cwt. of bone; the second, cwt. of bone; and the third, cwt. of bone ;-a miserable

yielding only 20 tons of oil and 15 one Whale, with 8 tons of oil and 4 one Whale, of 10 tons of oil and 7 return compared with the captures at the Straits fishery, which averaged over 16 cwt. of bone each; and this deficiency was not made up by the sealing, which was equally bad. Most of the Whales taken of late years in the Greenland Seas have been very young animals. Experts are therefore of opinion that there must be breeding Whales there, although they cannot succeed in finding them. It may be that the older Whales have become extremely wary, and that it is only the young and inexperienced which expose themselves to capture.

Five vessels fished in Davis Straits, killing 15 Whales and 1261 White Whales. Of these the most successful was the 'Eclipse,' which returned with five fair-sized Whales, yielding 95 cwt. of bone; the 'Terra Nova' had also five Whales, producing 70 cwt. of bone; the Nova Zembla' four; the 'Balena' one Whale and 820 White Whales; the 'Esquimaux' had to be content with 432 White Whales only. All the vessels experienced very bad weather early in the season, which so delayed them that the majority of the fleet missed the "spring fishing," and there was much weary waiting before they were rewarded by a capture. At the end of 30 days the Nova Zembla' was only 500 miles from home.

Capt. Guy describes the summer as one of the worst he had ever experienced, extremely cold, foggy, and gales of wind of almost daily occurrence. On July 8th, being beset in the "fast" ice, the vessel had a very narrow escape of being crushed; a huge iceberg was observed approaching, from which there appeared to be no way of escape, and all prepared to leave the ship. Down came the iceberg, the lower edge of which caught the ship's quarter; such, however, was her strength that, instead of the vessel being crushed as was expected, she heeled over on her broadside, and, after being in that position for about four hours, the iceberg sheared off, and she righted, to the relief of her officers and crew, whose anxiety was intense. It was not till Aug. 23rd that Capt. Guy killed his first Whale, and three others were secured at short intervals during the next few weeks. On Oct. 1st the Nova Zembla' bore up for home, and had a splendid run of 14 days.

The 'Terra Nova' had a curious experience. About 45 miles off Martin's Mountains, the southern point of Lancaster Sound, Capt. M'Kay killed his first. Whale, a very large animal with 12 ft. bone. When cutting it up an old harpoon was found embedded in its blubber, which bore the name of the whaler 'Jean,' of Bo'ness, and was dated 40 years back. This vessel was lost in the ice 37 years ago, and the finding of the relic excited a considerable amount of interest. The steel is said to have been as bright as the day it was made, and the Whale seemed to have sustained no injury from it.

The 'Balana' killed her only Whale on Sept. 23rd; a fair number had been seen, but it was not until that date that they were enabled to effect a capture. In Elwin Bay, Prince Regent's Inlet, they killed 820 White Whales in the month of August. Capt. Fairweather reports a ghastly discovery in this locality. Three vessels were cruising in concert, looking for White Whales, when Mr. Fairweather, jun., being on shore with a seaman, observed three corpses lying together not far from the shore, and "a slight scrutiny revealed the fact that a party had died of starvation. It was evident that the group, two men and a woman, had resorted to cannibalism before death intervened to end their sufferings... Lying scattered about in the vicinity were a number of human bones, skulls, &c. . . It is supposed the dead Esquimaux were natives of Lancaster Sound, who had travelled across the ice in search of depôts of stores left by old navigators." A large number of relics, the property of these poor people, were brought away, amongst which was a telescope engraved " Feathers, Dundee." Capt. Fairweather states that a number of years ago, when in command of the Thetis,' he presented a similar telescope to an Esquimaux, and he is of opinion that the instrument discovered by his crew is the same.

The total produce of the Whale fishery was 20 Right Whales, 1261 White Whales, and 49 Walrus; these yielded 412 tons of oil and 14 tons 7 cwt. of bone. The former may be valued at £17 per ton, or £7004; and the latter, allowing for under-size bone (£1500 per ton for the former, and £750 for the latter, about 10 per cent. of the whole), at a sum of £20,448, or a total of £27,452, as against a like valuation of £41,449 in the previous

season.

The British vessels have not repeated the experiment of a

visit to the Antarctic Seas, but the Norwegians were more persistent, prosecuting the sealing there with vigour, laying up their vessels at the Falkland Islands, and employing a carrier to bring home their produce. This vessel, on her return after last season's fishing, was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, the salvage realising very little; and the Norwegian ships, I am informed, do not intend to continue the enterprise in that direction,-fortunately for the southern Seals, which would otherwise have been quickly exterminated.

I have, as on former occasions, to express my indebtedness to Mr. David Bruce and Mr. R. Kinnes, of Dundee ; to Capt. David Gray, of Peterhead; and Mr. Michael Thorburn, of St. John's, Newfoundland, for their kindness in supplying me with informa

tion.

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK.
BY J. H. GURNEY, F.L.S.

