Birds. 2071 



the young, as in the adult, the ends of the quill-feathers of L. fuscus will be found to 

 be black and white, while in L. glaueus they are white altogether, or at least of the 

 same dusky colour as the rest of the bird. — Beverley R. Morris, A.B., M.D. ; York, 

 March 8, 1848. 



Inquiry respecting Larus maximus. — The Rev. G. Gordon, in the Fauna of Moray 

 (Zool. 515), writes " black-backed gull (L. maximus)." What gull is here intended to 

 be specified? I presume the lesser black-backed gull (L. fuscus), as he afterwards 

 mentions the great black-backed gull (L. jnarinus). — Id. 



Capture of Sea-fowl near the North Cape by Foxes. — " In the vicinity of the North 

 Cape, where the precipices are almost entirely covered with variotis species of sea-fowl, 

 the foxes proceed on their predatory expeditions in company; and previous to the 

 commencement of their operations they hold a kind of mock fight upon the rocks, in 

 order to determine their relative strength. When this has been fairly ascertained, 

 they advance to the brink of the precipice, and, taking each other by the tail, the 

 weakest descends first, while the strongest, forming the last in the row, suspends the 

 whole number, till the foremost has reached the prey. A signal is then given, on 

 which the uppermost fox pulls with all his might, and the rest assist him as well as 

 they can, with their feet against the rocks: in this manner they proceed from rock to 

 rock, until they have provided themselves with a sufficient supply." — (Brooke's ' Tra- 

 vels to the North Cape.') " This story," says the reviewer of the above work (' Quar- 

 terly Review,' October, 1823, p. 132) '* is of Iceland manufacture, and is told by 

 Dr. Henderson ; but we have seen a version of it in an old French Voyage to the East 

 Indies, where it is told, with admirable gravity and effect, of a party of rats, who 

 [which] combined in this way to steal eggs out of the bung-hole of a barrel." I have 

 transcribed these passages, which accidentally caught my eye this morning, because 

 the story related in them (and especially the French version of it) bears such a striking 

 resemblance to an anecdote related to your correspondent Mr. Bury, and given by him 

 in his amusing ' Notes on the Mammalia of the Isle of Wight' (Zool. 787), detailing 

 the manner in which eggs are removed by rats up a flight of stairs, that I can hardly 

 doubt their being derived from the same source. It is well known that many stories 

 now current amongst us, especially such as are used to frighten or to amuse children, 

 though often modified to suit our times and institutions, are of Northern or Eastern 

 origin ; and as Mr. Bury does not appear to be quite certain that the person from whom 

 he had this account was an eye-witness of the fact, I have little hesitation, in the ab- 

 sence of such certainty, in believing the story to be another version of the Icelandic 

 tale above related. — William R. Fisher ; Cambridge, February 25, 1848. 



Ornithological Notices in Norfolk for the month of February, 1848. — Early in this 

 month several more specimens of the waxwing were obtained in various parts of Nor- 

 folk, and several examples of the hooper (Cygnus ferus) have occurred. A young male 

 peregrine falcon was observed to frequent the neighbourhood of Whitlingham for 

 nearly a month, and was killed at that place on the 11th instant. During the latter 

 part of the month several specimens of the great tit have been observed, apparently 

 performing a (returning) migratory movement, similar to that observed in the begin- 

 ning of last year in the case of the marsh tit (Zool. 1691, 1701). — /. H. Gurney, W. 

 R. Fisher ; March 2, 1848. 



On the Partial Migration of Birds. — The county of Durham, though small, yet, 

 from the different altitudes of the land, the rich variety of hill and dale, clothed with 

 various plants, each sustaining many different species of insects, of course gives us 



