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THE LIBRARY
THE ZOOLOGIST:
ly
A MONTHLY JOURNAL
OF
Newer RA LS. HISroRrR ¥.
FOURTH SERIES.—VOL. XIII.
EDITED BY
Week. DIsSiraNT.
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—
PREFACHE.
THE present volume is of a more general zoological character
than any of its immediate predecessors, and if some subjects
are less represented, that omission marks the varied studies of
its contributors rather than any editorial direction. That ‘THE
Zoouoaist’ is taking a wide view of animal life is a subject for
congratulation ; it is characteristic of its title, and is a fulfil-
ment of its function. The faunal descriptions and lists are an
important feature, and in this volume alone we can, among
other communications, refer to Dr. Clark’s ‘‘ Notes on Cornish
Crustacea,’ Mr. Patterson’s ‘‘ Rough Notes on the Fish and
Fisheries of Kast Suffolk,’ Mr. Cummings’s ‘“‘ Notes on the
Fauna of Lundy Island,” Mr. Arnold’s investigations on the
Eastbourne Crumbles, and Mr. Harcourt-Bath’s memoir ‘‘ On
the Vertical and Bathymetrical Distribution of the British non-
Marine Mollusca, with Special Reference to the Cotteswold
Fauna.” This work is of the greatest importance in British
Zoology, and can be, and we trust will be, largely increased
in the future.
In Ornithology, during what may be called the ‘ Crossbill
year,” our ‘‘ Notes and Queries’ contain many valuable records ;
in annual reports are continued those of Mr. Gurney on Norfolk
and Mr. Aplin on Oxford; while Messrs. Thorpe and Hope
have commenced their digest of the Natural History Record
Bureau at Carlisle. In the bionomical pursuit of bird-watching,
so pregnant with fresh facts in animal psychology, Mr. Selous
iV PREFACE.
has turned his attention to the ‘‘ Nuptial Habits of the Black-
cock,” while in another ornithological byway Dr. Leiper has
described a new species of parasitic Filaria in the Thrush.
Mr. Dewar’s ‘‘ Notes on the Feeding-habits of the Dunlin” are
of the greatest interest ; Mr. Blathwayt has brought up to date
an account of the Lincolnshire Gulleries, and Mr. Boyd Watt
has compiled a good ‘‘ Bibliography of London Birds.”
In Philosophical Zoology, Prof. McIntosh has contributed
a learned and judicious pronouncement on ‘‘The Darwinian
Theory in 1867 and Now”’; the “ List of the Zoological Gardens
of the World,” by Capt. Stanley Flower, is a thorough and com-
plete treatment of the subject; Mr. Elmhirst’s ‘‘ Notes from
Millport Marine Biological Station,’”’ we hope, will be continued,
and mention must be made of the lengthy and complete enum-
eration, with bibliographical references, of the ‘‘ Hymenopterous
Parasites of Rhynchota,”’ by Mr. Claude Morley.
In conclusion, the thought must be driven home to all of us,
by the perusal of a single volume of this publication, how much
can and is still to be done in British Zoology alone. A com-
petent zoologist could devote his life’s work to studying the
animal life—in all its phases—of his own garden; he could
soon compile a list of names, but a complete knowledge of the
life-histories of these species is known to few indeed, while the
bionomics of the whole of the living creatures to be found on a
half-acre patch may be safely said to be at present outside the
mental recognition of any one naturalist.
THE ZOOLOGIST
No. 811.—January, 1909.
NOTES ON THE FEEDING-HABITS OF THE
DUNLIN (TRINGA ALPINA).
By J. M. Dewar.
Waar follows is mainly a record of a certain phase of the
Dunlin’s active life, from direct observation and from a study of
the imprints left on the feeding-grounds. Its relations with
other birds and with its own kind are bound up so intimately
with its feeding-habits that no apology is needed for dealing with
them now.
Several species are named in the books as associates of the
Dunlin, and the information is sufficient to indicate that the
smaller waders are its most intimate companions. The Dunlins
feed alongside of the larger waders, and pass through their
flocks as a body, but as a general rule they do not mingle freely
with birds much larger than themselves. When they fly along
the coast in search of a feeding-place the Dunlins are likely to
pitch beside any species of wader, and they may not stay if it is
taking food which does not suit them. I have seen a party
alight beside Knots which were devouring small mussels, and
after a momentary glance take to flight. Common in winter
is the sight of a party of Dunlins tripping along in the wake of
-a Ringed Plover. They follow the long runs of the Plover, and
probe eagerly close to it at each halt. At least one of them is
sure to examine the place from which the Plover extracted some-
thing at the end of its run. They probe alittle on the way, and
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., January, 1909. B
2 THE ZOOLOGIST.
occasionally the Ringed Plover doubles back in an attempt to
secure whatever a Dunlin is on the point of taking. Sometimes
Dunlins working independently of other species alight to probe
for a short time, and fly away without having found anything off
value as food. This is true especially of smooth stretches of
sand. At the same time, they are quite able to find their own
food, and a large part of their feeding is done in the absence of
other species, or in places where the mingling of species is
a coincidence.
The relation of this species to others may be regarded from a
different point of view. Dunlinsin search of food are remarkably
easy of approach; at rest and in the company of other waders §
they are not so confiding. Their absorption in the work of §
finding food is apparently complete until the cries of the other
species, most of them alert to a degree, warn the Dunlins to
beware. When Ringed Plovers give the warning I find usually
that the Plovers alight first and the Dunlins later. Where
Dunlins are asleep, a few Ringed Plovers may be standing wide-
awake or running about amongst the sleeping birds, ready to
call at the approach of danger. It is not that the Dunlins need
the warning, for they are less approachable when they are
sleeping than when they are feeding actively.
I am inclined to believe that Dunlins are more partial to the
company of other waders as the shooting season advances,
especially in districts where they are harassed severely. In
spring and autumn they are seen more often alone. On one
occasion I witnessed a peculiar action by two members of a party
of Dunlins and Ringed Plovers which were resting on the high-
water mark—the Plovers watchful as usual, the Dunlins appa-
rently asleep. About an hour after the time of full tide, when
the latter were waking up and stretching their wings, an in-
dividual of each species detached itself from the flock and ran
some fifty yards over the sand to the water-line. The Ringed
Plover led the way, and the Dunlin followed closely. Arriving
at the water-line the Plover looked about and ran quickly to
certain spots, in which it dug its bill, the Dunlin inspecting and
tapping the same spots after the Plover. Having done this the
Plover turned and ran back to the flock with the Dunlin imme-
diately behind probing here and there on the way. The flock
FEEDING-HABITS OF THE DUNULIN. 3
remained quietly for a few minutes, then flew to the place which
had been inspected by the pair, and began to search eagerly for
food.
What the mental state underlying these actions may be is
largely a matter of opinion. It seems to be a variable and
varying blend of curiosity, sociability, and selfishness, if we
humanize the motives for the convenience of description. Per-
haps long-continued dependence on the sense of touch has
reduced the acuteness of vision below the level maintained by
birds with which the Dunlin associates intimately—an acuteness
of vision most necessary in dealing with areas showing the most
trifling signs of the presence of food. Ido not mean that there
is an actual diminution in the keenness of vision. What I
venture to suggest is that Dunlins sometimes forget to use their
eyes. Habitually absorbed in the art of rapid and incessant
probing, they are inclined to depend on other eyes for the
detection of danger; on feeding-grounds which show slight
surface markings or none at all their actions indicate that they
are unable to find hidden objects without applying the test of
touch, and as in a given time the bill covers a more limited field
than a keen sense of vision does, they may rely in part, and it
may be unconsciously, on the judgment of other birds.
Apparently they take an interest in the doings of their neigh-
bours, and on occasion they: act as if they were assisting or
robbing each other. Usually the small animals are seized,
extracted from the ground and swallowed rapidly—so rapidly
‘that the steps are not always easy to follow. Sometimes there
is delay, particularly when worms of fair size are captured. If
not too late, the Dunlins may forestall the first-comer, and by
their interference allow the object to escape, but as a rule the
capture of a big mudworm is the signal for the nearest Dunlins
to hurry to the spot, not to probe immediately but to examine
the place by sight, then to tap and probe once or twice and dis-
perse. - I have notes of two instances of a less common kind. A
Dunlin probed into a colony of mudworms and tugged vigorously
without result. It was seen by another, which introduced its
bill alongside that of the first. Both pulled together several
times, and extracted a worm about three inches long. The
second arrival took the worm a short distance away and devoured
BQ
4 THE ZOOLOGIST.
it piecemeal ; the other resumed probing immediately. A Dun-
lin pulled a fairly large worm out of its burrow so far and
apparently was unable to move it farther. The Dunlin dis-
played its excitement by tugging energetically, and by stamping
on the mud with its feet. Another ran up at once and displaced
it, not by direct attack but by introducing its bill into the burrow
and seizing hold of the worm. ‘The former let go and retreated
a few paces. It soon returned and seized the free end of the
worm. ‘Together they dragged the worm out of its burrow, and
in the act of being swallowed the worm broke, and each bird
got a portion. :
We may impute human motives to these attractive birds, but
a little consideration will show the propriety of trying to find an
explanation in closer agreement with what is known of their
character. In the general case, the sight of a Dunlin capturing
a small animal of unusual value was sufficient to distract the
attention of other Dunlins from their own occupations, and to
revive a train of memories in their minds, of which the automatic
and outward expression was a general movement to the area to
see and probe for themselves. This I have called “ curiosity ”
for want of a better word, but it is not exactly so, for the Dunlins
would know perfectly what was likely to be found. In the two
special instances matters went farther, and while the primary
intention may have been robbery, the subsequent actions
seemed to be something more pardonable. If, in the general
case, the first Dunlin had not been so prompt in swallowing the
worm, plainly the new-comers would have attempted to secure it,
and if in each of the special instances the second Dunlin went
forward with the same idea in its mind as I imagine to occur in
the general case, we may suppose that the continued presence of
a struggling worm would fill its mind with the one idea of
securing the worm, so that other ideas would be crowded out or
placed in abeyance. This does not deny them a lively sense of
meum and tuum. I have never known Dunlins to interfere with
another species which was struggling with a resisting worm, but
the respect which they entertain for other species would have
full play from the first, and would prevent their minds from be-
coming saturated with the idea of securing the worm. Once the
single idea has been allowed to develop (and its development
FEEDING-HABITS OF THE DUNCIN. 5
would not be hindered by consideration of the first-comer,
because the Dunlin would have no reason to expect opposition ;
as far as can be seen, Dunlins do not fight with one another or
display resentment) the Dunlin goes forward unable, unless some
potent interruption overturns the state of its mind, to receive
impressions, and incapable of performing actions other than
those called into being by the one idea. It is engaged with
nothing but the capture of the worm, and when the worm is
swallowed the incident is forgotten. The first Dunlin is in a
similar condition. Already occupied and excited by the idea of
securing the worm, it becomes frantic when the worm resists
extraction unduly, and in such a state it is not able to consider
what the new-comer is going to do. It may continue to tug at
the worm as if nothing had happened, or it may be driven away
temporarily paralyzed by the shock of the second Dunlin’s
approach. Then the idea of securing the worm, dissipated for
a moment by the fresh impression, returns with absorbing force,
and the Dunlin goes back to the worm as if no other bird was
there.
Now a Curlew, to take an example in similar circumstances,
would never think twice of questioning the right of an intruder,
but then the Curlew is sedate in its ways, and for a bird its mind
is fairly well balanced. ~The Dunlin, on the contrary, is a
nervous, feverishly energetic, excitable bird, and the thread which
connects its reason and consciousness with its bodily functions is
slender and easily cut. A lack of self-control may be assumed
for another reason. The Dunlin is one of those waders which are
liable to “‘ bobbing ’’—that peculiar, rhythmical, backward jerk of
the head and body, or of the head alone—in moments of excite-
ment from anxiety, fear, and other cavses. During eack jerk
and sometimes during the series the eyes have a dull and
vacant expression, but the observer must be very near to see
this.
It may be said that the frantic excitement of the Dunlin is
due to fear of robbery—that its continued endeavour to secure
the worm is the feeble expression of its resentment. On the
surface this explanation is satisfactory, but if we try to analyse
the actions by themselves, and in relation to the general activi-
ties of the bird, and to picture what is going on within the skull,
6 THE ZOOLOGIST.
it will be seen that the former explanation, apparently the more
complex, isin reality the simpler. So that any slight or unusual
excitement or irritation will act on the centres of the brain pre-
siding over the motor system through the sense organs without
the control or intervention of the higher centres—in other words,
without knowledge and understanding, will set in motion actions
which habit has associated with particular sensations, and what
appears to be robbery and the prevention of robbery resolves
itself into automatic though complex movements which in fair-
ness may be excused.
Turning to the way in which the Dunlin finds its food, I wish
first to mention the senses of smell and hearing as possible
guides. Much has been made of the difficulty of approaching
wildfowl down-wind, and the cause has been sought in a keen
sense of smell. This may be perfectly true, but it happens that
these birds rise up-wind either as a matter of convenience or of
necessity, and travel for a time towards the observer who is
approaching down-wind. Hence an early start must be made
to maintain the margin of safety that each species finds neces-
sary. Of hearing, I can say little, and that not much to the
point.*
While it is impossible, without making a difficult and need-
lessly cruel experiment, to deny the importance of the senses of
smell and hearing, the general evidence places both below two of
whose value there can be no doubt—the senses of sight and
touch. It is convenient to group them according to their use
singly or together, if we remember that there is no hard-and-fast
line between each, and that there is scarcely anything to which
both cannot be applied. Sight alone is represented by surface-
feeding, and by work in places crowded with open burrows in
which the occupants are near the surface and within view; touch
alone by the exploration of seaweed, of ground under water, of
muddy and sandy ooze, and the sand along the high-water
mark; sight and touch by work on areas in which the food
supply is scanty and the signs of it indefinite, and in dealing
with mud Crustacea which have retreated into the recurved
portions of their burrows. ;
Surface-feeding includes the search for small objects drifting
* Cf. Patten, ‘ Aquatic Birds,’ p. 277.
FEEDING-HABITS OF THE DUNLIN. 7
in the wash of the sea and in streams, for small insects and
spiders* crawling on the land, but the common form of surface-
feeding is the capture of small univalves. When the acorn-
shells that encrust the rocks in many places die they leave
behind them rings of lime, each narrowing towards the top and
adherent to the rock at the base. In these asylums small Peri-
winkles dwell in comparative safety, and wherever they are
numerous they become objects of interest to the Dunlin. At
certain times molluscs are seen in large numbers on expanses of
sand after the tide has ebbed, and in myriads on the ooze of
some land-locked bay or harbour. The Dunlin, attentive to the
signs, runs swiftly over the sand, turning at the end of its beat
to cross the area in a fresh direction. When a considerable
number are present the general effect of the crossing and re-
crossing is of a game of inviting and avoiding collisions which
‘may go on ceaselessly for an hour at a time, and it is only
at long intervals that a Dunlin is seen to bend down and seize
hold of a small univalve. At any time it may turn aside from
its course with the utmost rapidity to take a molluse which has
caught its eye in passing. The same thing occurs on the mud
and on the rocks, only the speed is limited by the nature of the
ground. They run shorter distances at a time, and incline to
move in one general direction, though they run this way and
that as the signs dictate. Here again they pick up shells at long
intervals of time and space.
From a study of the birds’ habits alone it is difficult to under-
stand this boundless display of energy, and if the gizzards were
not packed with shellst the actions of the Dunlins might be
taken to prove that something else was the object of pursuit. On
the sand and rock the shells are present in hundreds, on the
mud they are crowded together so closely that scarcely an inch
of ground separates one from another, yet the Dunlins select a
shell here and a shell there for some reason or other. True the
shells on the sand vary in size, and many of them are too large
for the Dunlins’ throats to pass, while in the case of the shells
on the rocks a limit is imposed by the relative size of the Peri-
winkles to that of the surrounding rings. But these restrictions
** Alston, ‘ Zoologist,’ 1866, p. 513.
+ Swinhoe, ‘ Ibis,’ 1863, p. 412.
8 THE ZOOLOGIST.
do not apply to the shells on the mud, which scarcely vary more
than from an eighth to a sixth of an inch in length. These
mud shells afford a possible explanation. Close inspection shows
that they rest upright on the mud, that large numbers of them
are empty, and that many others are in an unhealthy condition.
The gentle flow of the tide is insufficient to disturb their balance,
and the general appearance of all is the same. If we watch
quietly we may see a shell here and there move slightly, rest
for a while, and move slightly again. It is the same with the
shells on the wet sand and the rocks. In this, as I venture to
think, we have an explanation of the Dunlin’s feverish display of
energy and apparent delicacy of taste. It overruns the ground
watching for the slightest movements made by the molluses from
time to time. In this way it guards itself against shells which
are empty and shells whose occupants are dead or dying. Some
other waders do the same thing in a different way, but the
only way open to the Dunlin is to run ceaselessly hither and
thither. :
In similar fashion the Dunlin treats areas of mud crowded
with the open burrows of worms and thin-skinned Crustacea,
providing a sufficient number of the occupants are near to the
surface. Itis, however, more circumspect in its movements, it
runs more slowly, and at the last moment, when on the point of
making a capture, it rushes forward or to one side and plunges its
bill quickly into the mud in an attempt to seize one of the lurking
animals on which it feeds.
Search by touch alone is to some extent a misnomer. A
certain amount of visual information is necessary to begin with,
and it is a valuable adjunct during the process of tapping. The
Dunlin proceeds slowly a step or two at a time in no particular
direction, and drives its bill rapidly up and down in and out of
the ground, testing it very completely in front and on both sides.
From time to time it runs or flies to a fresh place and begins
again, but there is no evidence to show that the new place
is chosen for any special reason. In the course of the up and
down movement the bill shows a noticeable tremor.* At times
this tremor is more marked, and is seen to be vertical. To close
inspection it reveals itself as a lesser up and down movement
* Macgillivray, ‘ History of British Birds,’ iv. pp. 207-213.
FEEDING-HABITS OF THE DUNLIN. 9
with a minute deviation of direction at each downstroke. So
each stroke of the bill is of a compound nature. There is the
main stroke, and during it a number of lesser strokes, which
bring the point of the bill into contact with a larger surface.
At intervals the Dunlin finds something good to eat. This is
made plain by its eagerness, by the deeper sinking of the bill, the
snapping of the mandibles and their sudden withdrawal, grasping
an object which, if small enough, is swallowed before the bill is
entirely clear of the ground. If contact is made with a worm
the bill is propelled downwards over the upper end of the worm
by a number of quick thrusts, the mandibles being separated
during the thrusts and closed tightly on the worm between each,
when the reverted cusps on the palate and the edges of the
mandibles prevent the worm from slipping back into its burrow.
The result is that an equal length of the worm is grasped by the
whole length of the bill, and the worm is ready for extraction,
which is effected by one or more steady and gentle pulls. The
need for this even distribution of pressure is understood when
the extreme softness and fragility of the worms are taken into
account.
The method of feeding by touch alone is applied to soft
ground under water, to muddy ooze and shifting sands in which
food is abundant and exhibits no surface markings, to seaweed
whether attached to the rocks or drifting up shore on the waves,
to moss and spongy turf, and to the strip of firm sand along
high-water mark. This part abounds usually with Sandhoppers
and the larve of flies which leave no visible marks by which
they can be traced. The process here is more one of rapid
tapping than of probing the sand. As they flounder over very
soft ooze they may be seen to plough the mud steadily with their
bills, and to draw them about asif they were tracing patterns of
complicated design. Probably they act under water in the same
way, but it is not easy then to be sure.
Where sight and touch are given together, I mean to express
uncertainty as to which sense is the more important. They are
illustrated by the movements of Dunlins on smooth and fairly
dry sandy areas, inhabited by a moderate number of thin-
skinned Crustacea. These animals in their subterranean bur-
rowings leave aggregations of minute pits here and there on the
10 THE ZOOLOGIST.
surface of the sand. These impressions may be mistaken for
those of a bird, and have been attributed to worms. The Dunlin
runs over the sand looking for these marks, and also, as I
imagine, for disturbances of the sand made by the movements
of the crustaceans. When it decides on a likely place it probes
the sand rapidly in a certain direction until it comes on the
small animal. The same method is applied to Sandhoppers,
and the Dunlin is remarkabiy agile in leaping to secure the
crustacean if it jumps. When they are racing over the wet
sands during the ebb in search of univalves they are attentive
to the worm-casts, and can be seen now and then to plunge their
bills hurriedly into casts and to draw out small worms. The
extrusion of the casts is not continuous. It occurs periodically,
and, as the worms are very near to the surface at the time,
I believe the Dunlins overrun the sand on the look-out for
castings in the moment of extrusion, when they are able to
capture worms which may be out of reach at other times. The
same combination is used on areas showing no visible surface-
markings, and where the supply of food is limited. The Dunlins
probe for a while in one place, and look about for another place
to treat in the same way. So engaged they are most liable
to sight objects it may be a yard away, and to run swiftly to
secure them. This applies to several kinds of ground, and
includes the search for small bivalves in the sand. On muddy
areas crowded with open burrows, into which the inhabitants
have retired as far as they can go, the Dunlins run about
looking for what they can find. The worms are beyond reach,
but many of the Crustacea have the terminal portions of their
burrows recurved ; in some cases the blind ends are within a
quarter of an inch of the surface and close to the entrance.
The Dunlin inspects these burrows, and in some instances taps
gently round the entrance with an evident purpose, for it sud-
denly plunges the bill very obliquely into the mud and reaches
upwards with the point. Even then it may miss its object, and
the bill is seen to travel in a curved course towards the entrance
of the burrow as if following the crustacean, the capture of which
may be signalled at any moment by the snapping of the man-
dibles. For a long time I puzzled over these actions, repeated
so frequently, and it was not until I found mud plastic enough
FEEDING-HABITS OF THE DUNLIN. 11
to admit of section that I saw the nature of the recurved
burrows and the operations of the Dunlin upon them.
The imprints left by the Dunlins on the sand and mud are
worthy of consideration. In surface-feeding there is nothing to
note save, perhaps, the absence of certain univalves from their
tracks. On the areas of open burrows single probings are seen
often wide apart, and, as I will explain later, they are of the
deep variety. As a rule each coincides in position with a
burrow. For an obvious reason, ground under water, very
liquid ooze, and wet sand show no markings, or else they are so
- much run as to be of no value. The firm sand along the high-
water mark is best for the purpose. The hidden animals leave
no surface-markings, and the Dunlins tap and probe rapidly in
search of food. When they have been on this kind of sand for
any length of time it becomes covered with the tracks of feet
and bill. The imprints made by the bill are of three kinds,*
distinguished not so much by the sharpness of their differences
as by the frequency with which the average forms occur. They
are a slight double dent in the sand made by a gentle pressure
with the point of the bill; a shallow probing, an eighth to a
. quarter of an inch in depth, usually but not invariably divided
into two compartments by a transverse septum of sand; a deep
probing, a quarter to half an inch or more in depth, and com-
plete in the sense of having no septum. The relative frequency
of the three kinds is variable and depends on a number of con-
ditions, of which the appetite of the Dunlin, the nature, position,
and relative abundance of the hidden animals seem to be the
most important. As much of the sand is covered only at spring
tides, imprints are added at each high water during neap tides,
until the imprints nearly cover the sand for considerable
stretches, especially if the Dunlins are many and no rain has
fallen.. Excluding sand which has been visited more than once,
we find that the distribution of imprints is patchy, crowded
together in some places, scanty in otherst—that they are more
numerous near clumps of seaweed and decaying vegetable matter.
The larve are more plentiful in these situations, and may lie in
bundles close to the surface under contiguous imprints, which
* Macgillivray, ‘ History of British Birds,’ iv. pp. 207-213.
+ Ibid.
12 THE ZOOLOGIST,
shows that the Dunlins miss more than they find. The tap-
pings and septate probings may occur singly or in lines of two
or three each, and may or may not end in a deep probing. Deep
probings may be found together or singly at wide intervals, with
or without associated septate probings. The number of con-
tiguous tappings and septate probings may be great. I once
counted forty in line, gradually deepening to end in a complete
probing, and on another occasion forty-seven, when no deep
probing was present. This was on a small patch of half-dried
mud overlying coarse gravel, and when the mud was sifted
nothing was found. The contiguous lines of probings may be
straight or curved, directed forwards or to one side, and a fairly
common form is a circle of ten to twenty tappings and septate
probings, ending in a complete probing near the first tapping.
As a general rule, ten to a hundred imprints are found on the
square foot, of which rather less than half are deep probings,
but the ratio may be as high as one in three hundred, or even
one in five hundred. To produce a tapping the mandibles are
required to be separated one millimetre at the tip, to produce a
septate probing two or three millimetres. The length of a
septate probing is five to six millimetres, which is considerably
shorter than the seven or eight millimetres of a double probing
made experimentally with a closed bill, and the ten to thirteen
millimetres of the double complete probing occurring in nature.
The deep probing is directed slightly forwards, is cylindrical in
the upper part, and expanded towards the end into a semi-
bulbous form, the concavity being on the front aspect of the
probing, a relation which can be learned by comparing the
probing with the corresponding footmarks.
That the mandibles are separated in the act of tapping and
probing runs contrary to accepted opinion; while the con-
struction of the bill, with its guarded tip, points to its use with
the mandibles closed. Direct observation of so small a detail is
not easy on account of the Dunlin’s rapid movements, but it
can be made when the bird comes between the observer and still
water which is reflecting the light of a white cloud. I have
chanced on these ideal conditions twice. On the first occasion
during rapid probing the mandibles were separated all the
time. The degree of separation varied a little, and at times
FEEDING-HABITS OF THE DUNLIN. 13
the bill was opened up to its base. On the second occasion the
bill was sometimes opened and sometimes closed during the
downstrokes, but I suspect that the apparent closure was due
to my inability to see a trifling separation of the mandibles
towards the tip of the bill. Though the shallow probings are
not always septate, formation of the delicate septa may be pre-
vented by various causes, and in default of a septum it is
seldom that a semilunar ridge cannot be found across the
floor of each probing. The present view gains support from
observation of the actions of waders which are larger and
slower than the Dunlin; septa occur, to my knowledge, in
the shallow probings of the Lapwing, Snipe, Common Sand-
piper, and Redshank, and the method attains its greatest
development in Starlings and Rooks, which often test the
ground with the tips of the mandibles separated as widely as
they can be.
So there is evidence for the belief that the mandibles are
separated during search, and that the separation increases as
the bill goes deeper, but they remain nearly parallel until the
bottom of the deep probing is reached, when, as a writer
has suggested,* the terminal part of the upper mandible is
expanded in contact with the capture—a movement which ap-
pears to be reflected in the form of the deep probing. The
partial separation of the mandibles makes introduction of the
bill more easy, it increases the tactile area, and may, by com-
parison between the two points of contact, afford a clearer idea
of the form and consistence of hidden objects. One advantage
of the extensile mechanism lies in the fact that the minimum
quantity of sand has to be pushed aside,t though I am unable
to agree with Mr. Workman in supposing that the bill is closed
during introduction, to prevent the mouth from being filled with
dirt. The existence of septa in the shallow probings seems tome
to prove that the open bill can be driven into and out of the
- ground without being soiled, but when the bird makes a capture
it has to swallow the material of which the septum is composed.
In this way I account for the large quantity of extraneous
matter, sand, mud, rootlets, and the like, which is found in the
* Pycraft, ‘Ibis,’ 1893, p. 361.
+ Workman, ‘ Ibis,’ 1907, p. 614.
14 ; THE ZOOLOGIST.
stomachs of some waders killed on soft ground. It does not
appear to be an inconvenience to them, and the friction gene-
rated by the particles of sand and mud during the act of pre-
hension may help the birds to deal with the slippery animals
which are their food.
When the supply of food is scanty the imprints are reduced
to a small number per square foot, and usually they are of
the deep kind, but have lost the typical form. This is due to
the Dunlins feeding by sight and touch together, when the
apparent tremor of the bill becomes more marked. The probings
are expanded irregularly. They may be elongated, wedge-
shaped, with the base directed downwards, or converted into
circular pits, and if they are opened gently the walls are seen to
be covered with numbers of nipple-shaped depressions. On the
level sands, where active Crustacea are the objective, we see
long lines of footmarks leading in every direction, and here and
there isolated deep probings, or lines of contiguous septate
probings, each line ending in a complete probing. Where it is
sandworms, we see in places a single deep probing in the most
recent part of a worm-casting, which is always small.
I have tried probes made of various materials, but for delicacy
of touch none of them is equal to bone covered with soft skin.
When contact is made with a living animal a peculiar quivering
sensation is experienced, like that felt on touching a vibrating
chord. At the same time the animal, especially if it is a worm,
stiffens itself preparatory to making its escape. If it is a shell
it appears to rise up slightly and proceed slowly to close its
operculum or valves. This feeling can be obtained not only by
contact with the probe, but also, after a little practice, through a
quarter of an inch of intervening soil. It is, I imagine, a sensa-
tion like this that guides the Dunlin, in addition, of course, to
the disturbance of sand and mud which the animals make when
in motion, and it serves to distinguish living animals from
inanimate objects offering an equal degree of resistance* to
the bill.
* Macgillivray, ‘ History of British Birds,’ iv. pp. 207- 213.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LONDON BIRDS.
By Hues Boyp Warr.
ANNEXED is a brief list which is believed to contain entries
of the principal works on the above-named subject, but
which can probably be amplified, particularly for suburban
districts within the area of Greater London. County avi-
faunas, such as Harting’s ‘ Birds of Middlesex,’ Christy’s ‘ Birds
of Essex,’ and Bucknill’s ‘Birds of Surrey,’ have not been
included.
List UNDER AUTHORS.
1. Apams, A. Leira: ‘‘ Birds of London,” ‘The Field,’
London, Jan. 16th, p. 46, and 28rd, p. 70, 1875.
2. Bravan, A. H.: ‘Birds I Have Known.’ Illustrated. 8vo.
London, 1905. Contains two chapters on ‘‘ London Birds.”’
3. CunpaLL, J. W.: ‘London. =
V FOO a Jowett wee poet | -950
A ONLOVAES NALIAUS 2.000 2.ceene= 0-1000 -
Euconulus fulwus .....0...00000 0-1000 :
PAONSOLET A oie eee ee | 0-950 =
AL WOrbensis: oii cveiaantacans eee 0-950 -
Punctum pygm@unr .....0...+- -1000 3
Sphyradiwm edentulum......... | im | ?
Pyramidula rupestrts .....6... _ 800-950 is | <
PETOVUNAGE is... een eek ack | 0-1000 * | =
Helicella wirgata .1.0.2225enebae ' 200-1000 | : |
SM Tels Me Ran pee ere eer / 400-1000 | es | 4
FT. COPEV ALG: ps. cdeocqnotsasecs| pO 2 UOO S | >
Cochlicella barbara ’ ............ | ? ? |
Os contig. a ae | . 800-750 *
TLV OTOMID JUSCO nea acon aa seenae 400-750 *
EES GPONUGUD hoclacn oxewn soem "4 ?
I ESWIOG: Frcs ov. tncwenno ons oe see 0-1000 7
ML PAF OSCENE. onc onsen ac aee har ee 0-1000
Acanthinula aculeata .......... | —150
Vallonia pulchella ..........00068 ' -1000
VECOSTUE en a Re eee | —750
BRITISH NON-MARINE MOLLUSCA. 53
|
o aa 2 a — -
Census or SpEcIEs. | 232 23 | a @ BS ‘3 @ E 4 +
’ The Nomenclature and Arrange- ‘Zon a (> Pid eg . ak 5 = ES a
ment in accordance with that SS a er | a= By = | se4 2D
adopted by the aaesse | Subs 8 sna
Conchological Society, 1904. ps SOF Sis: [Ors
Helicigona lapicida ..........4. —950 :
BT OUSTOTUM oo. -caeassccsocess 0-950 . ss
USC To re 0-—1000 | * | ss
TE a a ae 400-950 | 3 | *
ME MEMONGIIS*......cnseecccecesers 0-1000 | ‘3
MNRITCNSES. ~. cisascvivsvececssas, 0-1000
Ena Montana ........0004- ee 400-750 *
MIOSCBFO. oie lh. Ulldes oes —1000 | =
Cochlicopa lubrica ..........44. 0-1000 | G
SE 400-750 *s |
Caciliotdes acicula ............ 600-700 |
BEPTHONEG SECOLE ....l. 05s eceeeess 400-1000 | ‘:
MEMIONATICR oi... occecisesiecces. —750 | a
MEEMIESCOTUMNG os -cicccesansvasonee ? ?
Vertigo minutissima ........0..5 } i
BO ANLVETIIGO...0.....0.c0cscenees ? ?
BTINGED, 205 i) 6o ones dctoas secs ? 2
Io 2g oes Laie sh nin : ?
MEMIED DETVETSA 6 ..-0c.0secneeees 2 ?
Clausilia laminata ...........:3| — -950 | * |
ee ? | ? |
MTLCHLGLG, ©. .50. scccaoseseseeress 0-1000 | |
re 500-750 |
Succinea putrts ....... “aC Reh a 0-
SAR SR A eae ee 0- |
OME 2. ies chess cbews. ovis -750
Carychiwm minimum. ..........: —1000 .
omaitas elegans ....:........+. 400-950 |
Mercia lineata ...........0.000+ ? | ?
+ The highest point in the Cotteswold Hills is Cleeve Cloud, near
Cheltenham, which is 1081 ft. above the sea-level, according to the trigono-
metrical survey.
54 THE ZOOLOGIST.
HUNTING THE HUMP-BACK WHALE (MEGAPTERA
LONGIMANA) IN NATAL WATERS.
By H. W. Bewuu-Martey.
(Puate I.)
Untin very recently nothing had been published or made
known about the habits of these Whales. In the earlier attempts
at classification Mr. Beddard* shows how much we may read with
caution or accept as authentic, and regards this Whale as known
under no fewer than twelve names, the late Dr. Gray being
responsible for four of these synonyms. This Whale’s great
distribution has probably caused the difficulties in the fixing of
the species. Mr. W. L. Sclater+ writes :—‘‘ Whether there are
several species of Hump-back Whales or only one widely distri-
buted species cannot be definitely settled until further com-
parisons with more material are possible.”’
It having been noticed, between the months of May and
August, that these Whales passed in great numbers between
Natal and the Delagoa Bay coast, a company was formed last —
May by some enterprising Norwegians, the Government having
given permission for a shed and machinery to be erected on
the Bluff side of the Channel. Catches of one or two Hump-
backs a day made it soon evident that this speculation would
prove a financial success, the first capture taking place on July
8rd; and, without troubling the reader too much about statistics
of any kind, some idea of the value of this cetacean’s oil may
be obtained. The ‘ Board of Trade Journal’ says that ‘‘ during
September oil to the value of £3397 was shipped from the Port
of Natal to the United Kingdom and elsewhere,’ as many as
ninety-five to one hundred Whales being cut up for this pur-
pose, one Whale averaging as much as six to eight tuns of oil.
* ©A Book of Whales,’ p. 164.
+ ‘Mammals of South Africa,’ ii. p. 183.
HUMP-BACK WHALE IN NATAL WATERS. 55
Wishing to witness a hunt, on Sept. 5th I accepted the
captain’s invitation, and embarked on board the whaler ‘ Ornen,’
a fourteen-ton flat-bottomed tub, the usual stamp of vessel one
sees around the coasts of Iceland. She was getting up steam as
I stepped aboard just before six o’clock, and I made a light
repast of some biscuits and ship's coffee with Capt. Andersen,
as I anticipated some rough weather the next few hours at sea.
A quarter of an hour later we prepared to move out, by hitching
off and making for upstream a few yards distant, where every-
thing had been prepared at the station for the removal by us of
an old carcase. The blubber having been stripped off in quick
time, this lump of flesh was connected by guys to the winches,
and then wound with a splash into the sea, where it floated, and
was again made fast to the port-bow. Turning round, we made
for the bar, crossing it a few minutes to seven o’clock. We com-
menced our journey in earnest by getting tackle and blocks into
ship’s order ; the cargo—-one quivering mass of putrefaction—
I was informed, was to be let adrift when the stream had been
reached, a matter of another hour or so. The wind veered
round, almost paralysing my olfactories by the nauseous air we
breathed, and the spice of the promised adventure lost much of
its interest.
To those whose stories of Whales date back to their school
days, and which were garnered from the pages of Kingston and
Ballantyne, the proceedings are somewhat unorthodox.
A number of sea-birds that had followed us all along were
now joined by others, which, excited at the prospect of a meal,
kept hovering around us at close quarters, screaming and
uttering all sorts of mournful cries. With one exception I
was able to recognize some familiar types, and, as my observa-
tions must not take up too much space, I will enumerate a few
species only.
Among the Gavie was noticed Larus dominicanus, a bird
common along the whole coast; they were in company with
some smaller birds, which I thought to be young Gulls. JL.
ctrrocephalus, Grey-headed Gull. Several old birds.
Of the Sterning, Mr. W. L. Sclater mentions no fewer than
seventeen species as inhabiting these coasts.
I made notes of the following stragglers, for such I believe
56 THE ZOOLOGIST.
them to be, and as having come up from East London and Bird
Island with the fishing-boats :—
Hydrochelidon hybrida.
Sterna bergu. — S. media. The latter and active little bird
—a frequent visitor of ours—prefers, it appears, our bay with
its sand-banks to the more lofty and breezy sides of Table
Mountain.
The Giant Petrel (Ossifraga gigantea), fairly common, with its
expansive wings of brown; it rarely ventures inside the Channel.
It is what might be called a sociable bird.
Lastly, a single specimen and rarer bird, which I find I have
queried Sterna saundersi. |
The ‘Ornen’ having come to a standstill, the excitement of
these birds I found was due to the carcase, which, owing to
the heavy sea and strain put upon it, had come to grief, the
stomach having opened out, allowing the viscera to divide.
The captain seeing this ordered the men to let way. Im-
mediately, to our relief, it swung round and floated quickly
out to sea, with the whole host of birds fighting and screaming
in its wake.
It was near ten o’clock when the skipper changed hands.
The morning which looked so unpromising now commenced to
brighten up with a change of wind. The mate asked me if I
would care for some breakfast ? I declined, the dead Whale still
being fresh in my memory.
