primary is the longest in the wing. In 'Our Summer Migrants' (p. 98), I see Mr. Harting says that in A. palustris the tarsi when dry are of a yellowish brown, while those of A. strepera become hair-brown. In Mr. Saunders' skin the tarsi are, as Mr. Harting describes, yellowish; whereas in ray mounted specimen the legs are now as dark as those of a Chiffchaff, the reason for this being the dark-coloured iron wires which are visible through the thin membranes. When my bird was fresh, the legs, as stated above, were pale flesh-colour, slightly tinged with primrose.
OCCASIONAL NOTES.
Martens in Suffolk.—The following communication from Mr. J.H. Gurney, published in the 'Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society' (vol. ii. pp. 223–4)[1], may be of interest to your readers, as it shows that less than seventy years ago Marten-cats were found in considerable numbers in the county of Suffolk. The large number of Rats destroyed is also worthy of note; it is evident they received from the gamekeepers the attention they deserve, whereas now their natural enemies are assiduously destroyed, but the Rats, secure in the quiet of the covert, increase to an enormous extent, and many an empty nest is the result. Mr. Gurney says:—"I have a cutting from a newspaper of the year 1811, by which it appears that at the Suffolk Gamekeepers' Annual Meeting, held at Bury on December 9th of that year, a prize was given to one Sharnton as the most successful gamekeeper. He had the looking over (with two underkeepers) of 4000 acres, but in what parishes the manor lay is not stated; evidently, however, it was in Suffolk. Sharnton gave in an account of vermin destroyed by him and his assistants in twelve months, which I think may be worthy of a place in the records of our Naturalists' Society, as bearing on the existence of the Marten in Suffolk, sixty -five years ago. His account is as follows:—Foxes, 22; Martens (spelled 'Martins'), 43; Polecats, 31; Stoats, 416; Crows and Magpies, 120; Hawks of all kinds, 167; Field Rats, 310; Brown Owls, 13; Wild Cats, 7."—T. Southwell (Norwich).
Reported Occurence of the Wild Cat in the Isle of Wight.—A veritable Wild Cat, probably the last of the race, was shot some months since near St. Helen's, in which neighbourhood there are still extensive woods, chiefly on the Nunwell Estate. Though occasionally seen by the gamekeepers, it had managed to evade them for years. It came into Mr. Careless's possession the day it was killed. It proved to be a male, three feet in length and nine pounds fourteen ounces in weight. It stands
- ↑ See: 'Martens, &c., in Suffolk, in 1811' in Trans. Norfolk and Norwich Nat. Soc. 1879 (Wikisource-ed.)
