168 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



often are not carefully examined) may be seen so seldom by 

 him that the distinctive characters of each are not kept clear in 

 his mind. Hence it is evident how a mistake may be made. 

 No fault of his, since in a bird-productive district he is a busy 

 man, and has little time to acquire more than a superficial 

 knowledge of the subject. 



0. cryptoleucura is slightly smaller in size than Leach's 

 Petrel, and possesses three distinct characteristics. I cannot do 

 better than quote the descriptions of these species as given by 

 Mr. Ogilvie Grant in his interesting paper on the birds of the 

 Salvage Islands : — " 0. cryptoleucura has the tail nearly square, 

 the outer feathers being only slightly longer than the middle pair, 

 the basal part of the outer feathers is white, and the upper tail- 

 coverts are white, tipped with black. 0. leucorrhoa has the tail 

 deeply forked, the outer feathers being longer than the middle 

 pair and dark to the base, while the upper tail-coverts are uniform 

 white, not tipped with black." 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK FOR 1895. 

 By J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S. 



My register of Norfolk birds for the year 1895 contains 

 entries concerning three rarities — the Broad-billed Sandpipers, 

 the Black-winged Stilt, and Sabine's Gull, but is chiefly remark- 

 able by the extraordinary number noticed of castaway Little 

 Auks, which were still more plentiful further north. In fact, we 

 in Norfolk only saw the tail end of the invaders. It is singular 

 that up to 1862 Mr. Stevenson had booked not a single occurrence 

 of this erratic little sea-bird in January (the month of this great 

 invasion), and in 1890 Mr. Southwell, to whom I am as usual 

 indebted for much assistance, could only mention one. The 

 autumn of 1895 was certainly rather remarkable for the 

 number of Skuas of different species which occurred from 

 Salthouse westwards, and ten Fulmar Petrels is an unusual 

 number to have been noted in twelve months. A corresponding 

 abundance of Skuas was noted by Mr. Cordeaux in the Humber 

 district. 