The breakwater was now just visible, the Bluff Lighthouse
in the hazy distance being silhouetted by its verdant surround-
ings. The captain, coming on deck, began to see that every-
thing was in working order, the duties of the harpoon-gun
being his, and sent the mate aloft to a barrel at the masthead
—the old crow’s-nest—the wheel being handed over to the
helmsman. Here I may make some remarks on the deadly
weapon upon which the sport of the day depended. The gun is
screwed down at the extreme end of the bow, moves round on a
swivel, and discharges a harpoon nearly six feet long, to which is
screwed an explosive in the head of the projectile, behind which
again are the three barbs or prongs which, if the fuse be
correctly timed, open out; but they will also unlock indepen-
dently of the bomb. The weight of this harpoon is about
HUMP-BACK WHALE IN NATAL WATERS. 57
112 1b., and, attached to a cable of some twenty-five fathoms, is
placed within the gun’s muzzle.
We had been cruising around when, without any warning, a
large Whale hove in sight, probably not more than one hundred
yards distant. We seemed to have frightened it, and, not wishing
to run any risks, it dived without exposing either its head or
pectorals, but I had time to see its hump and massive back, its
tail only coming into view when the rest of its body was covered
up. We saw nothing more of it, although we stood by some
twenty minutes. The captain all this time had not removed
his eyes from the place where it went down, and now called out
something in Norwegian to the man above, and I noticed the
course was altered, and the reason for this, I was informed, was
that sport would be later this day, as the Whales were still at
breakfast.
With Captain Andersen I indulged in a smoke and chat,
and we exchanged confidences, so far as our limited knowledge
of each other's language would permit, when suddenly the tran-
quillity was broken by the report of a gun, followed shortly after
by that of another. In the hazy distance, which might be a little
over one and a half nautical miles, we were able to see the other
whaler’s (‘Jupiter’) white barrel and a little of her hull. On
our arrival home we heard the news of this whaler’s record
catch, the captain having come up with the ‘‘ school” quite
early.
We passed this whaler and steamed straight on, it being
obvious no time was to be lost, as ahead of us, for the first time,
we saw little white puffs everywhere, though the Whales remained
hidden. We were not long in overtaking them, and as we
silently approached, their snorting became more audible, and we
perceived hurried strokes of their tails, but it was some time
before they had courage enough to let us pass them. The
‘Ornen’ slackened down apace, and as she did so this large
assembly of Whales (twenty or more) commenced their acrobatic
turns, and I have still in my eye the picture these cetaceans
presented, and cannot refrain from dwelling upon it, for I am
not likely to forget a scene so unlike anything else in the great
field of big game.
Under an opaque sky, and overhead the sun enveloped with a
Zool, 4th ser. vol. XIII,, February. 1909, F
58 THE ZOOLOGIST.
nebulosity that predicted a scorcher, these beasts splashed
and snorted all around us, our approach, if it had been noticed,
making no difference to them as-they pursued their sports or
affections unheeding. Without suspicion they rose and dived
under our bows, so that it was with difficulty a collision with them
was averted. Two Whales occupied my attention for some time
by their extraordinary behaviour, for no sooner did one appear
to breathe than the other, coming up at the same time, would
prepare to assail it in a fashion I have not seen or heard of
before ; and it appeared that the first Whale, wishing to avoid
the other’s interference, would before diving roll over and use
one of its pectorals on the flanks of the other. I saw them
again come up together, and both seemed blown out before they
finally disappeared, and this time they made some quick rushes
through the surface, as if racing each other. One Hump-back»
later in the noon, rose out of the water about two hundred
yards distant, the striking of the water with its tail being
distinctly heard on board, and this appeared to be a solitary
one, as we could see no others in that direction. I also wit-
nessed what was evidently a fight with four Whales; it needs
little describing beyond stating that one of the pack, possibly
larger than the others, and whose great pectorals made him
more conspicuous, kept swinging his tail when half his body
was under water. Once only I saw two young Whales playing
away from their adults; they were very timid, so it was im-
possible to see much of them.
I had reason to notice, and I think it worthy of attention,
that the Hump-back (or, more correctly speaking, Megaptera
longimana) is a poor blower for so large an animal ; of its timid
and shy disposition we have already spoken, and from the fact
that no Whales were noticed till late in the day, we may reason-
ably conclude their absence was due to the large shoals of
Herrings (commonly called Sardines in Natal) and other fish
that about this period of the season make their way up from the
Cape or Agulhas to these shores.
In swimming and diving the tail does all the work, but it
might be observed, on alarm or suspicion of danger, the fins are
not raised out of the water preparatory to diving. When
watching these animals’ movements there is nothing graceful
HUMP-BACK WHALE IN NATAL WATERS. 59
about them. After coming up for air and to enable them to
dive down again, both pectorals were used for this purpose, and
I observed further that the tail, by the various twists it gave,
proved what a disadvantage the Whale was put to, and the exer-
tion necessary to bring this about.
For nearly one hour we had been cruising in and out of
this large ‘‘ school”’ or company of Whales, and having slowed
down took things easy, but it was some time before the captain
(who all along had been scanning the sea with his glasses)
had fixed upon the object of his choice, when with full speed
ahead we swung, as it were, sharply round—and these little
- steamers can move, as I shall presently relate. A large Hump-
back—or, as it is known to the men, ‘‘ Knoe’’—appeared a
short distance off, but I could see half of its proportions only.
We made for the crest where it had just disappeared, but the
‘Ornen’ overshot her mark by a few yards, and we waited
again, rocking gently to and fro. The captain, having once
more taken up his duties, showed his great impatience by swing-
ing the harpoon—a manner I have noticed among good shots—
and every ripple was watched for the Whale’s whereabouts. Its
reappearance was a matter of but a few minutes. Away to star-
board a watery depression appeared, caused by some disturbance
beneath, and to this we made, when with a great snort it
emerged, somewhat raising its head, perhaps to enable it to see
what we are. Whilst we were watching this monster another
appeared just as the first was about to dive; they went down
together, the fin of one striking the other in so doing.
But now the captain saw his chance, and swung round the
harpoon on the dorsal of the second Whale as it was about to
disappear. With the report the cable flew away, and for a few
moments shook; then it started to vibrate and ran out; all
now became excited, and the skipper at once prepared to re-
charge the gun, a process lasting a few minutes. After seven
minutes the captive came up, blowing hard, and it was seen at
once that it was badly hit, though it did not dive for some seconds.
It then turned over by putting all its force into a long plunge,
as if trying to rid itself of the instrument of torture that held
it, and which had entered below the back. At this time a great
strain was placed upon the ‘‘ manilla,” and it appeared to me
F2
60 THE ZOOLOGIST.
remarkable that it did not snap, so to avoid accident—for the
Whale was making speed and had doubled towards the rudder—
the captain ordered eight knots astern, then a quick manceuvre,
and we spun round in remarkable time, only just preventing the
wounded animal from coming up under the ship’s stern. On
its appearance this time it could be seen at once that it was
exhausted, and blood changed the colour of the sea in several
patches ; but what was most surprising, another Whale, which
may have been its mate, kept diving under the captive, possibly
exhibiting the sympathy of one for the other.
The Whale, still finding itself prisoner and its strength
going, prepared for one final attempt to release itself of the
harpoon by diving down and lashing out with its tail; the
other one did likewise, only in a quicker way. Preparations
were now made to haul the captive in; as the pulls on the rope
became more frequent it made feeble attempts to dive, the
other cetacean having now disappeared as mysteriously as it
came.
The harpoon was once more brought to bear on the dying
Whale whilst it is floundering about, and the bomb strikes and
bursts, the sound being distinctly heard by us. As soon as it
received its quietus, the shock caused the Whale to bound up-
wards, and strike out with its tail and pectorals ; then the whole
body quivered for a few moments, the tail being the last to
demonstrate once again its wonderful power.
Little more remains to be said about the capture, for having
been secured it is now drawn up with the line, and the long flukes”
cut off. After this a chain cable is stretched round the stump,
and then, lashed to the port, it is ready for home. Sometimes
only one charge is given, the Whale being dispatched with
a long lance, but this dangerous performance has resulted in
many accidents.
To revert to the chopping off the tail, we were about fifteen
miles out when this Hump-back—a fine bull, over forty feet
long—was taken. No Sharks had been noticed during the
day, only some Dolphins, and we (or at least myself) were
not a little surprised to see that a large congregation of these
brutes, which had been attracted by the splashing, had now put
in an appearance, They fought for the pieces of the tail, so
HUMP-BACK WHALE IN NATAL WATERS. 61
that it was with difficulty we prevented them from tearing the
throat out of the Whale, and on this occasion, giving a hand, with
a long pole with a hook at its end, I finally succeeded in run-
ning one through the gills and damaging others. On the
‘Ornen’ turning about the Sharks left us, but later on, when
looking in that direction again, their black dorsals skimming
the surface spoke of their disappointed greed.
On our homeward journey (now haif-past three) it was noticed
that the carcase began to lose its equilibrium, the head being
forced under water almost horizontally, as it were, and so, to
prevent the chain snapping, a clever mechanical contrivance
was brought for the first time into action, and deserves, I
think, to be described. A long lance enclosing a metal tube (to
one end of which is fastened a rubber pipe, the other end
being attached to a pump connecting the engine-room) is forced
down into the Whale’s body, the air being pumped through
the aperture in its point into the stomach until it is raised
to the surface again. This invention, I heard, belonged to the
mate.
We again made a move, nothing more of interest happening
during the afternoon. A small flock of birds, which I judged to
be Curlews of some kind (Numenius), passed us, bearing down
south.
From what had happened and been observed during the
short time these Whales were apparently in season, and the
great number of this species of cetacean that has been boiled
down (no fewer, I find, than one hundred and four, including two
Rorquals, between the months of July and early September),
goes to confirm what writers have said of it—‘‘ never fierce or
easily alarmed’’—allowing steamers to approach quite closely ;
and such accidents as getting under the ship’s propeller and
striking out, as recently happened to the ‘Jupiter,’ was the
result of the wounded animal getting caught in the keel. Most
of these and such-like happenings would never take place if the
balls burst, or if the time-wires had responded in the first in-
stance.
The question may be asked, On what does the Hump-back
feed? In reply I can only relate what I saw when a Whale was
being dissected last August. One of the stomachs, which may
62 THE ZOOLOGIST.
have been the first (rumen), contained about half a ton of Her-
rings (Clupea sagax), a quantity of greenish water, possibly
gastric juices, some fish remains, and, lastly, discoloured sand
or detritus. The heads on the Herrings still had some of their
red colour preserved. |
The fine photo which accompanies these pages was taken on
our return from a trip that I made some little time subsequently.
One of the two harpoons having entered a few inches below the
right eye had doubled itself round on reaching the bones at the
occipital region. Note the large warts that adorn the lips;
these are called hair-warts, and, according to Beddard, are of an
early and rudimentary origin. The tubercles are of all sizes, a
large orange being the usual size of a fine one. I have dissected
many, and with few exceptions found these so-called hairs very
small, whilst many warts are without them. It would appear
these hairs are of no use to the Whale, and that it is only a
matter of-time before they will entirely disappear.
I will now proceed to remark on some of the parasites that
are found upon these Whales. For the purpose of specific
diagnosis I sent some barnacles and a louse to the Rev. Thos.
R. R. Stebbing, from whom I received the following report :-—
‘‘The barnacle you enclose is Coronula diadema (Linn.).” Of
another that resembles this, but flatter, on which I made no
notes, he goes on to remark: ‘‘ This is a probable C. balenaris
(Gmelin), and there appears to be some question whether C.
diadema is found on these Whales. Your specimens seem to
settle that doubt.’ Attached to one of these shells was a fine
example of a stalked crustacean. This he names Conchoderma
auritum (Linn.). I fotind them in bunches of five, seven, and
nine; the largest would not be longer than eight inches, whilst
the smallest only exceeded about half this measurement. Quite
an hour after the Whale had been hauled out of the water they
still spread out their antenne-like structures, attached firmly to
the epidermis of the pectorals and jaws chiefly; they cannot
be removed without a knife. In the young stage C. diadema
becomes deeply roeted or embedded in the flesh, so that nothing
of the shell is visible. On some young Whales these parasites
are in hundreds, the larger ones drawing up large protuberances,
the scars of which remain long after they become detached ; so
HUMP-BACK WHALE IN NATAL WATERS. 63
we can have some idea of how their presence must incon-
venience the Whale. Its tumbling and leaping out of the sea,
which have given currency to most incredible yarns, may be
due to this reason. In the larger Whales I found fewer of the
smaller ones (barnacles), the larger being more noticeable about
the fins, jaws, and vent; the back and sides below the scapulars,
under surface of both pectorals and tail being quite free.
In the ‘Fauna of Svuth Africa,’* Mr. Sclater, in writing
upon the subject of Whale parasites, confuses Conchoderma
auritum with the ship’s barnacle; they are so totally different
that one wonders how the mistake occurred.
The louse Mr. Stebbing identifies as Cyamus erraticus, and
mentions also that this is probably the only species represented.
The specimens I sent home were removed off the head near the
blowhole, where they had fixed themselves. They appear gre-
garious in habits, all the sizes keeping together. I noticed, even
when exposed to the sun, they made no effort to separate. Some
have been found in the gular folds of this Whale.
It is only recently that the great wild preserves of Africa and
their large game have received any attention from their Govern-
ments; the wanton destruction of the Elephant and Giraffe, and
the killing of so many thousands of other species have made it
imperative to pass laws protecting them from early extinction.
But, it may be asked, what of the other big game—our Whales ?
If we are to believe all that is told us, the day cannot be very far
distant when it will be asked, ‘‘ Quelles sont les derniéres nouvelles
a Natal?’’ and the reply will be, ‘‘The last Whale has been
killed.”
66 Mammals,” i. p. 183.
64 THE ZOOLOGIST.
THE EASTBOURNE CRUMBLES.
By E. C. Arnon.
My acquaintance with the Crumbles dates from the spring of
1899, but it was some years before I came to properly appreciate
the ornithological possibilities of the place, and even since I
have become aware of them IJ have seldom, except in the Christ-
mas holidays, been able to get there more than once a week, and
I have never visited them in April or August or early September.
Under these circumstances my list of interesting visitors must
necessarily be incomplete, but even so it seems worthy of being
placed on record as being well-nigh unique, if one considers the
size of the ground, which is only a few acres in extent, and its
proximity to a thriving town. Derelict pots and pans mixed up
with an odd bath or so and a sprinkling of motor oil-tins
stranded on a mud-flat do not form an ideal setting for the
delicate form of a Phalarope, a Wood-Sandpiper, or a Pectoral,
yet all these birds and many others have disported themselves
in apparent contentment amidst these weird surroundings, and
some species, such as the Redshank and Ringed Plover, have
even increased in numbers since I first knew the place. The
fact is that, excluding the Eastbourne end, the remainder of the
Crumbles is extraordinarily well situated and fitted to attract a
varied assortment of birds. To the north lies Pevensey Marsh,
having on its southern edge, near the ‘Archery Tavern,’ a fringe
of market-gardens, brick-kilns, and marshy pools. To the
south lies the sea, and to the east the vast waste of Pevensey
shingle.
The ‘‘ Crumbles shoot” begins with what is locally known as
the ‘‘ Hassock,” a sort of mere of the Aldeburgh type, with the
aforesaid pots at one end and a bed of reeds at the other—a
rare place for Snipe in hard weather. Then comes a strip of
brambles, hawthorns, and furze-bushes, which runs round two
sides of a depression in the shingle known as the ‘‘ Ballast-hole,”
THE EASTBOURNE CRUMBLES. 65
where there are numerous shallow pools with muddy borders and
single bushes scattered about. The majority are bramble-
bushes, but there are also thorns, dog-roses, and a few tama-
risks, which seem to attract birds, though they are too thin to
conceal them. In the summer the shingle is gay with viper’s-
bugloss, horned-poppies, sea-campion, and many smaller plants,
and, after trying for seven seasons, I have, thanks to the heavy
dews of last autumn, successfully introduced four tufts of sea-
pink, one of sea-lavender, and three shoots of the famous Cley
*‘bushes”’ (Suweda fruticosa)—these last for the benefit of future
naturalists ; at present they could barely shelter a beetle between
them.
Of the birds that habitually breed here, the Redshank (Tota-
nus calidris) is the most interesting. Its breeding flight is sure
to arrest attention; it hangs suspended with wings decurved,
falls several yards, and then beats up again with whirring
wings, like a huge moth. It here makes a very slight nest in
quite a small tuft of grass on the shingle. Six or seven years
ago these tufts were so few and meagre that the eggs were easy
to find. Now they have increased in number, and have ceased
to be a guide, and there are more broods brought off every year.
Some of the eggs have an unusually beautiful purple tinge about
them. The Ringed Plover (Atgialitis hiaticula) is more nume-
rous, but its eggs have always been very hard to find, scattered
about as the pairs are over a very wide area, and making no
nest whatever, unless a lining of very small pebbles can be called
one. Myself, I hunted two whole seasons before I found a
clutch. I have since found one other, and known a boy stumble
on a single egg. The Lapwing (Vanellus vulgaris) breeds less
abundantly also on the bare shingle. It makes much more of a
nest, and all the eggs I have seen here have always had a dark
yellow-ochre ground colour. I remember once finding a small
chick whose mother went through some strange antics. Instead
of feigning a damaged wing, she flew at a neighbouring bank of
shingle and proceeded to climb it, much as a Woodpecker climbs
a tree. A small and scattered colony of Terns make their nests
about the higher shingle, and, like the Lapwings, they mostly
use a fair amount of dry grass. I presume they are Common
Terns (Sterna fluviatilis), and so says Mr. Bates, the local
66 THE ZOOLOGIST.
birdstuffer, but Capt. Knox, in his ‘ Ornithological Rambles in
Sussex,’ talks of Arctic Terns breeding on this shingle, and, as I
have never shot one of these, I cannot say for certain which they
are. I judge them to be Common by the note. It is at present
the object of my ambition to find a Dunlin’s nest on the
Crumbles, and thus add it to the list of Sussex breeding birds.
I often see the bird in spring, and have several times seen pairs
about for days in May and June, and have heard of eggs being
found, but never so far from the finder; the information has
always been second-hand. Of the smaller breeding birds, the
most interesting is the Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla rati). It has
increased as a breeding species with the increase of the grass,
and it nests, like the Redshank, in a tuft. The same may be
said of the Reed-Bunting (H’mberiza scheniclus). I once thought
the Blue-headed Wagtail was nesting here, but could never
prove it.
The strip of furze, &c., between the ‘‘Hassock”’’ and the
‘‘ Ballast-hole” produces nests of the Sedge- Warbler, Whitethroat,
Nightingale, Linnet, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Hedge-Sparrow, and
Red-backed Shrike, and I have seen a Cuckoo haunting it in
June. Autumn always sees an influx of waders, which pass in
lesser numbers in spring. They are mostly Dunlin, with a few
Knot, Grey and Golden Plover, Common and Green Sandpipers,
Curlew-Sandpipers, and Little Stint. The last-named may be
recularly expected, though they are doubtless overlooked, for a
Little Stint, puffed out, may easily pass for a Dunlin, unless one
looks specially for its shorter beak. I have also seen it more
than once late in the spring. In July we get a return passage
of the Cuckoo. In September Wheatears are common, and also
Pied Wagtails and Meadow-Pipits; and in October a flight of
Ring-Ouzels is no uncommon event. Later on, beside the
commoner finches, I have met small flocks of Goldfinches and
Snow-Buntings, with an occasional Brambling or Redpoll or
Golderest, and have known birdcatchers to take the Shore-Lark
(Otocorys alpestris) and Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus),
while the commoner Gulls are always passing, and are often
present in large numbers. Hard weather brings Common Snipe
in large wisps, and a few Jack and Water-Rail, and at times a
Coot. A few Geese pass over, but generally high up, and
THE HKASTBOURNE CRUMBLES. 67
sometimes the duck-shooting is for a day or so quite good,
t.e. until the lagoons are frozen. Mallard come nearly every
night, and I can vouch for the appearance of the following :—
Wigeon, Teal, Scaup, Golden-eye, Tufted. I have also heard of
Pochard, Sheld, and Shoveler being shot, and Mr. Bates has
three Ferruginous Ducks in his possession, which claim to have
been secured on one of the ponds. Herons from the Hurst-
montceaux herony are common. I have seen seven at once. I
have never encountered the Bittern so far, but in December
_ 1905, in a garden near the ‘Archery Tavern,’ a man, going out
to gather cabbages, nearly stepped on one squatting amongst the
stalks. He gave chase, and was a good second up to the garden-
wall and no further, for the Bittern just cleared it and he just
didn’t. Crows, both the Hoodie and the Common, are to be seen
daily foraging in the winter, and often a Kestrel hovers over the
- more grassy portion of the ‘‘ Hassock.’’ Dr. Colgate once saw a
Raven shot there during a fog, and I saw a Peregrine pass one
evening just before flight-time. I have only heard of one Wood-
cock. It was killed by some rabbit-shooters after they had pep-
pered one of their own party in the face at the first attempt.
The following perhaps deserve dates :—
1901.
Sept. 26th. —Immature Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus
hyperboreus) on the ‘‘ Hassock.” Its flight reminded me of a
dragonfly.
1903.
July 22nd.—Saw and heard a Temminck’s Stint (T'ringa
temmincki) ; it hung its legs a good deal as it flew.
Sept. 20th.—Mr. A. H. Streeten and I saw a Bluethroat
(Cyanecula suecica). We walked it about for a long time, and
often had it only a few yards off. There was no mistaking the
half-red tail, but we never could get a view of the breast, nor have
I ever managed to do so in Norfolk. This bird behaved much
like a Robin.
26th.—Got a Blue-headed Wagtail (Motacilla flava), either
an immature or a mature bird in autumn plumage. ‘There were
others about, as there often are in September.
68 THE ZOOLOGIST.
1904.
Sept. 17th.—A Ruff (Machetes pugnax) on the ‘ Hassock,”
and a dubious small duck.
Nov. 17th.—Got a Water-Pipit (Anthus spipoletta) near the
lagoons. It was flying with a very dropping flight, and looked
large and dark on the wing. The feet were black with light
lemon soles, and the light portions of the outer tail-feathers
nearly but not quite white. Its throat was whiter than that of
a Rock-Pipit, and there was an entire absence of the greenish
tinge that pervades the latter, the general hue being more
russet. The spots on the breast were also fewer and narrower.
25th.—Got another Water-Pipit near the same spot. Its
colour was greyer than the last, and the tail-feathers whiter.
1905.
Oct. 11th.—Went to get a common bird to give a lesson in
stuffing, and stumbled on a Grey Phalarope (Phalaropus fuli-
carius)! It appeared to me to swim lower in the water than the
Red-necked. ,
Nov. 16th.—A Sand-Martin still about, and a queer bird of
the Bunting type. It was, roughly speaking, hike a Corn-
Bunting, but much yellower. I thought it might be a female
Black-headed Bunting.
1906.
Sept. 20th.—A boy, G. H. Beattie, with a small Winchester
rifle, got an immature Glossy Ibis (Plegadis fulcinellus) near one
of the lagoons. By the time it reached Mr. Bates few cared to
inspect it too closely. He, however, spurred on by his wife, who
had not got to do the job, ploughed through the stuffing gallantly,
and it is now at the Institute.
22nd.—Another boy, L. E. Dennys, shot a Red-necked Phala-
rope (Phalaropus hyperboreus) on the ‘‘ Hassock”? amidst the
pots and pans. During the afternoon a huge flock of Swallows
arrived, with some Little Stint and four Twites.
Dec. 26th.—Got an immature Golden-eye (Clangula glaucton)
while flighting on the Crumbles in hard weather. It flew far
faster than any duck that passed that night.
1907.
Sept. 21st.—There were various small waders, including two
THE EASTBOURNE CRUMBLES. 69
Little Stint and two Curlew-Sandpipers, amongst the pots.
L. KE. Dennys and I put them up, and one dark bird stayed
behind. This he subsequently shot, and it proved to be a
Pectoral Sandpiper (T'ringa maculata). I have now seen this
bird three times at least in England, the first time being at
Aldeburgh on Sept. 18th, 1900, and the last at Cley several
times during September, 1908. In addition, I rather think one
passed me in January, 1907, at Pegwell Bay, and Dennys feels
sure he saw one at Budleigh Salterton, in August, 1908. I
believe it is commoner than is generally supposed, but it is over-
looked owing to its silent habits. Its note is a very low ‘‘ chup,”
seldom uttered. It is distinctly larger and darker than a Dunlin,
and, though it consorts with these latter on the sands, it gener-
ally separates when it rises. Through glasses it looks more like
a Green Sandpiper with a dark piece on the upper breast. The
Aldeburgh bird flew very like a Snipe.
Nov. ist.—Watched a Short-eared Owl (Asio accipitrinus)
hawking over the lagoons.
22nd.—Saw what I fancy was the strange Bunting of Novem-
ber, 1905. It was with some Larks, and attracted me by.its very
yellow rump.
1908.
Jan. 7th.—Visited the Crumbles in the midst of a south-west
rain-squall, and got an immature Tufted Duck (Fuligula cristata).
Sept. 19th.—Put a Nightjar (Caprimulgus europeus) off the
shingle.
23rd.—A man got a Hoopoe (Upupa epops) near a field of
swedes amidst the shingle.
26th.—Got a Wood-Sandpiper (Totanus glareola), which when
I first saw it was standing on some mud near the pots. It was
very tame, quite unlike a Green in this respect, and attracted
me by its conspicuous light eye-stripe.
Oct. 7th.—Was pursuing a dubious Pipit when a bird put its
head out of a tamarisk-bush. Its strange appearance caused
me to divert my aim, and I picked up an Aquatic Warbler (Acro-
cephalus aquaticus), a bird for which I have been searching for
fifteen years. Its eye-stripe was most pronounced, more so
almost than the stripe down the crown, and its tail-feathers were
very pointed. The feet were very light, and it had a more fragile
70 THE ZOOLOGIST.
appearance than a Sedge-Warbler. It was an immature bird.
The weather had been very fine and still for some days, and the
wind was south-east.
Noy. 17th.—Saw two Dartford Warblers (Melizophilus un-
datus), not in the furze but in some bramble-bushes. I followed
them for some time at a distance of a few yards, and often had
an excellent view. ‘This is an interesting note, as Capt. Knox
mentions that they occasionally frequented this scrub years ago.
It is the only time I have ever seen one in it for certain.
The above complete the list of Crumbles birds for which I am
prepared to vouch, but it may be worth mentioning that I have
heard statements to the effect that the Greenshank, Dusky Red-
shank, and Spotted Crake have occurred. I myself put up what
I judged to be a specimen of the last-named bird in May, and
I have watched what I took for a Pratincole and a Grebe which
seemed to be a Great Crested in winter plumage. I believe,
moreover, that I saw a small flock of Richard’s Pipits in the
autumn of 1907, and I have seen one very small Lark which
struck me as odd, and another of the size of a Sky-Lark, but
abnormally dark.
Finally, it is earnestly asserted by Mr. Bates that three
Spotted Sandpipers were once shot there in one afternoon. I
believe Mr. Gurney has one of them.
AN EARLY WORK ON BIRD-MIGRATION.
By W. Ruskin ButrterrFiE.p.
Ir is always interesting, and often amusing, to trace the
early attempts to explain such complex phenomena as those of
bird-migration. So far as I am aware, the earliest treatise on
migration published in this country is a rare duodecimo tract of
fifty pages issued anonymously in 1703. Its scope is fully in-
dicated in the title-page, which is as follows :—
‘An Kssay Towards the Probable Solution of this Question.
Whence come the Stork and the Turtle, the Crane and
the Swallow, when they Know and Observe the appointed
Time of their Coming. Or Where those Birds do probably
make their Recess and Abode, which are absent from our
Climate at some certain Times and Seasons of the Year.
By a Person of Learning and Piety. London, Printed for
Samuel Crouch, at the Corner of Pope’s-Head-Alley, over
against the Royal Exchange. 1703.’
After a somewhat diffuse and not very pertinent argument
the author announces (on p. 18) his ‘‘ probable solution,”
namely, that migratory birds, on leaving this country, retreat
to the moon!
Sixty days are allowed (p. 40) for the outward journey, and a
similar period of time for the return journey. The explanation
of the manner in which the space beyond the earth’s atmosphere
is traversed is, naturally enough, not very convincing to readers
nowadays.
The author’s answer to the objection that a bird will require
to eat and sleep during the journey is characteristic of his
reasoning, and may be here transcribed. He says:—‘‘ As to
eating, it may possibly be [i. e. exist] without in that temper of
the Aither where it passeth, which may not be apt to prey upon
its Spirits as our lower nitreous Air; and yet even here Bears
72 | THE ZOOLOGIST.
are said to live upon their Summer fat all the Winter long
in Greenland, without any new Supply of Food. Now we noted
before that some of those Birds (and perhaps it may be true
of the rest) are very Succulent and Sanguine, and so may
have their Provisions laid up in their very Bodies for the
Voyage. é
“As to Sleep, ’tis very probable that they are in a Sleep or
sweeven if not all the Way between the Attraction of the Earth
and that of the Moon, to which Sleep the swift acquired motion
may very much contribute. . . . Now it is likely these Birds
being there, where they have no Objects to divert them, may
shut their Eyes, and so swing on fast asleep, till they come where
some change of Air (as a middle Region about the Moon or
Earth) may by its cold awaken them. Add to this, that this
sleep spares their Provisions; for if (as some would have it)
Cuckows and Swallows can lie asleep half the Year without
eating, why cannot these in as deep a sleep as well for two
Months forbear it’’ (pp. 438-45).
The moon is not, of course, a stationary body in the heavens,
and so ‘‘it cannot be supposed,” our author continues, that the
birds at the outset of their journey ‘“‘ direct their Course to the
Moon, but rather offended by the Steams of the Karth do tend
directly from it, and that straight Line ’tis probable they
pursue, till they come so near the Moon, that she is their fairest
Object to draw their Inclination; for if the Moon hath a
Motion ina Month about the Earth, then at the two Months
end they find if in the same Line of direction where it was when
they began their Journey; for, suppose it Full Moon at the
place where they began, just at two Months end, it will be Full
Moon again to the same place which they left ; therefore if they
proceed in the same straight Line, they will be sure to meet the
Moon in their Way. . .”
In a postscript, which occupies pp. 48-50, the author meets
the objection which the great distance between the earth and
the moon sets up by stating that there may be nearer bodies of
small size, which he likens to rocky islets in the sea, ‘‘ which
may be the Recess of these Creatures, and may serve for little
else but their Entertainment.” And he concludes his essay
with the statement, which at any rate few will dispute, that ‘if
AN EARLY WORK ON: BIRD-MIGRATION. 73
the Moon will not be allowed, some other Place must be found
out for them.”’
With regard to the authorship of the work, in Tonkin’s
edition of Carew’s ‘Survey of Cornwall’ (p. 83), it is attributed
to the Hon. Francis Roberts, though on what authority I have
been unable to ascertain. The work was known to John Legg,
author of ‘ A Discourse on the Emigration of British Birds,’ as
is shown by Lege’s criticism of it on pp. 12, 18 of the ‘ Emigra-
tion,’ and by some remarks upon the Woodcock, borrowed (with-
out acknowledgment) by Legg. In the earlier work these
remarks occur on p. 25; in Legg’s book on p. 35.
The views expressed in this tract may seem ridiculous in our
day, but it may be suspected that they are not more so than
some of the ideas entertained on the subject at the present time
will appear to ornithologists of the future.
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XITI.. February. 1909, G
74 THE ZOOLOGIST.
NOTEHS--AND: QUEBILES.
MAMMALIA.
Mammals of the Channel Islands.—Since the publication of my
Notes on the Mammals of the Channel Islands (Zool. 1908, p. 461),
My. Sinel tells me that the Bat doubtfully referred to Barbastellus
has been identified by Dr. Ticehurst, of Guy’s Hospital, as a melanic
Pipistrelle. This makes. only four known species for the Islands,
2. é€. Pipistrelle, Serotine, Long-eared, and Greater Horseshoe—a very
small record when one considers the proximity of the Continental
species, and one which should arouse the local and visiting naturalists
to a closer search for the occurrence of other members of this inter-
esting order in such a favourable district. — R. H. Buntine (Natural
History Museum, South Kensington, §.W.).
Correction.—On the last line but six of p. 449 (Zool. 1908), in
my ‘‘ Fish Notes,” I referred to Porpoise-hide, a statement which
several inquiries on my part have proved to be incorrect. Porpoises
were sold, and universally believed among the fish fraternity to be used
for making leather. In the leather trade porpoise is an erroneous
term in use for the skin of the Beluga or White Whale, and in some
instances for specially prepared horse-hide.—A. H. Patterson (Great
Yarmouth).
AVES.
Nightingale breeding in Shropshire. — Mr. A. H. Duncalfe (ante,
p. 29) asks for information as to the nesting of the Nightingale in this
county. It is ten years since I wrote the ‘ Fauna of Shropshire,’ and
facts that have come to my knowledge during that period somewhat
modify the statements therein. The Nightingale is a regular summer
visitor to the country on both sides of the Severn from Bewdley up to
Buildwas, and especially frequents the small spinneys in the vicinity
of Linley and Broseley. Further to the north and west it is of
irregular occurrence, the limit of its range fluctuating from year to
year in a manner quite unaccountable. The year 1902 was especially
remarkable. At least six pairs took up breeding quarters in the
NOTES AND QUERIES. 75
environs of Shrewsbury. - One nest was within two miles of my
house. I photographed it 7 sitw when it contained five eggs, and
after the young had flown took the nest, which is now in Shrews-
bury Museum. As a rule the Nightingale keeps to the Severn
Valley, but a few isolated pairs have been known to nest in other
parts of the county, e.g. at Onibury in 1905.— H. H. Forrest
(Shrewsbury). |
Nesting of the Nightingale (Daulias luscinia) in Staffordshire.—
In reply to Mr. A. H. Duncalfe (ante, p. 29), the Nightingale occurs
most years in this county, and I have authentic records of its having
nested in the Rectory Gardens, Hamstall Ridware, in 1897, and at
Stramshall, near Uttoxeter, in 1904. — Joun R. B. MasErievp (Rose-
hill, Cheadle, Staffordshire).
Breeding of Coal-Tit in Wilsden District—A friend and I were
sitting down on the outskirts of Bingley Wood last summer when
our attention was attracted by seeing a Tit enter a hole in an old wall
at some distance from where we were sitting, and almost immediately
come.out. Being uncertain whether it was a Marsh- or Coal-Tit, I
went and sat down within about four feet of the hole, where, I pre-
sumed, would be a nest, when my friend protested that he would give
no guarantee to stay where he was until the old bird came near
enough for its identification. However, knowing fairly well the
habits of this species, I remained in my position. For some time the
parent, evidently the female—the male kept at a much greater dis-
tance—made several attempts to arrive at the nest, sometimes
hovering for many seconds near the hole leading to it, thus clearly
disclosing the grey patch on the nape characteristic of the Coal-
Tit, but only to retire to an adjacent oak, where it poured forth
a volley of notes, in tones scolding, minatory, and objurgatory.
Finally, however, it gained confidence and entered the nest, but
remained such a time on it that we were induced to have a peep at
the nest, but no sooner was this done than the bird resented the
intrusion by sparring and hissing in true Tit fashion. It is a singular
feature in the history of this species that it should be such a scarce
breeder in the district, only three nests having been recorded for over
forty years, all of which were built in holes in masonry. In the late
nineties I spent a few days between Grange and Windermere, and the
Coal-Tit was, next to the Willow-Warbler, the commonest breeding
Species in early April; three nests were built near my lodging, but,
curiously, all these were built in holes in the ground.—E. P. Burrsr-
FIELD (Bank House, Wilsden).
76 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Two Young Cuckoos fed by a Titlark.—A short time ago I called
to see an ornithological friend who resides some little distance from
this place, and he informed me that last August he had watched a
Titlark feed two young Cuckoos near his residence. In reply to my
inquiry whether he might not have been mistaken, having suggested
after all that there might have been two foster-parents, he declared
without hesitation that he had watched a single bird feed one of the
Cuckoos, then fly away for a short distance and return to feed the
other, and this he had witnessed repeatedly. Two eggs of the Cuckoo ©
in the nest of its dupe is not a very rare occurrence in this district,
but up to the present I have never known foster-parents rear two—
indeed, the gastronomic requirements of one Cuckoo are so heavy,
in addition to its being of such a quarrelsome disposition, that such
an occurrence would be of more than ordinary interest. Young
Cuckoos are so very fractious, untractable, and of such a wandering
nature as to render it not improbable that they may lose their own
foster-parents occasionally. — EH. P. Burtrerrienp (Bank House,
Wilsden).
Honey-Buzzard (Pernis apivorus) in Staffordshire.—On Sept. 30th
last, Lieut.-Col. E. 8. P. Wolferstan, of Statfold, Tamworth, reports
in ‘The Field’ that his gamekeeper shot a Honey-Buzzard within
half a mile of his house. This record, taken in conjunction with the
occurrences of this bird in the Eastern Counties reported by the Rev.
F. L. Blathwayt and Mr. Dye (Zool. 1908, pp. 428, 468) in the same
month, would seem to show that there was an immigration of this
species at that time, and if possible, it would be interesting to ascertain
if all the birds obtained were young birds, and their sex? We have now
six recorded instances of the occurrence of the Honey-Buzzard in
Staffordshire, besides Mr. C. Buchanan’s statement in ‘The Zoolo-
gist’ for 1856, p. 5096, that the bird nested in this county in the year
1841. The editor of ‘The Field,’ commenting on the last recorded
instance of this bird shot in Staffordshire, says :—‘ An inoffensive
summer visitor, which might well have been spared. Unlike other
of the larger hawks, its prey consists chiefly of insects and their
larvee, wasps, bees, beetles, and earthworms.” Would that our land-
owners could be prevailed upon to spare Honey-Buzzards, which
then might once more be induced to stay and breed with us !—JouHN
R. B. Maserievp (Rosehill, Cheadle, Staffordshire).
Snow Geese in Co. Mayo.—A day or so after the great snowstorm
of Dec. 29th, 1908, that was so severe over Scotland, parts of England,
and the northern counties of Ireland, but which passed so lightly
NOTES AND QUERIES. 77
over this western district—only a few sleety storms and rain, and
only one degree of frost on one night—a little flock of four Snow
Geese were seen by Mr. Claud Kirkwood, flying over Bartragh Island.
