194 MR. A. H. PATTERSON’S NATURAL HISTORY 
by the Rooks ; and a solitary nest has been built in a tree 
on the reputed site of Peggotty’s hut. 
In spite of the hue and cry against Rats, Yarmouth’s 
slums are still infested with Mus rattus (the Black Rat). 
May 15th. I saw a Tern dip and seize a young herring. 
Three Common Gulls set upon him, when a very exciting 
chase began, the Tern ascending spirally to a considerable 
height. All four were exceeding noisy. The Gulls were 
eventually outwitted. 
May 15th. It was reported to me that quite 200 Common 
Seals were frequenting the Wash. 
A Spoonbill sleeping in the midst of quite 50 Gulls, on May 
22nd, on Breydon. 
Several Lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) were taken in 
nets in May. The flesh, to me, was coarse and heavy. A huge 
number of eggs (probably 30,000) were embedded in a thick, 
india-rubber-like bluish tissue in those which I saw. 
I saw on May 24th what I believe to have been a hybrid 
Cole-Cod. 
Scribbled Mackerel and Scomber concolor (a whole blue- 
backed variety) would seem to turn up yearly during the 
Mackerel fishing. 
A very large “Norway Haddock” {Sebastes Norwegicus), 
weight 17! lbs., brought in on June 9th. 
Brent Geese. A flock observed flying along outside the 
breakers, on June 12th. Curiously enough a similar flock is 
reported on or about this date annually. 
Red-backed Shrikes apparently by no means uncommon 
around Belton and Fritton this summer. I observed a number 
of wings of the Cinnabar Moth, evidently rejected by these 
birds. I believe the bird is partial to this species, whose 
bright colours would make it easily to be distinguished. 
Picked up a large Flounder on the marshes on July 3rd, 
whose muscular “ right ” side had been stabbed five times 
by a Heron’s bill, evidently with a view to disable the fish. 
An Eel seemingly in trouble was shot in a ditch at Belton, 
when a full-grown Water Vole was found fast in its gullet. 
Weight of Eel 3J lbs. 
