(Arthur Edwards/Getty Images)

There appears to be a new addition to the royal family, but it's not the baby everybody has been hoping for. This one is small and furry with four legs and big floppy ears.

It seems Prince William gave his wife, Kate Middleton, a puppy for her 30 th birthday last week. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been spotted out around their Wales cottage with a small black Labrador.

"The dog is ever so cute," a source told British newspaper The Mirror. "The Duke and Duchess have been seen with it several times and he runs along at their heels. They are constantly in fits of laughter as it tries to catch them up."

The couple hasn't said anything about the new member of the family, so it could be that Kate gave Wills the dog. He had a black lab named Widgeon when he was young.

Kate is a well-known animal lover; she recently won praise from animal rights activists for opting out of the royal family's Boxing Day pheasant shoot.

The puppy, whose name isn't known, isn't the only gift Kate has received recently. Clarence House, the royal administrative center, recently published a list of some of the presents the royal couple was given during their Canadian visit. The pair got mosquito traps, a soapstone sculpture, snow goggles, a papier-mâché doll and a jar of Vegemite.

The most extravagant gift was jewel encrusted polar bear-themed bling: a 4.5 carat diamond brooch for Kate and 2.48 carat diamond cufflinks for Wills.

Kate turned 30 on January 9.