They appeared coming from the north, and, having passed over the
island, pitched on the sands (the tide being out) about half a mile
away, and, after resting for some time, rose and flew up the estuary
and river, evidently heading for Lough Cullen. They were easily
recognized as Snow Geese by their snow-white plumage and black-
tipped wings. During the great snowstorm we had here on Dec. 26th,
27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th, 1906, fourteen Snow Geese visited. Bar-
tragh, and were seen by Capt. Kirkwood on the 30th feeding near his
‘Stables on the sands. There were four adults perfectly white, and
ten greyish birds, evidently immature.—RoBert WARREN (Moy View,
Ballina).
Smew (Mergus albellus) in Middlesex. —Among the Coots and
Diving Ducks at Ruislip Reservoir on Jan. 24th was an immature
Smew. Although it swam lower in the water than the Pochards and
Tufted Ducks it looked but little smaller than they, and, judged by its
size, appeared to be a male.—CHARLES OLDHAM (Watford).
Black Grouse, ¢ (Tetrao tetrix).—Shot on the Ince Hstate in
November or December of 1888. This date is taken from a receipt
for preserving the specimen, and additionally confirmed by Mrs. Park
Yates, the donor of this interesting addition to the local collections in
the Museum.*—Atrrep NewsTeEAD (Grosvenor Museum, Chester).
Mr. T. A. Coward writes :—‘*The Black Grouse breeds annually
on the south-eastern border of Cheshire from Bosley to Whaley
Bridge. In the neighbourhood of Ince, Frodsham, and Delamere
Forest the bird was formerly common, but has been extinct for some
years. At one time, within the memory of old men, the Black Grouse
bred in the Forest, and a few years ago Lord Delamere attempted to
restock a portion of the Forest, but the attempt failed. This was
since 1885—I think about 1900—and Black Grouse were thought all
to have vanished long before 1885.”
Red-throated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis) in Hertfordshire.—
On Jan. 10th, at Wilstone Reservoir, Tring, I watched a Red-throated
Diver for some time; its slender, slightly upturned bill and speckled
back were quite apparent at close quarters. I cannot find any
previous record for this species in Hertfordshire—CuarLEs OLDHAM
(Watford).
* There is a female in the Museum collections from Broughton Gardens,
Chester, Nov. 21st, 1892.
78 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Ornithological Records for Chester and North Wales since January,
19035
SHOVELER Duck (Spatula clypeata).— Two males. Cumbermere
Abbey Estate, Jan. 6th, 1908.
MeraGansEr (Mergus serrator).—Female. Burton Marsh, Dec. 22nd,
1908. A second specimen shot, but not obtained.
Buzzarp (Buteo vulgaris).— Male. Eaton Estate, Dec. 22nd,
1908.
PEREGRINE Fatcon (Falco peregrinus).— Immature. Shocklach,
near Malpas, Jan. 4th, 1909.
RaAvEN (Corvus corax).—Male. Corwen, 1908.
Prep FrycatcHer (Muscicapa atricapilla).—Male. Corwen, 1908.
The female of this interesting species was seen, but fortunately not
obtained.
GREAT SpoTteD WooDPECKER (Dendrocopus major).—Mollington,
December, 1908.
Rurr (Machetes pugnax).—Immature. River Gowy Meadows,
Sept. 30th, 1908.
GoupFinc# (Carduelis elegans).—A flock of about fifteen specimens
observed near Chester, apparently feeding on the seeds of the common
thistle, Nov. 21st, 1908. — AuFrED NrEwsTEAD (Grosvenor Museum,
Chester).
Ornithological Notes from Scarborough.—A Great Bustard was
shot at Cloughton, near Scarborough, about last Christmas-time, by
Mr. Bennett, who unfortunately did not have it preserved, but took it
home and had it cooked instead of a Turkey for Christmas dinner,
and he says it was superior in delicacy to the Turkey.
in the remarkable sternum itself, in the chevron bones of the caudal region,
late union of neural arches and bodies of vertebre, long symphysis of man-
dible, in the teeth, and in the absence or rudimentary condition of the pelvis.
- Paleontology reveals transition forms between Cetacea and Sirenia. Hali-
therium, again, links the Sirenia and hoofed animals.
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XTIT., March, 1909, I
98 THE ZOOLOGIST.
peculiarities in the formation of the placenta deemed to be con-
clusively human are present in the Anthropoid Apes. Haeckel,
indeed, asserts that the descent of man from extinct Tertiary
Anthropoid Apes is proved as plainly as the descent of birds
from reptiles, or the descent of reptiles from amphibians. The
Neanderthal skull and the fossil Ape-man (Pithecanthropus
erectus) from Java are unhesitatingly believed by Haeckel to be
‘‘the missing links.’’]
Undismayed by the difficulties presented by the geological
record, Darwin goes on to account for the absence of ancestry to
the occasionally complex fossils in the old Silurian rocks by
hinting that perhaps we see in the granitic rocks the trans-
formed strata long anterior to the Silurian epoch. Dr. Car-
penter is of opinion that an important link is to be found in
EKozoon, which he and its discoverers, Sir William Logan and
Dr. Dawson, consider to be a gigantic Foraminifer. Careful
observation by others, however, negative this view.
It is a well-known fact that a species which has been extin-
guished never reappears. The evolutionists ask with foree—Why,
on the hypothesis of independent creation, were the failing
species not re-created in those regions so well adapted for their
well-being? They assert, for instance, that no part of the
world now offers more suitable conditions for Wild Horses than
the Pampas and other plains of South America, a fact that is
well enough proved by the facility with which they have run
wild and multiplied enormously since their introduction by the
Spaniards in comparatively recent times. Why, on the principle
of original and direct adaptation of species to climate, were they
not reproduced ? Darwin’s hypothesis alone, say they, gives the
clue. The chain of direct descent was completely broken by the
extinction of the first race of Horses.
In the most distant parts of the earth, again (gach as North
America, Tierra del Fuego, India, and the Cape of Good Hope),
the organic remains in certain beds have a close resemblance to
each other. Natural Selection, says Darwin, has caused this by
gradually spreading the dominant forms of life throughout the
successive strata.
Agassiz states that Darwin’s whole chapter on the geological
record appears to him as a series of illogical deductions and
THE DARWINIAN THEORY. 99
misrepresentations of the modern results of the science. In
vigorous language he portrays the beliefs which Darwin would
have us entertain, and adds his view of the real state of the
facts, e.g.: He (Darwin) would have us believe that each new
species originated in consequence of some slight change in those
that preceded, when every geological formation teems with types
that did not exist before. He would have us believe that
animals disappear gradually, when they are as common in the
uppermost bed in which they occur as in the lowest or any inter-
mediate bed. Species appear suddenly and disappear suddenly
in successive strata. Agassiz also denies that the fossiliferous
deposits took place during subsidence, and instances the whole of
North America as being formed of beds that were deposited
during successive upheavals.
[To-day the evolutionists bring forward a vast amount of
evidence from every quarter of the globe in favour of descent
with modification in almost every group in the animal kingdom.
Nowhere have these views spread with greater acceptance than
on the Continent of Europe, and especially in Germany, where
Haeckel and Weismann in their several fields in zoology, and
Strasburger in botany, have conspicuously laboured. In our
own country the work of Huxley, Flower, Avebury, Galton,
F. M. Balfour, Lankester, Romanes, Bateson, Weldon, Poul-
ton, and many others have brought to light important facts
which are of permanent value irrespective of their theoretical
bearings. ]
Some most interesting facts are given by Darwin and his
supporters in expounding the geographical distribution of plants
‘and animals, with regard to oceanic islands. The absence of
terrestrial mammals and batrachians and the presence of bats
is held as inexplicable on the theory of creation. Darwin also
adverts to the fact that at St. Helena there is reason to believe
that the naturalised plants and animals—that is, those imported
by man—have nearly exterminated the native productions; and
he taunts the defenders of the doctrine of the creation of each
Separate species in its most appropriate locality by saying that
they will have to admit that a sufficient number of the best
adapted plants and animals were not created on oceanic islands;
for man has unintentionally stocked them from various sources
12
100 THE ZOOLOGIST.
far more perfectly than did Nature. Sir Joseph Hooker, again,
observes that no other theory explains so many of the facts
connected with the distribution of plants in oceanic islands,
of which he specially instances the Canaries, Azores, and St.
Helena in the Atlantic, and Kerguelen in the South Indian
Ocean.
In the five or six great plans on which the animal kingdom is
constructed Darwin saw only the hidden bond of inheritance.
Thus he explained the similarity of pattern in the hand of Man,
in the flipper of Seal, and in the wing of Bat. It is hopeless to
account for these by utility or the doctrine of final causes
(Teleology), and Owen admits this. Darwin explained this by
the Natural Selection of successive slight modifications, and
showed that however much modified there would be no tendency
to alter the framework of bones. Why, he asks, should similar
bones have been created in the formation of the wing and leg of
a Bat, used as they are for such totally different purposes; that
a bird like a Thrush (Dipper) should have been created to dive
and feed on subaquatic insects? Why should teeth have been
created in young calves that never cut the gums, or in Guinea-
pigs that shed them before they are born; and that teeth should
be present in young Finner Whales when the adult animal is
toothless ?
On the contrary, with regard to classification his antagonists
hold that from the beginning there could have been no com-
munity of origin between the several branches of the animal
kingdom, since they are founded on different plans of structure,
and so with the subordinate groups.
Darwin is charged with denying the existence of design in
the material universe. In one chapter he says :—‘‘ If our reason
bids us admire with enthusiasm a multitude of inimitable con-
trivances in Nature, this same reason tells us, though we may
easily err on both sides, that some contrivances are less perfect.
Can we consider the sting of the bee as perfect which, when
used against many attacking animals, cannot be withdrawn,
owing to its backward serratures, and so inevitably causes the
death of the insect by tearing out its viscera?” This passage
has been cited in accusing him of sneering at the designs of
Providence, and in denying any agency beyond that of a blind
THE DARWINIAN THEORY. 101
chance in the development or perfection of the organs or instincts
of created beings. His followers say that the adoption of his
theory would leave the doctrines of final causes, utility, and
‘special design just where they were before.
Darwin made so much of the resemblance amongst the
young of vertebrate animals that he thought it probable all the
members in the four great classes, viz. Mammals, Birds, Rep-
tiles, and Fishes, were the modified descendants of one ancient
progenitor, which was furnished in its adult state with branchie,
had a swim-bladder, four simple limbs, and a long tail fitted for
aquatic life.
In regard to the resemblances between young animals,
Agassiz states that the embryo of the American Freshwater
Turtle and the embryo of the Snapping Turtle resemble one
another far more than the different species of the former in
their adult state; a young Snake resembles a young Turtle or a
young bird much more than any two species of Snakes resemble
one another ; and yet not a single fact can be adduced to show
that any one egg of an animal has ever produced an individual of
any species but its own.
Dr. Asa Gray sums up that Darwin’s theory, leaving man out
of the question, very well accords with the great facts of zoology
and comparative anatomy, or goes far to explain both the physio-
logical and structural gradations and relations between the two
kingdoms, and the arrangement of all their forms in groups
subordinate tu groups, all within a few great types; that it
reads the riddle of undeveloped organs and of structural con-
formity, of which no other theory has offered a scientific expla-
nation, and supplies a ground for harmonizing the two funda-
mendal ideas which naturalists and philosophers conceive to
have ruled the organic world, though they could not reconcile
them, viz. adaptation to purpose and to the conditions of existence,
and the Unity of Type. While the theory seems inadequate to the
task it so boldly assumes, it must be remembered that the more
important objections relate to questions on which we are con-
fessedly ignorant. Those who imagine it can be easily refuted
and cast aside must, he says, have imperfect or very pre-
judiced conceptions of the facts concerned and of the questions
at issue.
102 THE ZOOLOGIST.
The opponents of the Theory, on the other hand, while
giving credit to Mr. Darwin for his great candour, logical skill,
and his extensive knowledge of Natural History, say that he has
not proved his case, viz. that species are mutable. One of them
concludes with the statement which he says has never been im-
pugned: ‘‘ Classification is the work of science, but species the
work of Nature.”
[Such, then, is a brief outline of the hypothesis of Evolution
as expounded by Mr. Darwin, and which has shed a new light on
biological researches, and, on the other hand, of some of the
antagonistic views. Evolution, as Prof. Allman tersely puts it,
depends on two admitted faculties of living beings—heredity,
or transmission of character from parent to offspring, and
adaptivity, or the capacity of having these characters more or
less modified.
This theory has met with wide acceptance, and is held by many
to suggest a more satisfactory explanation of the main facts in
zoology, botany, and geology than any other. Moreover, Darwin
has enabled observers to extend the effect of known causes to
cases in which they have not been suspected, and has given a fresh
impulse to studies of the structure, development, and relation-
ship of animals. The meaning of this will be more evident by
reference to one or two examples. Thus in the Lower Hocene of
North America is a small five-toed animal (Phenacodus), from
which the ancestry of the Horse can be traced. In the same
formation is another—Hohippus—of the size of a Fox, with four
well-developed toes and a rudimentary fifth in front, and three
toes behind. In the next higher division of the Eocene another
—Orohippus (Hyracotherium)—of similar size appears, with four
toes in front and three behind. Then a third (Mesohippus), the
size of a Sheep, presents itself in the subsequent formation
(Miocene), with three functional toes and the splint of another
in front, and three behind. In a somewhat higher horizon
Miohippus (Onchitheriwm) occurs with a similar structure, except
that the splint-bone is reduced in size. Protohippus (Hipparion),
of the size of a Donkey, again appears in the Pliocene above,
and exhibits three toes in front and three behind. Further up-
ward comes Pliohippus, a near ally of the Horse, with only a
single functional toe to each foot, but differing in the structure
THE DARWINIAN THEORY. 103
of the teeth. Lastly, the true Horse is found just above this
horizon, and the series is complete. It appears therefore
reasonable to conclude that this series of gradations is best
explained by the theory of Evolution. In the same way Dr.
Smith Woodward traces upward from small ancestors the
gigantic Ground-Sloths and Armadillos of South America, in
which the land area may have been more extensive—even per-
haps connected with a great Antarctic continent which included
Australia—a hypothesis supposed to be favoured by the finding
of the large, extinct Horned Tortoise both in Queensland and
Patagonia. Moreover, ‘‘ strange Ungulates (Toxodontia, Typo-
theria, and Lipoterna), which in some respects resembled
rodents, can also be traced in the same region from small
progenitors to gigantic representatives. Some of the Lipo-
terna were one-toed, and were curious mimics of the Horse,
of the northern hemisphere”’
Further, the riddle of the occurrence of gills in the young of
the Land Salamander of the Alps, which never enter the water
and of course never use their temporary gills, as also the
presence of gill-clefts in the young of the higher vertebrates, is
surely fairly read by the supposition or theory that such have
probably had aquatic ancestors.
The Zoéa-stage, again, in the young of the Shore-Crab points
to a long-tailed progenitor; just as the birth of the young
Flounder in a shape similar to that of a young Cod (and having
an eye on each side) indicates theoretically a common ancestry,
the turning of the eye to the other (coloured or upper) side
being a subsequent adaptation to suit its ground-haunting
habits.
Mr. Darwin and the evolutionists may fairly claim that their
hypothesis embraces a greater number of phenomena and sug-
_ gests a more satisfactory explanation of them than any other
theory yet propounded. This much even those reared in the
schools of Goodsir and Oken, Owen and St. Hilaire, must frankly
admit, though, as shown by Prof. Cleland of Glasgow, they
must, apart from all external influences, supplement the theory
by a definite evolution of organization dependent on a definite
cause. While the evolutionary theory explains the order and
fitness of the organic beings on the surface of the earth, it does
104 THE ZOOLOGIST.
not fully explain the vital properties, for instance, of living
protoplasm, viz. the heredity and adaptivity of Prof. Allman,
notwithstanding all the labours of Weismann and Semon.
Haeckel, however, holds that all living plasm has a psychic life,
but that the higher psychic functions, particularly the pheno-
mena of consciousness, only appear gradually in the higher
animals.
Prof. Francis Darwin, again, insists that the dim beginnings
of habit or unconscious memory in the movements of plants and
animals must have a place in morphology, and in his able and
ingenious Presidential Address to the British Association he
concludes by stating that the mnemic hypothesis of Evolution
makes the positive value of Natural Selection (which has
been taunted with being a negative power) more obvious.
There can be no doubt that memory goes far down in the
animal scale.
Special difficulties present themselves to the investigators
of complex groups, for example, the Polychete Annelids and
Starfishes. In the former it is hard to decipher the ways of
natural or other selection in the marvellous general variety, yet
individual fixity of structure in the bristles and hooks. For
instance, in such forms as Harmothoé, not only do the bristles
in front differ from those in the rear, but the dorsal and ventral
divisions of each foot present a characteristic variation from the
upper to the lower edge of each fascicle. Moreover, every
member of each species shows precisely the same variation
anteriorly and posteriorly, and from the dorsal to the ventral
border of each division of the foot. Further, a single bristle or
hook of almost every species of annelid retains its characteristic.
structure from generation to generation, so as to be a key to the
species. Nevertheless, it occasionally happens that two forms
come so near each other that it is hard to decide as to specific
identity or difference.
In regard to the latter (Echinoderms), the younger Agassiz,
confining his remarks for the moment to the Sea-urchins, stands
aghast in calculating the possible combinations that can be
produced by the modifications of ten of the most characteristic
features. He is of opinion that the making of a genealogical
tree is a hopeless task.
THE DARWINIAN THEORY. 105
In conclusion, while difficulties in detail, the imperfection of
the geological record, and perhaps the chase of a phantom which
never can be seized, prevent the complete realization of the
Evolutionary theory, there can be no doubt that it has given a
creat impetus to the study of the Natural Sciences. For this
science is mainly indebted to the patient industry, the resolute
endurance of physical delicacy, the philosophic caution, and the
powerful intellect of Charles Darwin, who long before the ap-
pearance of the ‘ Origin of Species’ was honoured and esteemed
for various researches, including his works on the Cirripedes,
on Coral Reefs, and on the Voyage of the ‘Beagle.’ His works
bearing on Evolution since that date (1859) have spread his
fame over the whole civilized world, and as a naturalist made
his name imperishable. ]
106 THE ZOOLOGIST.
ROUGH NOTES on DERBYSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY,
1906-1908. |
By tHe Rev. Francis C. R. Jourpain, M.A., M.B.O.U., &c.
(Continued from vol. x. p. 142.)
Or late years I have contributed a series of Ornithological
Notes to the ‘Journal of the Derbyshire Archeological and
Natural History Society,’ and the present paper therefore con-
tains aréswmé of the more important occurrences therein recorded
during the past three years, in addition to several records which
have hitherto been overlooked.
MAMMALIA.
Lesser SHREW, Sorex minutus, L.—One found in a wood near
Repton by Mr. T. Rumney in 1908. It has already been re-
corded from this district by Mr. Storer, but is evidently not
common.
Pouecat, Putorius putorius (L.).—Mr. Rumney also found the
remains of what appears to have been a Polecat near Repton.
The last occurrence of this species in an undoubtedly wild state
was at Bradley, near Ashburne, in 1900.
Bapesrr, Meles meles (L.). —On June 13th, 1907, I saw two
half-grown Badgers at Osmaston, which had been taken from
an earth in Shirley Park. Two were dug out of an earth at
Sutton-on-the-Hill on Jan. 22nd, 1908. The male weighed
twenty-six pounds.
OrrEeR, Lutra lutra (L.).—A female, forty-four inches long,
was trapped on the Dove, near Okeover, towards the end of
January, 1907.
AVES.
Sone-TurusH, T’urdus musicus, L.— A nest with the un-
usually large number of six eggs was found at Clifton on June
8rd, 1906.
DERBYSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY. 107
Buacxpirp, 7. merula, L.—A remarkably early nest in a
shrubbery at Mapleton contained young birds on March 6th,
1906. Clutches of six are not nearly so rare with this species
as with the Thrush. Two were reported to me in 1906, one from
Keginton and one from Clifton.
StonecuHat, Pratincola rubicola (L.).— A nest with five eggs,
found by Mr. G. Pullen late in the summer of 1907, is the only
recent record of the breeding of this species in the county.
NIGHTINGALE, Daulias luscinia (L.).— One reported by Messrs.
R. Hall and W. Statham as singing for several nights at the end
of April, 1907, in Matlock Dale. It then disappeared, but one
was heard a few days later at Duffield. Last heard on May 13th.
Mr. Walton also notes the occurrence of this bird near Derby in
1908 (‘British Birds,’ ii. p. 66).
Common WuitetHroat, Sylvia communis, Lath.—On May 29th,
1907, I came across a nest with six eggs, the only one I have
ever seen in Derbyshire, where the clutch varies from four to five
as a rule. :
CuirrcHarr, Phylloscopus collybita (Vieill.). — A single bird
was noticed by the River Dove, near Ashburne, on March 10th,
1906, an early date even for this hardy little bird. Of late years
it has become quite scarce in the south-west of the county, except
in one or two favoured spots.
Reep-Warsier, Acrocephalus streperus (Vieill.).—The usual
clutch of this species in the Trent Valley consists of four eggs,
and sets of five are quite unusual, so that I was the more sur-
prised to find a nest with six eggs in a small bush overhanging
Sudbury Pond on June 20th, 1907.
GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER, Locustella nevia (Bodd.).—Mr. F. H.
Sikes found two nests of this somewhat erratic visitor in 1907,
one near Rocester, and the other near Beeston Tor, in the Mani-
fold Valley. It is strange how this species varies in numbers
from year to year, but on the whole it seems to be less numerous
than ten years ago.
Tree-Preit, Anthus trivialis (L.).—On May 28th, 1907, I
found a nest with five pale blue eggs, quite unmarked, and not
unlike those of the Wheatear, but the bird was not on. On
June 2nd I was astonished to find a Tree-Pipit sitting on the
nest! Mr. D. Welburn has a clutch in which one or two of the
108 THE ZOOLOGIST.
eggs approach this set in colour, but I do not know of any other
instance of a clutch of unmarked blue eggs being found in
England, although I believe a similar set has been once met
with in Denmark (1898).
GreAT GREY SHRIKE, Lanius excubitor, L.—On Feb. 1st,
1907, I had a good view of a Great Grey Shrike, which got up
from a hedgerow in front of us while motoring near Bradbourne.
Its flight was weak, and it seemed unable to gain upon the car,
and finally turned aside to some isolated thorn-bushes in a field,
but would not allow itself to be approached again.
RED-BACKED Sarike, L. collurio, L.—Mr. T. Rumney reports
a pair as breeding near Repton in 1908. They have now quite
ceased to nest on the hillsides near the entrance to Dovedale.
Pirp FrycatcHer, Muscicapa atricapilla, L.—A male, on
migration, seen by me between Clifton and Norbury on May Ist,
1908. The only other bird of this species I have seen in this
district was also a cock, at Ashburne, on May 14th, 1887, but it
is occasionally noticed on passage both in the Dove and Derwent
Valleys. Probably the inconspicuous plumage of the hen causes
it to be overlooked.
Hovse-Martin, Chelidon urbica (L.).—Several House- Martins’
nests may be seen annually, built on the beams inside an open
shed, and underneath the roofing, instead of on an outside wall,
as is usually the case, at the ‘ Deg and Partridge Hotel,’ Thorpe.
Unlike the Swallows’ nests in similar sites, the entrance of the
nest is at the side, and the nest is not open at the top.
GREENFINCH, Chloris chloris (L.).—A nest with the unusually
large number of seven eggs was found in a hedgerow at Ashburne
on June 9th, 1906.
CrossBiLL, Loxia curvirostra (L.).—A flock visited the Ash-
burne district in the early spring of 1904, and two were shot at
Yeldersley on Feb. 24th and 26th.
Swirt, Apus apus, L.—In 1908 the main body of Swifts left
the Ashburne district on Aug. 9th-10th, but on Aug. 25th a
party of eight birds was noticed by Mr. J. Henderson at Maple-
ton, and at intervals three or four birds were constantly seen in
the Dove Valley till Sept. 1st, when only a single bird was
noticed, as was also the case on Sept. 4th and 5th. On Sept.
14th Mr. J. Henderson saw one at Mapleton in the morning,
DERBYSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY. 109
and both he and I distinctly saw another (or the same bird) at
Ashburne in the afternoon of the same day. Previous latest
records :—Sept. 1st, 1885; Sept. 4th, 1887 (one) ; and Sept.
3rd, 1905 (one).
Nieutsar, Caprimulgus europeus, L.— Mr. G. Pullen found
these birds breeding on Breadsall Moor in 1906 and 1907, and
Mr. C. H. Wells found a nest with two eggs in a fir-wood near
Ambergate on June 8th, 1908.
Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, L.—Mr. T. Rumney informs me
that a Cuckoo’s egg was found in a Willow-Warbler’s nest at
Repton in 1908. Though not an uncommon foster-parent, I
have no previous record of this species for the county.
Tawny Own, Syrnium aluco (L.).— Mr. C. H. Wells found a
Tawny Owl incubating three eggs on a ledge of rocky cliff in
Dovedale on April 17th, 1908. One of the eggs was not covered,
and showed up, white and conspicuous. A second nest found by
Mr. Wells not far from Ambergate was in a similar situation,
but contained only one egg on April 19th, though three more
were subsequently laid. All the other nests found in this district
(where the Tawny Owl is by no means uncommon) have been
placed either in holes of trees or on rude platforms naturally
formed by the accumulation of rubbish between boughs, or in
old Rooks’ nests. Four eggs is also an unusually large clutch
for a Derbyshire bird, but a nest found at Mapleton on March
26th, 1908, also contained this number.
LirrLe Own, Athene noctua (Scop.).— One clearly identified
by Messrs. H. G. and A. G. Tomlinson while sitting in a privet-
bush in a wood close to Mr. Tomlinson’s house at Burton-on-
Trent on Nov. 5th, 1906.
RovGH-LEGGED BuzzarD, Buteo lagopus (Gm.).— One seen at
Ashford-in-the-Water, Feb. 13th, 1907 (W. Boulsover).
Honry-Buzzarp, Pernis apivorus (L.).—A considerable im-
migration of these fine birds must have taken place in the
autumn of 1908. A ‘‘Golden Eagle” was reported in the local
papers to have been seen near Dovedale on Aug. 22nd, while on
Sept. 2nd Mr. J. Henderson, Jun., caught a glimpse of two
Buzzards (sp. ?) soaring near Ashburne, and on Sept. 10th a
very dark Honey-Buzzard was received for preservation at Ash-
burne, which had been shot at Osmaston, probably on the
110 THE ZOOLOGIST.
previous day. Numerous other specimens have been recorded
in ‘The Zoologist,’ ‘British Birds,’ ‘The Naturalist,’ &c., as
having been shot in various parts of England, Wales, and
Ireland.
Hossy, Falco subbuteo, L.— One shot at Sudbury in June,
1906, by the keeper.
PEREGRINE Fatcon, F’. peregrinus, Tunst.— One reported as
having been shot at Biggin by Mr. Bosley on Aug. 81st, 1901.
Another seen by Mr. J. Henderson near Newhaven on Sept. 80th,
1908.
Meruin, F’. esalon, Tunst.—Three nests of this beautiful little
Falcon were taken by keepers on the North Derbyshire moors in
the spring of 1908. It is wonderful that this bird should still
exist in spite of the unremitting persecution to which it is
subjected.
Wiup GssEse, Anser sp.?.— A “‘gagele”’ of eighteen Wild
Geese was seen by Mr. G. Pullen on Jan. 12th, 1908, but the
weather was too misty to identify the species. On Dec. 18th
another flock passed over Hanging Bridge in V-formation, while
during the previous week a smaller party of about eight birds
alighted in the meadows by the River Dove. These were certainly
‘‘ Grey’’ Geese of some species.
[Eeaypr1an Goose, Chenalopex egyptica. — One shot on a pool
near Staveley in the spring of 1906 (Canon Molineux).]
WuHoopEr, Cygnus musicus, Bechst.—Three seen near the River
Dove (Hanging Bridge) on March 28th, 1906, and five seen flying
down the Henmore Valley on April 2nd, two of which alighted
at Birdsgrove, while the other three went on to Calwich. Mr.
Henderson and I both identified these birds as Whoopers.
Brwicxk’s Swan, C. bewicki, Yarr. — Three passed close over-
head on Feb. 6th, 1907, flying up the Dove Valley, between
Clifton and Mayfield.
Pocuarn, Fuligula ferina (L.). — A fine drake, strong on the
wing, seen on the ponds at Osmaston, on June 18th, 1906. It is
quite possible that this bird may have been breeding at the time.
Mr. Storrs-Fox records two Pochards seen on Ashford Lake, near
Bakewell, on Jan. 27th, 1907. He had only once before seen a
Pochard here. On March 27th, 1908, I saw two couple of these
Ducks on the lake at Calwich Abbey.
DERBYSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY. 111
Turtep Duck, F’. fuligula (L.).— On one of the islets at Os-
maston I flushed a Tufted Duck from a nest, or rather heap of
egos, which were obviously the produce of three or more birds.
Altogether there were twenty-eight eggs in the nest, but the bulk
of them were quite cold.
Common Scoter, Gidemia nigra (.).— One seen on the wing
near Ashburne by Mr. G. M. Bond on Jan. 19th, 1906. This
may have been a pricked bird, for a ‘‘Black Duck,’ unable to
fly, was reported to me from a stream in the neighbourhood. A
drake had been shot within a mile of the spot on Nov. 4th, 1904.
Pauuas’s SAND GRousE, Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Pall.).— I find
that the two examples of this species which are stated in Whit-
lock’s ‘ Birds of Derbyshire,’ p. 184, to have been killed in July,
1889, were really shot in June, 1888.
QuatL, Coturnix coturnix (L.).—One caught at Chaddesden on
June 20th, 1908 (G. Pullen).
TurnsTone, Strepsilas interpres (L.). — This is an addition to
our county list, as no definite occurrence has hitherto been
recorded, although there is little doubt that it has occurred in
the Trent Valley. Three were killed during the night of June
1st, i906, near Longcliffe. One of these was sent to Mr. Adsetts
for preservation, and has now passed into the Calke Abbey
collection.
. OysTERCATCHER, Hematopus ostralegus, L.— One shot on
March 16th, 1900, at Parwich by Mr. Naylor.
Grey PHauaropg, Phalaropus fulicarius (L.).—One shot some
time between Dec. 15th and 17th, 1906, on a small pond not far
from Winster, by Mr. G. Wood. It is now in the possession of
the Rev. J. R. Ashworth, of Hartington, and is the eighth speci-
men definitely recorded for the county.
GREEN SanppIPER, J'otanus ochropus (L.). — One flushed from
the side of the upper pond at Osmaston on July 10th, 1908.
Wurmsret, Numenius pheopus (L.).—One shot at Parwich on
May 19th, 1906, by a keeper named Brownlee.
Buack Tern, Hydrochelidon nigra (L.).— One shot at Aston
Hall, and sent to Mr. Adsetts for preservation on Aug. 27th,
1908.
Buack-HEADED Guu, Larus ridibundus, L. — Two seen at
Bakewell by Mr. W. Boulsover on May 23rd, 1907, and nine on
1]2 THE ZOOLOGIST.
the following day on Calton pastures (a late date for this species).
Mr. A. Cox also records this bird in winter plumage from
Spondon in March,'1908.
HERRING-GULL, L. argentatus, Gmel.—One seen at Derby on
April 13th, 1908 (A. Cox).
Lesser Buack-BackeD Guu, L. fuscus, L.—A flock of fifteen
flew over Clifton on Aug. 11th, 1907, and, curiously enough, on
Aug. 11th, 1908, about twelve were again seen near Clifton, and
on the following day I again saw eight large Gulls in the dis-
tance, which were either this or the preceding species.
Lirtte Aux, Mergulus alle (L.).—One was picked up dead on
the ice at Sudbury Pond on Nov. 29th, 1904, by Mr. J. Bottrell,
who has the bird still in his possession.
GREAT CRESTED GREBE, Podicipes cristatus (L.). — Two pairs
of these fine birds breed annually on the ponds at Osmaston, and
in 1907 a pair bred for the first time on the pond at Yeldersley.
A pair or two also nest at Sudbury.
Manx SHEARWATER, Puffinus anglorum (Temm.). — One was
captured alive in a bakehouse at Alvaston, near Derby, after the
gale of Sept. 8th, 1908, where it had taken refuge. This is the
thirteenth record of this species for the county, and it is inter-
esting to note that in almost every case of which we have details
the bird was obtained on the September migration.
(.-142-: )
NOTES AND QUERIES.
AVES.
The Reported Great Bustard in Yorkshire.—In ‘The Zoologist’
(ante, p. 78) it is stated by Mr. Morley, under the head of ‘ Orni-
thological Notes from Scarborough,” that a Great Bustard had been
shot near Cloughton last December. Some of the feathers of the
bird were sent to me, and it was easy to see that it had been no
Bustard but a female Szlver Pheasant. Although I had no doubt
myself on the subject, I sent on the feathers to the Natural History
Museum, where my opinion was confirmed. I saw a letter from
Mr. Bennett, in which he spoke of the legs and feet and the space
round the eye being of a bright red —W. H. Sr. Quintin (Scampston
Hall, Rillington, York).
Nottinghamshire Bird Notes. — The following recent occurrences
in the county of Nottingham are of sufficient interest to be placed on
record :—
GREAT SPOTTED WooDPECKER (Dendrocopus major).—One speci-
men at Calverton, March, 1908.
Tawny Own (Syrntvwm aluco).— One at Eastwood, December,
1907.
Lirtthe Own (Athene noctwa)—One at Widmerpool, Dec. 10th,
March, 1907; one in the Trent meadows opposite Clifton Grove,
14th, 1908.
RoUGH-LEGGED BuzzarD (Buteo lagopus). — One shot near Bing-
ham, 1907.
- Pink-FooreD Gooss (Anser brachyrhynchus).—A pair were shot
in the meadows by the Trent at Gunthorpe on Dec. 26th, 1907.
There is only one previous record of the occurrence of this rare bird
in the county.
SHOVELER Duck (Spatula clypeata).—One on the pool near Trent
Bridge, Nottingham, August, 1908.
Rurr (Machetes pugnax).—One shot at Colwick, December, 1907.
Bar-TAILED Gopwit (Limosa lapponica).—One at Hoveringham,
on the Trent, Jan. 2nd, 1909.
All these specimens have been acquired for the local collection of
birds in the Natural History Museum at University College, Notting-
ham.—J. W. Carr (University College, Nottingham).
4ool 4th ser. vol. XIII., March, 1909, K
114 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Prs Ors;
Trachinotus ovatus an Enemy to the Queensland Oyster Fisheries.
One of the Blue Books recently received from the Colony of Queens-
land gives particulars of the Oyster fisheries in Moreton Bay, which
supply the city of Brisbane. The cultivation of the Oyster-banks, by
thinning out the tops of the reefs and by culling out clumps, is pro-
ceeding apace. The banks have been much benefited by the regular
rains which have visited Queensland and the bays and estuaries.
The fishing in Moreton Bay during the year has been highly satis-
factory. Mullet is to be got at all times in the bays, rivers, and
inlets, while from Moreton Bay large supplies of Whiting, Taylor,
Gar, Bream, and other kinds have been drawn. Owing to the in-
creasing number of Sharks infesting the Bay, it is suggested that a
bonus be given per gallon on Shark-oil, and a bonus per ton on ferti-
lizer made from the carcases. Dugong fishing has been going on
briskly. Fish and Prawns have been very plentiful off the coast, and
the Queensland authorities are hopeful that the representatives of the
Scottish fishermen who recently visited Australia, and who are negoti-
ating for an Australian fishing centre, will settle on the Queensland
coast.
The Oyster fisheries have been attacked lately by ‘‘ a peculiar kind
of fish, which works in droves, and crushes the shell of the young
Oysters with little apparent effort.” The Report continues :—‘‘ These
fish I have seen working, but they are very shy, and it seems almost
impossible to catch them. In appearance they resemble the ‘big
green Toad,’ with similar jaws, and run to as much as three feet six
inches in length, with a peculiar feathery top to the tail; they work
in rows, and will cut a track through a bank of young Oysters, leaving
the white broken shell iooking as if a steam-roller had passed over it
To prevent this the lessee went to the expense of fencing in about
ninety acres with galvanized wire-netting, which plan, he informs me,
has proved very successful.” A specimen of this fish has at length
been captured, and has been found to be a large sample of the species
known as Zrachinotus ovatus, or, to coin a vernacular name, the
“Snub-nosed Swallow-tail.”” The genus inhabits the inter-tropical
seas of both hemispheres.—THE LONDON CORRESPONDENT OF THE
‘NortH QuEENSLAND Heratp’ (Bassishaw House, Basinghall
Street, H.C.).
(The food of Trachinotus carolinus ‘seems to consist very largely
of small bivalve shells,” &c. (Investig. Aquat. Resources and Fisheries
NOTES AND QUERIES. 115
of Porto Rico; Washington, 1900, p. 140). In Texan waters “ the
Oyster has but few enemies, the Drumfish* being the only one
dreaded” (Proc. Nat. Fish. Congr. Florida, 1898, p. 314)—Eb.]
OBITUARY.
CHARLES BERRY.
AtTHouGH little known, save by West of Scotland naturalists and
geologists, Charles Berry, who died Feb. 1st, 1909, is well worthy of
some brief commemoration in the pages of ‘The Zoologist.’ Destined
to spend fifty-three years of his life in the small and secluded village
of Lendalfoot on the Ayrshire coast, engaged in the arduous occupa-
tion of a sea-fisherman, he “found himself” in quiet, patient, and
continuous natural history observations and pursuits, winning a well-
deserved reputation for first-hand local knowledge and accuracy.
Perhaps the proximity to Lendalfoot of the great bird-station_of Ails
Craig had some effect in making ornithology his favourite pursuit.
His information was always at the disposal of inquirers, and year
alter year his observations and returns were amongst the most
valuable included in Mr. John Paterson’s “Reports on Scottish Orni-
thology,” published in the ‘ Annals of Scottish Natural History.’
