468 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



Stoat and Ferret Hybrids. — The following advertisement appeared 

 in the ' Exchange and Mart ' of November 16th, and in previous issues 

 there have often been others precisely similar, with, I believe, the same 

 address: — "My noted little Stoat-bred ratting strain (of Ferrets), 

 some promising workers, 4/- each. . . . G. Davie, 4, Cowper 

 Road, East Dereham." In the same issue of the above paper, and on 

 the same page, there is another advertisement, in which "two pairs 

 of half-bred Stoats, quiet as kittens, little shy, for working or crossing," 

 are offered for sale by Mepham, Orlestone, Ham Street, Kent. No 

 satisfactorily authenticated instance of the interbreeding of these two 

 animals has, so far as I am aware, ever been recorded, and such a 

 union seems improbable ; moreover, the wording of advertisements is 

 apt to be rather "broad" and "elastic," and not remarkable for 

 scientific accuracy. At the same time, naturalists living near to either 

 of these addresses, the second in particular, might at least find it 

 interesting to examine and make enquiries respecting these reputed 

 hybrids.— G. T. Rope (Blaxhall, Suffolk). 



AVES. 



Grasshopper-Warbler in Midlothian. — A pair of Grasshopper- 

 Warblers (Locustella navia) settled in June in a hayfield near the city, 

 and gave us the opportunity of watching them at close quarters, but 

 did not let us into the secret of their nesting-haunt. Repeatedly 

 we saw the birds singing on the grass-stems, and flitting along the top 

 of the field to the shelter of the adjoining hedge. We have sufficient 

 proof of the birds having been in the same locality before the present 

 season, but we think the species is still sufficiently rare with us to claim 

 special attention from ornithologists. — A. Ukquhaet and R. B. Whyte 

 (7, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh). 



Lesser Redpoll Nesting in Ross-shire. — On the last day of August, 

 while waiting with Mr. Robert Godfrey for the appearance of Golden 



