is twenty-eight inches. The eyes are brown. In her native country she is renowned as a snake-killer, and popular error says that after killing a snake she would eat of a plant called mungo root (Ophoriza Mungos) to destroy any toxic effects; but this is extremely doubtful. Of her domestic attractions it is impossible to speak too highly. Very cleanly in her habits, remarkably graceful in her movements, and, unless kept confined for several days, perfectly free from smell, she is at once, in her best behaviour, a pet of all. Very like a kitten in her antics, she will play with a ball between her paws, rolling over and over again, sometimes appearing as if she was endeavouring to turn herself inside out, but instantly righting. When at evening my wife is sewing, she will empty her workbasket, delighted to get a reel of cotton, which she most energetically unwinds. Should my wife be writing, Jenny will steal to her face, and playfully lay hold of her pen or bite her nose. Most gentle in ways, she has never bitten any one in the house. My little boy pulls her indiscriminately about; in fact, of all the pets I have kept, Jenny carries the prize for amusement. One trait in her character is very interesting; should no saucer of milk or water be at hand, she will go to the water-bottle, stand upon the neck with her fore paws, pushing one down the neck inside until she reaches the water, then forms the foot into a scoop, withdrawing it when filled, and lapping up the contents, and so on until satisfied. When the tobacco-jar is on the table she will scrape out the whole of the contents, spreading it on the cloth. When bed-time comes she will decamp, and call as much as you may she will not answer, but when you get into bed you will find a round ball carefully tucked up in the blanket, and that is our little acquaintance Jenny. She will not patronize one bed, but selects the most comfortable. So much for her good behaviour; but there are two sides to most questions, so if you will permit, and have patience to read, I will tell you her worst propensities. Jenny is par excellence the most stealthy thief I ever met with-nothing in any way get-at-able is safe. If when at dinner, and she is loose, you do not keep a keen eye on your plate, whilst you are handing up a morsel to your own mouth, the remainder of your meat vanishes, and when she has it, like a kitten, her tail becomes immediately double or treble its size, and, amidst much swearing, she devours what an instant before you had fondly hoped was your own. Turu your back for an instant, and anything she can lay hold upon flies. Eggs are especially good in her sight-butter, bread, in short, almost everything edible. Her love of investigation is truly appalling; only a few days since a crash was heard, and no less than four of our choicest chimney ornaments had come to grief. In the fern-house it is not uncommon to find a choice specimen uprooted-holes scratched in the garden at the root of a favourite plant. Occasionally she visits our neighbours, on one occasion carrying off a cooked rabbit, and causing the utmost con sternation. I have said she is a thief; at the same time she is a most graceful beggar, sitting up in a most captivating manner, and mewing not unlike a bronchitic cat. Of her destructive properties I can testify from repeated observation. Rats she kills very quickly, but I am bound to say in a sneaking manner; walking up to them, she appears to be making friends, when instantly she grabs the back of the neck, and all is over. Snakes she kills instantly, and with a rapidity truly wonderful. Mice she has a contempt for, killing them and eating at once. The snake she seizes at the back of the head: I should like to see her with a very large one. Small birds she is fond of, eating them ravenously. I cannot take leave of our little friend without once more alluding to her affectionate manner, when sitting on my knees, playing with my watch-chain, and playfully biting at my fingers to make me play; I can forgive her wickedness, when I see her pretty antics and perfectly harmless demeanour. Long may she live. 43, David Place, Jersey, September 3, 1874. JOSEPH SMITH. Ornithological Notes from Norfolk. (Continued from S. S. 3865.) JANUARY, 1874. For the last fifteen years I have never known such a dearth of ornithological occurrences, worth recording, as at the beginning of the present year, the extreme mildness of the weather affording nothing more remarkable than the too early "indications of spring"-the pairing and song, in the middle of January, of thrushes, blackbirds and robins, and the appearance of violets and primroses, as if the winter was fairly over. The snow buntings, so abundant on our coast in November and December (S. S. 3862), still frequented the same localities in diminished flocks, and at Yarmouth were at one time so numerous that the bird-catchers netted them for "trap" shooting in place of sparrows. Towards the end of the month I observed, in this neighbourhood, large flocks of small finches, linnets, redpolls, &c., feeding on the stubbles, but "here to-day and gone to-morrow," and notwithstanding the mildness of the weather, the usual bunches of cock greenfinches appeared in the market, showing the annual and, as to sex, the separate migration of this species, at this time of year. FEBRUARY. A few severe frosts and some snow in the early part of the month brought some fowl and snipe into our markets, but nothing of any rarity. On Wroxham Broad the abundance of Anacharis alsinastrum attracted an unusual number of ducks, chiefly mallard and teal, and drew the coots from surrounding waters in