So far as writing is concerned, he was, however, of the ‘mute,
inglorious”’ class, and it is only now, at the time of his death, that
ornithologists in general have the opportunity of learning something
of his work. In the ‘Glasgow Naturalist’ (the new journal of the
Natural History Society of Glasgow, issued last month—February),
an article by him on the “ Birds of Lendalfoot”’ appears (pp. 5-23),
the only writing of his ever published, I believe. It is one of the
most remarkable examples of purely personal and strictly local orni-
thological work ever done, confined as it is to a four-mile radius and
the adjoining waters, and, as the writer says, ‘I thought it better not
to add a single bird but those I have myself seen and in most cases
handled.” In these circumstances, to be able to enumerate one
hundred and sixty-two species, ninety-five of which nest (including
the Ailsa Craig records), shows that Mr. Berry came very near
making the utmost possible out of his opportunities. Unfortunately
he did not live to see his work in print, but it has secured his position
and repute high amongst Scottish local ornithologists——H. B. W.
* Pogonias cromis ’.
116 THE ZOOLOGIST.
NOTICES OF — NEW BOOKS:
A Treatise on Zoology. Edited by Sir Ray Lanxester, M.A.,
LL.D., F.B.S., &e. Part I. Introduction and Protozoa.
First Fascicle by 8. J. Hickson, F.R.S., J. J. Lister, ©
F.R.S., F. W. Gamsre, D.Sce., &c., A. Wintry, M.A., D.Sce.,
&e., H. M. Woopcock, D.Sc., the late W. F. R. Wetpon,
F.R.S., and EK. Ray Lanxerstser, K.C.B., &c.
Tus volume contains the first fascicle of part i., and is just
published; the second fascicle appeared in 1908, and was then
reviewed in these pages. The two fascicles fully bear out the
claim made for them by their Editor, that they ‘‘ give a more
complete account of the Protozoa than is to be found in any
similar work hitherto published.”
To the ordinary biologist and evolutionist this volume is of
the greatest importance, for in the Introduction Sir Ray
Lankester discusses ‘‘The Dividing-line between Plants and
Animals.” Tor the main difference we are directed to the fact
that ‘‘ animals are unable to assimilate—that is, to utilise as food
the simpler chemical compounds of carbon or of nitrogen. They
can only take their nitrogen from food which is in the elaborate
form of combination which is called a proteid; they can only
take their carbon either from a proteid or from a carbohydrate
or a hydrocarbon.” ‘‘ Plants, on the contrary, are (with certain
exceptions) able to take up as food the compounds of carbon and
of nitrogen, which may be called the stable or resting condition
of those elements—namely, the simple oxide of carbon—carbonic
acid gas, and the simple compound of nitrogen and hydrogen
which is called’‘ammonia, or the oxide of nitrogen which forms
nitrates.’ ‘The obvious and predominant difference in the
make and habit of plants as compared with animals is thus con-
nected with the very great and definite difference in the nature
of the food of the two groups.” The debatable ground is limited
to the chlorophyll-forming Flagellata, including some for which
‘it is not possible to draw a sharp line and assign them
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 117
definitely either to the Animal or to the Plant series.” This
question, which lies on the very bedrock of biology, is not only
very fully discussed, but is enunciated by an authority whose
judgment on such questions should be nulli secundus.
Our space precludes reference to the many separate contri-
butions by the different authors who have produced this volume,
but sometimes a particular subject is focussed in biological con-
sideration, and eventually filters through the press to the ‘‘ man
in the street.’’ Such is the topic of minute animal parasites
which are admittedly negotiators in disease, and readers who
would desire to have an adequate idea of this terrible animal
organization—worse than the army and navy of a competitive
nation, more to be feared and less easily conquered—may be
directed to Dr. Woodcock’s chapter on ‘‘ The Haemoflagellates or
Trypanosomes, to which is attached [a gift to Zoologists] a List
of known (Natural) Hosts of Trypanosomes and Allied Forms.”
This, with the literature relating to these creatures, brings the
subject up to date, and is a timely and valuable contribution.
The Life of Philibert Commerson, D.M., Naturaliste du Roi; an
Old-World Story of French Travel and Science in the Days
of Linneus. By the late Capt. S. Pasrrmup Oniver, R.A.,
and edited by G. F. Scorr Exuior, F.L.8., &c. John
Murray.
Capt. Ouiver did not live to publish his book; he, however,
before his death handed over all his material to Mr. Scott
Elliot, who has worthily completed the task, and taken us back
to the early days of modern zoology.
Commerson was a botanist first and an ichthyologist to a some-
what less degree, while his life’s work centres round the well-
remembered voyage of De Bougainville, whom he accompanied as
naturalist, though in the second vessel of the expedition. He
died at the age of forty-six years, on the Island of Bourbon, thus
not returning to France, where he was assured of much honour,
as eight days after his death (1773) he was, in Paris, elected a
member of the Academy of France by a unanimous vote in a
full assembly, and at the same time the Cordon of the Order of
St. Michael was conferred upon him, appreciations of which he
was destined to remain in ignorance. In these old days before
118 THE ZOOLOGIST.
the advent of steam-power, much more was found to interest a
naturalist on board a sailing-vessel—with the greater expanse of
ocean covered by her erratic wind-dependent course, and the
opportunities afforded by calms—than is experienced nowadays
on the straight high roads of the ever-speeding liners; and those
of us who have made an early voyage under sail can well realize
the altered conditions which so greatly limit the observations of
a travelling zoologist. A curious proposition was enunciated by
Commerson in relation to the shoals of Scomber which followed
his vessel: ‘‘The surface of the sea, exposed to the glare and
fierce heat of the tropical sun, becomes disagreeable to them, so
they seek the neighbourhood of a high coast-line, where, under
lofty rocks and promontories, they can play and gambol in full
shelter.” This suggested the shelter they find on the shady
side of vessels, and may thus account for much of their presence
in some latitudes.
The results of Commerson’s collecting on this voyage were
prodigious ; the work he loved gave him no rest, wore him out,
and practically caused his early death. His achievements in
botany are well known to all followers of that science, and in
that he excelled. As regards his other discoveries, we may use
the valuation of Mr. Scott Elliot :—-‘‘ As a geologist, the value
of his mineralogical specimens and his account of the Bourbon
volcanoes have been justly acknowledged by Bory de Saint-
Vincent. M. Duméril discovered his collections and drawings
of fishes still unpacked in an attic of Buffon’s house. These
form a very large and valuable proportion of Lacépéde’s ‘ His-
toire Naturelle’ (published in 1801). His manuscripts on the
mammalia of Madagascar and the Mascarenes were unearthed
in the library of M. Hermans at Strasbourg, and freely used by
Cuvier, who also generously acknowledges his indebtedness.”’
Commerson was reared in a country and in an age when
dreams of a noble savage and the freedom and moral excellence
of primitive races were being freely propagated. His estimate
of his ‘‘ dear Tahitians” and his argument as to ‘‘ What con-
stitutes robbery ?”’ may probably meet the views of some extreme
thinkers of to-day. He was a born naturalist and a self-made
martyr to natural science ; his economical views would have
gained the approval of Rousseau, but his great contributions to
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 119
botany and zoology should not, and never will be, forgotten
while those sciences are studied, and the thanks of all are due
to Mr. Scott Elliot for giving us an excellent sketch of the
naturalist and his environment.
Catalogue of the Noctwide in the Collection of the British Museum.
By Sir Grorer F. Hampson, Bart. Published by the
Trustees of the British Museum.
Tuis is vol. vii. of the author’s great monograph of the moths
of the world, and is another instalment to a knowledge of the
Noctuidae, and relates to the large subfamily Acronyctine, which
comprises some three thousand species belonging to over three
hundred genera, and are calculated to occupy three volumes of the
Catalogue. As we are told that the manuscript dealing with the
remainder of the subfamily is ready for press and will be issued
in two volumes probably in 1909, we must congratulate Sir
George Hampson on his energy and determination, for to pro-
duce a single volume is no light task, the present one occupying
no fewer than seven hundred and nine pages.
With the large amount of material at hand, the habitats or
localization of the species is most extensive, so that we have here
the facts for the study of the geographical distribution of the
Noctuide. ‘To those writers who conclude that a fairly wide
separation in latitude and longitude must also denote specific
difference, the tabulated distribution of some of these moths
will appear as a disturbing element for consideration.
Thus, to take a single species, Perigea capensis: this insect
is described as common to the Ethiopian region, including
Madagascar and Mauritius; by Egypt and Sokotra distributed
throughout British India and the Malay Archipelago; recorded
from the Solomon, Marshall, and Fiji Islands; and found in
Queensland. In the synonymy we are not surprised to find that
it has been described under different names no fewer than four-
teen times! And this is not a unique example to be found in
these pages. We also have a thorough generic revision, with
keys to the genera, and also to the species when the genera
are sufficiently extensive to require that aid, with numerous
blocks in the text to illustrate the structural characters and
120 THE ZOOLOGIST.
general appearance, accompanied by a further instalment of
coloured plates, which now reach the respectable figure of one
hundred and twenty-two. Sir G. Hampson is writing a monu-
mental series of volumes the contents of which will take long to
grow old.
EDITORIAL GLEANINGS.
Tue ‘Hvening News’ recently sent a special. correspondent to
Darwin’s village, and from his report we extract the following state-
ment that should be preserved :—I had been told to look up Mr. John
Lewis in the village, who used to do all the carpentry and joining
work for the house. JI found him in his cottage, a short hale man
with white hair and beard and a rare smile. ‘“ I hear you are quite
an old friend of Mr. Darwin’s.” He straightened himself at once.
‘‘T went to him sixty years ago as a page for two years. I was fifteen
then. Now I am seventy-five. I made Mr. Darwin’s coffin” (this
with a look of important affairs). ‘ They buried him in Westminster
Abbey, but he always wanted to lie here, and I don’t think he’d have
liked it. I made his coffin just as he wanted it; all rough, just as it
left the bench, no polish, no nothin’. But when they agreed to send
him to Westminster they had to get another undertaker. And my
coffin wasn’t wanted, and they sent it back. This other one you
could see to shave in. I kept the coffin by me a longtime. I thought
I might sell it. I got several bids of fifty poun’, but didn’t part with
it. One gentleman I told about it said, ‘Ask two hundred, you'll get
it easy. But Inever did. I can show you letters from America and
Germany about it.” ‘‘What became of the coffin?” I asked, ‘“Isold
it for ten pounds to a young chap that kept a beerhouse out at Farn-
borough. He’s dead since then.” I gathered that the coffin is still
in the ‘‘beerhouse.” ‘Darwin laid in that coffin thirty-one and a half
hours exactly. I put him in myself.”—Hvening News, Feb. 12th, 1909.
A REMARKABLE case Claimed the attention of the medical staff at
the West Norfolk and Lynn Hospital on Sunday. 7
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VIEWS IN THE Gi1zA (HiGyptT) ZooLoGicaAL GARDENS.
Pee AO LOGLST
No. 815.—May, 1909.
A LIST OF THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE
WORLD.
By Caprain STanuey §S. FLower.
(Puate IIT.)
I. Preface. III. Modern Zoological Gardens.
II. Harly Zoological Gardens. | IV. Bibliography.
I. PREFACE.
ConsipErinG the wide interest taken in Zoological Gardens,
not only by zoologists but also by the general public, it seems
remarkable that no list of these institutions, with any pretension
to completeness, appears to have been published.
It is hoped that the publication of this present list will call
attention to the subject, and may be the means both of bringing
to light historical notes of other old menageries, unknown to me
but perhaps familiar to some readers of ‘ The Zoologist,’ and
also be of present and future use to the executive officers of
Zoological Gardens in exchanging notes and publications, and
especially in making that personal acquaintance of each other
which is so important for mutual help and improvement in pro-
fessional knowledge.
Of the existing Zoological Gardens, the senior appears to be
the Imperial Menagerie of Schonbrunn, Vienna, founded in 1752,
then that of Madrid 1774, and then Paris 1793.
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., May. 1909. 0
162 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Karly in the nineteenth century a quite new departure was
made in the British Isles by the establishment of standing
menageries that were neither the appendages of Royalty nor
Government institutions. Between 1828 and 1836 five Zoolo-
gical Gardens, owned by societies of private individuals, were
started: four of which (London, Dublin, Clifton, and Man-
chester) still exist.
This example was followed by the Low Countries; societies
were formed, and the Zoological Garden of Amsterdam was
founded in 18388, and that of Antwerp in 1848.
The idea was then taken up in Germany, resulting in the
opening of the Berlin Zoological Gardens in 1844.
In 1850 the Zoological Gardens of the World thus consisted
of eleven institutions :—Schonbrunn, Madrid, Paris, London
(Regent’s Park and Surrey), Dublin, Clifton, Manchester, Am-
sterdam, Antwerp and Berlin.
But in the second half of the nineteenth century such in-
stitutions began to be quickly established, not only in Europe,
but also in Australia, America, Asia, and, finally, Africa. Al-
though from time to time some of these have closed, others are
always coming into existence, and the aggregate number con-
tinues to increase. The number of fairly large public Zoological
Gardens existing in 1908 may be, approximately, taken as fifty-
seven, but including smaller collections of animals, kept up in
Botanical Gardens and Public Parks, it reaches a total of ninety-
five: but as there are probably a certain number of institutions
of the existence of which I may be, unfortunately, ignorant, it
may be calculated that the total number of standing menageries
exceeds one hundred.
Many fine private collections of living wild animals also exist,
notably that of His Grace the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey,
but these do not come within the scope of -this present article.
I would like to be allowed to take this opportunity of acknow-
ledging my sense of obligation to the many kind friends in many
lands by whose help I have been enabled to collect the material
for this compilation: especially am I indebted to my brother,
Mr. Victor A. Flower, who when travelling in Europe, Asia and
America, has been so good as to always send me notes on the
various Zoological Gardens that he has visited.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 163
II. Karty ZootocicaL GARDENS.
The ancient Egyptians, as is profusely demonstrated by in-
scriptions and mummied remains, kept various species of wild
animals in captivity, but the first Zoological Garden properly so
called appears to have been established in very early times in
China. This institution was founded by Woo-Wang (Wong-
Wang), the first Emperor of the Chow (Tscheu) Dynasty, who
ruled over the northern parts of China rather more than a
thousand years before the Christian era. It is noteworthy that
the Chinese, thus early realizing the educational value of such an
institution, called it ‘‘ The Intelligence Park.”’
In Greek and Roman times, as is well known, collections of
wild beasts were made in foreign lands and brought to the chief
towns for exhibition. This was not done however from purposes
of interest in the animals themselves or for the cause of science,
but for display and public slaughter. It is recorded that Lions,
Leopards, Bears, Elephants, Rhinoceros, Antelopes, Giraffes,
Camels, Hippopotamus, Ostriches and Crocodiles, in incredible
numbers, were killed in the arenas of Rome: killed either in
mutual combat, or at the hands of professional gladiators or
condemned criminals and slaves, in order to gratify the popular
appetite for sensation.
An exception to this brutality can however be made in the
case of Alexander the Great (856-323 B.c.) who, it appears,
caused extensive collections of rare and unknown animals to be
transmitted to his old tutor, the great philosopher and zoologist
Aristotle (884-322 B.c.).
In later times Royal Personages frequently kept menageries
of wild animals, aviaries of birds and ponds of fish: partly for
Sport, partly as pets and partly for exhibition to their personal
guests and visitors.
In these collections, many of which still exist, was the origin
of the modern Zoological Gardens.
In Europe the public Zoological Garden may be said to have
gradually evolved from the Royal menagerie, but in America a
period of three hundred and thirty-eight years intervened be-
tween the overthrow of the Imperial Mexican Menagerie in
02
164 THE ZOOLOGIST.
1521, and the foundation of the Philadelphia Zoological Society
in 1859.
In England the first recorded Royal Menagerie was at Wood-
stock, Oxfordshire, in the time of King Henry I. (1100-1135).
This was transferred to the Tower of London, apparently in the
reign of Henry III. (1216-1272)), and kept up there till after 1828.
A second English Royal Menagerie existed at Windsor. Kewshould
perhaps also be mentioned here: the famous Botanical Gardens,
founded privately in 1551, which are now about two hundred and
fifty acres in extent, at one period contained a menagerie. Ina
book entitled ‘ The Picture of London for 1808’ are the following
particulars concerning the collection of animals then kept in
Kew Gardens :—‘ The Aviary contains a large collection of birds
of all countries. In the Flower-garden are to be seen all kinds
of beautiful flowers, and in its centre a bason of water, well
stocked with gold fish. The Menagerie contains Chinese and
Tartarian pheasants, and various large and exotic birds, with a
bason stocked with waterfowl, in the centre of which is a pavilion
in the Chinese manner” (fide §. Goldney, ‘Kew Gardens,’
London 1907).
In France King Philip VI. (1828-1350) had a menagerie in
the Louvre at Paris in 1388. Charles V. (1864-13880) had
menageries and aviaries at Conflans, Tournelles and in Paris —
(fide EK. T. Hamy). Louis XI. (1461-1483), who is said to have
introduced and established the Canary-bird in Europe, formed a
menagerie at Plessis les Tours in Touraine. After the death of
Louis XI. the Royal French Menagerie was re-established at the
Louvre, special missions were sent to North Africa &c. to obtain
specimens, and the collection was rapidly growing, when on the
21st of January 1583 the entire menagerie came to a violent
end: Henry III. (1574-1589) saw in a dream Lions, Bears and
Dogs tearing himself to pieces, and in consequence “ had all the
Lions, Bulls, Bears &c. killed with shots of arquebus” (fide E. T.
Hamy). Henry IV. (1589-1610) kept up a very small menagerie,
but one which included an Elephant. Louis XIII. (1610-1648)
kept some mammals and birds at his hunting lodge at Versailles,
and his son Louis XIV. (1648-1715) in 1663 founded the cele-
brated Versailles menagerie, the ‘‘ Menagerie du Pare.” During
the first twenty-five years of its existence this collection received
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 165
very numerous additions, particularly from the French Consul at
Cairo. The stock of animals during this period is said to have
reached ‘‘ several thousands.”’
For nearly a hundred years this Versailles menagerie appears
to have been kept in good order, and was of the greatest value to
the zoologists of those times. But during the later years of
Louis XY. (1715-1774) it fell to a very low ebb of efficiency, and
abuses were prevalent. It is said that a Camel was supplied, at
the cost of the State, with six bottles of Burgundy wine daily,
and that when the animal died a soldier of the Swiss Guard
petitioned to be given the vacant billet of Court Camel.
In October 1789 the menagerie was almost destroyed by the
Parisian mob: the only animals that survived this attack were
a Senegal Lion, a Dalmatian Hound, an Indian Rhinoceros, a
South African Quagga, an Algerian Hartebeest and a Moluccan
Pigeon (fide HK. T. Hamy). |
The idea of forming a collection of live animals in the old-
established Botanical Garden of Paris is apparently due to Buffon,
_ but he died in 1788 without seeing the realization of his plan.
By the law of the 10th of June 1793 the Paris Museum of
Natural History was reorganized, and later in the same year the
Jardin des Plantes menagerie was started. ‘The animals were
first lodged under the galleries of the Museum, and later on
were housed in that part of the Garden between the great
Chestnut Avenue and the street now called the Rue Cuvier,
known as La Vallée Suisse: where their successors still remain.
The first animals reached the Museum on the 4th of November
1793; they were a Sea-Lion, a Leopard, a Civet-Cat and a Mon-
key, and were at once taken charge of by Etienne Geofiruy
Saint-Hilaire, then twenty-one years old. The next day the
arrivals included a White Bear and two Mandrills, and in the
following spring the few surviving inhabitants of the Versailles
“menagerie were brought to the Garden.
_ Of the early German menageries I have been able to obtain
but little information. Herr Schoepf mentions, in his ‘ Gedenk-
blatter,’ 1552 as the earliest date when an Imperial menagerie
existed, and says that the Dresden menagerie was started by
Kurfurst August I. in 1554: up to 1737 the only animals men-
tioned as having been kept at Dresden are Mandrills, Lions,
166 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Tigers, Leopards, Indian Cats, Bears, Swine and Porcupines,
but in 1747 a young Rhinoceros from Bengal was exhibited alive
there.
The first recorded Zoological Gardens in the New World were
those of King Nezahualcoyotl, the ‘‘ Hungry Fox” (born about
1403, died about 1475) at his capital of Tezcuco, on the east side
of the lake, in Mexico. Prescott, ‘ History of the Conquest of
Mexico’ (edition of 1878, p. 85) mentions these Gardens as con-
taining basins of water ‘‘ well stocked with fish of various kinds,
aviaries with birds glowing in all the gaudy plumage of the
tropics,” and also states that ‘‘many birds and animals which
could not be obtained alive were represented in gold and silver.”’
In the following century there were two such Gardens in
America: Iztapalapan and Mexico itself.. On the 7th of November
1519 Hernando Cortés entered Iztapalapan, then governed by
Cuitlahua (Montezuma’s brother), and saw its celebrated gar-
dens in their prime. Prescott, p. 261, mentions the ‘‘ aviary,
filled with numerous kinds of birds, remarkable in this region
both for brilliancy of plumage and of song,” and also the basin
“‘ with different sorts of fish.”
Montezuma II., Emperor of Mexico (born about 1479, elected
King 1502, died 1520), appears to have maintained large Zoolo-
gical Gardens at his capital (see Prescott, pp. 286, 287). There
were extensive gardens “filled with fragrant shrubs and flowers,
and especially with medicinal plants.” Among the buildings
‘‘was an immense aviary, in which birds of splendid plumage
were assembled from all parts of the empire. . . . Three hundred
attendants had charge of this aviary, who made themselves
acquainted with the appropriate food of its inmates, oftentimes
procured at great cost, and in the moulting season were carefnl
to collect the beautiful plumage, which, with its many-coloured
tints, furnished the materials for the Aztec painter.”
‘A separate building was reserved for the fierce birds of
prey.” For the feeding of which Prescott (p. 286) says that five
hundred turkeys were allowed per day; but from Oviedo’s
original account in Spanish, in Prescott’s Appendix (p. 679) it
appears that these five hundred birds were the daily rations of
not only the fifty ‘‘Eagles,” but also of the carnivorous mam-
mals and of the great Snakes, as bulky as a man’s leg.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 167
The main menagerie building was a great hall 150 “‘ feet”
long, by 50 wide. Oviedo, in his contemporary account (op. cit.
p. 679), writes :—‘‘En entrando por la saia, el hedor era mucho
é aborrecible 6 asqueroso’”’ (on entering the hall the stench was
detestable and loathsome), a detail which Prescott does not men-
tion, but that we can well imagine to have been true.
Prescott tells us that ‘‘ The serpents were confined in long
cages lined with down or feathers, or in troughs of mud and
water. The beasts and birds of prey were provided with apart-
ments large enough to allow of their moving about, and secured
by a strong lattice-work, through which light and air were freely
admitted.’ ‘‘ Ten large tanks, well stocked with fish, afforded a
retreat on their margins to various tribes of water-fowl, whose
habits were so carefully consulted that some of these ponds
were of salt water, as that which they most loved to frequent.”
There was also “‘a strange collection of human monsters” and
dwarfs.
The destruction, by fire, of the House of Birds, in 1521, is
graphically told by Prescott (p. 515).
III. Mopern Zoonoaican Garpens (arranged alphabetically
under Continents, and in Europe under Countries).
AFRICA.
1. Auexanpria, Eaypr.—Since 1907 a small menagerie has
been maintained by the Municipality in the Nouzha Garden, a
beautiful park just outside the city. Entrance is free. The
collection is under the care of Monsieur Louis Monfront, Direc-
teur des Parcs et Plantations de la Ville.
2. Durzpan, Narau.—Municipal menagerie in Mitchell Park.
3. GEzira, Catno, Haypr.—His Highness the Khedive Ismail
Pasha established a collection of live animals in the gardens of
his palace at Gezira. The late Sir William Flower records in
his diary of the 2nd of April 1874 seeing there :—‘‘ Two African
Elephants, seven Giraffes, sixteen Lions (of all ages), three Leo-
pards, two Servals, one Spotted Hyena, three Nylghaies, four
Hartebeests, two Leucoryx, smaller Antelopes, Deer, Kangaroos,
Secretary Birds, Flamingos, good collection of Pheasants and
fowls, Emu, &c.”’ All that now remains is the Aquarium, built
by Ismail Pasha, adjoining his menagerie, which, after having
168 THE ZOOLOGIST.
been untenanted for about a quarter of a century, was recon-
structed by the Egyptian Public Works Department and opened
to the public in 1902.
4. Giza, Carro, Eaypt.—Ismail Pasha also had magnificent
Gardens laid out round his palace at Giza. In one of these
Gardens, known as the ‘‘ Haremlik,” which was constructed in
about the years 1867-1872, were several aviaries for birds, and,
I believe, a few mammals were also kept; but it was not a z00-
logical garden nor were visitors ever admitted to it. -In 1891
however, when it was decided to have a Zoological Garden for
Cairo, the Government allowed this garden to be used for the
purpose, and later in 1898 the area was more than doubled by
the addition of part of the adjoining “‘Selamlik”’ Garden. The
Giza Zoological Gardens are now a Government institution ad-
ministered by the Public Works Department. The present
writer is the Director of these Gardens and of the Giza Aquarium,
with Mr. Michael J. Nicoll as Assistant-Director. Annual and
special reports are published.
5. Kuarroum, Supaxn. — The Khartoum Zoological Gardens
were started in 1901 in the centre of the city, but moved to their
present site on the tongue of land between the White and Blue
Niles in 1908. The gardens, which are free to the public, are
under the Municipality, but the collection of live animals is
under the Game Preservation Department, of which Mr. Arthur
L. Butler is Superintendent.
6. Pretoria, TransvaAt.—The Transvaal Zoological Gardens
originally started in a yard near Market Square in 1898, and
were moved to their present site in 1899. The Director is
Dr. J. W. B. Gunning, who is also Director of the Transvaal
Museum, which post he has occupied since 1896. An illustrated
Guide-book is published.
7. Tunis.—Dr. P. L. Sclater has recorded (P.Z.8. 1898,
p. 280) visiting ‘‘the private collection of living animals be-
longing to the Bey of Tunis at the palace at Marsa.” At
the time of Dr. Sclater’s visit there were some interesting
exhibits, but whether this menagerie is still kept up, and if
so to what extent it is open to visitors, I have been unable
to ascertain.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 169
America, Nortu.
8. Bautimore.—-There is said to be asmall Zoological Garden
in Druid Hill Park, the latter being seven hundred acres in
extent.
9. Burrato, New York. — The Buffalo Zoological Gardens
started in a small way in 1895, under the supervision of the
Park Superintendent. They were reorganized in 1898, and are
now under the Park Commissioners, the President in 1908 being
Mr. George C. Ginther, and the Secretary Mr. George H. Selkirk.
The present Curator of the zoological collection is Dr. Frank A.
Crandall, who has been in charge since the 1st of March 1898.
An annual report is published.
10. Cepar Rapips, lowa.—Zoological Gardens established in
City Park, 1908.
11. Cincinnatt1.— A privately owned Zoological Gardens
started in 1875, said to contain a very fine collection. Mr.8. A.
Stephen is the Director.
12. Cutcaco.—I am told that the Zoological Garden in Lin-
coln Park, Chicago, is one of the largest in the world. The
Superintendent is Mr. R. H. Warder, who is assisted by Mr.
C. B. de Vry as Head Keeper of the Animals.
13. CLEVELAND, Onto.—The zoological collection was started
about 1903; it is situated in Wade Park and managed by the
Cleveland Park authorities.
14, Denver, CoLorado. — Privately owned Zoological Gar-
dens, first opened in 1889. The proprietress for some years
was Mrs. Elitch Long. The Gardens are now managed by
Mr. E. P. Horne.
15. Detroit, Micuigan.—A small Zoological Garden, and, I
am told, an excellent Aquarium, maintained by the State in
Belle Isle Park, under the direction of the Commissioner of
Parks and Boulevards. Mr. M. L. Hurlbut is Secretary to the
Commissioner.
16. Kansas Crry, Mrssourr.— The Kansas City Zoological
Society was organized in December 1907, to maintain a big
menagerie in Swope Park. Mr. W. V. Lippincott is President,
Mr. H. R. Walmsley Secretary, and Mr. I. S. Horne Director.
17. Los ANncELEs, Catirornia. — Zoological Gardens estab-
lished in Idora Park, 1908.
170 THE Z00LCGIST:
18. Mempuis, Tenn. — Zoological Gardens established in
Overton Park, 1908.
19. Minwavuxer, Wisconsin. — The Zoological Gardens in
Washington Park were started in 1905 with two Bears, three
Foxes and some Virginian Deer. In the three years 1906, 1907
and 1908 extraordinary progress seems to have been made, a
large collection of animals has been formed, and _ sufficient
financial support has been forthcoming to admit of spending
over £12,000 on cages and paddocks. The governing body is the
Board of Park Commissioners. Mr. Daniel Erdmann is Presi-
dent, Mr. Frank P. Schumacher is Secretary, Mr. Ed. H. Bean
is the Director ; he has had charge of the collection since March
1906, when it was still in its infancy.
20. New Orteans.—A zoological collection was started a few
years ago in Audubon Park, but I have been unable to obtain
any information as to its progress.
21. New York (Centrat Parx).—The Zoological Gardens in
Central Park were founded in 1865; they are supported by the
Municipality. This collection is famous for its success in breed-
ing animals, notably Hippopotamus.
22. New York (Bronx Park).—The Zoological Park in Bronx
Park, under the management of the New York Zoological Society,
was founded in 1898. This Society also looks after the New
York Aquarium. ‘The present officers are :—Secretary Mr. Mad-
ison Grant, Director Dr. William T. Hornaday, Scientific As-
sistants Messrs. Raymond L. Ditmars and C. William Beebe,
Director of Aquarium Mr. Charles H. Townsend. The publica-
tions of this Society, bulletins, annual reports, and guide-books
are remarkable for the excellence of the photographs of animals
by Mr. Elwin R. Sanborn.
23. Oxusnoma City.—Zoological Gardens established in City
Park in 1908. -
24, PHiLADELPHIA.—Zoological Gardeng in Fairmount Park,
belonging to the Zoological Society of Philadelphia (incorporated
21st March 1859), and managed by a board of twenty ‘‘ directors,”
of whom eighteen are elected by the Society and two by the City
Councils. The Secretary and General Manager is Mr. Arthur
Erwin Brown, and the Superintendent of the Gardens is Mr. ~
Robert D. Carson. An annual report is published, a special
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 171
feature of which is the classified list of autopsies made during
the year in the Pathological Laboratory.
25. Pirrspure, Pennsyntvanta. — Highlands Park is said to
contain a good zoological collection.
26. Porrnanp, Oreaon.—Zoological Gardens established in
City Park in 1908. |
27. San Francisco, Cauirornia.—I have been unable to ob-
tain any recent news of this institution, the existence of which I
only know of from an illustrated guide-book that a friend lent me
about eight years ago.
28. SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—A small collection in one of the
City Parks. Mr. C. EH. Ladd, Superintendent.
29. Sr. Lovrs, Missourrt.— Zoological Gardens started in
1903, under the Park system.
30. Tacoma, WasHineron. — Free Public Gardens, with a
growing zoological collection.
31. Totepo, Onto.—The Zoological Garden, started in 1900,
is under the Park and Boulevard Department of the City. Mr.
M. L. Moore is Superintendent of Parks and Boulevards. The
Board of Park Commissioners is contemplating the removal of
the present menagerie to a larger park, and housing it in a per-
manent fashion.
32. Toronto, CanaDa.—Zoological collection, started about
1900, in charge of the Commissioner, City Parks Department.
33. VANcouvER, Canapa. — Public Park with small zoological
collection (fide W. H. D. le Souéf, Zool. Soc. of Victoria, 44th
Annual Report (1908), p. 18).
34. Wasuinaton, D.C. — An important collection in the
National Zoological Park, founded in 1890, under the manage-
ment of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Frank Baker is the
Superintendent.
AMERICA, SOUTH.
35. Banta, Braziu.—A small zoological collection in a public
park just outside the town. Mr. M. J. Nicoll visited this garden
on the 26th of December, 1902, and tells me that the menagerie
then only contained some Peccaries, Parrots, Curassows and a
Peacock. :
36. Buumenav, Brazin.—Zoological Gardens opened in 1870 ;
no longer existing.
172 THE ZOOLOGIST.
37. Busnos Arres.—Municipal Zoological Gardens. Founded
by General Sarmiente in 1874. The present Director is Signor
Clemente Onelli. Thisinstitution publishes an illustrated guide-
book, and a quarterly scientific journal.
38. GEORGETOWN, British Guiana.—A menagerie existed at
one time in the Botanical Gardens of Georgetown. Manatees,
Anteaters and other interesting South American animals were
exhibited here.
39. Para, Brazin.— An interesting menagerie attached to
the Museum of Natural History and Ethnography, named the
‘Museu Goeldi,” after its weil-known former Director Dr. Emilie
A. Goeldi. The present Director is Dr. Jacques Huber, and the
Superintendent Dr. Emilia Snethlage. A periodical ‘‘ Boletim ”
is published by the Museum.
40. Rro pe Janetro.— Zoological Gardens under the director-
ship of Mr. Kirschnur.
ASIA.
41. Baneaxox, S1am.—In 1896-1898, when I lived in Bangkok,
there was a Zoological Garden there, the property of His Majesty
the King of Siam, open free to the public on certain days. The
collection contained mammals, birds, some fairly large Croco-
diles, and small aquaria for fish. From time to time very in-
teresting local animals were exhibited (see P.Z.S. 1900, pp. 369
and 371). Iam told that this menagerie no longer exists.
42, Baropa, Inp1sa.— A zoological collection in the Park,
owned by the Maharaja of Baroda, who allows the public to visit
it freely.
43. Bompay, Inp1a.—Zoological collection in the Victoria Gar-
dens. Mr. C. D. Mahaluxmivala, Superintendent. These Gar-
dens are round tke Victoria and Albert Museum ; the best thing
is the enclosure for Lions, an irregular oval space of grass and
trees, perhaps about one hundred feet long by sixty wide, sur-
rounded by a railing, but with no roof, and a smal! sleeping ~
place at one end. The railings are about fifteen feet high,
curved inwards at the top, and of very light appearance.
44, Caucutra, Inp1a.—The large Zoological Gardens at Ali-
pore, Calcutta, were founded in 1875. They are well known
throughout the world to zoologists, who have not personally
visited India, by two useful publications :—
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 173
(i). ‘Guide to the Calcutta Zoological Gardens,’ by the late
Dr. John Anderson, F.R.S., 1888.
(ii). ‘ Handbook of the Management of Animals in Captivity
in Lower Bengal,’ by Ram Bramha Sanyal, 1892.
Rai R. B. Sanyal Bahadur, who died on the 13th of October,
1908, will always be remembered in connection with the Cal-
cutta Zoological Gardens, in which he worked for thirty-three
years.
This institution is managed by an Honorary Committee, of
~ which Lieutenant-Colonel EK. H. Brown, of the Indian Medical
Service, is Secretary. Mr. Bejoy Krishna Basu, Veterinary In-
spector, was appointed Assistant Superintendent of the Garden
by the Government of Bengal on the 25th of February, 1907.
An annual report is published.
45. Cotompo, Cryton.—A small menagerie is maintained
in the Gardens of the Museum, of which Dr. A. Willey is the
Director,
46. Hanor, Tonxin.—A collection of live animals is kept in
the Botanical Gardens. Monsieur Louis Jacquet, Directeur
Jardin botanique de Hanoi, Monsieur Farant, Chef du Jardin.
47. Jarpur, Inp1a.—Small zoological collection.
48. Krioro, Japan.—Municipal Zoological Gardens ‘‘ which are
situated right in the city, the Gardens are nicely laid out and
have a splendid Flight Aviary, as well as a good Carnivora
House.” There is also a Deer Park, with very fine old cedar
and pine trees at Nara (fide W. H. D. le Souéf, Zool. Soc. of
Victoria, 44th Annual Report (1908), p. 12).
49. KurracHEE, Inp1a.—Zoological Gardens of which great
things were expected about eleven years ago, but which appa-
rently have not progressed during recent years.
50. Lanore, Inp1a.—A small Zoological Garden is said to
exist at Lahore.
51. Manruua, Parnipprnes.—Under the Government of Spain
a few animals were kept in the Botanic Gardens, but these
Gardens became the site of a battle and were completely de-
stroyed.
A certain number of mammals, birds and reptiles are now
exhibited alive in the Public Gardens, and it is proposed to have
a regular Zoological Garden in Manilla.
=
174 THE ZOOLOGIST
52. Osaka, Japan.—When the menagerie in the Singapore
Botanic Gardens closed, the Tiger, Crocodile and some other
large animals were sent to Osaka: but I have been unable to
obtain any information as to what sort of menagerie or garden
exists at Osaka.
53. Prexin, Catva.—Zoological and Botanical Garden, recently |
started, or re-started.
54. Puxer, Junxcgeynton, Mataya.— The Puket (Tongkah)
Government maintains a small Zoological Garden, open free to
the public. The collection is said to consist of a Tiger, two
Leopards, two Black Panthers and two Crocodiles.
55. Raneoon, Burma.—The Zoological Garden in the Victoria
Memorial Park is managed by the Park Administration. The
Secretary is Mr. W. Shircore of Barr Street, Rangoon. I under-
stand that the ground was given by the Government, and. the
park, &c., laid out with funds subscribed by the public as a
memorial to Queen Victoria. The institution was opened by
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, when in Rangoon, on
his last Indian tour.
The Zoological Garden is about fourteen acres in area (but
there is already some talk of an extension), and adjoins the Royal
Lakes. In the Elephant House there is said to be one of King
Theebaw’s ‘‘ White’ Elephants.
56. Sargon, Cocuin-Cuina.—A large garden, botanical at one
end, zoological at the other. Monsieur E. Haffner, Director.
57. SINGAPORE, STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. — A very interesting
account of the Menagerie at the Botanic Gardens of Singapore,
from its foundation in 1859 to its end in-1905, has been written
by Mr. Henry N. Ridley, F.R.S., Director, Botanic Gardens,
Singapore, and published in the ‘ Journal’ of the Straits Branch,
Royal Asiatic Society, No. 46 (December, 1906), pp. 183-194.
It is greatly to be hoped that a Zoological Garden may be re-
started in Singapore.
