310 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



The Polecat in Pembrokeshire.— Far from being " extiuct " in Pem- 

 brokeshire, as asserted (p. 264), the Polecat is still to be met with in the 

 wilder parts of the county. One day when ferreting we bolted two from 

 rabbit-earths at Stone Hall, and frequently disturbed the " varmint" with 

 our terriers in the rougher covers. — Murray A. Mathew (Buckland 

 Dinham). 



Mr. E. Cambridge Phillips must have been misinformed as to the 

 extinction of the Polecat, Mustela putorius, in this county. Though 

 undoubtedly less common than formerly, it is far from being extinct. I have 

 had ten or twelve examples from this neighbourhood within the last six 

 years. — Charles Jeffeeys (Tenby). 



Pied Stoat in Notts in May.— On May 28th last the keeper here 

 was waiting for Stoats on a stile at Little Gringley, when one ran out into 

 the open field, within a few yards of him, which was pure white, except an 

 irregular brownish line extending down its back. Before he had time to 

 shoot, it made off again. He says he has shot white and pied Stoats here 

 before in May. A great many of these varieties were shot last winter in 

 this neighbourhood, and sent, to Retford for preservation. — Leonard 

 Buttress (Grove, near Retford, Notts). 



BIRDS. 



Shrike killing Sand Martin. — On July 19th I observed a Red-backed 

 Shrike strike down and kill a Sand Martin on the wing. The Martin fell 

 on the lawn, about eight yards from the dining-room windows. I picked 

 up the bird, and found it had been struck at the back of the head, and was 

 quite dead. After examining it I replaced it where it fell, and stationing 

 myself at the window, I saw the Shrike return iu about five minutes, and 

 carry off his prey to a hill about eighty yards away, there to eat it at his 

 leisure. Is it usual for the Shrike to kill birds on the wing, more 

 particularly such swift-flying species as the Martins? — L. Creaghe- 

 Havvard (Bramford, Ipswich). 



Turtle Dove nesting in a Squirrel's Drey.— Flushing a Turtle Dove 

 from an old Squirrel's drey built at the top of a small oak, at the latter 

 end of June, I ascended the tree and found the bird in possession, haviug 

 lined only with fibrous roots the centre of nest and deposited one egg. — 

 J. Stekle Elliott (Park Road, Sutton Cold field). 



Wild Geese and Starlings in West Meath. — On July 4th a flock of 

 Wild Geese, numbering forty-eight birds, was observed by a gentleman 

 and his gamekeeper, flying in a westerly direction over Lough Iron, in 