considerable quantities to feed on this favourite but troublesome weed. On the 5th a bittern, an unusually small bird, was killed at Stalham, and on the 8th I again observed immense flocks of green finches, linnets and other small birds, evidently "on the move," in advance of the snow and sharp frosts, which commenced the day after and lasted up to the 13th. A female goldeneye, a few pochards, teal and mallard, with bunches of snipes, green and golden plovers, and a solitary magpie (a scarce species now in Norfolk) were the only birds worth notice which that short spell of hard weather brought to our game-dealers; but a very fine old male goosander was shot about this time on Breydon. Fieldfares and redwings were extremely abundant during the frost, and our birdstuffers received several kingfishers, goldencrested wrens, and three or four great crested grebes; but whether the latter were shot on the coast or on inland waters I could not ascertain. About the middle of the month some two dozen bullfinches were brought alive to a bird-fancier in this city, said to have been taken in the neighbourhood of NorthWalsham. A pied hen of this species, very prettily marked, was sent to Mr. Gunn to be stuffed about the same time. Another bittern was shot at Catfield in the last week of the month. On the 28th hooded crows and rooks were observed near Cromer, apparently commencing to leave and cross the sea. MARCH. This month, like its predecessors, commenced with mild weather, till a batch of snow and frost set in from the 9th to the 13th, trying alike to the advanced vegetation of our gardens and shrubberies and the nursery arrangements of the early nesting birds. A hen sparrow, caught for "trap" shooting in the first week of March, had eggs ready for exclusion, and on the 29th I saw a young starling in its first gray plumage, without a single spot to indicate that it might have been a late-hatched one of the previous year. Male chaffinches were in full song at the beginning of the month, at which time the bird-catchers were netting greenfinches and yellowhammers in large numbers, as well as sparrows, and the barbarity of "trap" shooting throughout the spring and summer months, as practised in this part of the county, is sufficiently evidenced by the statement of a local birdcatcher, that at this time of year he not unfrequently finds the sparrows netted for one day's shooting to be almost all males, feeding together as I have repeatedly observed them in my own garden, whilst the hens are sitting. Can nothing be done to stop this wanton destruction of bird-life at a season when, by supplying their nestlings with insect-food, they are doing the greatest possible amount of good to the farmer and gardener? To include them in the Wild Birds Protection Act, as Mr. Auberon Herbert and his friends have suggested, would be simply a farce, as no one would dream of prosecuting when a reprimand only, with payment of costs, is the penalty for a first offence, and a fine, not exceeding five shillings, including costs, the penalty for subsequent convictions. The roughlegged buzzard shot at Burgh, near Yarmouth, on the 4th, and the common buzzard at Berghapton on the 20th, as recorded by Mr. Gunn (S. S. 4117), and a peregrine falcon seen at Northrepps on the 1st, appear to have been the rarest occurrences of the month. APRIL. Blue Tits. I have watched several of these birds, frequenting the silver birch trees in my garden, busily engaged upon the catkins which, at this time, hang in profusion, performing the most wonderful gymnastics in their eager search after some kind of insectfood; at least such I presume to be their object, as in flitting from one catkin to another not one in ten occupies their attention for more than an instant, though a prolonged stay on some seems to reward their exertions. Spring Migrants.-The following dates of arrival of spring visitants have been chiefly supplied me by Mr. J. H. Gurney from the neighbourhood of Cromer, and by a few other authorities from different parts of the county: 4th and 5th. Nightingale April 3rd. Chiffchaff at Northrepps. first heard in two localities near Norwich, an extremely early date; several in song near the city on the 6th, 7th and 8th. In the late Mr. Marsham's table of "Indications of Spring," as made from his own observations during a period of nearly sixty years, at Stratton Strawless, near Norwich, under the head of "Nightingale sings," the earliest date is April 7, 1752, the latest May 19, 1792, the medium time being April 28, 1784, a difference of forty-two days being observed in fifty-nine years. 10th. Ring ouzel and willow warbler at Northrepps. 11th. Blackcap at Keswick, near Norwich. 13th. Cuckoo seen at Stanfield. 19th. Wryneck at Keswick; at Earlham on the 21st. Young rooks calling in the nest. 20th. Hobby seen at Keswick. 21st. Swallows (two) seen at Keswick, and five at Northrepps. One seen at Earlham, for the first time, on the same day. 22nd. Wood Warbler heard at Northrepps. 27th. Grasshopper warblers heard on Hoveton Broad. Turtle. dove first seen. 28th. Common whitethroat at Northrepps. Redstart near Norwich. Young robins left a nest in my garden, and were fed by the old ones on the grass plot. Young blackbirds still in their nest. Sanderling. A specimen sent up from Yarmouth on the 10th was still in perfect winter plumage, not a trace of red appearing on any of the feathers. Herons Nesting.-On the 21st of April I visited the Earlham heronry near Norwich, and was glad to find a numerous colony, some twenty-eight or thirty nests being occupied. Most of the birds rose from the trees as I entered the plantation, but a few |