58. SoURABAYA, JAVA.—Some sort of a collection of animals
appears to have been in existence at Sourabaya, but 1 have no
definite information concerning it.
59. Trmor Dinu, Portuaurse Mauaya. — In the Public Gar-
dens there is a collection of live animals. Mr. W. H. D. le Souéf,
Zool. Soc. of Victoria, 44th Annual Report (1908), p. 11, men-
——-
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 175
tions that he saw there Monkeys, Deer and Birds, including
Cassowaries.
60. Toxyo, Japan. — The Japanese Government Zoological
Garden is in the large Uyeno Park, where are also situated the
Imperial Museum, Observatory, Library, &c. Dr. K. Tayama,
of the Tokyo Imperial University, acting for Prof. Ishikawa,
was good enough to inform me in August 1908 that the Director-
ship was vacant: I have not yet heard if an appointment has
been made. Mr. Henry Scherren, in the ‘Field’ for the 14th
of September, 1907, has given a short account of this collection.
Mr. W. H. D. le Souéf, Zool. Soc. of Victoria, 44th Annual
Report (1908), p. 12, mentions that there are also to be seen at
Tokyo freshwater Fish and Turtle hatcheries, a small but
good Aquarium, and, in the Imperial Botanical Gardens, many
aviaries for birds and some waterfowl on the ponds.
61. Trivanprum, Travancore, Inpra.—The Trivandrum Mu-
seum and Public Gardens, of which the menagerie forms part,
were founded in 1859. A sketch of the origin and progress of
these combined institutions has been written by Mr. H. 8. Fer-
guson, the late Director, and published in the Report on the
Trivandrum Museum for M. EH. 1075 (a.p. 1899-1900). The
present Director, who was appointed on the 2nd of July, 1904, is
Lieutenant-Colonel F. W. Dawson.
AUSTRALASIA. -
62. AprLaipr.—The Gardens of the South Australian Zoolo-
gical and Acclimatisation Society were founded in 1879. The
present Director is Mr. Alfred C. Minchin. An annual report is
published.
63. Mrtpourne.—The Gardens of the Zoological and Accli-
matisation Society of Victoria were founded in 1857. Mr.
W. H. Dudley le Souéf is the present Director. An annual re-
port is published.
In Melbourne there is also an Aquarium, where aquatic
mammals, birds, and reptiles are kept as well as fish, in the Exhi-
bition Buildings, under the control of the Exhibition Trustees.
Mr. James EK. Sherrard is the Secretary. This Aquarium was
commenced in 1884 and opened in 1885, and is apparently
the oldest institution of its kind in Australia. Others have
176 THE ZOOLOGIST.
subsequently been established at Sydney, at Bondi, and at
Coogee.
64. Perta.—The Zoological and Acclimatisation Gardens at
South Perth, Western Australia, were founded in 1898. The
President is the Honourable J. W. Hackett, and the Director is
Mr. HE. A. le Souéf.
65. SypNey.—The Gardens of the New South Wales Zoolo-
gical Society were founded in 1879. The executive officer, whose
duties correspond with those of the Directors of the other Austra-
lian Gardens, is Mr. A. Sherbourne le Souéf, the Secretary. An
annual report is published.
66. Weruurneton, New Zratanp. — A Zoological Garden has
been started at Wellington in 1908. Mr. A. E. L. Bertling is
the Superintendent.
EKEUROPH.
AUSTRIA.
67. Cracow.—A small menagerie in the Park Krakowski,
under the care of the Director of the Botanical Gardens.
68. ScHonprunn, Vienna.—The Imperial Menagerie of the
Palace of Schonbrunn was founded by Francis I., Emperor
of Germany (1708-1765) and Maria Theresa (1717-1780) in
1752.
These Gardens are the property of, and kept up at the expense
of, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Austria, who allows
the public free admittance to the greater part of the grounds. It
is not only the oldest Zoological Garden in the world, but one of
the very best, and has reached its present high state of efficiency
under the charge of Inspector A. Kraus.
69. Troprpau, Austrian-Sruesra. — This town has not got a
zoological garden, but a trading menagerie, founded in 1867,”
now owned by Herr Joseph Pilz.
70. Vienna.—The citizens of Vienna have from time to time
been able to see other collections of live animals besides that of
Schonbrunn. In 1802 a government menagerie was established,
which was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1848. A zoological
garden was founded in 1868, but closed in 1866. The ‘“‘ Vi-
varium,” built in 1872, came to an end from want of financial
support about December, 1898. Finally in 1901 the Institute of
Experimental Biology came into being, and, being assisted by
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 177
annual subventions from the Government, will have, we hope, a
long and successful career. ,
The ‘‘ Tierpark ” at Brunn belonging to the Viennese firm of
Carl Gudera (established 1867) must also be mentioned.
BELGIUM.
71. Anrwere.—The beautiful garden and large menagerie
of ‘‘ La Société Royale de Zoologie d’Anvers”’ are well known.
They were founded in 1843. The present Director is Monsieur
Michel |’ Hoést.
72. Brusseus. — Zoological Gardens founded 1851, closed
1878.
73. Guent.—The Zoological Garden of Ghent was founded
in 1851. I knew it well at one time, and was very sorry to hear
that it had been closed in 1904.
74. Lizaz.—A small Zoological Garden on an island in the
river, founded in 1861, which has been recently closed (1904 ?).
Britis Isis.
75. Brruinauam.— A zoological garden has existed in the
suburbs of Birmingham at some time during the last twenty-five
years, but no definite information is at present available.
76. Buackroot.—No zoological garden, but a large menagerie
and very fine Aquarium in the “‘ Tower,” under the management
of Mr. James Walmsley.
77. Brianton.—About ten years ago a prospectus was issued
concerning a Zoological Garden about to be started at Brighton,
but apparently the idea was not carried out.
The Brighton Aquarium is well known.
78. Carpirr.—The only public collection of live animals in
Wales appears to be a small Zoological Garden recently started
by the Municipality of Cardiff.
79. Cuirron. — The Bristol, Clifton and West of England
Zoological Society owns the small but excellent Zoological Gar-
dens on the edge of Clifton Downs, which were founded in 1835.
This institution is managed by a Committee of twenty-seven
members, Dr. A. J. Harrison being Treasurer and Chairman,
Mr. W. C. Beloe Honorary Secretary and Mr. E. W. B. Villiers
4ool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., May, 1909. P
178 THE ZOOLOGIST.
the executive Superintendent. [Illustrated guide-books and
annual reports are published.
80. Crystan Pauacr, SyprEnqHamM.—An aquarium, a small
menagerie and some waterfowl in the gardens have been long
maintained in this institution: this collection has recently
(1907) been augmented by the loan of the large private menagerie
belonging to Mr. Robert Leadbetter of Hazlemere Park, Buck-
inghamshire. An illustrated guide-book of this latter is pub-
lished.
81. Dusuin. — An account by Prof. D. J. Cunningham,
F'.R.S., of the origin and early history of the Royal Zoological
Society of Ireland, which was founded in 1830, was published in
1901. The Society is governed by a Council, the President for
1908 being the Right Honourable Jonathan Hogg, the Honorary
Secretary is Dr. R. F. Scharff, of the Dublin Museum. Mr.
Thomas Hunt, who had been resident Superintendent since
February 1890, retired in 1907, and Captain L. C. Arbuthnot
was appointed to succeed him, and took over the duties from
the 1st of December, 1907. Illustrated guide-books and annual
reports are published.
82. Epinpureu. — A Zoological Garden formerly existed in
the capital of Scotland; a short account of what it contained in
May 1858 by ‘‘W.C.M.” was published in the ‘Scotsman’ for
the 15th of September, 1908.
A movement is now on foot to re-start a Zoological Garden in
Edinburgh, a provisional Committee has been formed, Messrs.
James Anderson and T. H. Gillespie have been appointed Joint-
Secretaries and Mr. W. Burn Murdoch the first Treasurer.
83. Guasaow.—The so-called ‘‘ Scottish Zoo,’ founded about
1901, in the New City Road, Glasgow, which belongs to Mr.
Bostock (Bostock and Wombwell’s Menagerie), is reported to be
closing this year.
Mr. William Nicol, ex-Bailie, has recently, in the ‘ Glasgow
Herald’ for the 4th of February, 1909, made practical suggestions
for a Municipal Zoological Garden in Glasgow.
84, Ipswich.—The Municipality of the county-town of Suf-
folk have a small collection of live animals, I am told, in a
public park.
85, Liverpoon.—A Zoological Garden was founded, if my
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 179
information is correct, in Liverpool in 1884 with a capital of
£30,000, but closed in 1886.
Two exhibitions of live animals now exist in Liverpool: the
Aquarium in the Museum, and Mr. W. S. Cross’s trading mena-
gerie in Karle Street.
86. Lonpon (Reaent’s Parx).— The Zoological Society of
London is par excellence the leading institution of its kind in the
world, both by reason of its invaluable scientific publications,
and for possessing the Zoological Gardens. The Zoological Gar-
dens which from their foundation in 1828 to the present time
have proved of such immense value and pleasure to generations
of visitors, and which during the many years that they were ad-
ministered, with such extraordinary ability and energy, by Dr.
Philip Lutley Sclater, F.R.S., and the late Mr. Abraham Dee
Bartlett obtained the great reputation which they now hold
among the practical naturalists of all countries.
The origin and history of the Regent’s Park menagerie can
be learnt from the ‘ Record of Progress ’ published by the Society
in 1901, and from Mr. Henry Scherren’s book ‘ The Zoological
Society of London’ which was published about 1906. The pre-
sent executive officers are-Dr. Peter Chalmers Mitchell, F.B.S.,
Secretary, Mr. Reginald Innes Pocock, Superintendent, and Mr.
Arthur Thomson, Assistant Superintendent.
87. Lonpon (Surrey).—The Surrey Zoological Gardens were
founded about 1829 by Mr. Edward Cross, the proprietor of the
famous Exeter Change menagerie. They were closed in 1856.
88. Lonpon (Battersea Park).—A small collection of deer
and birds is maintained in this park, on the south side of the
Thames, by the Municipality ‘‘ London County Council.”
89. Mancuester.—The Zoological Gardens, Belle Vue, Man-
chester, are the property of the Messrs. Jennison. The Jennison
family have owned and managed this institution since its founda-
tion in 1886.
An illustrated guide-book is published.
90. Sournzenp.—A few years ago a menagerie was maintained
at the ‘‘ Kursaal”’ at Southend in Essex, but apparently no
longer exists.
I have heard that there was one also at Margate in Kent.
91. Sournrort.—A Zoological Garden was started at South-
P2
180 THE ZOOLOGIST.
port in Lancashire in 1906, under the joint proprietorship of
Mr. Nathan Yates and Mr. W. Simpson Cross. Since 1908
Mr. Yates has been sole proprietor.
DENMARK.
92. CopENHAGEN.—The ‘‘ Zoologisk Have’ of Copenhagen
was founded in 1859, and is this year celebrating its ‘‘ Jubi-
leum.” Mr. Julius Schiott is Director.
FRANCE.
93. Lyons.—The beautiful Pare de la Téte-d’Or, 114 hectares*
in area, was laid out in 1857, but apparently the menagerie was
not stocked till 1872. This zoological collection belongs to the
Municipality of Lyons and is open free to all visitors. The
present Director is Monsieur P. Didier, Médecin Vétérinaire.
94. MarsEIttes. — These Zoological Gardens, founded in
1855, were originally connected with the Jardin d’Acclimatation
of Paris, but in, or about, 1898 were taken over by the Munici-
pality of Marseilles, to whom they now belong. They are under
the care of Monsieur Pierre Illy, Directeur des Travaux Neufs et
Plantations de la Ville.
95. Nicn-Ciminz.—A small, privately owned Zoological Gar-
den was opened to the public on payment towards the end of the
nineteenth century, and was closed about 1906.
96. Paris (JARDIN DES PLANTES).— As mentioned earlier in
this paper the famous menagerie attached to the French Govern-
ment Museum of Natural History was started in 1798. The
present Director of the Museum is Prof. Edmond Perrier. Prof.
Edouard Louis Trouessart is in charge of the menagerie (mam-
mals and birds), assisted by Monsieur L. E. Sauvinet. Prof.
Léon Vaillant has charge of the reptiles.
97. Paris (JARDIN D’AccLIMaTaTIoN).—The Jardin zoologique
d’Acclimatation is not a government institution, but is owned
by a society, and occupies a site, in the Bois de Boulogne, lent
by the Municipality of Paris in 1858. This site has to be handed
back to the Municipality on the 81st of December, 1962. The
buildings were commenced in 1859, and the garden was formally
opened by the Emperor Napoleon III. on the 6th of October, 1860.
The present Director is Monsieur Arthur Porte.
* A hectare = nearly 24 acres,
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 181
GERMANY.
98. Atx-LA-CHapauLe.—A small Zoological Garden was opened
at Aix about 1886, and closed about 1903.
99. ALFELD-oN-LeineE.—This little town in the Province of
Hanover does not possess a zoological garden, but contains two
important trading menageries, those of Herr C. Reiche and of
Herr Ruhe.
100. Beruin.—The famous Zoological Gardens of Berlin were
founded in 1844. The wonderful collection of mammals and
birds that they now contain is too well known to require more
than mention here. The Director is Prof. Ludwig Heck, and
Dr. O. Heinroth is scientific Assistant.
The Berlin Aquarium is a separate institution.
101. Bresuav. — One of the chief Zoological Gardens of
Kurope. Founded 1865. Director, Herr F. J. Grabowsky.
102. Casset.—No longer existing. I am not aware of the
dates when this garden started or was closed.
103. Cotoenr.—A large Zoological Garden founded in 1860.
The site being involved in the scheme of fortification for the
defence of the city, the garden authorities were restricted by
military conditions in erecting buildings in various parts of the
grounds. Certain of the animal houses had to be so constructed
_ that, if necessary, they could be completely cleared away within
a given number of hours so as to afford a clear field of fire for
the guns of the fortress. Within the last few years however
these regulations have been relaxed. The present Director is
— Dr. L. Wunderlich.
The Aquarium of Cologne is not connected with the Zoolo-
gical Gardens, but is situated in the neighbouring “Flora”
Gardens. |
104. Drespen. — Zoological Garden in the Grosse Garten,
founded in 1861. Director, Comm. Rat. Adolf Schoepf.
105. Dusseuporr. — Zoologischer Garten ‘ Scheidt-Keim-
Stiftung.” Founded 1874. Dr. Hermann Bolau, Director. As
is the case with several of the German Zoological Gardens, a
very short annual report is published.
106. Eiperretp.—A small Zoological Garden, founded in
1879. Herr Keusch has been Director since about 1903.
182 | THE ZOOLOGIST.
107. Franxrort-on-Matn. — Zoological Gardens founded in
1858. The area of the grounds is small, but the collection of
animals is very rich. There is an Aquarium in the gardens.
The present Director is Dr. Kurt Priemel.
108. HatiE-on-Saau.—Zoological Garden founded in 1901,
and rapidly growing under its first Director, Dr. G. Brandes. An
illustrated popular periodical is published.
109. Hampura.— One of the chief Zoological Gardens of
Kurope. Founded 1863. Director, Prof. Dr. J. Vosseler. Besides
guide-books and annual reports, an illustrated popular periodical
is published. There is an Aquarium in the gardens.
110. Hampure-Sre.uincen. — Herr Carl Hagenbeck’s very
original Tierpark was formally opened in 1907 at Stellingen ;
his well-known trading menagerie had long been established in
Hamburg.
111, Hampurc-GrossporsteEn.—The Tierpark of Herr August
Fockelmann is a trading menagerie established in the grounds
of a country house.
112. Hanover.—Zoological Garden in the Hilenriede, founded
in 1868. Director, Dr. E. Schaff.
113. Jena.—A small Zoological Garden started in 1901, but
closed in 1906. Herr Hugo Hahn was the proprietor.
114. Karusrune.—Zoological collection, started in 1864, in
Stadt Garten. Herr F. Ries is Garden-director.
115. Konrasperc.—The Konigsberger Tiergarten (founded in
1896), like that of Cologne, has, I am told, had to be laid out in
such a manner that in case of war its buildings will not mask
the defenders’ guns. The collection is said to be a good one, and
a large number of fish are kept. The Director is Geh. Comm.
Rat. H. Claass. |
116. Krersup.—Zoological Garden founded in 1887, since
closed (1884 ?).
117. Leipsta.—A very nice Zoological Garden founded in
1876. The former proprietor and present Director is Comm.
Rat. E. Pinkert.
118. Limpure-on-Lann. — This town has no zoological gar-
den, but is the headquarters of Herr J. Menges, the well-known
dealer in wild animals.
119. Lusecxk.—A small Zoological Garden about which I am
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 183
in some doubt, as I have been told it was closed in 1904, but
also heard it ‘‘ well spoken of” in 1907.
120. Munnavsen.—A small Zoological Garden founded in
1868, but nearly destroyed in 1870, when it became the site
of an encounter between the French and German troops. It is
now under the Municipality, Herr H. Schwantge being the
Superintendent.
121. Muncuen-Guappaco.— A small Zoological Garden for-
merly existed at this town.
122. Muntcu.—The Zoological Garden founded in 1863 ap-
pears to have come to an end in 1866. A new institution is now
in process of formation.
A collection of deer and waterfowl has long been maintained
at Nymphenburg, in the neighbourhood of Munich.
123. Munstrr.—The Westphalian Zoological Gardens were
founded in 1875. Herr Heinrich Goffart is the Inspector in
charge. Dr. H. Recker, the Director of the Natural History
Museum of the Province, and other local gentlemen form an
honorary committee of management.
124. Posen.—Zoological Garden started in 1881. Herr Max
Meissner is Director.
125. Souincen.—A small Zoological Garden owned by Wittwe
G. Baver. .
126. Stertin.—The small Zoological Garden of Stettin ap-
pears to have had a chequered career; originally opened in
1882, it closed in 1884, was re-started, but closed again in 1903,
but was open in 1907 with however a collection of only about
siX mammals and a few dozen birds, and these mostly domestic,
I am told.
127. Sturraart.—The Zoological Gardens of the capital of
Wiirtemburg have had various changes both of management and
of site. The old Royal Menagerie dates from 1812. The garden
that became so well known under the Directorship of Herr A.
Nill from 1870. The existing garden of which Herr Theodor
Widmann is proprietor is only a few years old.
128. Uum-on-Danuss. — There is no zoological garden at
Ulm, but at Donautal is the trading Tierpark and wild animal
depot of Herr Julius Mohr, jun.
184 THE ZOOLOGIST.
GREECE.
129. ArHeNs. — Zoological Gardens. Dr. W. Germanos,
Director.
HoLnanp.
130. Amsterpam. — The Society ‘‘ Natura Artis Magistra”’
owns the great institution, founded in 1888, which comprises not
only a large menagerie and gardens, but also a museum of
general zoology, a museum illustrating the fauna of Holland, an
ethnographical museum, a very good library, and one of the chief
aquariums of the world. The present Director is Dr. Coenraed
Kerbert, and the Librarian Mr. G. Janse.
131. Haavun.—Small Zoological Gardens, founded in 1863,
belonging to the Koninklyk Zoologisch Botanisch Genootschap.
A peculiar feature of the organization of this society is that the
resident executive officer may only hold office for a very limited
period ; thus in the last nine years the Directorship has been held
in succession by Major D. N. Dietz, Mr. L. J. Dobbelmann and
Mr. J. W. van de Stadt. A detailed annual report is published.
132. Rorrerpam.—The Rotterdamsche Diergaarde was founded
in 1857. The present Director of this well-known institution is
Dr. Johannes Buttikofer.
Hounaary.
133. Bupa-Prst. — Zoological Gardens founded 1867, tem-
porarily closed 1907.
Tray.
134. FLorence.—In 1487 “ Malfota, Envoy of the Sultan of
Egypt, Kaitbai,”’ brought a Giraffe alive to Florence for Lorenzo
de Medicis (fide HK. T. Hamy); and other foreign animals have
been kept in captivity there from time to time. In recent years
I have heard the “‘ Zoological Gardens” of Florence spoken of,
but have no definite information on the subject.
185. Genoa.—In 1903 I saw a small collection of animals,
that might be almost called a Zoological Garden, in the beautiful
Di Negro Gardens at Genoa, adjoining the famous Zoological
~ Museum of which the Marquis Doria is Director.
136. Pauermo, Siciuy.—I have been told that there is a
collection of wild animals in a garden, or park, near Palermo,
but from information kindly supplied by the Zoological Museum
of Palermo, I learn that there is no zoological garden there.
ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 185
137. Roms.—A Zoological Garden is now being formed.
PorTUGAL.
138. Lispon.—Jardim Zoologico e de Acclimacao em Portu-
gal. Sociedade Anonyma de Responsabilidade Limitada. The
collection is in the Parque das Laranjeiras at Lisbon. Consel-
heiro José Joaquim Ferreira Lobo is the President of the Board
of directors.
Russia.
139. Heustnerors, Finuanp.—Zoological Garden founded in
1888. Kapten M. Tamslander is the present Director.
140. Moscow.—Imperial Zoological and Botanical Gardens
founded in 1864. Monsieur Vladislav Andrevitch Pogogersci is
the present Director.
141. Sr. Pererspurc.—Zoological Gardens founded in 1871.
142. Warsaw, Potanp.—I have been unable to obtain any
information about this collection, and imagine that it no longer
exists.
SPAIN.
143. Barcetona.—Municipal Zoological Park started in 1892.
Senor Francisco de A. Darder y Llimona is the Director.
144. Maprip.—The venerable Zoological Gardens of Madrid
date from 1774. Senor Luis Cavanna is the present Director of
the ‘‘ Parque Zoologico del Retiro.”
145. XeREs.— Zoological Garden founded in 1864, owned by
a society or company. This institution was apparently still
going in the “eighties,” but I have no certain news of when it
ceased to exist.
SWEDEN.
146. SkaNnsEN, StockHoLm. — Zoological Gardens, in connec-
tion with the Museum, started in 1891. Dr. Alaric Behm is the
Director. Illustrated guide-books are published.
SWITZERLAND.
147. Bate.—Zoological Gardens founded in 1874. Dr. G.
Hagmann is the present Director. Annual reports and guide-
books are published.
148. St. Gauuien. A small collection chiefly of European
animals.
149. Zurico.—A small collection, chiefly of foreign animals,
was formed in 1902, but came to an end in 1906 (fide G. Loisel).
186 THE ZOOLOGIST.
TURKEY.
150. ConsTaNTINopLE.—A collection of live animals in a gar-
den belonging to His Imperial Majesty the Sultan. I do not
know to what extent visitors are admitted.
Addenda.
Four Zoological Gardens should be added :—
1. Bucuarest, Roumanta.
2. Hauirax, YorKsHIRE, ENGLaAND.— To be opened in May
1909 at Chevinedge, Salterhebble, near Halifax.
3. JOHANNESBURG, SoutH Arrica.—Zoological Garden in Her-
man Kekstein Park.
4, Szecuuen, Cu1na.—Zoological Garden in newly laid out
public park.
IV. BrpiioGRAPHy.
1829. E. T. Bennett: ‘ The Tower Menagerie.’ London.
1866. F. Schlegel: ‘ Die Zoologischen Garten Europas.’
Breslau. I have been unable to see a copy of this book.
1878. P. L. Martin: ‘Die Praxis der Naturgeschichte,’ III.
Weimar.
1886. A. Schoepf: ‘Gedenkblatter.’ Dresden.
1890. ‘ Lidt Zoologisk-Have Statistik.’ Copenhagen.
1898. EK. T. Hamy: ‘The Royal Menagerie of France.’
Washington (Smithsonian publication, 1155).
1908. C. V. A. Peel: ‘The Zoological Gardens of Europe.’
London.
1906. S. S. Flower: ‘ Report on Mission to Europe, 1905.’
Cairo.
1907. G. Loisel : ‘Rapport sur une Mission scientifique dans
les jardins et établissements zoologiques publics et privés du
Royaume-Uni de la Belgique et des Pays-Bas.’ Paris. Ditto:
‘De l’Allemagne, de l|’Autriche-Hongrie, de la Suisse et du Dane-
marck.’ Paris.
1908. S. 8. Flower: ‘ Notes on Zoological Collections visited
in Europe, 1907.’ Cairo.
1908. G. Loisel: Articles in the ‘ Revue scientifique’ for the
ard and 10th of October, 1908. Paris.
( 187 )
NATURAL HISTORY RECORD BUREAU (1908):
THE MUSEUM, CARLISLE.
By D. Losn Trorvr & Linnaeus EK. Hops, Keepers of the Records.
Many notes continue to be sent in to the Bureau, and though
the number of contributors is not large—that is to be expected—
a knowledge sufficient to enable an observer to identify at sight
our local fauna, either mammal, bird, reptile, or fish, is not to
be gained in a few hours. The tendency in some quarters to
accept nature notes and records unreservedy has nothing to re-
commend it, but is greatly to be deprecated.
The majority of our records naturally relate to ornithology,
birds being perhaps the most attractive class to the nature
student, and many interesting notes are herewith given.
We are glad to note that the Cumberland County Council,
realizing the need for a more detailed order respecting the pro-
tection of the smaller wild birds, has curtailed the season during
which these birds may be caught, and also given protection to
their eggs. We also note with satisfaction that the charming
but now somewhat rare Goldfinch is placed under complete pro-
tection (neither bird or egg may be taken at any season), and
that birdcatching is prohibited on Sundays.
A most interesting feature of bird-life occurred in the early
months of the year, following a spell of fairly seasonable weather
in March and early April, during which many of our resident
birds paired, and some few summer migrants arrived. Winter
again set in on April 24th, when we had four inches of snow
followed with frost for several days, with cold east and north-
east winds.
On April 24th we had the unusual phenomenon of Swallows
flitting over the snow-covered ground, and young Thrushes hop-
ping amongst the snow. During the night of April 23rd
eighteen to twenty degrees of frost were registered, and at
Head’s Nook two nests of young Thrushes were reported to be
frozen to death.
With the approach of May the wind changed, and the weather
188 THE ZOOLOGIST.
became mild, a change which was quickly noted by all wild life.
On the nights of April 80th and May 1st the largest migration
of birds recorded for many years passed over Carlisle. Migra-
tion had been retarded during the previous cold and stormy
weather, and birds appeared to be passing over in one great
mass migration. Between eleven and twelve o’clock of the night
of May 1st the air seemed full of birds; there was an incessant
chorus all round, and from out the babel were recognized
(D. L. T.) the notes of Curlew, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Black-
headed Gull, Geese, Mallard, Wigeon, Twite, and Warblers;
even the House-Sparrow was on the move, one flying against
the house-wall at Loshville as Mr. Thorpe was entering. During
the following few days the Blackcap, Garden-, Sedge-, and
Willow-Warblers were noted, and also Lesser Tern, Redstart,
Swift, Spotted Flycatcher, Common Whitethroat, and Yellow
Wagtail; the Cuckoo and Corn-Crake were also heard.
On May 6th the Whooper Swan, which had returned to the
Eden on Feb. Ist, appeared to be restless; on the following day
it was missing. We have in previous reports commented upon
this interesting and most unusual occurrence.* The bird has
now returned in 1909 for the fifth time, the date of its arrival
being Feb. 28th, exactly four weeks later than last year (1908),
which in turn is two months later than the date of its arrival in
the previous winter. The dates of its arrival and departure up
to the present are as follows :—Arrived (in young plumage),
December, 1904, left May 8th, 1905 ; returned Nov. 16th, 1905,
left April 29th, 1906 ; returned Nov. 30th, 1906, left May 7th,
1907 ; returned Feb. Ist, 1908, left May 6th, 1908; returned
Feb. 28th, 1909. Thus it is seen that, although the dates of
leaving are fairly uniform, the dates of arrival vary considerably,
and have been later each year since its first arrival in December,
1904. On the last two occasions (Feb. 1st, 1908, and Feb. 28th,
1909) its arrival was followed by cold wintry weather, though
previously the weather had been comparatively mild, tending to
show that its arrival is to a great extent controlled by climatic
or atmospheric conditions. |
Strangely enough, its return was reported to us in December,
1908, but the bird was not afterwards seen. It was subsequently
* Of. Erie B. Dunlop, Zool. 1906, p. 193.
NATURAL HISTORY RECORD BUREAU. 189
thought that the bird had arrived but had been killed; happily
this rumour proved incorrect, when the bird actually arrived in
February of this year.
We are frequently asked, ‘‘ Where does this bird spend its
summer?”
never known them do before; both together being sometimes at
the nest, while I sat watching their proceedings but a few yards
away. It was not possible to climb the ten feet of smooth rock,
but a day or two later we explored the nest by executing a flank
movement. It was composed outside chiefly of moss—of course,
with the hole in tke side—and deftly hidden under a projecting
stone; the young birds were crammed into it, and it was very
wet with heavy rain, so we abstained from taking them out to
note the nature of the lining, which was no doubt as usual of
dry grass and hairs without feathers.
At other spots along the road, such as I have described
above, we met with Bonelli again, but were unable, in spite of
minute search in at least one place, to find another nest; nor
did I again have such good opportunity of observing the parent
birds. I may say, in conclusion, that the outward appearance
of Bonelli is slightly different, to my eye at least, from that of
the other three Phylloscopi; the upper parts are greyer than
those of Chiffchaff and Willow-Wren in the breeding season, and
the wash of yellow on the under parts is barely visible to the
eye, even with the aid of a glass. There is a faint eye-stripe,
but you have to look carefully for it. For other details I must
refer the reader to the excellent account of Prof. Fatio, quoted
above. As with most of these little Warblers, the voice is really
the one easily attainable point of identification; and I think
that when this has been once heard, it can never, in spite of its
unobtrusive gentleness, be mistaken or forgotten,
AMERICAN EGRETS AS VICTIMS TO FASHION.
By Dr. A. Menecaux, Assistant, Muséum d’Histoire
Naturelle, Paris.
[Translated by the Author from a communication to ‘La Nature,’
March, 1909. |
_ Iris known that in Kurope there are two species of a genus
of Wading Birds belonging to the Heron group to which the
name of Kigrets is applied on account of the ornamental plumes
arranged in a bunch on their back, namely, the Great White
Heron or Large Egret (Ardea alba, L.) and the Little Egret
(Garzetta garzetta (L.]). Their distribution embraces nearly all
the Old World, and they are a little larger in size than similar
species of America.
The Large American Egret or Garza blanca of South America
(Herodias egretta (Wilson) or Ardea leuce, Licht.) greatly resem-
bles her sister of the Old World. Like her, she is of a beautiful
white colour, but the ornamental plumes which both sexes
possess are longer and have a thicker stem. The bare parts of
the tibiee are always black, like the tarsi and claws. The lores are
chrome-yellow, as is the bill, which often in the case of the sitting
bird is marked by a continvous black line along the culmen. The
“aigrettes,” which go beyond the tail, appear in July to mark
the breeding plumage, and they fall in October when the young
leave their parents. It follows that the winter plumage is the
same as that of summer, with the exception that the ornamental
plumes are wanting. The young have a white downy plumage,
without aigrettes. The male attains to a total length of thirty-
eight inches.
The Snowy Heron, Little American Egret or Chumita of the .
indigenous breeds (Leucophoyx or Ardea candidissima, Gm.), is
much smaller in size than the one above referred to, viz.
twenty inches. The body is entirely white, but the bill is
black, except at the base of the lower mandible. The lores are
246 THE ZOOLOGIST
yellow and the tibie and tarsi black. The ornamental plumes,
produced by both sexes, thus form a train on the back, and are
of great delicacy. They are arched at the point towards the tip
and in front, owing to which they have been termed ‘‘ crosses”
by the trade. On the nape is a crest, a tuft of fine elongated
plumes, ‘‘ non-recurved-like,” on the fore neck. These are more
developed in the male than in the female. In winter both sexes
lose these beautiful feathers. The young bird has an occipital
crest before it produces the dorsal feathers of the adult.
These two species of Egrets are found throughout the whole
of the temperate and tropical zones of America, from the United
States to Chili and Patagonia. They live in colonies consisting
of thousands upon thousands of birds, in heronries established —
in the lagoons which form rivers at the time of periodic rise.
These families are particularly numerous in the immense lagoons
and marshes formed by the Orinoco and its affluents, which can
only be reached by the boats called ‘‘pirogues” in the midst of
hordes of Caimans, whose length varies from sixteen to twenty-
three feet. These waters are also inhabited by numerous
ferocious and voracious fishes, the Pirayes and the Caribes,
always on the alert to seize and devour anything that comes in
their way. The slightest movement of the water attracts them
by the thousand. Woe to the young Egrets and even to the im-
prudent hunter who comes within the reach of the Caimans.
It is the large Egret which is the first to nest about the
beginning of July. The small species does not arrive until the
young of the large species have left the nest in October. The
nests of both species are made of dry twigs; they are flat, placed
three or six feet above the water-level on the mangroves, guava,
and other marsh-trees, where the vegetation is very dense. The
nest of the large Egret is from eight to ten inches in diameter,
and contains two or three blue eggs. The nest of the smaller
species is built nearer the water, but it is of the same con-
struction, and has either two or three bluish eggs. These are
not hatched until the end of November.
Among these colonies various nests are found belonging tog
the Roseate Spoonbill (Ajaja ajaja, L.), to the Crested Boat-bill
(Cancroma cochlearia, L.), to the Anhingas (Plotus anhinga, L.),
to the Red Ibis, and, lastly, to the American Wood Ibis (Tantalus
AMERICAN EGRETS AS VICTIMS TO FASHION. 247
loculator, L.). The last-named build on the tops of masses of
foliage, where they break the twigs to form a kind of platform
for their nests. All this busy multitude, fully engaged in search-
ing for food and for rearing their young, fill the air with their
cries which are as deafening as manifold.
From July to October, during the nesting and rearing season,
the male and female possess their ornamental feathers ; those of
the male of the large species are the longer, and have a thicker
stem than those of the female. In the male of the smaller species
the tip of the feathers is very strongly curved, whereas in the
female it is scarcely arched. In France these feathers are named
in the trade ‘‘aigrettes”’ and ‘“‘crosses,’’ whereas in England they
are known as “ ospreys.’’ They are made up in small packets
of forty sprays, which are called “‘ parures”’ or “‘sets’’; the
small Egret produces forty to fifty sprays, weighing a little more
than one gramme. A thousand sprays weigh an ounce (thirty
grammes) ; it takes thirty-three thousand sprays to make a kilo.
The “‘ ospreys”’ of the Asiatic species are heavier, as it only re-
quires eight hundred of them to make the ounce and twenty-
seven thousand the kilo. With the large species it is just the
opposite. The Kegrets of the American variety are heavier ; each
bird produces from forty-five to sixty, weighing 6°5 to 8 grammes.
Two hundred and forty of these go to the ounce and eight
thousand to the kilo, whereas in the case of feathers of Asiatic
origin three hundred go to the ounce or ten thousand to
the kilo.
The wholesale price of these feathers is very variable, even
during the course of a year. According to the requirements of
fashion it may rise to eighty francs per ounce for ‘‘ aigrettes”’ or
two thousand seven hundred francs per kilo, and two hundred
and fifty francs an ounce for ‘‘ ospreys”’ or eight thousand three
hundred franes per kilo; but these prices may fall to almost
nothing when they are out of fashion.
The chief country producing these feathers is Venezuela,
where they are also sent from Colombia and from Brazil. It is
stated that the incursions by the natives have already diminished
the number of Egrets in these regions; but it is well to guard
against any exaggeration, as there is no need to make holocausts
of Kgrets to obtain their ornamental feathers. In fact, M. Geay,
248 THE ZOOLOGIST.
who lived for many years in Venezuela, in Darien, in French
Guiana and in Conteste, ascertained that the breeding plumage
of these birds is ephemeral, and that this decoration which ap-
pears in July has all fallen off by October. This also takes place
with the Chumita, but somewhat later. During the moulting
season each year beautiful feathers may be seen scattered about
in large numbers on the bushes and under the trees in the
neighbourhood of the lagoons and small watercourses where
these birds fish daily, and which are frequently situated at a
considerable distance from their heronries. The natives gather
these feathers (which would otherwise be wasted) up by the pound
and sell them, consequently neither of the two species suffer any
detriment. When these feathers are picked up in good time they
are, says M. Geay, as beautiful as those taken from the killed
birds. Under no circumstances are they plucked from the living
bird. :
M. Geay assures us that the huntsmen always spare the
young birds which have no ornamental feathers, and that in a
heronry the young orphans are never abandoned, but are fed by
the neighbours. These birds in this matter furnish us with a
touching example of social solidarity.
To manage such a source of revenue it is evident that the
heronries must not be depopulated by the huntsmen. Only we
must not admit without convincing proofs that the existence of
both species, distributed on so vast a scale, can be jeopardised by |
hunting excursions conducted during a comparatively short period
in such restricted areas as those they affect. The conditions in
the Old and New World are very far from being the same, and
the protective measures necessary in the Old World may indeed
not be indispensable in the New.
The decrease which it is thought has been ascertained 1s
more likely due to a change of domicile of the birds caused by
hitherto uninhabited regions having become the home of man.
These birds, when leaving places that had become too noisy or
dangerous owing to the vicinity of man, would look for some in-
accessible spots where their security would appear to be greater.
This would therefore be a particular case in a general fact, the
withdrawal of the wild species on the advance of man.
The caprice of fashion can hardly be more than a very
AMERICAN EGRETS AS VICTIMS T'0 FASHION. 249
secondary cause; its exigencies are so uncertain in their period-
icity and duration, and cause such fluctuations in price, that
the plumage of one species is at one time enormously costly, and
at another the prices are so low that the search for feathers be-
comes unremunerative and ceases altogether. It is then that the
species finds time to recuperate. ‘This is the case at the present
moment in regard to Humming-Birds, at one time in such great
— demand.
Under these circumstanceg, it would seem that the Bill,
accepted by the English House of Lords and referred back to
the House of Commons, the object of which is to restrict decora-
tive birds to those used for purposes of food, and which would
prohibit in England the importation and sale of the plumage
of all those species that serve for decoration alone, would over-
step the purpose in view, and would be seriously detrimental to
the trade and to feather-dressers. This is a very complex
question, towards the solution of which still further information
seems essential.
As to Egrets, the real remedy would probably lie in domesti-
cation, by means of which these two species would lose their
migratory instinct, just as tame Ducks and Geese have lost it.
