Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/74

48 a periodical, and withal suicidal, migration. In my "Notes on the Zoology of Newfoundland" (Zool. 2nd ser. 2042) will be found the following note:—"Strange to say that during a residence of two years in Newfoundland I never could obtain, nor even see, any species of mouse; although the settlers assured me that in some seasons they literally swarmed, but whether of this genus (Mus) or not I was unable to learn. Probably M. musculus, Linn., occurs on the island, but from the accounts of the settlers I should infer is not the species which is periodically seen in such large quantities: these probably belong to the genus Arvicola, or to some allied genus. If true, there is something peculiarly interesting in these periodical visitations—or, I should, perhaps, rather say migrations—of mice, for I was informed that these muscine armies come from the interior, or from that direction, towards the sea, which they boldly enter, and are consequently drowned and their bodies cast on the shore 'by thousands.'" Without entering into Mr. Crotch's theory of the probable cause of these periodical migrations of the Norwegian Lemming, I will only add that, like that species, its Newfoundland congener invariably migrates towards the west. May I, therefore, through the medium of 'The Zoologist,' call the attention of naturalists in Newfoundland to this interesting subject? In the neighbourhood of Cow Head Harbour these drowned "mice" have been observed on the land-wash "by thousands."— (Thruxton, Hants).

—As usual, in November and December, the gamekeepers here obtained a single female Merlin, which was found dead, having been probably slightly wounded by a shot. When I say as usual, I mean that for the last three years at the same season a single female Merlin has been obtained here, and in each case accidentally, the first two having been shot in mistake for Sparrowhawks. Previously to 1874 the female Merlin was unknown here, and the first specimen was not recognised by the head keeper, although he knew the male well. It would seem that the females of this species arrive along the Thames and Medway in October and November; the males are more commonly seen in March and April. I have never seen an old blue male except in these months, and if I have seen a male Merlin at all in December or January, it has generally been in very bad weather, when the Fieldfares, Redwings and Sky Larks begin moving about in search of food. As a rule, the female Merlin is as nearly as possible the same length as the male Sparrowhawk, viz., twelve inches, but the specimen obtained last year was nearer thirteen inches, and was very white on the nape, like a hen Sparrowhawk. The female Merlin is very distinct from the male on the wing. The extreme shortness of the latter, usually between ten and eleven inches, distinguishes him at once from all other British hawks. I have generally noticed, too, that the male is more given to that struggling, fighting manner of getting