288 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



resembles that of the common cock ; that the alarm-yell of the 

 latter is closely like the psean of the Peacock ; and that the 

 chicken, young pheasant and partridge have a similar note. 



The main purpose of this supplement is to show. that there 

 are certain apparently unvaried cries common to several species 

 of wild birds ; that the most prevalent note of a species may be 

 modified in its congeners, or supplanted by other cries which 

 then predominate, and are in their turn abandoned by other 

 birds. I am not in a position to trace structural development in 

 analogy or contradiction to the suggestions of vocal resemblance ; 

 but some evident outward features of similarity between birds 

 with similar cries, as the speckled breast of the young of the 

 Redbreast, Redstart, Thrush, and Blackbird must be familiar to 

 all my readers. 



I am conscious that my work in Bird-song is very imperfect, 

 but shall hope for ability and opportunity to render it more 

 complete. 



NATUEAL HISTORY NOTES FROM SUFFOLK. 

 By G. T. Rope. 



The following fragmentary Natural History jottings were 

 principally made during a stay of some three months at Iken, 

 on the River Aide, Suffolk, during the spring of 1888, and mostly 

 relate to that place and its immediate neighbourhood. They 

 contain, I fear, little of interest, and those only who can derive 

 as much pleasure from watching the ways of the commoner 

 animals as from the acquisition (and consequent destruction) 

 of rarities will care to glance at them. 



The parish of Iken is situated at the widest part of the river, 

 which becomes here, at high tide, a fine sheet of water, extensive 

 mud-flats being left exposed as the tide recedes. There is a 

 decoy for wildfowl in the parish, which is still worked, and the winter 

 of 1887-8, just previous to my visit, was a fairly successful one. 

 At Black Heath, Friston, on the opposite side of the river, is a 

 large heronry. A considerable proportion of the parish of Iken 

 is heath land, forming part of that irregular belt of heath which 

 runs parallel to the coast-line of Suffolk, with occasional inter- 

 ruptions from the Orwell to Breydon Water. About the heath 

 are scattered a few small fir plantations. Iken Wood, situated on 