The difficulties would not be insurmountable, but probably much
less than those which the English colonists at the Cape have
had to overcome in domesticating the Southern Ostrich. Various
attempts have already been made, but they have not been perse-
vered in for a sufficiently long period.
On this subject the Editor reprints a Leaflet issued by “‘ The
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds,” which bears a diffe-
rent construction :—
Dealers in plumes are circulating statements to the effect that
the Egret or “Osprey” plumes are moulted feathers, and that the
birds are not killed in order to procure them. In particular a letter
is being largely disseminated both in England and Australia, headed
“Importation of Plumage Prohibition Bill—How the Osprey Feathers
are Procured.” It is in imitation type-writing, signed ‘ Leon La-
glaize,” and dated “ Buenos Ayres, July 29th, 1908,” but there is no
indication of the persons to whom it is addressed or by whom it is
250 THE ZOOLOGIST.
circulated. This letter professes to give an account of regions in
Venezuela and Argentina where, it says, the birds are strictly pro-
tected in the nesting-time by ‘‘a sort of armed police composed of
natives,” the impression conveyed being that these vast llanos, covered
by the flood-waters of the great rivers, resemble English shooting
preserves where patrolling keepers warn off the village poacher. It
further states that ‘the natives in charge paddle their canoes, circu-
lating under the trees, and go on picking up the feathers that have
fallen into the water during the night”; also that after the breeding
season a “ valuable amount of feathers” is collected from the aban-
doned nests: ‘‘The feathers have been skilfully rolled in to furnish
and soften the interior. These nest-feathers are of the best kind, for
they have been pulled off by the bird itself before laying the eggs.”
In order to test the amount of truth in this document, and in
similar stories, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has
obtained the facts of the case from H.B.M.’s Ministers in Venezuela
and Argentina, and from well-known scientific authorities in other
parts of the world where Egrets breed and “Osprey” hunters are at
work. The letters are printed in the Society’s Leaflet No. 60,
‘“Moulted Plumes.” The following extracts contain the pith of the —
matter :—
Sir Vincent Corbett, H.B.M. Minister at Caracas, writes (Jan. 14th,
1909) :—‘ From the evidence before me I have no manner of doubt
that the vast majority of the Egret plumes exported to Europe are
obtained by the slaughter of the birds during or about the breeding
season, and that no effective regulations exist or indeed, owing to
local conditions, can exist for the control of this slaughter, and that
the letter of Mr. Leon Laglaize, of July 29th, 1908, gives a completely
erroneous impression of the conditions under which the industry of
collecting the plumes is conducted in Venezuela.”
The information enclosed, coming from several correspondents;
states :—‘‘In the Tucacas district the coast is one continuous man-
grove swamp intersected by creeks. At certain times of the year
flocks of Hgrets, returning from their feeding-grounds, pass over
these swamps in the evening. Shooting parties, armed with all sorts
of nondescript firearms, wait for them up the creeks, and when over-
head fire a volley right into the middle of the flock. The dead and
wounded birds are then collected, the plumes torn out, and the bodies
thrown back into the water. The large ‘garceros’ are those of the
Orinoco frequented by the birds during certain months of the year.
The owners no doubt do their best to protect the birds, not from any
AMERICAN EGRETS AS VICTIMS TO FASHION. 251
humane motive but for fear that they should abandon the ‘garcero '
if disturbed too much; but this is always difficult. It is not like
preserving a covert. Persons who pay for the right of collecting the
plumes have no scruples about destroying the birds. Thevr object is to
get as much as they possibly can for their money. The short or
‘crosse’ feathers from the Little Egret are exclusively collected from
birds shot for the purpose. These feathers are so delicate that they
are broken and torn in the bushes and thorns before they are moulted,
and the dropped feathers are therefore valueless for trade purposes.
The difference between feathers collected from birds which have been
killed and feathers moulted by the birds is notable and easily recog-
nized. The former, called ‘live feathers’ out here, are much superior
in appearance, they possess greater brilliancy, smoothness, and elas-
ticity; while the latter, called ‘dead,’ are dull, brittle, and dirty.
Statements circulated that the feathers are collected from abandoned
nests, and that Indians make their living by picking up moulted
feathers, do not appear to be founded on fact. The birds are in full
plumage after the month of June, and they begin to moult in October.
The nesting and breeding season begins in August, during the height
of the wet season, and by November the young birds are fledged. The
Little Egret breeds somewhat later than the larger Heron. The
season for collecting feathers begins about July and continues to the
end of November.”
H.B.M. Consul at Rosario, Santa Fé (Argentina), writes (Jan. 16th,
1909) :—*‘ Some few years ago, owing to the demand for feathers of
the Heron and other birds and the high prices paid, the birds which
formerly were very plentiful on the islands bordering all along the
River Parana were almost exterminated by the islanders and others,
who made a profitable living in hunting them. Although this country
has provided laws to prevent shooting out of season, such laws are
seldom enforced—in fact, in the inland island districts where the
birds exist, or used to, it would be impossible, owing to the vast
district, to enforce the laws. As far as I am aware there are no
‘Egret farms’ established in the Argentine, and if shooting, as it is,
is prohibited in some parts by landowners, it is solely with a view to
prevent their herds being injured by inexperienced sportsmen.”
Mr. J. Quelch, B.Sc. (Lond.), formerly Curator British Guiana
Museum, Adviser to the Government for the granting of Licences to
kill Wild Birds, writes (Noy. 29th, 1908) :—‘‘ During a residence of
Seventeen years in British Guiana, and with an experience of travel
ranging from the Hastern Orinoco to the borders of Surinam, and
252 THE ZOOLOGIST.
inland into Brazil and Venezuela, along the eastern upper waters of
the Amazon and the Orinoco, I have never known nor heard of any such
method of collection as that described by Mr. Laglaize. Until the
Government in Demerara put into force the stringent provisions of
the Wild Birds Ordinance, a brisk trade was carried on by many
people in the export of birds’ skins, and largely of Osprey plumes.
These feathers were obtained by killing the Egrets in the breeding
season and cutting off the skin of the back on which the plumes were
borne.”
Mr. H. EH. Dresser, author of ‘The Birds of Europe,’ writes
(Noy. 16th, 1908) :—‘ All I can say is that I do not believe the state-
ments in it. Out of hundreds of Egrets’ nests which I have examined
I have never found one in which were feathers of the birds themselves
amongst the lining, certainly never a single one of the so-called
‘Osprey’ plumes. I never heard of any trade being done in moulted
plumes, and do not believe the tale about the Egret colonies being
farmed out for cast plumes.”
Mr. Frank M. Chapman, Curator of the American Museum of
Natural History at New York, writes (Nov. 30th, 1908) :—‘ So far as
my own somewhat extended experience in our Southern States is con-
cerned, I may say without fear of contradiction by those in a position
to know that moulted Egret plumes are never gathered for com-
mercial purposes.”
Mr. Gilbert T. Pearson, Secretary of the National Association of
Audubon Societies, writes (Dec. 1st, 1908) :—‘‘ In the most populous
Egret colonies that I have ever visited, cast-off plume feathers are so
scarce that an entire day’s search would not reward the hunter with
enough to decorate one lady’s hat. The feathers are never used for
lining the nest, as the latter is composed entirely of dead sticks and
twigs.”
Mr. H. HE. Mattingley, in the ‘Emu,’ the organ of the Australasian
Ornithologists’ Union, writes:—‘‘ The only method by which the
hunters are able to obtain Egrets’ plumes in quantities is to shoot
the birds on their nests.”
( 253 )
ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORTH DEVON.
By Bruce F. Cummines.
On May 1st, while on Braunton Burrows, near the Hospital
Ship, I heard a Grasshopper- Warbler (Locustella nevia) ‘ reel-
ing’”’ for some minutes, and eventually caught a good view of the
bird as it crept to the top of a bush in which it was concealed,
and then flew off to another. This Warbler is a rare bird in North
Devon, and Messrs. Matthew and D’Urban state, in ‘The Birds
of Devon,’ that they were never able to detect it here. I watched
subsequently, but I do not think the bird remained in the
district.
A Green Woodpecker (Gecinus viridis), found frequenting the
sandhills, was shot by Mr. C. Petherick, a mariner, who has
“been abroad,” and, to his surprise, it was not a Parrakeet.
A French Partridge (Caccabis rufa) was picked up under the
telegraph-wires, near Barnstaple, in March of last year. Our
wet climate seems very uncongenial to the bird, and it is rarely
reported, at all events in the north of the county.
Three nests of the Buzzard (Buteo vulgaris) were said to have
been found last spring in the woods around Combe Martin,
‘while in the Lynton district this bird breeds even more freely ;
but the woodmen appear to have become corrupted beyond all
salvation, and I am told that they robbed something like fifteen
nests of the Buzzard last year around Lynton alone! I saw one
nest at Lynton in the “lap” of an oak with a huge girth, which
contained a couple of eggs which subsequently were stolen, much
to my reeret.
The Watersmeet Valley, Lynton, during the summer, is alive
with the song of the Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus minor) and the
Wood-Warbler (P. sibilatriz). I have never seen the latter
before in any other part of the county, and it is, most distinctly,
a very local bird. In the same valley I saw a pair of Redstarts
(Ruticilla pheenicurus), which were obviously breeding. The
254 THE ZOOLOGIST,
Redstart is rare in the Barnstaple district, and scarce every-
where in North Devon. They were the only pair of birds which
I have found actually resident in North Devon.
While on Exmoor, near Brendon, in June last year I watched
a certain bird for some time, and satisfied myself that it was a
male Harrier, but I do not know which species. I think it must
have been the Hen-Harrier. The female was also present, and
the probabilities are that they were resident.
A Short-eared Owl (Asio accipitrinus) was flushed on Halsinger
Down, Braunton, by members of the Botanical Walk, on July
16th. This is one more instance of this bird being in the
Braunton district during the summer (vide Zool., January, 1907,
p. 28).
During September I noticed a Ring-Ouzel (Turdus torquatus)
in the Tavy Cleave, near Dridestowe, Dartmoor. On Exmoor,
according to my own somewhat limited experience of the district
and to the wider experience of others, the Ring-Ouzel has become
very much reduced in numbers, and is not so often seen as it
used to be. :
There was a Purple Sandpiper (Tinga striata) on the River
Taw in the second week of December, and also several single
Grey Plover about, and numbers of Golden Plover. On Jan. 2nd
I spent the best part of the afternoon watching two Brent Geese
in the water near Crow at the estuary.
A White-tailed Eagle (Haliaétus albicilla) was shot during
March by a farmer near West Buckland, who saw it sailing over
a field, and thought it was going to attack his lambs. The
bird was set up by a Barnstaple birdstuffer, at whose premises
I saw it afterwards. The bird was in poor plumage, and the
tail was very much abraded, several of the shafts of the tail-
feathers being quite bare of barbs. This indicates, perhaps,
former captivity, as the state of the tail might well have been
caused by being dragged over the bottom of acage. The colour
of the tail was a dirty sandy colour, the weight, in the flesh, ten
pounds, wing expanse a little over seven feet. The bill was
brownish black, and the cere was not yellow but of a dark brown
shade. There were numerous bristles on the skin around the
base of the bill. The specimen was that of a young bird. Ae:
cording to Messrs. Matthew and D’Urban, the majority of the
ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORTH DEVON, 255
White-tailed Eagles obtained in this county have been imma-
ture birds.
I was glad to observe last spring a pair of Redshanks (T'’otanus
calidris) on Braunton marshes, which evidently had a nest in the
vicinity. I madea repeated search for the nest, and subsequently
the gamekeeper, Mr. J. Petherick, stumbled across the young birds
in a marsh not far from his house. The young were still unable
to fly, and were accompanied by the old birds in great distress.
Although the Redshank has often been suspected of breeding in
the north of Devon, I am not aware that the suspicion has been
hitherto definitely substantiated by fact. The only other record
I have seen of its nesting in the county is one made by Mr.
I. A. §. Elliott, who found young birds in June, 1894, at Slap-
ton Ley, South Devon. The keeper told me he had never known
the birds breed on the Braunton marshes before, nor had he ever
seen them there in the breeding season until now, and my own
observations agree with this. This year there were two pairs on
the marshes in April, but latterly only one pair. This pair I
have repeatedly watched, yet have not succeeded, nor has the
gamekeeper, in finding either the young or the eggs.
On May 24th last the keeper showed mea nest of the Shoveler
(Spatula clypeata) situated in a marshy field near the duck-ponds
at the Taw estuary. The young birds had hatched out three
days before, but the down and feathers, together with the broken
ege-shells, were quite sufficient to bear out the statement of the
keeper, who saw the female sitting. He is a careful observer
of the birds of his district, and thinks a pair have bred on the
ponds every spring since 1906, the year I first recorded this
species as resident (Zool., January, 1907, p. 22).
256 THE ZOOLOGIST.
NOTES ON THE FISHES OF JAPAN.*—No. IV.+
By Prorrssor McInrosu, M.D., LL.D., F.RB.S., &c.
BEtoneine to the group of the Mackerels and Perches is the
pelagic Istiophorust orientalis, T. & §., a Sail-fish of ten feet in
length, and weighing 164 lb., having a huge dorsal fin which
stands more than the depth of the body above it, and which
may, as Dr. Gunther says, be used as a sail before the wind.
The dorsum of the fish has a dark green glow with bluish dots,
the large dorsal fin being of a similar hue with bluish-black dots.
The annual catch of this fish is about 11,823,687 lbs., and it is
captured by means of harpoons, and generally consumed fresh.
It is excellent food. As a rule it swims in pairs, with the huge
fin erect and above water, especially in windy and rough weather,
when the fishermen more easily approach it to hurl a harpoon;
the line is then paid out until the fish, after furious efforts,
exhausts itself. A figure on the same plate with the foregoing
represents T'etrapturus albidus, Poey, which much resembles the
Sword-fishes in habits, and is probably caught and eaten like the
foregoing, though no remarks accompany it.
Three members of the Herring Family (Clupeide) are dealt
with in this fascicle, viz. Clupea pallasi, C. & V., Etrumeus micro-
pus, T. & §., and Engraulis japonicus, T. & 8. The first, or
North Pacific Herring, is perhaps the most important Japanese
fish, both as food and as a fertilizer in farming. Like our own
Herring, its record shows no diminution, and there are probably
ereater numbers of this fish in the Pacific—just as there are
sreater numbers of the Common Herring in the Atlantic—than
any other species. Even were it possible to remove every other
species of fish and those which prey on them, the supply for
* ‘The Economic Fishes of Japan,’ by Professors Otaki, Fujita, and
Higurashi. No. I. vol. v., four plates. Shokwabo, Tokyo, Japan. 1909.
+ Previous communications on this subject will be found in ‘ The Zoolo-
gist,’ 1904, p. 247; 1906, p. 143; 1907, p. 450.
| Histiophorus, Giinther.
oo
NOTES ON THE FISHES OF JAPAN. 257
man would be very considerable. Bjornson’s statement that
wherever a ‘“‘school” of Herring touches the coast of Norway
there a village springs up would be applied by Starr Jordan,
with good reason, to Scotland, Newfoundland, and from Alaska
to Japan. The authors of the ‘ Fishes of Japan’ observe that
the total catch for 1901 was 7,825,380 lbs., in 1902, 8,979,580 lbs.,
and in 1908, 9,746,680 lbs. The fishery takes place chiefly in
March and April off Hokkaido, when the temperature of the
water is 42°80° (6°C.), and frequent visits are made by the
‘schools’ during the year to the shallow water inshore. Its
eges are deposited on the seaweeds and the bottom in masses, as
in the British form, and each is said to deposit from 40,000 to
110,000 eggs, a considerably larger number, if correct, than in
the case of the British Herring, which has from 20,000 to
47,000. The egg is transparent, 1 mm. in diameter, and with
an oil globule. Fishing is by gill-nets and pound-nets, of which
a sketch is given. Besides the Herring itself the roe is dried, and
forms an important article of diet in Japan.
The Urume-iwashi (Htrwmeus microps), the second form, is
found on the eastern shores of Japan, keeping to the deeper
water, and seldom visiting the bays except to spawn. It is
caught by gill-nets, seines, and a portable pound-net called
“ Hachida-ami,”’ which is set horizontally, the fishes being led
to it by three boats carrying torches, two extinguishing their
lights when they reach the net. The net is then lifted, and
when nearly hauled the third boat also puts out its light. No
statistics are given of the captures, but they are probably con-
siderably less than is the case of the North Pacific Herring,
It is consumed either fresh or dried in the sun.
The Japanese Anchovy, which resembles our own, extends
from the south of Hokkaido to Kiushiu. Its egg is also pelagic
and ovoid with a reticulated yolk. ‘‘ Schools” of Anchovies visit
the bays from April to June to spawn. They are captured by
drag-seine, sweep-nets, and a kind of set-net. Besides being
used as an article of food, it is employed as a fertilizer on farms,
like the Sprat of the Firth of Forth. The fry are also largely
used in the dietary of the Japanese, a sufficient proof of their
great abundance, and in a country where such captures have
been made for ages.
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., July, 1909. Xx
258 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Two Gadoids, a group so interwoven with the fortunes of the
British Fisheries, are alluded to in this fasciculus, viz. Pollachius
brandti, Hilgend, the Madara or Common Codfish of Japan, and
Theragra chalcogramma, a lean Gadoid. The former is found in ~
latitudes above 40° N. on rough ground, the most important
fishery being off the west coast of Hokkaido. It attains a length
of 4-7 ft. and a weight of 38 lbs. It is chiefly used in the dried
state, and the roes are also salted and dried. It spawns in
January and February, and the pelagic eggs are 1°4 mm. in —
diameter, and are hatched in thirteen days at a temperature of
44°6° I’. (7° C.), and therefore in this respect do not differ much
from the British Cod. It is captured mainly by gill-nets and
trawl-lines somewhat after the fashion of those on our own coast.
Statistics are not given up to date, but, in 1901, 6,175,000 lbs.
was the total catch. It will be interesting for future naturalists
to watch the progress of this fishery in Japan, surrounded as it
is by sea like Britain, and with the vast North and South Pacific
oceans in continuity. History will probably repeat itself as the
fishing industry in Japan extends. |
The other Gadoid or Suketo-dara (Theragra), the Alaska
Pollack, is a deep-water fish somewhat like a Whiting, though
the tips of the pelvics are longer and the first anal short. It is
a valuable food-fish widely diffused through the North Pacific,
attains a length of two feet, and is the cause of important
fisheries off the Japanese coasts. In 1895 the total catch was
11,717,690 lbs. It would have been instructive if the authors had
added statistics of this and other food-fishes up to date, but per-
haps such were not available. The Alaska Pollack spawns in
the shallow waters in April, but no mention is made of the eggs,
which are probably pelagic. It is captured by similar methods
to the former.
The last of the series is the so-called ‘‘ Dolphin” or Dorado
(Coryphena hippuris, L.), a fairly large, swift, predaceous fish
well known in all warm seas, but which does not seem to reach
so large a size (6 ft.) as in other seas, the Japanese form being
33 ft. and having a weight of 18-15 lbs., for it is not indicated that
capture of the smaller forms is preferred for economic purposes,
as in the case of the Tunny. It is esteemed both in the fresh
and the salted condition, and is as popular in Western Japan as §
NOTES ON THE FISHES OF JAPAN. 259
the Salmon in the North-east. It spawns in May and June,
when it seeks the proximity of a wooded coast, and the young,
which differ in their elongated form and in other respects from
the aduli, are stated to be seven or eight inches long in six
months after they are hatched. It would be important, how-
ever, to follow their development from the egg. It is captured
by hook and line, but also by an ingenious method with a decoy-
bush and raft constructed of bamboo. When the fishes congre-
gate under the raft they are caught by hooks baited with Squids.
Another method is to encircle by means of two boats the decoy-
bush and bamboos by a loop of a seine-net, whilst a third boat
by and by enters the circle and drives the Dolphins into the fish-
pocket by beating the surface of the water with sticks, and then
the circle is closed. The plan of using strong bare hooks beneath
the fishes and jerking them out of the water would seem to be
adapted for this fish when congregated under the decoy-bush and
raft of bamboos.
The Plates in this fascicle are four in number and represent
eight species. Their execution would do credit to any country.
The artist, K. Ito, is to be congratulated on his work, and similar
commendation is merited by the lithographer, E. Koshiba.
x2
260 THE ZOOLOGIST.
TWO UNRECORDED ‘CHALLENGER’ HYDROIDS rrom
THE BERMUDAS, with a NOTE on tor SYNONYMY
of CAMPANULARIA INSIGNIS.
By James Rircuir, M.A., B.Sce., Natural History Department,
The Royal Scottish Museum.
In the course of an examination—due to the kindness of
Mr. R. Kirkpatrick, of the British Museum—of the type speci-
mens of Campanularia insignis, Allman, collected by the ‘ Chal-
lenger,’ two epizoic Hydroids were observed creeping upon the
larger colonies. These must have been overlooked by Allman,
for they are not mentioned in his account of the ‘ Challenger ’
Hydroid collection ; and since they extend the gevgraphical
ranges of their species considerably, and are new to the fauna
of the Bermudas, it seems worth placing their occurrence on
record.
Lafoéa venusta, Allman, 1877.
A very few of the hydrothece of this species are scattered
over the stems of C. insignis, but no gonosome occurred in con-
nection with the specimens examined.
It is a striking fact, to which Dr. Jaderholm* has already
drawn attention, that of the recorded occurrences of L. venusta,
on each occasion the colonies were climbing over the stems and
branches of Obelia (Lytoscyphus) marginata, Allman, and of it
alone. This is true again of the ‘ Challenger’ specimen, for, as
stated below, C. insignis, Allman, 1888, is a synonym of O. mar-
ginata, Allman, 1877.
L. venusta appears to be confined to the tropical and sub-
tropical portions of the western board of the North Atlantic
Ocean. It has been recorded from Logger-Head Key, nine
fathoms (Allman, 1877); from ten miles north of Zoblos Island
(Clarke, 1879); from Anguilla, Antilles, one hundred to one
hundred and fifty fathoms (Jiéderholm, 1903); and the present
* Jiderholm, E., ‘ Arkiv fér Zool., utg. af Kgl. Svenska Vetenskapsakad.’
19038, Bd. i. p. 274. !
HYDROIDS FROM THE BERMUDAS. 261
occurrence, from off the Bermudas, thirty fathoms, widens the
geographical range considerably northwards.
Aglaophenia cylindrata, Versluys, 1899.
There is little to distinguish the trophosome of this species
from that of A. rhynchocarpa, Allman, and indeed, were it not
for the rather marked differences in the corbule—that of the
former having been described by Jaderholm,* that of the latter
by Allmant and Nutting{—one would be tempted to regard the
two designations as synonymous. In the examples growing
over C. insignis, corbule are unfortunately absent, and in identi-
fying them with A. cylindrata I have relied upon the different
proportions of the hydrotheca, the less marked concavity of the
anterior profile, and upon the fact that in every point the ‘ Chal-
lenger ’ specimens agree with the minute and careful description
and figures of Versluys. There is considerable diversity in the
shape assumed by the chitinous distal end of the hydrothecal
keel.
Dimensions :—Length of colony up to20 mm. Stem inter-
nodes: length, 0°29-0°34 mm.; diameter, 0°15-0°22mm. Hydro-
theca: length, 0°24-0'°27 mm.; diameter at mouth, 0°14 mm.;
proportion of adnate part of mesial sarcotheca to length of hydro-
theca, less than one-third.
The species has hitherto been found only in the Antilles:
from Testigos Islands (Versluys), and from Anguilla (Jaderholm).
The present record, ‘‘ off Bermudas, thirty fathoms,” is much
further north.
These species were climbing on the specimens described by
Allman in 1888 as Campanularia insignis. Dr. Billard, having
examined the type specimens of this species in the British
Museum, declares that they do not differ from C. juncea (Lyto-
scyphus juncea) of the same author, both of these being synonyms
of Ksper’s species, Lytoscyphus fruticosus.§
* Jaderholm, E., ‘Arkiv for Zool., utg. af Kgl. Svenska Vetenskapsakad.’
1903, p. 297, pl. xiv. fig. 2.
+ Allman, J. G., 1877, ‘Mem. Mus. Comp. Zoo. Harvard,’ vol. v. No. 2,
p. 40, pl. xxiii. fig. 8.
{| Nutting, C. C.,1900, ‘* American Hydroids. Part I. The Plumularide,”’
p. 90 (Spec. Bull. Smithson. Inst. Washington).
§ Billard, A., ‘ Sur les Haleciide, Campanulariide, et Sertulariide du
Challenger’ (Comptes rendus Acad. Se. Paris, Dec. 14th, 1908, p. 1).
262 THE ZOOLOGIST.
I am not prepared to admit, however, that L. insignis and
L. juncea are identical, for in the hydrotheca alone characters
exist apparently sufficient to distinguish the two forms. Thus,
while ZL. juncea has a hydrotheca shaped like the bowl of a clay
pipe, with an almost straight abcauline and a strongly humped
adcauline profile, LZ. insignis has an almost symmetrical hydro-
theca, with both abcauline and adcauline profiles nearly straight.
In the former, again, the proximal portion of the hydrotheca
narrows suddenly in forming the peduncle; in the latter the
transition from hydrotheca to peduncle is very gradual, the
hydrotheca tapering gently from rim to base. Again, while in
L. juncea the rim is bordered by a double line (Pictet),* in those
hydrothece of Z. insignis which I have examined only a single
line is present, the thickened band of chitin lying exactly along
the border of the cup, while in the Ceylon species it lies well
within the margin.
Some difference seems to occur in the gonangia also, for
while Congdonf figures for ZL. insignis both furrowed and smooth
gonothece, scarcely any of which exceed the length of the hydro-
thece, Miss Thornely’s figures of ZL. juncea show that the gono-
thece are considerably larger than the hydrothece, ‘‘ about one-
third as long again.” Pictet’s figures, on the contrary, make
the gonangia of L. juncea shorter than the hydrothece.
It seems improbable, therefore, that L. juncea and L. insignis
are synonyms, but there can be no doubt that Campanularia in-
signis, Allman, 1888, is identical with Obelta marginata, Allman,
1877. The distinctions pointed out by Allman§ are insignificant.
Indeed, the inverted cone shape which he attributes to the
hydrothece of the latter describes exactly those of the former,
while the ‘“‘annular segment between the peduncle of the hydro-
theca and its supporting internode ’’—characteristic of Campanu-
* Pictet, C., 1893, ‘Etude sur les Hydraires de la Baie d’Amboine”
(Rev. Suisse de Zool. T. i. p. 37).
+ Congdon, E. D., ‘‘ The Hydroids of Bermuda” (Proc. American Acad.
Arts and Se. vol. xlii. No. 18, p. 467, figs. 10 and 12).
t Thornely, L. R., ‘On the Hydroida.” In Report on the Pearl Oyster
Fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar, by Prof. W. A. Herdman, F.R.S., Suppl.
Rep. vol. vill. Royal Soc. London, 1904, p. 114, pl. 1, figs. 1, La.
§ Allman, J. G., 1888, ‘Report on the Hydroida”’ (Scientific Res. ‘ Chal:
lenger,’ Zool., vol, xxiii. p. 19).
HYDROIDS FROM THE BERMUDAS. 263
laria insignis—occurs on only a few hydrothece, and even there
is abnormal, signifying the occurrence of a truncation of the
hydrotheca and subsequent regeneration (cf. the same pheno-
menon as described by me in T'hyroscyphus tridentatus).* The
minute characters of the two ‘‘species” are in absolute agree-
ment, and even the fact that the parasitic Hydroid, Lafoéa
venusta, which hitherto has always been found on Obelia margi-
nata, now occurs on Campanularia msignis, points to the identity
of the two. It is significant also that Jaderholm found on a
specimen of Obelia marginata, from the Antilles, the epizoites
Lafoéa venusta and Aglaophenta cylindrata, both of which we have
now recorded as occurring upon the type specimens of Campanu-
laria insignis.
It is clear, therefore, that Allman’s name, Campanularia in-
signis, is a Synonym, and must fall into disuse. Since the charac-
ters of Obelia marginata place it in Pictet’s genus Lytoscyphus,
priority decides that Lytoscyphus marginata must be regarded
(until the evidence of the alleged identity of L. juncea and Cam-
panularia insignis has become more conclusive) as the name by
which the species should be known.
* Ritchie, Jas., 1909, “‘Supplementary Report on the Hydroids of the
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition” (Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh,
vol. xlvii. part i. p. 75).
264 THE ZOOLOGIST.,
NOTES ON THE COMMON MAYFLY (EPHEMERA
VULGATA) AND OTHER SPECIES.
By Gorpon DALGuiEsH.
‘Tue name of “‘ Mayfly” is a somewhat paradoxical one, since
the perfect insect is found in greater numbers in June than May.
Previous to this year (1909), the earliest date I had of its appear-
ance was June 2nd, but this year I noticed it first on May 19th.
Larvule. Nymph. Imago.
]iPHEMERA VULGATA.
This early ‘‘ hatch’ was in all probability due to the long spell
of lovely warm weather. From the ‘ Fishing Gazette’ of May
22nd I quote the following notes :—
‘‘Mayflies on May 15th and 16th on the Colne at West
Drayton”’ (W. H. Bates).
‘‘ Mayfly appeared here on the Pinsley on May 15th. I saw
to-day (May 16th) a fair basket made [Trout presumably! dap-
ping with the Mayfly’ (P. Summerville).
‘‘Whilst having lunch in my fishing-hut I noticed several
Mayflies rise to the surface of the river [Darenth], and they
were blown away over the fields by a strong north-west wind ”
(W. B. Leaf).
The following extracts are taken from my note-book :—
‘‘“May 19th.—Common Mayfly up at Sweetwater, Witley,
NOTES ON THE COMMON MAYFLY. 265
Surrey, flying in bright sunshine at 3.30 p.m. There was a soft
south-west wind blowing, and it was very warm. Only a very
small ‘hatch,’ consisting of males only. A few specimens of
E. danica were seen at Brook at 6 p.m., these also being males.
‘‘May 19th.— Sweetwater, Witley, Surrey. Evidently a
considerable ‘hatch’ had taken place during the past hours,
judging from the shed nymph-pellicles floating on the water,
and there were a considerable number of male fiies on the wing
at 38p.m. Their flight was only of short duration, and kept up
at intervals of from one to two minutes. During their periods
of rest they settled on grass some way from the water; wind
south-west, as before. When walking their pace is slow, and in
their movements reminding one very much of that of the Mole-
Cricket. . Their front legs are seldom used for progression, but
held straight in front in a supplicating manner, like those of a
Mantis. Just after alighting the caudal sete are spread con-
siderably, but closed again directly afterwards.
“May 21st.—Numbers on the wing at 3.30 p.m. Day very
hot, and a slight north-east breeze blowing. The flies seen were
of both sexes. After pairing, which was of too short duration to
allow of any close observations, the female insect flew on to a
high branch of a fir-tree, and remained clinging wings down-
ward. ‘The male insect fluttered into the close herbage bordering
the pond. From 3.30 p.m. to 5.80 p.m. I was absent from the
place, but returned again at 6 p.m., and found swarms of females
flying over the water and depositing their eggs. Now perhaps it |
is right to assume that some hours must elapse before the im-
pregnated eggs are fit to be deposited, as, after pairing, I have
never seen the female fly direct to the water, but, as before stated,
fly up on to a tree. I had good opportunities for watching the
female deposit her eggs, which was effected thus: flying slightly
above the water she would dip every now and then as if seeking a
suitable place. When this was found she would alight bodily on
the water and jerk her abdomen up and down, wings and caudal
Sete being widely spread. She then curved the end of her
abdomen downwards, and with the three sete spread out to their
fullest extent and just resting on the water the eggs were dropped
in a shower, which looked like minute white substances resem-
bling the roe of a fish. The wings at this time were held clear
266 THE ZOOLOGIST.
of the water, as these will not stand immersion, and once they
get wet the fly is quite helpless. After the deposition of the
egos life seems to leave the insect, and it remains spread out flat,
‘ spread-eagle’ fashion, in a condition that is technically known
to anglers as a ‘spent gnat.’ I saw numbers of male insects
alight for a few seconds on the water, and then fly away. This
action on the part of the male gave rise no doubt to the supposi-
tion that ‘after the eggs are passed into the water they are ferti-
lized by the male,’* for I noticed that the males frequently flew
on to the water just after oviposition. The oviduct is on the
eighth abdominal segment, and as soon as the eggs are laid two
small bladder-like sacs protrude from each side, filled apparently
with air, which readily burst when a slight pressure is used.
“May 22nd.—Sweetwater. I arrived at the side of the water
at 6 p.m., and found the Mayflies in prodigious swarms, the
females predominating, and flying swiftly over the water deposit-
ing their eggs. The day had been very warm, and a soft south-
west breeze blowing. De Geer says, from his observations, that
‘the males greatly exceed the females.’ ”’
As it will be seen by the above notes, according to my own
observations, that on the first and second day only males were
seen; therefore it is reasonable to assume that the males make
their appearance first, and live for a considerably longer period
than the females. According to the observations of former
years, I note that males always put in an appearance first. The
beautiful and wonderful dancing flight performed by the Mayfly —
is chiefly enacted by the male insect, and generally when the
sun is very hot, and again towards the cool of the evening. If,
during their flight, the sun is hidden by a passing cloud, they
immediately sink to rest on a grass-stem. The female’s one and
sole duty is, after pairing, to rest awhile and then deposit her
eggs; after that she dies. The eggs when first laid are enclosed
in a thin transparent covering, which breaks as soon as it touches
the water, and the eggs are dispersed and sink at once.
Reference was made in a former paper (Zool. 1908, p. 459)
to the long anchoring threads attached to the eggs, and
these threads I detected myself under the high power of the
microscope. Wishing to get some eggs for microscopic examina-
* Swammerdamm, ‘‘ Ephemeri vita &e.”
NOTES ON THE COMMON MAYFLY. 267
tion, I took some glass tubes filled with spirit to the water’s
edge, and caught a female in the act of depositing her eggs, and
induced her to lay in the tube. These eggs were examined im-
mediately on my return home, and I then detected the threads
referred to. A few days after I examined the eggs again, and
the threads had all disappeared, dissolved by the alcohol. The
egos are provided with some sticky property. Some adhered
persistently to the side of the glass tube, and it required a good
deal of shaking and rinsing with alcohol to release them from
their hold and sink in the liquid. The eggs are bean-shaped,
and appear when first laid, and under a one-sixth inch objective,
of a greenish colour. This colouring matter dissolves after a time
in alcohol, and the eggs are then, as they appear when fresh to
the naked eye, white.
I have never, so far, been fortunate enough to see the
actual emergence of the fly from the nymph. Swammerdamm
says :—‘‘ When the larve have left their burrows they make
their way with all speed to the surface, and the transformation
is effected with such rapidity that even the most attentive
observer can make out little, except that the winged fly suddenly
darts out from the midst of the water.’’ The claspers of the
male fly are shaped like pincers, and somewhat resemble those
of an earwig. In the female they appear, under a powerful lens,
like minute hooks.
“Ts the Mayfly disappearing ?”’ is a question that has been
mooted lately. In the ‘Fishing Gazette’ for May 22nd is the
following :—‘‘ There is no doubt that the Mayfly and many other
water-flies have become extinct on many rivers; they seem to
die out first in the upper parts, and gradually appear only lower
and lower down. The clearing away of sedges, shrubs, bushes,
and trees from the banks and neighbourhood of the rivers
exposes the flies more to the exterminating influence of birds,
wind, and weather, as well as by removing the natural shelter
necessary for nuptial congress. For this reason I do not believe
it is reasonable to expect any transplanting of the fly to be
successful unless there is plenty of natural shelter. . . . I think
that the plan of attempting to stock by transplanting larve
offers the best chance of success.”
The Surrey Trout Farm at Haslemere make it part of their
268 THE ZOOLOGIST.
business to breed Mayflies for the express purpose of exporting
the larve to ponds and streams from which the insect is
absent. It is stated that eight hundred thousand eggs were
obtained from one hundred and twenty females.* For the
successful rearing of the larve running water is absolutely
essential.
Ephemera danica, a slightly smaller species than E. vulgata,
appears about the same time as the latter, and according to
my experience is not a common insect; neither does it occur in
anything lke the abundance of that insect. The wings are
clear without markings, and shine with a beautiful iridescent
gleam. The caudal sete are very long, about twice the length
of head and body, and are two in number. The flight of
this insect is much swifter than EH. vulgata, and it never
ascends to a very great height. The flight resembles that of a
dragonfly (Odonata). They frequent streams, and those with a
gravel and sandy bottom. I have frequently taken the male
insect a long distance from any water, and both sexes are fond
of settling in the middle of a road. The larva is of a dark
brown colour, and I have taken them about half an inch in
length. They become much paler, almost transparent, before
emergence. ‘They have three caudal sete.
At Frensham Great Pond, in South-west Surrey, on May
22nd, I found that thousands of the small Mayfly mentioned
previously (‘ Zoologist,’ 1908, p. 458) had ‘‘ hatched” out, and
left their pseudo-imago skins and nymph-pellicles on posts
about twenty yards from the water, and these were also thickly
intertwined among the herbage by the roadside in soft white
masses, which from a distance resembled the hairy fruit of the
willow.
The nymph of this small fly, unlike that of E. vulgata, leaves
the water and climbs up a reed} to undergo its metamorphosis,
and finding their pellicles so far away from the pond was at first
astonishing until I realized what had happened, not thinking it
possible that the nymph could have crawled all that distance.
What had happened no doubt was what was witnessed by Réaumur.
* * Wishing Gazette,’ May 22nd, 1909.
+ I found the reeds by the pond-side covered with nymph-pellicles like the
cast skin of a dragonfly larva.
NOTES ON THE COMMON MAYFLY. 269
He says :—‘“‘ The cast skin is sometimes carried up into the air,
clinging to the tail-filaments, and an Ephemera in this state
seems twice as long as usual.”
The great difficulty in collecting Ephemeride for purposes of
identification is their extreme fragility and the tendency to
shrivel up when dry, until all the chief features are destroyed.
The specimens I have collected I now keep in spirit in glass
tubes. This method of preserving specimens I have found most
satisfactory, as the spirit hardens them, and they can afterwards
be handled with comparative safety. For their capture I have
found a small net made of the finest possible gauze of great
service.
