 
  Ulverston). 
  

  

  Grey 
  Seal 
  (Halichcerus 
  grypus) 
  in 
  the 
  Wash. 
  — 
  Dr. 
  Plowright, 
  of 
  

   Lynn, 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  a 
  baby 
  Grey 
  Seal, 
  with 
  the 
  umbilical 
  cord 
  

   still 
  adhering, 
  was 
  found 
  alive, 
  but 
  floating 
  exhausted, 
  in 
  the 
  Wash 
  off 
  

   Skegness, 
  and 
  brought 
  to 
  Lynn 
  in 
  November, 
  previous 
  to 
  the 
  5th 
  ; 
  it 
  

   lived 
  for 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  days. 
  The 
  length 
  was 
  39 
  in. 
  I 
  fear 
  this 
  little 
  

   one 
  was 
  merely 
  meeting 
  with 
  the 
  fate 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  young 
  ones 
  of 
  this 
  

   species 
  born 
  on 
  the 
  sands 
  of 
  the 
  Wash, 
  none 
  of 
  which 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  

   escape 
  drowning. 
  — 
  T. 
  Southwell 
  (10, 
  The 
  Crescent, 
  Norwieh). 
  

  

  AVES. 
  

  

  Curious 
  Variety 
  of 
  the 
  Robin 
  (Erithacus 
  rubecula). 
  — 
  A 
  Robin 
  was 
  

   shot 
  at 
  Barton, 
  near 
  Bury 
  St. 
  Edmunds, 
  in 
  October 
  last, 
  in 
  very 
  

   remarkable 
  plumage, 
  and 
  was 
  in 
  due 
  course 
  sent 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Travis, 
  the 
  

   local 
  birdstuffer, 
  for 
  preservation, 
  in 
  whose 
  shop 
  I 
  saw 
  it 
  after 
  it 
  was 
  

   mounted. 
  The 
  upper 
  parts, 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  of 
  the 
  usual 
  olive-green 
  

   colour, 
  were 
  dark 
  slaty-blue, 
  and 
  the 
  lower 
  parts 
  white, 
  with 
  the 
  

   exception 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  red 
  feathers 
  on 
  the 
  breast. 
  — 
  E. 
  A. 
  Butler 
  (Plumton 
  

   House, 
  Bury 
  St. 
  Edmunds). 
  

  

  Late 
  Appearance 
  of 
  Blackcap 
  in 
  Leicestershire. 
  — 
  While 
  walking 
  on 
  

   the 
  outskirts 
  of 
  Leicester, 
  near 
  the 
  village 
  of 
  Evington, 
  on 
  Oct. 
  17th, 
  

   I 
  saw 
  a 
  male 
  Blackcap 
  (Sylvia 
  atricapilla) 
  in 
  a 
  hawthorn 
  hedge, 
  near 
  a 
  

   small 
  plantation. 
  The 
  bird 
  seemed 
  to 
  be 
  alone. 
  Is 
  not 
  this 
  a 
  late 
  

   date 
  for 
  Blackcap 
  in 
  Leicester? 
  — 
  T. 
  N. 
  Roberts 
  (38, 
  West 
  Bank, 
  

   Scarborough). 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits 
  of 
  the 
  Pied 
  Wagtail. 
  — 
  Besides 
  the 
  instances 
  

   mentioned 
  in 
  my 
  paper 
  on 
  this 
  subject 
  (ante, 
  p. 
  421), 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  Stevenson 
  

   has 
  recorded, 
  in 
  ' 
  The 
  Zoologist 
  ' 
  for 
  1875, 
  p. 
  4291, 
  a 
  Pied 
  Wagtail's 
  

   nest 
  built 
  into 
  a 
  deserted 
  Song-Thrush's 
  nest 
  in 
  a 
  laurel-bush 
  in 
  

   Norfolk; 
  and 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  H. 
  Gurney, 
  Jun. 
  (Zool. 
  1876, 
  p. 
  5003) 
  mentions 
  

   a 
  case 
  where 
  a 
  Pied 
  Wagtail 
  built 
  in 
  an 
  old 
  Blackbird's 
  nest 
  at 
  Reigate, 
  

   and 
  refers 
  to 
  an 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  in 
  Norfolk 
  (possibly 
  that 
  

   recorded 
  above). 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  this 
  habit 
  is 
  common 
  to 
  the 
  con- 
  

   tinental 
  representative 
  (M. 
  alba), 
  for 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  J. 
  Pearson, 
  in 
  his 
  ' 
  Three 
  

   Summers 
  among 
  the 
  Birds 
  of 
  Russian 
  Lapland' 
  (p. 
  148), 
  describes 
  a 
  

  

  