THE following notes for 1894, as will be seen, have been chiefly collected from the observations of others, and I have been careful in every case to specify the source of the information. We have so many good naturalists in Norfolk, that there is seldom any need to personally verify the reported occurrence of rare species.

JANUARY.

8th. A Black Guillemot and a female Eider at Hunstanton (J. G. Tuck, Zool. p. 64).

13th. About this date a Scaup was shot on the river at Dunston, four miles south of Norwich. This is some way inland, but at the beginning of the month a good many of these birds appeared at Blakeney and other places on the coast, and I received one alive, but it soon died. Others were shot, being tamed by the very severe weather. The 4th was the coldest day experienced in Norfolk for twenty-seven years, but on the 10th the frost broke up.

FEBRUARY.

1st. A female Great Bustard was shot at Costessey, near Norwich, by a man named Paul, of which a full account has been given by Mr. T. E. Gunn (Trans. Norfolk Nat. Soc. v. p. 656). Its gizzard contained an angular flake of flint (which must have been

an awkward morsel to swallow) and three small pieces of pottery, one of a blue colour, recalling to mind New Zealand Moa stones (see the coloured figure in 'The Ornithological Miscellany,' vol. iii. p. 240), which were sometimes of a bluish hue. The last occurrence of the Great Bustard was on Jan. 19th, 1891, when six others were killed in different parts of England, and, like this one, were all females.

4th. Signs of spring. My Eagle Owls both received their master with many loud snaps, which always indicates the nesting impulse, and both sexes scrape holes the first fine spell of weather which comes after January. This snapping noise is caused by the withdrawal, not the meeting, of the mandibles, but the action is so rapid that it is very difficult for the eye to follow it. The 24th of March is about the time these Owls usually lay their first egg, and incubation lasts about thirty-six days, the old bird beginning to sit directly the first egg is laid. On a fine day she will leave her young ones, when about a week old, to the warmth of the sun, but will run along the ground to them if anybody goes into the cage. She is so savage at this time that the intruder will stand a very good chance of getting a blow on the head or neck from those sharp talons. My father reared a good many Eagle Owls, but his success was as nothing compared with that of Mr. Meade Waldo, who reared ninety from one female bird.

10th. The White-shouldered Eagles, Aquila adalberti, Brehm, brought from Spain in 1872 by Lord Lilford, and given by him to my father, being supplied with boughs, for the first time made a nest, but no eggs were laid. They are fond of eating those of other birds when given to them.

MARCH.

This month was fine, warm, and dry. On the 4th two vinous-breasted Rock Pipits, of Scandinavian origin (Anthus rupestris, Nils.), both males, were shot at Cley by Mr. E. Ramm. This well-marked race never occurs on our coast in any month except March, at which time, like the Black Redstart to be next mentioned, it migrates eastwards, towards Denmark.

23rd. A Black Redstart at Framingham; during this month Black Redstarts were also seen at Yarmouth, and others were reported in South Yorkshire and in Kent.

APRIL.

11th. A Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia, was seen at Hickling. 13th. The Rev. M. Bird saw three Garganey (two ducks and a good drake) in the Broad district; and on the 17th he saw a Jack Snipe and found two Shovellers' nests; and a few days afterwards Mr. Southwell saw several Shovellers at Hoveton "broad."

25th. A White Wagtail, Motacilla alba, caught at Lound and taken alive to Mr. W. Lowne, had the pearl-grey colour of the back continued to the rump, as in the three previous Yarmouth specimens. It was in very good health when I saw it alive in July.

MAY.

At Scoulton Mere I found that the gathering of eggs of the Black-headed Gull had ceased on the 9th, the take having been about 7200 eggs, a much larger number than was obtained in the dry spring of 1893, or in 1892, but less than half what used to be collected when I first remember these Gulls nearly thirty-five years ago. The price is now a shilling a dozen eggs, and they are eagerly snapped up in small quantities at that figure, none coming to Norwich market from Scoulton in 1894, though there were some there on April 25th from another quarter.

12th. Ten Shelducks were seen at Horsey by Mr. Bird, who on the same day found nine Kestrel's eggs in one nest, which was on the ground at Ruston. Both the number and the situation. are unusual. A Spoonbill appeared on Breydon (A. Patterson), and eight Dotterel, Eudromius morinellus, at Winterton (Bird). 14th. Four more Dotterel at Fakenham (G. Davey). 15th. Chiffchaff's nest at Keswick.

17th. A pair of Black Terns were seen by my son over Keswick mill-pond.

21st. My son put a Blackbird off her nest of five eggs, two of which were spotless, and two almost spotless, the fifth being very pale but otherwise typical.

25th. Received a Short-eared Owl from near Bury, a palecoloured one, which is generally the case with those obtained in

summer.

29th. Three Crossbills at Blakeney (H. Pashley).

ZOOLOGIST, THIRD SERIES, VOL. XIX.-MARCH, 1895. I