270 THE ZOOLOGIST.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
MAMMALIA. |
Erythristic Variety of the Field-Vole-—On July 7th I had brought —
to me a curious variety of the Field-Vole (Microtus agrestis) which
had been found dead in a clovei-field near Shrewsbury. The upper
parts were of a pale fawn-colour, the under parts white. The animal
was a full-grown male.—H. EH. Forrest (Shrewsbury).
AVES.
The Lesser Redpoll (Linota rufescens) at Hampstead. — The
Lesser Redpoll has again bred here this year. Two or three pairs
returned to the Heath by the latter end of May, and on June 9th I
found a nest just completed, and which was placed in the top of a
furze-bush. Five eggs in all were laid in this nest, and incubation
lasted fourteen days; the hen bird commenced to sit when the first
egg was laid. I have noticed that this bird, like some others, occa-
sionally swallows the feeces of its young, but whether this practice is
only resorted to by birds when they know or suspect themselves to
be under observation would be difficult to ascertain. The Lesser
Redpoll is a very late breeder here, but the vegetable down which
seems so essential for the lining of their nests could not be procured
much before the end of May or the beginning of June.—H. Meyrick
(Holly Cottage, The Mount, Hampstead, N.W.).
The Occurrence of the Bean Goose in Cumberland.—In Messrs.
Thorpe and Hope’s article in ‘The Zoologist’ (ante, p. 187) on the
observations made by the Natural History Bureau for the County of
Cumberland numerous references are made as to the occurrence of the
Bean Goose by Mr. Nichol, for instance: March 19th, flock seen flying ;
March 12th, some seen; Oct. 5th, a flock of forty seen; Dec. 30th, flock
of eighty seen; and also on Dec. 7th, flock of Greylag seen. As the Bean
Goose is a comparatively rare species in England and Scotland, and
when found usually as a stray bird or birds in a flock of other Grey
Geese, and, moreover, it being quite impossible to identify between
the four species when on the wing and silent, how, may I ask, did
Mr. Nichol know that they were Bean Geese? No mention is made
NOTES AND QUERIES. 271
of the Pink-footed Goose, which is without doubt the most plentiful
of the Grey Geese frequenting England and Scotland, at all; and did
not the birds he called Bean rather belong to this species? The
flock of Greylag seen on Dec. 7th is also open to some doubt owing
to the date, but is possible. If Mr. Nichol is a wildfowler he will
know that it is impossible, with any degree of certainty, to identify
between the four species when in a skein, if silent, and even when in
a gaggle only the White-fronted can be identified with any certainty.
No mention is made of any being shot or identified in that way, so I
conclude, as the letterpress says, that he only identified them as Bean
and Greylag at a distance. Of course, the calls of all the Wild Geese,
both Grey and Black, differ, but some of them so little that they must
have all been heard again and again, and birds shot out of each par-
ticular skein or gaggle heard, before the best observer can be certain
of them. With all due respect to the gentlemen concerned, I think
that Bean should read Pink-foot, especially as many fowlers do not
know the Pink-foot under that name, but class both Bean and Pink-
foot under the former head, although, of course, quite a distinct
species with characteristics quite its own. — H. W. Roginson (Lans-
downe House, Lancaster).
Nesting of the Wigeon in Cumberland. — On the short note
mentioning Messrs. Thorpe and Hope’s record of the breeding of
the Wigeon in Cumberland on April 30th, 1908, at Bassenthwaite
(ante, p. 191), may I be allowed to make a few comments, and
ask incidentally if the small feathers among the down were iden-
tified correctly, and, further, whether or no this is meant to be the
first record for that county and place? If the latter is the case, may
I quote Mr. W. J. Farrer’s note in ‘The Field’ for Aug. 1st, 1903, as
follows:—‘‘In reference to my note on Wigeon nesting in Bassen-
thwaite, I may state that I have for some years suspected the bird of
breeding in the locality, as I have seen three or four pairs all through
the spring and summer months. This year [1903] I kept careful
watch on one pair from April 20th, when first seen, until May 10th,
when I found a female bird sitting on ten eggs. The nest was
situated close to the edge of a small rock on the marshes at the head
of Bassenthwaite Lake. I am quite sure as to the identity of the
birds, and have seen them many times since up toa month ago (July).”
I know myself for a fact that the Wigeon does nest at Bassenthwaite,
as on July 13th, 1904, I saw a female followed by a brood of young
about the same place where Mr. Farrer found his nest the year before.
Great care, of course, must always be taken in identifying the eggs of
272 THE ZOOLOGIST.
the Duck, as the following incident will show: In 1901 Mr. Robert
Patterson recorded the nesting of the Wigeon near Belfast. The bird
was not identified, but eggs and down agreed with those of that bird.
This record was accepted everywhere until two years later, when the
same gentleman wrote and contradicted the statement, as on further
examination of the down the small feathers found therein proved the
nest to be that of the Shoveler. It may be of interest to state that
a Wigeon nested in the early summer of 1907 on the private lake of a
friend of mine in North Lancashire. On the lake, which is natural
and of considerable size, he placed a pair of pinioned birds of which
the female shook off her pinions almost at once, and disappeared
for some weeks to reappear with a brood of young, which she had
apparently hatched on a smaller lake in the vicinity. The drake
remained on the large lake all the time, being finally shot accidentally
at the flight as recently as last November, when he too had appa-
rently just shaken off his pinions, judging from the tremendous height
at which he was flying. Incidentally it may be mentioned that these
young Wigeon and their mother were as wild as possible, far more so
than the foreign birds which arrived in the autumn, and not one of
them was shot. Did Messrs. Thorpe and Hope actually see the bird
settling on her eggs, or only near the nest? If the latter only, that
is no evidence of the nest being her own, just as my evidence of the
brood there on July 18th is of little value, as the brood might have
been that of a Mallard or some other species following what was
undoubtedly a hen Wigeon.—H. W. Roxsinson (Lansdowne House,
Lancaster).
Redshank (Totanus calidris) carrying Young (?).—Mr. A. H. Pat-
terson, in his Notes on Mud-flat Birds, says (ante, p. 211), ‘‘ Whether
it [the Redshank] carries its young as the Woodcock does at times I
am not sure, but I strongly suspect it.” Facts have come to my
knowledge which I think go to prove that this is not the case. Red-
shanks have of recent years nested close to the town of Stafford, and
between the Sewage Farm they frequent and a small muddy pond,
close to which there is generally a nest, runs a main road, upon which
there is much traffic. A few years ago, and again this year, after the
young were hatched, the old birds have been seen in great distress
owing to their not being able to get their young ones across this high
road, and on both occasions the young have been caught by a humane
signalman, who occupies a signal-box on the railway close by, and
carried to the sewage marsh, apparently to the great satisfaction of —
the parent birds. Now if the Redshank carried its young I think the
NOTES AND QUERIES 2738
old birds would have done so in the instances I have given. I believe
on the first occasion the distress of the old birds lasted several hours
before the signalman discovered the cause of their trouble.—JOHN
R. B. Maserrexp (Rosehill, Cheadle, Staffordshire).
Mr. PattrErson, in his interesting article, ‘Some Mud-flat Bird-
Notes’”’ (ante, p. 211), referring to the Redshank, says: ‘‘ Whether it
carries its young as the Woodcock does at times I am not sure, but I
strongly suspect it.” A few years ago a relative of mine, who has all
his life lived close to the haunts of this bird, told me that he had seen
a Redshank on the wing carrying a young bird between its legs. This
he did without any leading up to the subject or reference to this habit
in the Woodcock. He evidently considered it a very remarkable
thing, and asked me whether I had ever known of a like occurrence.
—G. T. Rope (Blaxhall, Suffolk).
Notes from Wilsden, Yorkshire.—From an ornithological point of
view the present breeding season so far has had some quite exceptional
features. The Cuckoo up to the end of May was exceedingly scarce; not
more than perhaps four Cuckoos had arrived in all Bingley Woods.
At or about this date we received large accessions, but, strange to say,
I have sought assiduously in all likely places to find a Cuckoo’s egg,
but have failed up to the present; neither has one been recorded as
having been found by anyone else, though during the month of June
Cuckoos have been quite abundant, this late arrival in such numbers
in June having probably been caused by the presence of myriads of
caterpillars, upon which they must have largely fed. A similar move-
ment among Cuckoos occurred here some three or four years ago.
The scarcity of their eggs in June can only be explained on the
supposition that they laid their eggs previously to their coming here.
When at Hastings Museum in May last my son showed me the nest of
a Pied Wagtail which had been found near Hastings, and which con-
tained four eggs and one egg of the Cuckoo. Previously to the egg of
the Cuckoo having been deposited the nest had contained six eggs, but
at the time of the introduction of the egg of the Cuckoo two of
them mysteriously disappeared. Whether these were removed by the
Cuckoo—and I have little doubt on this point—or through some
other agency, it is unquestionably true that nests containing a
Cuckoo’s egg or eggs have seldom their full complement. Prof. New-
on’s explanation of this point, in his monumental work, ‘ Dictionary
f Birds,’ seems somewhat weak and inadequate to account for
he phenomenon in question. My son also showed me the nest
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., July, 1909. Y
274 THE ZOOLOGIST.
of a Linnet containing two Cuckoo’s eggs and one egg of the dupe,
while recently, when in Monsaldale, in Derbyshire, a person told me
he had found the egg of a Cuckoo in the nest of a Thrush.—li. P.
BurTERFIELD (Wilsden).
Pics Cais:
A Monster Pike.—On the 16th May last, when Salmon-fishing on
Lough Conn, Co. Mayo, Mr. Charles Scroope, of Ballina, captured a
monster Pike, weighing thirty-five pounds, on an artificial minnow.
Its dimensions were: Length, 47 in.; girth, 244 in.; length of head,
13 in.; and spread of tail, 11 in. It was in splendid condition, and
I never saw a fish of such depth of body. The Pike was taken on
the Salmon run in about five feet of water. It was weighed and
measured immediately on being brought ashore in the presence of
four credible witnesses, so there is no mistake as to its weight or
dimensions.—RoBertT WarREN (Moy View, Ballina).
(>~275' -:)
NOTICES: OF NEW BOOKS.
The Foundations of the Origin of Species; a Sketch written in
1842 by Charles Darwin. Edited by his son, Francis
Darwin. Cambridge: Printed at the University Press.
Tuis Essay has been printed by the Syndics of the Cambridge
University Press for presentation to the Delegates of Universities
and other learned Societies attending the celebration at Cam-
bridge on June 22nd of the centenary of the birth of Charles
Darwin, and of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the
‘Origin of Species.’ We read that the MS. was hidden in a
cupboard under the stairs which was not used for papers of. any
value, and only came to light after the death of Mrs. Darwin in
1896 when the house at Down was vacated. It is a digest of the
principles on which seventeen years later the book of the nine-
teenth century was to be the result. The “‘ foundation,” as it
has well been called, is a landmark, it indicates the evolution of
the ‘Origin of Species,’ and bears witness to the prolonged
patience and concentration of thought and study attending its
composition. Is the effect of this epoch-marking publication
yet fully estimated ? If its mission is considered to begin and
end with biology, then its force is still unappreciated, for it has
moditied and influenced all contemporary thought even in
quarters where biology is a stranger. Theology was confronted
with the relation of man to other animals, so far at least as his
corporeal existence is concerned, and the survival of the fittest
became an axiom with the philosophical historian and the
practical statesman. We are familiar at all events with the
phrase, ‘‘The Method of Descartes,’ but have we sufficiently
appraised either the ‘‘ Method of Darwin” or the subtle way in
which hig patient construction has become a mental formula,
one now alike used by opponents and disciples? Even if imagi-
nation may anticipate a time when his conclusions may be
276 THE ZOOLOGIST.
neglected, his ‘“‘Method”’’ will endure and become hoar with
time.
The doctrine of the struggle for existence is unanswerable; —
it could be interpreted by the ‘‘ man in the street”’ as equivalent
to the saying that all living creatures, plants as well as animals,
have to “fight it out among themselves.” The result of that
struggle and the lines on which it is fought is the cardinal thesis
of Darwinism, and has made that question the dominant one
even with biologists who may not be considered as altogether
orthodox ‘‘ selectionists.”’ The ‘Origin of Species’ is not de-
pendent on its cleverness but on its wisdom; it is not to be
patronised as the brilliant theory of a genius, but to be valued as
the production of a sage; its greatest danger is from fiery apostles —
who insist that it is to be accepted as a revelation once given
and for all time. If it has largely explained the how, it has not,
nor could it have been expected to have, demonstrated the why.
The Life of a Fossil Hunter. By Cuarues H. Sternperc. New
York: Henry Holt & Co. London: George Bell & Sons.
Ir any book can convey to the general reader a conception of
the zoological past by the paleontological record, this is the one.
Much is taught by personal narrative, for such books are much
more widely read than purely scientific publications, and the
suggestions of the first are more easily appreciated by the
ordinary reader than the more scientifically arranged facts of
the latter, which by the uninitiated are easily misunderstood.
In Darwin's well-known narrative of his voyage in the ‘ Beagle’
- how many paleontological and geological conclusions have been
widely disseminated and assimilated among readers who may §
possibly have read none of his other works! As Mr. Sternberg
remarks near the end of his book: ‘‘ The life that now is, how
small a fraction of the life that hasbeen! Miles of strata, moun-
tain high, are but the stony sepulchers of the life of the past.”
The life of a fossil-hunter is a somewhat new experience. We
are familiar with those of animal and plant collectors, but have
not before, at least so far as the present writer is aware, realized
the adventures, hardships, and methods of one who may be said
to have lived among ancient and prehistoric surroundings, and™
NOTICES OF NEW. BOOKS. 277
to have studied and discovered remnants of a vanished zoology.
As we peruse these pages we feel, as evolutionists, how dim is the
past, how unknown the future ; perhaps when we know more of
the first we may hazard some guesses as to the second. Mr.
Sternberg truly observes that fossil-hunting ‘‘is as capable of
improvement as any other form of human endeavour.” Once
“we went over, in a few months, all the chalk in Western
Kansas. . . . Now it takes us five years to get over the same
ground. Then we dug up the bones with a butcher knife or pick,
and packed in flour sacks with dry buffalo grass which we pulled
with our fingers. Some strange animals were created by Cope
and Marsh in those early days, when they attempted to restore
a creature from the few disconnected bones thus carelessly
collected. Now we take up great slabs of the chalk, so that we
can show the bones in situ, that is, in their original matrix, so
that they may be the more easily fitted together in their natural
relations with each other.”’
Some interesting reminiscences of the late Prof. KE. D. Cope in
the field are given by Mr. Sternberg :—‘‘ Cope’s indefatigability,
too, was a constant source of wonder to us. We were in excellent
training, after our strenuous outdoor life in the Kansas chalk-
beds, while he had just been working fourteen hours a day in his
study and the lithographer’s shop, completing a large Govern-
ment monograph, writing his own manuscript and reading his
own proofs. When we first met him at Omaha he was so weak
that he reeled from side to side as he walked; yet here he
climbed the highest cliffs and walked along the most dangerous
ledges, working without intermission from daylight until dark.”
“He used to talk to me by the hour, arranging the living and
dead animals of the earth in systematic order.”
Sternberg did not only collect for Cope, but subsequently for
Zittel, as the contents of the Munich Museum testify. As an
ardent paleontological enthusiast he has not made a fortune by
his long service, but he has his reward: ‘‘I have accomplished
the object which I set before myself as a boy, and have done my
humble part towards building up the great science of pale-
ontology. I shall perish, but my fossils will last as long as the
museums that have secured them.”’
278 THE ZOOLOGIST.
EDITORIAL GLEANINGS.
‘Curist’s CoLLEGE Macazine’ (Cambridge), xxiii. No. 70, is a
‘Darwin Centenary Number.” Mr. T. HE. Pickering writes on
‘Shrewsbury Days”; Mr. A. E. Shipley on “ Charles Darwin at the
Universities”; the Master of Christ’s College contributes a most
interesting and original article on ‘‘Christ’s College in the Years
preceding the Entry of Charles Darwin”; ‘Darwin and the Linnean
Society’ is from the pen of Dr. B. Daydon Jackson. ‘“ Letters from
Charles Darwin to Alfred Russel Wallace’? (two of which are pub-
lished for the first time), with Notes by Mr. Francis Darwin ;
‘““Present-day Darwinism,” by Mr. Leonard Doncaster; and “ Dar-
win’s Animals and Plants,’ by Mr. T. H. A. Marshall, complete
another publication to be added to the Darwinian bibliography.
In his copy of the ‘Journal of Researches” the Editor some
twenty years ago affixed the following cutting, which it may be inte-
resting to reproduce at this time :—
“
ta
see one during all the hard weather last winter).— H. G. ATLEE ©
NOTES AND QUERIES. 351
speaking of birds at a reasonable distance ; Geese flying in “ skein”
or ‘gagele”’ at a distance of half a mile or upwards could scarcely
be determined, and would not be noted unless the occurrence was
exceptional. The Pink-foot, Bean, and Grey Lag Geese are all com-
mon in season on the Solway marshes, and although the Pink-foot is
undoubtedly the commonest of the three, it does not appear to fre-
quent the lower marshes as much as the Bean, and on the upper
marshes the combined numbers of Bean and Grey Lag run it pretty
close. During the last two winters the game and poultry shops of
Carlisle contained quite as many of the two latter species as of
brachyrhyncus, a good eriterion of the comparative rarity or other-
wise of wildfowl. Perhaps we on the Solway have better oppor-
tunities of observing the various species of Geese than is afforded to
Mr. Robinson, and it may surprise him to hear that at times the Wild
Geese on one particular marsh can only be estimated in thousands,
and it is possible frequently to hear the calls of the three species
mentioned at one time, and with the aid of a glass to distinctly make
out the different species. There is never the least difficulty with the
Grey Lag in flock, as the blue shoulder of the adult is most con-
spicuous, and the longer beak and generally darker coloration of the
Bean is almost quite as unmistakable to the experienced observer ;
moreover, it is probably as easy for Mr. Nichol to identify these
Species at a distance of from two to four hundred yards as it is for
some people to do in the hand, even if they know certain charac-
teristics. We are quite sure that when Mr. Nichol says Bean Geese,
he has been able to distinctly identify them as “Bean” and not
“ Pink-foot,” and Mr. Robinson may be assured that they were that
species. We need not reply to the query as to correct identification
of Grey Lag on Dec. 7th: the date is not exceptional.
With regard to Mr. Robinson’s further letter respecting the breed-
ing of Wigeon at Bassenthwaite in April, 1908, we hardly see the
point of his criticism. Has it escaped him that this is another note
by Mr. W. J. Farrer, and is neither the first or second record to this
Bureau of such occurrence, but simply a record of the fact that a
Wigeon was nesting there at that time? Mr. Farrer clearly esta-
blished his identification as correct in the first instance in 1903, as
Mr. Robinson’s quotation shows: ‘I found the female bird sitting on
ten eggs’’; his later records therefore cannot be doubted. The par-
ticulars of a pinioned Wigeon breeding in North Lancashire may be
interesting, but has no bearing upon the Bassenthwaite case. Several
pairs of Wigeon breed on an estate in North Cumberland, but they
352 THE ZOOLOGIST.
were introduced, though now in a feral state. Neither is there any
parallel between the Bassenthwaite case and the case of mistaken
identification of Shoveler’s eggs at Belfast. It may in some instances
be difficult to distinguish between the eggs of various ducks; there
is of course more or less variation in the eggs of all birds, but it is
again largely a matter of experience, and Shoveler’s eggs are usually
distinct from those of Wigeon, without the evidence of down or
feathers. The Shoveler breeds regularly in the Solway district.—
Linnzus E. Horr & D. Losu Tuorps, The Museum, Carlisle.
Birdsnesting in August.—It is three years ago since I sent my last
notes under this heading to ‘ The Zoologist.’ This year I was again
in the same village in Cambridgeshire for the August Bank Holiday.
On Saturday, July 31st, I walked from the station to the village
through a narrow belt of trees alongside the road. Here I found a
nest of Spotted Flycatcher with half-fledged young on a dead fir-
bough close up to the trunk. A little further on was a nest of Song-
Thrush in the hedgerow with nearly fledged young. Next I came
across a Wren’s nest about four feet from the ground in a bush beside
a pine tree, and, feeling something soft moving inside, I opened up
the hole, and found it to contain a litter of young Shrews, apparently
the common species (Sorex vulgaris). There were four or five of
them, more than half-grown. I believe the Shrews generally build
on or under the ground—at all events, this is the first family I have
ever found in a bird’s nest. Then a Wood-Pigeon went from its nest
in a beech tree, and a few yards further on I found a Turtle-Dove
sitting on two eggs. Alongside the road I founda Linnet with three
fresh eggs in a hawthorn bush. On Aug. Ist I followed a dyke or
drain for about a mile and a half through the cornfields. Put a
Common Bunting (£. miliaria) from its nest of four nearly fresh eggs
amongst the long grass on the edge of the dyke. In the hawthorn
bushes along its course put a Wood-Pigeon off a newly-made empty
nest, and found another sitting on two eggs. Both these nests were
very substantial structures, fully six inches in depth, and looking more
like Crows’ than Pigeons’ nests. Saw a party of young Hedge-
Sparrows and another of young Whitethroats fluttering amongst the
thick herbage, having evidently only just left their nests. Found a
Linnet with two fresh eggs, a Turtle-Dove with two deserted eggs,
each having a hole pecked in it, and another nest of the same species
with two fresh eggs. The heavy rain at midday put a stop to any
further search that day. On Aug. 2nd I examined some pollard-
willows, and found three nests of Tree-Sparrow, each with five eggs,
ee
NOTHS AND QUERIES. BD:
wo
one set fresh another partly incubated, and the third with the young
hatching. Several nests of House-Sparrow in a stall alongside con-
tained fresh eggs and young birds respectively, and in the hedgerow
adjoining was a Song-Thrush with young. On a straw-stack in an
adjacent field, I was told, a French Partridge had nested, but its nest
had been disturbed a fortnight previously when some of the straw had
been taken away for thatching the hayricks. I counted sixteen eggs
scattered about under the stack in a half-rotten condition in various
stages of incubation. Along the roadside I found the Linnet’s nest
which had three eggs on Saturday now contained five, and found two
more nests with five eggs and one egg respectively, all fresh; also a
Yellowhammer with two and another with four eggs. By the side of
a ditch I found a Common Whitethroat with three eggs apparently
_hard-sat, and not many yards away was a young Cuckoo almost fully
fledged in the nest of a Hedge-Sparrow. This is the latest date at
which I have ever found a young Cuckoo in the nest, although I have
found a new-laid egg of the Cuckoo in a Whitethroat’s nest in the
first week in July. On the morning of Aug. 3rd I found two nests of
Turtle-Dove with one and two fresh eggs respectively, a nest of
Hedge-Sparrow with four eggs all sucked, whilst a few yards further
on was another new nest with one fresh egg, two nests of Linnet with
four and two eggs respectively, and four nests of Yellowhammer with
one, four, two, and three eggs respectively. In the afternoon I
returned to town.—Rosert H. Reap (Bedford Park, W.).
A Correction.—In the note appended to the record of the White
Chaffinch (ante, p. 315) the word “eggs” was unfortunately omitted.
It should read: “‘ Mr. Dresser, in his ‘Man. Pal. Birds,’ says of the
eggs of this bird, ‘ occasional varieties,’ &c¢.”—Ep.
ee EEA
The Smooth Snake (Coluber lavis).—It is interesting to know
that this somewhat local reptile is still found in the Forest, and upon
the heath-lands on the opposite side of the Avon, where it was first
established as a British species. The localities where I formerly
found it are being gradually built over, but during the summer a
gentleman, wishing to secure one of the snakes for a friend, asked me
if I could tell him where to find it. Having searched near its old
haunts he succeeded in capturing three specimens, one a very fine
female measuring fully twenty-five inches in length, and of a very
dark colour, but having the characteristic dark ‘ crown” and _ black
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII, September, 1909. 25
354 THK ZOOLOGIST.
line running from the gape. Contrary to its general habit, this speci-
men appeared to be very lethargic, but undoubtedly it was near
changing its skin, as the “scales” had already grown over its eyes—
(one person who saw it suggested blindness)—but when placed in a
box with the other two it fought and bit furiously at the smaller one,
which was, I suppose, of the same sex. These two, sixteen and
eighteen inches in length respectively, were very prettily marked, and
appeared iridescent, especially about the head, when the sun shone
upon them. After retaining them two or three days the person for
whom they were secured declined to have them, because of the diffi-
culty of keeping and providing food, so they were taken back to their
native heath and there liberated. My limited experience points to
the fact that the species in question prefers dry and sunny situations,
and is seldom found in damp places such as the common natriz
delights to inhabit; this latter I have often seen in the water, but
levis never, and I think it is often supposed to be an Adder, and is
killed in consequence.—G. B. Cornin (Ringwood, Hants).
AMP EE TT AS
Palmated Newt (Molge palmata) in Hertfordshire.—On June 27th
I took several examples of this Newt from a pond in Ashridge Park.
The species does not seem to have been recorded hitherto for Hertford-
shire.—CHARLES OLDHAM (Watford).
OBATUA RAY
THOMAS SOUTHWELL.
By the death of Mr. Southwell ‘The Zoologist’ has lost one of its
oldest contributors and Norfolk one of its best naturalists. He passed
away on Sunday, Sept. dth, at his residence, 10, The Crescent, Norwich,
in his seventy-ninth year, having rallied from an alarming breakdown
in January of last year, about which time he wrote to us saying his
work was done, a statement we rightly refused to accept, and he
subsequently acquired a considerable amount of bodily and mental
vigour.
According to the ‘Hastern Daily Press,’ in a notice evidently
written by a competent authority, “Mr. Southwell was a native of
King’s Lynn, and the greater part of his days he had spent as a
OBITUARY. ddd
member of the clerical staff of Gurney’s Bank, afterwards Barclays’,
which he had served at Lynn, Fakenham, and, chiefly, at Norwich.
A voracious reader and a born naturalist, he used his leisure hours to
such good effect that by the time he had reached middle life his
reputation as an ornithologist was already considerable. He edited
the third volume of Stevenson’s ‘ Birds of Norfolk,’ compiling it from
matter which Stevenson had himself left, and adding to it copious
notes. He brought out also a new edition of Lubbock’s ‘ Fauna of
Norfolk,’ to which he made various additions. His work on ‘Seals
and Whales of the British Seas’ is everywhere recognized as an able
and authoritative treatment of a somewhat neglected subject. It
would be too long a task to follow Mr. Southwell in all his literary
enterprises. Suffice it to say that he wrote with skill and freedom,
and touched a great variety of natural history subjects. Perhaps the
best of his more fragmentary work was done in connection with the
Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society, whose secretary he was for
several years, and whose president he was in 1894. The work by
306 THE ZOCLOGIST,.
which he is most popularly known is perhaps his ‘ Guide to the Castle
Museum’ (Jarrolds). He was a member of the Zoological Society
and the British Ornithologists’ Union. He served on the Castle
Museum Committee and the Norfolk and Norwich Library Committee.
He actively interested himself in the formation of the new Museum
Association at Norwich, and he was one of the leading spirits of the
Science Gossip Club. Mr. Southwell leaves two daughters. His wife
predeceased him about five years ago.”
Mr. Southwell appears to have first contributed to the pages of
‘The Zoologist’ in 1869, when he described a nesting of the Little
Grebe, and since that time very few volumes indeed of our Journal
have appeared without some interesting and valuable communication
from his pen, and also for a very considerable number of years his annual
reports on the northern “ Seal and Whale Fishery ” which possess an
importance in zoological literature which subsequently will reach a
fuller estimation. He was a naturalist of the old school, now, alas!
represented by sadly diminished numbers, and was an extremely
cautious and accurate recorder ; his writings exhibit an absence of con-
troversy, though in his private correspondence he was a very candid
critic. We will conclude with a cutting from an appreciation written
by our contributor Mr. A. H. Patterson :—‘ Mr. Southwell will not
be remembered so much as an original observer and litterateur as a
careful and painstaking compiler, and by the excellent work he has
accomplished in simplifying and completing the work begun by
others. Of his one published book, ‘The Seals and Whales of the
British Seas,’ he was not at all proud, and, indeed, has expressed his
dissatisfaction with it to me in strong terms. Yet his researches
among the Finnipedia and Cetacea of our islands have been of great
service in reducing froma chaotic state the nomenclature and classi-
fication to a well-arranged system, and his editing of Arctic whaling
records and logs is appreciated all through the world of science. He
was foremost to give credit where credit was due, and deeply resented
literary and scientific cribbage.”
NOTICHS” OF NEW BOOKS.
The Making of Species. By Dovauas Dewar, B.A., &c., and
Frank Finn, B.A., &. John Lane.
Tuts book appears to have been written with two intentions:
one to criticize much evolutionary theory, the other to give a
popular abstract of many of those theories which to-day, more
or less, occupy the biological outposts. The authors are dis-
satisfied with much of the dogma that has been built upon these
theories, and in this protest, for the work is highly polemical,
many naturalists will probably not be too greatly shocked; at
the same time the pages would not have suffered in argument
had they been written in a more subdued style.
As regards Darwinism the authors clearly point out that the
dogma of the all-sufficiency of natural selection is not to be
ascribed to Darwin, who ‘‘at no time believed that natural
selection explained everything,” and they further remark that
it is Wallace who claims the all-sufficiency of natural selection,
in which he is followed by Weismann and Poulton, and they
‘dub the school”’ which ‘‘ holds this article of belief... the
Wallaceian school.” In connection with this subject, however,
one statement is cryptic. We are told that the Darwinian theory
‘has the defect of the period in which it was enunciated. The
eighteenth century was the age of cocksureness, the age in
which all phenomena were thought to be capable of simple
explanation.’’ Is not this antedating the theory by a century ?
and is the mental affliction to which our authors refer quite a
thing of the past ?
The section devoted to mimicry is a piece of careful and
judicious criticism, and one that will well repay the perusal
of the extreme advocates of that theory. Instances of false
mimicry where the mimicking species inhabit widely separated
continents are not infrequent, and Messrs. Dewar and linn
give examples in both mammals and birds, to which many other
instances could be added. They pertinently observe :—‘‘ We
358 THE ZOOLOGIST.
may perhaps call the cases which the theory of mimicry is
unable to account for ‘ false mimicry,’ but in so doing we must
bear in mind the possibility that some at any rate of the
examples of so-called mimicry may, on further investigation,
prove to be nothing of the kind.”
We cannot follow the discussion of most of the cognate
theories on the subject, but readers will find the abstracts of
many of them given in an easily understandable manner. But
we are still only on the fringe of a demonstration ; ‘‘ at present
our knowledge of the causes of variation and mutation is practi-
cally nil.” In reading books and papers on what may be called
external or superficial evolution it is a marked feature that the
genus Homo seems to be let severely alone; but why? The
different colorations of mankind and the distinct racial cranial
developments ought to be included in the postulate of ‘ the all-
sufficiency of natural selection,” as well as the peculiarities of
insects, as a rule, and of other animals less frequently. We
neither venture to affirm nor deny the possibility of this demon-
stration, but it is necessary to advance the theories of mimicry
and protective resemblance into anthropological studies before we
have exhausted the argument or absolutely proved the thesis.
The Wild Beasts of the World. By Frank Finn, B.A.,
FAabe) (her la Or & lh. Co iblack.
Wirn part 17, recently published, this serial work is com-
pleted, and forms two handsome volumes. The publishers claim
that it is ‘fa very beautiful book to look at, a fascinating book to
read, and a valuable book to possess.’ As a richly illustrated
work, with Mr. Finn’s carefully compiled text, these claims may
be admitted, and as a popular introduction to a knowledge of
‘the larger and nobler types”’ of terrestrial mammals it is in
advance of similar publications. The coloured illustrations may
perhups as a whole be described as too brilliant in hue, but the
drawings on which they are founded are by Louis Sargent, C. EH.
Swan, and Winifred Austen. If it can scarcely be described as
a treatise on zoology, it is certainly one of the best ‘‘ nature
books’ that we have seen; while the text will bear comparison
with that of our standard popular ‘‘ Natural Histories.”’
EDITORIAL GLEANINGS.
SourH AFRICA is advancing outside the dreams of millionaires.
In the ‘ Transvaal Weekly Illustrated,’ just to hand, we have a report
of Prof. Thomson’s lecture on ‘‘ What we Owe to Darwin,” before a
congested and crowded audience at Johannesburg, in the Assembly
Hall of the Transvaal University College, and with the Anglican
Bishop of Pretoria as Chairman. The following extracts are typical
of the Address :—
“The evolution idea was known to Greek philosophers; it came
from Aristotle to Hume and Kant; it linked Lucretius to Goethe.
It was made more actual by pioneers of modern biology such as
Buffon, Lamarck, Erasmus Darwin, and others, and became current
intellectual coin when Charles Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace, Her-
bert Spencer, Huxley, and Haeckel won the conviction of most
thoughtful men. It showed how each stage of life was linked to
the one before, back and back, until all was lost in the thick mists of
life’s beginnings. In dealing with the evidence he claimed that all
facts known were evidences of evolution, and that just as the Whale
had rows of teeth that never came through and beneath feet of
blubber concealed a hind-leg, so man was a perfect collection of
relics, like the buttons and tabs on his garments, which had long
ceased to have any functional use, but had a highly interesting
history. An instance of this survival was the word Leopard, the
‘o’ in which was no longer sounded, but which served to remind us
that the ancients believed that animal to be a cross between the
‘Leo’ and the ‘ Pard.’
‘Darwin was the liberator of human intelligence. The ‘ Origin
of Species’ had been called the Magna Charta of intellect. It freed
the intellect from the tyranny of dogma, attacking realms hitherto
considered inaccessible to science. It threw light, in a hopeful way,
upon man’s nature, it gave new light to literature, even to theology ;
and it could lead us in the future to an almost undreamt-of control of
.life. The evolution idea was now part of the intellectual inheritance
of every man. It had given the world a new outlook. Older than
360 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Aristotle, from being an a prior? anticipation, it became a detailed
interpretation, of which Darwin was chief interpreter. From a
model interpretation—an explanation of the mode by which things
came—it became a causal theory, the most convincing part of which
would always be called Darwinism. We had to take into considera-
tion, besides the personality of Darwin, the work of other pioneers,
the development of thought, social changes, the ripening of public
opinion. But granted that the man and the moment came together,
we had still to remember that Darwin succeeded where others had
failed, had put forward a more plausible theory of the process than
others had been able to do; and that of his condescension he wrote
so that all men could understand.”
In the ‘ Avicultural Magazine,’ published this month, Dr. A. G.
Butler contributes an interesting article on ‘‘ Morality in Birds.” He
thus concludes :—‘ Touching the question of mewm and twwm, we all
know that birds have no conscience ; they rob one another whenever
the chance offers, and believe to the full in the doctrine of the survival
of the fittest. They do, however, sometimes seem to be compassionate
towards young birds left orphans, for I have known a Robin to help
to rear young Thrushes when a cat had killed her own young and one
of the parent Thrushes had been shot; yet it is probable that this
was only a way in which the arrested feeding-fever was working
itself out, and no more creditable than is the love of female children
for dolls. If, therefore, there is any moral sense in birds, it would
seem to be limited to the female sex, and as a guard against pairing
between parent and child. .... In the case of fanciers’ birds—
Canaries, poultry, Pigeons, and even Barbary Doves—I have little
doubt that all moral sense is lacking, owing to man’s constant
supervision, high feeding, and other things which encourage an un-
natural condition; all experiments, therefore, should be conducted
with birds which retain their wild character and have not been long
under man’s care.”’
ia _
x jj neat ve
| a VEY
Ht WAL Tene
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Zool. 1909. Plate IV.
Britt (Rhombus levis), VARIETY.
elt Be Ze). O40 GTS 'T
No. 820.—October. 1909.
ROUGH NOTES ON THE FISH AND FISHERIES
OF EAST SUFFOLK.
By Artuyur H. Patterson.
(PuatE IV.)
For the following rough and random notes on the Fish and
Fisheries of the North-eastern part of the County of Suffolk I
offer no apology: their compilation has been to me an inter-
esting task, gathered as were many of the facts on some very
pleasant odd-day outings during my summer holidays of 1909.
Some of these excursions will be noticed in the context. I have
to thank several gentlemen for valuable help rendered me in
piecing together the list of species, the first of its kind, I believe,
for Kast Suffolk, and their names will be a sufficient guarantee
for accuracy and veracity. Many of the rarer records have been
gleaned from the pages of that excellent journal, the Norfolk and
Norwich Naturalists’ ‘Transactions.’ I frankly admit the crude-
_ness of these ‘‘ notes,” but I hope they will form a nucleus for
more elaborate and exhaustive work.
As the premier fishing-port of Suffolk, I take my bearings
from Lowestoft, which, to quote from a Suffolk directory, “‘ ranks
next to Yarmouth among the most important fishing stations on
the Eastern Coast, and is a handsome and rapidly improving
market-town, bathing-place, and sea-port. It is pleasantly
situated on the most easterly point of England, upon an
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., October, 1909. 2F
362 THE ZOOLOGIST.
eminence, rising from the German Ocean, 11 miles E. by N. of
Beccles, 7 miles S. of Yarmouth, 25 miles E.S.E. of Norwich,
. and 114 miles N.E. of London.”
Having said this for Lowestoft, I may make reference to the
quiet, sleepy little town of Southwold, situated a few miles
to the south of Lowestoft, itself a fishing centre, referred to in
White’s directory as ‘a creek under the port of Lowestoft,”
which at the present moment has shaken itself into sufficient
wakefulness as to make promise of some development in its
Herring-fishing ambitions. Southwold’s long-delayed chances
of improvement seem to have been taken advantage of in 1907,
when the overcrowding of Yarmouth and Lowestoft harbours by
fishing-boats from Scotland, and from other English ports, made
a demand for further accommodation. Several of the boats ran
into Southwold and landed their catches. In this incident
certain energetic townsfolk saw their opportunity, and at once
made effort to provide better harbour room, not without much
pessimistic prophesying, tinged with fearfulness, on the part of
the fishing interest at the premier Herring port.
In the course of 1908 quite a little muster of Herring-boats
fished out of Southwold, which made the following number of
landings, viz.: Scotch, 119; English, 177. From Mr. H. J.
Sayers, a fish-merchant of Southwold, I learn that 1097 trunks
of trawl-fish were landed there for the twelve months ending
December, as well as 4452 crans of Herrings, and 122,250 hun-
dreds of Mackerel, the bulk of these fishes arriving between
September and December. He stated to me (July, 1909) that
the harbour was being dredged to a depth of fifteen feet at low
water, and that great preparations were then on the way to pro-
vide pickling-plots and gutting-sheds, while a considerable fleet
of boats was expected in for the autumn fishing of 1909.
In August, 1906, the harbour was in a chaotic state, the piers
worm-eaten and weather-worn, with notices here and there
warning the stroller not to venture thereon ; the bar at the river
entrance was visible at low water. On Aug. 4th of the present
year [1909], in company with Mr. Percival Westell, I revisited
Southwold, and found its harbour and approaches undergoing
quite a phenomenal metamorphosis; the ancient breakwaters
had disappeared, and were replaced by modern structures; a
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 368
concrete quay-heading made, with piling extensions extending
along the north side as far as Walberswick. New gutting-sheds
had been built, and large areas of the original marsh and sand-
dune levelled, raised, and in places concreted, in preparation for
the Herring harvest. A Herring-mart, surroundcd by some
seventeen merchants’ offices, stores, sheds—even a restaurant
and a Seotch Girls’ Rest—had cropped up; and there is a
promise of great things in store for the resuscitated port.
Nearly four hundred Scotch lasses are expected this coming
season, with a corresponding number of male labourers and
participators in the fishing. Mr. H. J. Sayers, who kindly
piloted us round, speaks most optimistically of the future of the
port. Yarmouth, Ramsgate, and Lowestoft boats have used the
harbour with encouraging results.
That Yarmouth should see, in the development of Southwold,
a menace to her prosperity as a Herring port is absurd; Yar-
mouth can still retain the lion’s share, and if the local authority
[without hindrance from the Commissioners, with the jealousy of
Norwich behind them], instead of haggling and wasting money
over law proceedings, would spend it for increased accommoda-
tion, a fishing of yet huger dimensions would ensue. There
are plenty of Herring shoals off Southwold, in the latter part of
the fishing especially. I have seen a ‘‘ punt” bring in a fine
autumnal catch of Herrings of a quality unsurpassed.
The old-worldness of Southwold, and its beach, notwith-
standing the assumption of modernity in the matter of catering
for visitors, is still an observable and interesting feature. The
fishermen’s storage huts remain on the south foreshore, with
many quaint hints for the artist, and some eighty small fishing-
boats, called ‘‘ punts,” fish from the beach, being hauled up into
a north and a south contingent when operations are over in the
bay, known as Sole Bay—a suggestive title. ‘They are marked
L.T. (port of Lowestoft), the dues being under that port’s
authority. Southwold has ambitions for a separate authority.
These sturdy little ‘‘ punters,” of some twenty feet in length, are
built mauch on the lines of a ‘‘ gig’’; they are fitted with a lug-
foresail (without a boom) and a small mizen; the mizen-mast
starts straight up from the stern-post. They sail well, but the
foresail flaps ungracefully when luffing up into the wind. The
2F2
364 THE ZOOLOGIST.
men in turn fish for Sprats with a drift-net, for Soles and other
fish with a trawl; Shrimps are dredged for at other times.
I can conceive of no more delightful an experience for an
amateur fisherman, or an ardent student of marine zoology,
than to ship aboard one of these little vessels and spend a fine
summer’s day trawling in the bay. I overhauled several of the
recently returned boats, finding in the refuse among the billage
quite a number of species of fish—Gobies, tiny Whitings, Bibs,
Flounders, Pogges, Plaice, Soles, Suckers, &c., not to mention
Sand-Stars, ‘‘ Five Fingers,” Swimming Crabs, Hermits, various
Shells, Alcyontwm, and even Sea-Anemones. On the sands
around several of the boats, ‘‘ stowed”’ already for the morrow’s
fishing, I saw heaps of “common objects” that would have
delighted Gosse; but I considered the fishermen exceedingly
wasteful, for many of the young Soles, Skate, and other flat
fishes should have been returned to the sea.
I watched several of the fishermen measuring their catches of
Soles on a piece of board notched to regulation length, those
reaching a fishmonger’s standard being placed in one heap and
immediately gutted. I understood they obtained eighteenpence
a pair for these, the smaller ones being retailed at proportionate
prices by the men themselves. From forty to a hundred Soles
did not seem to me to be a bad haphazard catch; but Southwold
fishermen, like others, are sad grumblers, and bewail the de-
parted glory of their offshore fishing. They may have reason,
considering the waste referred to; they grumble also about the
harbour, but several are beginning to use it. Among the
catches I observed several Lobsters and Edible Crabs. I was
severely bitten by a Swimming Crab (Holsatus), which has a
most peevishly strong grip. My finger was inflamed for hours
after, and I can quite sympathise with the fishermen’s wholesome
detestation of the species, which is abundant and extremely
agile. JI enumerated nineteen species of fish in my ramble
round.
Anent the measuring of Soles, Mr. W.S. Everitt, of Lowestoft,
related to me an amusing story of Frank Buckland’s credulity,
when visiting Lowestoft as a fish-commissioner :—
“T am delighted with your offshore fishermen,” said the
genial Buckland. ‘Why, I actually saw one fellow whom I
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366 THE ZAOOLOGIs, -
went out with spreading Sole after Sole upon a thwart, occa-
sionally throwing one overboard.” ‘‘ What are you up to?”
asked Buckland. ‘‘See them snotches cut there ?”’ asked the
man; ‘‘ well, them as don’t touch ’em, nose and tail, goes over-
board again!”
Mr. Everitt, with a smile, assured me that the wily fellows,
who had wind of Buckland’s enquiries, had cut these purposely
for his edification. It was easy to obliterate the newness of the
notches with a finger-print of grease or tar.
In a letter received later in August from Mr. R. J. Canova,
he referred to “‘ a considerable quantity of Salmon-Trout caught
here in May and June, and in the autumn in draw-nets along
the shore. The trawlers,” he continues, ‘‘catch Brill in Sole
Bay. . . . At this time of the year [August] you probably know
that the alongshore boats are catching the finest Soles possible.
. . » - 1 do not know of a better place for good, well-fed Soles.”
This inshoreing of Soles takes place all along our eastern coasts
in the warmer months, undoubtedly for the purposes of spawn-
ing. There are a number of suitable spawning-grounds, an old
and intelligent trawler* assures me, as at Sizewell Bank and
some other adjacent ‘‘spots.’’ He told me an interesting in-
cident of falling across a spawning resort for Soles near Palling
(Norfolk). By accident he dropped his small trawl in “a likely
spot,’ and brought up some fine examples packed with spawn,
filling a fish-trunk with excellent fish, but some actually shed
their full-ripe ova in the boat, so that the bottom-boards were
covered and made slippery, and they had to mop them free of
it. He and his two partners made preparations for another
day’s foray, highly elated, but they ‘‘ didn’t get a bloomin’ Sole
in the net.’”’ His opinion was that they “came to the day, shed
their spawn, and wor gone!”’ I am astonished that this species
should be so plentiful inshore, considering the constant pursuit
of it. Buckland asserts that a Sole one pound in weight carries
about 134,000 eggs.
Sprat-fishing at Southwold is pursued contemporary with that
of Aldeburgh. From Mr. H. J. Sayers, of Southwold, who kindly
replied to several questions submitted to him, I learn that the
* Bob Colby; an interesting character figuring in two or three of my
recently published books on the East Coast.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 367
number of boats working out of that port in Sprat-time is about
fifty. Fishing commences at the end of October, and lasts until the
middle of December. Sprats, he assured me, realized from three
shillings to eight shillings per bushel, but I might take the
average at five shillings. An average catch of some fifty to
sixty bushels was the take per boat, with average earnings of
from £10 to £15; £20 was reckoned exceptional. None were
sold last year for manure; a few were smoked, the majority
being sent away fresh.
The ridge of sandhills on which Southwold is situated extends
northwards to Gorleston cliffs, Lowestoft standing midway upon
the highest portion of them; immediately below Lowestoft, at
the northern extremity, a range of undulating sand-dunes slopes
seaward into an intermixed shore of hard sand and shingle,
without clay. The south beach is narrow, a mere ribbon of sand
between sea-wall and sea, upon which the wintry breakers dash
with furious onslaught, often severely damaging the foreshore,
notwithstanding the bold fight made by the inhabitants who
spend much money and ingenuity in groining and theorising.
The harbour, with its basins, divides the town into two distinct
portions. Immediately behind Lowestoft are the waters of Lake
Lothing and the River Waveney, the latter of which ‘‘ in ancient
days sought its junction with the ocean through Lake Lothing,
between Lowestoft and Kirkley. Its channel, which is proved to
have been shallow by the discovery of fossil Elephants’ teeth, .. .
was open in Camden’s time.’’*
It would be beside the mark to enter into details of the long
fight between the sea and the shifting sands which makes up the
earlier history of this now navigable waterway—its irruptions,
inundations, and the like. One remarkable tide, in 1791, burst
over the isthmus of sand, carrying away a bridge built at Mut-
ford in 1760; ‘‘ on this occasion the salt water flowed over every
surrounding barrier, and forced the fishes into the adjoining
fields, where they were found, weeks afterwards, sticking in the
hedges.”
These possibilities for good or evil at length suggested what
has since turned out to be a successful compromise with nature.
In 1814 a survey was made to ascertain ‘‘ whether or not it was
* «History of Suffolk,’ by Rev. A. Suckling,
368 THE ZOOLOGIST.
practicable to open a communication with the sea at Lowestoft” ;
in 1821 a report was published, estimating the cost at £87,000.
Yarmouth, of course, opposed this scheme. Royal assent was
given in 1827, and the scheme completed in 1833. Before entire
completion the sea was admitted through the lock-gates :—‘‘ The
salt water,’ says Suckling, ‘‘ entered the lake with a strong
under-current, the fresh water running out at the same time to
the sea upon the surface. The fresh water of the lake was raised
to the top by the eruption of the salt water beneath, and an
immense quantity of yeast-like scum rose to the surface. ....
At a short distance from the lock next the lake there was a per-
ceptible and clearly defined line where the salter water and fresh
INCE? Asmacks Lake Lothing was thickly studded with the bodies
of Pike, Carp, Perch, Bream, Roach, and Dace; multitudes were
carried into the ocean, and strewn afterwards upon the beach,
most of them having been bitten by Dog-fish, which abound in
the bay. It is a singular fact that a Pike of about twenty pounds
in weight was taken up dead near the Mutford end of the lake,
and on opening it a Herring was found in it entire.”
Here we have had shown in a limited area how the fauna of
a locality can be eliminated or altered. Lake Lothing has been
changed from a haunt of freshwater fishes into a receptacle for
shoals from the sea. All beauty has been eradicated, and the
place is, as Christopher Davies* tersely remarks, ‘‘ at low water
. as malodorous as the worst of Dutch canals.”’
That the deep sluggish waters of the Waveney did at one
time run freely into the sea below old Lowestoft is an undoubted
fact; the same changes which affected the broadland district,
joining the little archipelago of islands to the mainland (thanks
to silt from the rivers and drift-sand brought from the sea), had
their effects upon Lothing-land. I have shown the general
appearance of Hast Norfolk, including Lowestoft’s position, at
the time of the Romans, in a recent publication, to which the
reader may refer.t The history of Lowestoft (Lestoffe, Laystoft,
or, as it was anciently designated, Lothnwistoft, probably
acquired its name from Lothbrog, the Danish noble, who in-
advertently landed here in a.p. 864), owing to its contiguity to
* © Norfolk Broads and Rivers,’ published in the eighties,
+ ‘Wild Life on a Norfolk Estuary,’ p. 2.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 369
Yarmouth, is very much mixed up with the beginnings and de-
velopment of the larger and busier Norfolk borough, more
especially as their maritime pursuits are kindred, although
Lowestoft must have been in existence while the very site of
the former was still under the sea. Lowestoft fishermen un-
doubtedly plied their trade upon the adjacent waters long ere
the Yarmouth fishermen spread their nets to dry upon the rising
sand-dunes on which stands the Herring metropolis, and it is
equally probable that the East Coast Herring-fishery, origi-
nating at Lowestoft, in some measure transferred itself to
Yarmouth.
From the earliest times considerable rivalry, which often
developed into active hostilities, characterized the progress of
these two ambitious towns. Dutchmen added to the discord in
trying to usurp the fishery to themselves, or at least to mono-
polise a goodly share of it.* Frequent appeals to the successive
reigning monarchs were made to adjust matters: King John,
Kidward I., Edward III., Henry III, Richard IJ.—all had a
finger in the debatable pie. Charles I. did not mend matters
much, although in the Civil Wars, and while Yarmouth sided
with Cromwell, Lowestoft was loyal to the unhappy, wrong-headed
King. The history of Yarmouth is punctuated by accounts of
these long wearisome quarrels with Lowestoft, while over sixty
pages of small type does. Gillingwater devote to them in his
‘History.’ On the concluding page of these sordid chronicles
he brings the contentions down to Charles II.’s reign, and to a
point where Lowestoft evidently scores: ‘‘ Thus,” he emphatically
writes, ‘‘ was the last effort of the Yarmouth men to monopolise
the Herring-fishery totally frustrated, and the Lowestoft people
have enjoyed the free exercise thereof without any interruption
ever since.” During the early part of Charles I.’s reign, Nashe
wrote his celebrated ‘Lenten Stuffe, or the Praise of the Red
Herring.’ Being a Lowestoft man, he naturally took sides in
the controversy against Yarmouth, and it goes without saying
that it was the Lowestoft Red Herring which inspired his muse.
Swinden (‘ History of Yarmouth’) characterizes it as nothing
more than ‘‘a joke upon our staple—Red Herrings.”’ It would
* I must refer the reader to Gillingwater’s ‘History of Lowestoft,’
chap. iii., popular edition, published by Arthur Stebbings, 1897, Lowestoft.
370 THE ZOOLOGIST.
be untrue to say that Yarmouth does not to this day look upon
Lowestoft with a somewhat jealous eye.
Gillingwater’s* account of the Herring Fishery, with a few
alterations in details, and the description of the Herring curing,
are pretty well descriptive of what occurs to-day :—
‘‘The Herring season,” he says, ‘‘ begins on the Hastern _
Coast of England about a fortnight before Michaelmas, and con-
tinues to Martinmas. The number of the boats annually em-
ployed at Lowestoft .. . from 1772 to 1781 was about 33, and
the quantity of Herrings caught in each of those years was
about 714 lasts, or 21 lasts to a boat, which makes the quantity
of Herrings caught by the Lowestoft boats during that period to
be 7140 lasts. These Herrings were sold, upon an average, at
about £12 10s. per last, which makes the whole produce arising
from the sale of the said fish to be £89,250.”
The number of boats employed in the Herring Fishery and
the value of the season’s catches continually fluctuated. After
1781 the boats decreased to eight in number, owing to the war
with the Dutch and other countries. But more peaceful times
saw satisfactory developments, and Lowestoft to-day has become
a most formidable, albeit peaceful, rival to Yarmouth. In 1854
there were 82 fishing boats, in 1864 they had increased to 167.
The autumnal Herring voyage in that year (1864) amounted to
4675 lasts.
Frank Buckland (‘Fisheries Report,’ 1875), when making
special inquiries into the state of the Kast Coast fisheries, stated
that, on the authority of a well-known Lowestoft fish-merchant,
the spring Herring Fishery was then of great value to the
Lowestoft people, upwards of one thousand men and boys being
engaged in it, and a sum arising to £380,000 was put into
circulation. He gives a table of statistics that covers a period of
eight years, which is appended (p. 3871) :— ‘
He further stated that from eighty to ninety boats went out
from Lowestoft and a number from Gorleston to catch these
spring Herrings, and that a great quantity of them were sold
to the Dutch and French fishermen as bait for their long lines
to catch Halibut and Plaice. To my mind, that was all they
were fit for, for the North Sea spring Herring is dry and taste-
* € History of Lowestoft,’ 1790.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 371
less, differing in quality from its successor, the midsummer
Herring, which waxes fat on Opossum Shrimps, Gammaride,
and other small crustaceans and copepods that abound in the
North Sea during the warmer months.* The Herring then
HERRINGS CAUGHT AT LOWESTOFT.
|
| Spring Midsummer Autumnal
oe | eae | Herrings. ere
| Lasts. Lasts. Lasts.
Se 1,521 304 2,645
aes | ho Gl 3,613
ee rn nd ttn e's 30 538 | 75 5,711
are ues) oe a | 5,226
B55, ots. eiesn Gather! cw 88e\! | 4,675
Sere 1,887 sy 10,973
Meee ec. capi ae nr sn 9,173
7S ee Bs pelts @ Sh. 108 |
| [Then not yet
| begun. ]
makes the fattest and tastiest of bloaters, and are of a far more
exquisite flavour than the fuller-roed and milted fishes of the late
autumn.
In more recent times the number of boats has been hugely
augmented, and the catches of correspondingly vaster propor-
tions. In 1904 the total number of lasts taken during the
twelve months was 27,174, as against Yarmouth’s 40,091. The
boats then fishing out of Lowestoft Harbour numbered 282 local
vessels and 291 Scotch boats. In 1907 a further increase was
noted; Yarmouth, with 220 local and 720 Scotch and other
boats, captured 52,122 lasts, whilst Lowestoft reaped a very
satisfactory harvest of 39,197 lasts (13,200 Herrings to the last),
as the “‘ take” of 251 Lowestoft boats and 413 Scotch and other
vessels employed. It may be interesting to append the follow-
ing returns of the separate months, which cover the spring,
midsummer, and autumnal voyages. ‘These and the return for
1908 are from Mr. T. J. Wigg’s paper on the “ Herring Fishery ”’
* From the stomach of a six-inch Herring, on April 13th, 1890, I took
one hundred and forty-three Opossum Shrimps.
372 THE ZOOLOGIST.
in the ‘Transactions’ of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’
Society :—
RETURN OF HERRINGS LANDED AT LOWESTOFT IN 1907.
Month. Lasts. | Month. Lasts.
PRIVUEY oot aermeoweabep a Brought forward... 1,277
Webruary 23.c..605.ccuke re a a UY: Ce seca aeiioe siete: 37
iaeln Wacdcaene ceca ae Oa NWO UBUD oo. Bates hea eees 28
PUTT ae ete ee eee Bio | SSOMuOna er gear, 00 ee: 75
May oK ans tet aeenteoncaae LOO a cOctobers...1.5 eee 15,602
UNIO See ee eaten t64-)-Novermiber’...2,.25..s2e. 18,579
— | December ............... 3,099
Carried forward ... 1,277
Motal ys... .2 39,197 lasts.
Return oF HERRINGS LANDED AT Lowegstort 1n 1908.
Month. Lasts. Month. Lasts.
JaMUAEY . Psagiurne, scenes ~- Brought forward... 663
Bebruary ~s5: scc.wet een iets: oie is ditty aoe see tate eee 48
Manche ci trc acaoong ee PAU un Wiese bP ic tree te Sores am pl 26
so) oll ee bebe en tie arene er A 500 | September ............... 252
Wyo satiten ee canoer 40+) Qetobet=). eevee cdneus: 15,476
UNG: ence cae oe resent. a8 | November... ser cess eae 16,701
—— |. December. ............,+. 2,084
Carried forward ... 663
Wotal: acemeees 39,250 lasts.
‘‘ Being arrived on the fishing-ground,” says Gillingwater,
‘in the evening (the proper time for fishing), they shoot their
nets, extending about 2200 yards in length and eight in depth,
which, by the help of small casks, called ‘bowls,’ fastened on one
side, at a distance of 44 yards from each other, cause the nets
to swim in a position perpendicular to the surface of the water.
If the quantity of fish caught in one night amounts to only a few
thousands they are salted, and the vessels, if they have no better
success, continue on the fishing-ground two or three nights
longer, salting the fish as they are caught, till they have obtained
a considerable quantity, when they bring them into the roads,
where they are landed and lodged in the fish-houses. Some-
times when the quantity of fish is very small they will continue
on the fishing-ground a week or ten days, but in general they
bring in the fish every two or three days, and sometimes oftener,
which frequently happens, and instances have been known where
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 373
a single boat has brought into the roads, at one time, twelve or
fourteen lasts.”’
In these days of steam and feverish haste the boats, in-
dependent of winds and tides, hurry to the more convenient
dock-quays, often laden to an inconvenient degree with a single
night’s catch.
The “ spitting,’ hanging, and smoking of Herrings still goes
on as formerly, but the bulk of the catches are nowadays merely
gutted and packed in brine in barrels, the deft-fingered Scotch
lasses in their hundreds and even thousands, as in Yarmouth,
altering the whole complexion of the curing industry. The
exports now consist principally of salted Herrings ; the bulk of
these go to the Baltic ports, Germany and Russia absorbing the
greater proportion of them.
In the early days competition and trickery evidently occurred,
and frauds were even practised in the packing of smoked Her-
rings; bad quality and meagre-sized fishes then went to the
bottom of the barrel, a trick that the workman, I will warrant,
was not wholly responsible for. A complaint was made to the
Government in the days of Charles II., praying that this
grievance might be redressed. The purport of this complaint
showed that even the barrels’ cubic inches were not always above
suspicion. It was decreed: ‘“‘ That from and after the first day
of August, 1664, no white or red herring of English catching
shall be put up to sale in England, Wales, or towne of Berwick-
upon-Tweed but shall be packed in lawful barrels or vessels, and
what shall be well, truly, and justly laid and packed; and shall —
be of one time of taking, salting, saveing, or drying, and equally
well packed in the midst, and every part of the barrel or vessel ;
and by a sworn packer,” &c.
The oath was as follows :—‘‘ You shall well and truly doe,
execute, and perform the office and duty of packer of herrings
. . - 80 help me God.”
In its palmiest days the Mackerel fishery at Lowestoft did
not reach very large dimensions. ‘‘ The principal advantages
which the merchants receive from the fishery,’’ as Gillingwater
points out, “is that of employing the fishermen and keeping
them at home for the Herring season, more than emolument to
themselves.” The same reasons were assigned by the Yarmouth
374 THE ZOOLOGIST.
merchants for pursuing there what has ever been a more or less
precarious business. The Mackerel season began in the middle
of May, and continued until the end of June. This restless and
wandering species was ever capricious; in fine, calm weather
the catches were always poor, the fish swimming deeper in the
sea, and it is probable that it was sufficiently cunning and alert
to avoid the nets provided for its ensnaring. Rough, breezy
weather, ‘‘ with plenty of colour in the water,’* as an old Mackerel
catcher described it, is always most favourable, rousing the fish
from below, and bringing them to the surface within reach of
the fatal meshes.
‘‘Next morn they rose and set up every sail ;
The wind was fair and blewa Mackerel gale.’’+
—Dryden.
Gillingwater presents us with a number of statistics respect-
ing the Mackerel Fishery in what he terms ‘“‘ An Account of the
Mackerel Fishery at Lowestoft from 1770 to 1785 inclusive.”
This appertains principally to the number of boats employed
annually, and the amounts realized from the sale of the fish. 1
append a few of these dates, omitting several for the sake of ©
brevity :—
Year Boats £ Souede
1 AS aes See an A a ee ea oe 2,401 2 24
Lae ee cea EE ee eee ep ae 3,179 5 1
Wf ae ae eee Nar SO cae Matec velstomere 2,012 5° 0
AGG) eaten eae BO 228 eee eatae ten 1,595 17 84
AGS) het tteaee ious be DAL estoy baehe aeske iss 1,295: 19'* de
ABO Ss toes erm tins 10 Ee en eee ee 1,559 3 10
AD Ar scoters etege cee 16 (average per ) 136- 12
WSL, secre rbaspentee fe 20 | boat ) 119° o fiz
1 BO Bods tues cee AN Miter Ee Retin ertrr 249 8 84
[* Supposed to be the greatest Mackerel season ever known at Lowestoft. |
Gillingwater’s “‘ greatest season’ was eclipsed in 1821, when
the catches reached huge proportions. On June 30th sixteen
Lowestoft boats caught Mackerel to the value of £5252, being
an average of £328 per boat, and it was estimated that a sum of
* Most likely due to the presence of minute marine creatures upon
which the Mackerel may be feeding.
+ Dr. Johnson, in his ‘ Dictionary,’ describes a Mackerel gale as ‘‘a strong
breeze, such as is desired to bring Mackerel fresh to market.’’ I prefer to
take the generally accepted idea of a stirring wind.
.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 375
£14,000 was realized by owners and men in the fisheries off the
Suffolk coast on that one day.
Nall,* writing in 1866, states that ‘‘ the Lowestoft catch a few
years ago averaged about fifty lasts annually; latterly, from the
unprofitable results of the venture, fewer boats have been engaged
in it, the fishermen prosecuting in preference the spring and
summer Herring fishery.” At the time of writing he averred
that the ‘‘Mackerel fare-ing” had almost died out. On his
authority it may be stated that in 1854 twenty boats were
enoaged, earning £3460; 1855, six boats, earning £930; 1858,
ten boats, earning £710; 1862, three boats, earning £27.
In those days the Kast Coast Mackerel were brought to the
beach, a practice which was followed, I believe, at both ports until
recent years; they were sold by private contract and by public
auction. The markets for the fish were London and the principal
towns in Kast Anglia. ‘To London consignments were de-
spatched in fast-sailing cutters then employed by the London fish-
mongers. The introduction of railways and preservation by
means of ice have tended to a wider transportation, and to more
regular prices. The highest price on record for Mackerel
occurred in May, 1807, when the first boat-load from Brighton
realized forty guineas per hundred of six score—seven shillings
each! In the following year Mackerel struck the neighbour-
hood of Dover so plentifully that they were sold at sixty for a
shilling.
Frank Buckland brings down the history of the ‘‘ Fare-ing”’
to a more recent date. ‘‘In former years,” he says, ‘‘ Mackerel
realized a large price; now the merchants have to compete with
very fine fish caught off the Irish coast, ...and-also with
immense numbers from Norway. These are packed in ice.” .. .
Similar conditions prevail to-day, and it is a curious fact that,
for a number of years following Buckland’s inquiries, the local
fishery was hardly worth pursuing, the Mackerel changing their
immigration until the time of the autumnal Herring-fishing,
when on some occasions they became so abundant that several
Yarmouth and Lowestoft boats changed their Herring-nets for
Mackerel-nets.
* * Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft,’ by John Greaves Nall.
376 THE ZOOLOGIST. —
A few items selected from Buckland’s Report are appended :—
ee Hundreds caught Total amount
> (120 in each hundred). realized.
Re ee
TB O4 a sie hee O20 co" a 0
DS OG feijosGivneeeh eds 2,367 POG a toe A)
SOB yes wees chs oie: 4,124 0,155 O O
TOMO Sree cee 6,612 8,265 0 0
OW an, Gece ee 3,034 4,167°. 0-0
LS (Eee as ne 3,147 3,933 15 0
To Mr. H. J. Henderson, the present Harbour Master at
Lowestoft, I am indebted for the past two years’ records :—
MackEREL FisHine, 1908-9.
Mackerel feeds
Month. gee "5 Equal to eee of
1908. 1909. :
oo ' Hundreds | Hundreds ag
pooh UeaieraeR OM re 22 LS 1908, 1908,
MY deat ates 6,802 4 502 202 lasts. 49 boats.
FADE ans Nera etettier wee. 13,344 15,484 1909, 1909,
To July 11th 94 537 205 lasts. 54 boats.
Total. pons 20,262 20556 407 lasts. —_——
The average price for each year would be about nine shillings
per hundred of one hundred and twenty fish.
Against the above, the Wharf Master’s figures, at Yarmouth,
are as follows :—
From April 1st, 1908, to March 81st, 1909: Boats, 45; lasts,
239 = 1,390,000 fish.
From April 1st, 1909, to August 20th, 1909: Boats, 47; lasts,
256 = 1,560,000 fish.
The capricious movements of the Mackerel have already been
hinted at; they seem to come as they like, and stay away when
the humour seizes them. I am satisfied that these apparent ff
eccentricities are entirely due to tidal and other influences, which ff
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 377
affect the natural economy of the species. Mr. W. A. Dutt*
gives a graphic account of a glut of Mackerel at Lowestoft in
the winter of 1897, an unusual time of the year for such an
occurrence :—‘‘In the winter of 1897,” he writes, ‘‘ when the
_ Mackerel season was at its busiest, almost unprecedented catches
of fish were landed on the wharves. Soon after dawn during
those winter days the drifters [Herring ?] came sailing in, and
often by ten o’clock in the morning the Waveney Dock was so
full of boats that the fish had to be heaped on the trawl-market.
And still the heavily laden craft kept crowding in, until there
was hardly a pier or jetty that had not a score of boats along-
side. Day after day similar scenes were witnessed. ... So
close to the shore were the Mackerel shoals that the drifters
were in port in little more than an hour after they had hauled
in their nets, and then it was often hours before the catches were
landed. . . . In early spring many of the Lowestoft boats .. .
join the Cornish boats engaged in Mackerel fishing off Land’s
End and the Scilly Isles.”
Iam not prepared here to enter largely into the matter of
temperatures of the German Ocean, which vary in successive
years; but temperature and the varying strength of the tides
undoubtedly greatly govern the peregrinations of all marine
creatures, and an abundance of food naturally controls the
movements of those creatures which prey upon it. The spring
and summer of 1906 were exceedingly interesting to me by
reason of the many species of crustaceans and fishes that came
to hand. My note-book for that year was crowded with ‘in-
stances”’ and ‘‘ finds.’ Herring-syle and the smaller crustaceans
were legion. The autumn saw many rare ichthyological visitors
on our shores; among these was the rare Scomber thunnina,
hitherto unrecorded for British waters. Off Lowestoft were cap-
tured two Thresher Sharks (in September), and another off
Yarmouth. Unusually big tides set in on a north-west wind on
the springs—a rather abnormal cireumstance—and I noted an
invasion of Sprats early in October. Probably these causes
contributed to a great influx of Mackerel off the East Coast in
May, 1906. The ‘Yarmouth Mercury’ of May 26th thus refers
to this:—‘‘A good many years ago the East Coast Mackerel
* Vide ‘Highways, Byways, and Waterways of East Anglia,’ p. 135.
Zool. 4th ser. vol. XITT., October, 1909. 26
378 THR ZOOLOGIST.
fishing was one of Yarmouth’s most important industries... .
Suddenly the Mackerel left the neighbourhood, but in time they
appeared in abundance off Cornwall. ... For the last two
seasons, however [the local boats which followed them to Cornish
waters], they have been anything but successful. Again the —
centre of interest shifts. As unexpectedly as the dandies of the
British Seas left one of their old haunts, as unexpectedly have
they reappeared in their legions a few miles from Yarmouth.
Getting well among them, .... Saturday [May 19th] was a
record day. Upwards of forty boats arrived with good catches,
some having as many as a last {12,000 fish]. . . . Should it
transpire that the Mackerel have returned for good in anything
like their old numbers, it will be a great boon to Yarmouth and
Lowestoft.”
The references to caprice and unusual appearances and dis-
appearances call to mind a remarkable inshoreing of this species
in November, 1875, when the Harbour Master of Lowestoft wrote
Mr. T'. Southwell that a large number had been taken at that
late season of the year. He remarked: —‘‘The large quantity
landed at our market this autumn is a very unusual thing, as
they are only caught on this coast in May and June.”
A similar abundance was recorded by myself in ‘ The Zoolo-
gist, * when immense shoals struck the Suffolk coast. On Nov.
12th a glut occurred at Lowestoft ; several boat owners hurriedly
changed their Herring-nets for Mackerel-nets. The drifter
‘Nugget’ landed just four lasts, or nearly 50,000 fish. The
nets were so full that one-half could not be stowed in the net-
room; ‘‘the remainder, still ‘ gilled,’ lay in a huge heap piled
on the deck.’ In some cases nets ‘‘ grounded”’ (sank) with the
weight of fish.
There were formerly two other fisheries pursued from the
East Coast ports, known as the North Sea and the Iceland
Fisheries. These flourished more especially in the middle of the
seventeenth century. Swinden says that, in 1644, Yarmouth
sent 205 vessels, 182 going to the former, and 23 pursuing the
latter. These, however, being greatly harassed by foreign foes
and kingly rapacity—for the king made raids, or exacted heavy
tolls (the same thing!) upon the catches for provisioning his
* Vide ‘ Zoologist,’ 1908, pp. 448-9.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 3879
fleets—gradually declined, and were never afterwards revived.
Lowestoft had annually sent thirty boats; in 1720 they were
reduced to five. Mr. Copping, an eminent Lowestoft merchant,
sent the last boat from this port to the North Sea in 1748. Cod
and Ling (which proves the fishery to have been a line fishery)
were the principal catches ; in a good season the boats would
return with four hundred for each craft.
These fishes were cured by pickling them in casks; some
were dry salted. They were afterwards despatched to foreign
ports. ‘‘The livers were a considerable article,’ says Gilling-
water, ‘‘and there is a trench still visible upon the Denes, a
little to the north of Lowestoft, where stood the coppers where
they used to boil the livers.”
The trawl fishery has of late years become of considerable
importance to Lowestoft, thanks greatly to the fostering in-
fluences of railway patronage. In plain words, Lowestoft owes
much more to the enterprise of the Great Hastern Railway Com-
pany than to the original energy of its own inhabitants. I can-
not get much information with regard to the beginnings of the
trawling industry in this port. Ata meeting of the Royal Com-
mission (inquiring into the East Coast Fisheries in 1863), which
was convened at Lowestoft in the November of that year, Mr. J.
Robertson, then Collector of Customs, in giving evidence, stated
that at that moment the Herring and Mackerel boats numbered
176, with ‘‘eight smacks employed in the trawling only.” At
that time Yarmouth had a fleet of some 150 smacks, which had
increased to 400 sail in 1875. In a few years Lowestoft shot
ahead. To-day the number of trawlers fishing from Lowestoft
is some 300 vessels, whilst those from the port of Yarmouth are
less than the number of fingers on one’s hand!
I have heard it stated that Lowestoft’s “start” dated from
the advent there of Sir Morton Peto, after his rebuff at Yar-
mouth, whose development he had greatly desired, as well as
certain political honours for himself. At any rate, to his enter-
prise and liberality in promoting docks and railway connections
with the Great Eastern Railway, supplemented by the helping
hand of the Company itself, Lowestoft owes much—indeed, most
of its present-day prosperity.*
* For account of harbour developments, see White's ‘ Directory.’
262
380 THE ZOOLOGIST.. =
The Fish-markets are situated exceedingly near to the sea.
The three ‘“‘basins”’ or docks are fairly commodious, and the
wharves convenient, but the outlet to the sea is all too narrow.
On certain winds, or when a rush of boats takes place, the
harbour is not easy to negotiate either in or out. The Herring
and Mackerel markets and the Trawl market are distinct. Most
of the business in the latter takes place in the morning, whilst
the Herring markets, deserted at other periods of the year, pre-
sent an indescribably busy scene from early morning until late
into the night during the Herring fishery. The Trawl market is
carried on all through the year.
There had been a spell of fine calm weather early in August
(1909) ; on the 11th and 12th very few smacks had landed but
small catches. Prices ruled high. It was reported in a local
paper that a record price had been made in Yarmouth on the
llth. The one solitary smack that came into the harbour had
landed some Plaice. One “trunk” (of eight or nine stone) had
realized £310s. This had been eclipsed by Lowestoft, a ‘trunk ”
of Plaice having gone as high as £3 14s.
I was extremely fortunate, on the 13th, in seeing no fewer
than one hundred Lowestoft and other smacks in the trawlers’
basin at that port, the whole area being covered by a fleet of
these beautiful yacht-like craft (fifty or sixty tonners). I had left
Yarmouth by an early train, with several Yarmouth fish-buyers,
with their tubs, who had gone over with me to the fish-market,
which presented a unique spectacle. Before nine o’clock there
had been spread hundreds of ‘‘trunks’”’ of Plaice, ‘‘ Roker,”
Brill, Dabs, ‘‘ Lemon Soles” (Smeared Dabs), Whitings, Had-
docks, Codlings; huge Turbots and Cods, Congers and heaps of
offal (small Red Gurnards, undersized Dabs, Plaice, &c.) lay in
heaps at odd corners. There rumbled, hither and thither, huge
springless trollies and sack-barrows over the uneven slime-
splashed concrete, emptied, or piled with ‘‘trunks”’ of fish, to and
from the smacks, each trundled by one or two gaunt, daring,
uncouth smacksmen. Then above this uproar and the riot of
voices rang the ear-splitting clanging of auctioneers’ bells, and
the stentorian bellowing of hoarse-throated salesmen, who
yelled ‘‘ This way Haddock buyers!’’ ‘‘ Now you Sole buyers!”
and ‘This way Roker!’ There would be an excited crowd
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 381
winking and nodding to a shouting auctioneer, whilst another
would be shrieking his wares to an audience of four! There was
a glut—it was Friday, too, and the boats that had been held back
for days had come in pell-mell on the first advantageous shift of
wind. Visitors thronged to see the strange scene, and those who
were slow to move got mixed up sadly with trunks and fish and
barrows. I confess that I had to lay my ear close to catch the
purport of the fish-salesmen’s clamorous bellowing, and had
frequently to ask some bystander what the selling prices closed
at. The following prices, as showing the differences attendant
upon a ‘‘glut’”’ or “‘ famine,” may be interesting : —
Aug. lith. Per trunk. Aug. 18th. Per trunk.
Piatee s,s ccc £3 14s. £1 15s. to 18/-
“Roker”... 28/— to 30/— (Price I could not catch)*
SOLS ghee. £12 to £13 £3 8s.
SPT DAN SS 5 wins snin'hy 17/- 6/— to 4/-
15 11 6) alae i a ie 18/- 4/-, 8/—, 12/-
‘Lemon Soles ”’ (fine) -... 18/-
The fluctuations in prices shown on the 138th are to be
accounted for by the differences in size and quality, as well as
fewer buyers as the time passed on. I was by no means im-
pressed by the general run of the fish; many of the ‘ Roker”
(Thornback Rays) were no larger than dinner-plates, Codlings
ran to about a pound in weight, Whitings were undersized, and
many others were by no means ‘‘ prime” fish. A fair-sized
John Dory (Zeus faber) was the only fish that might be termed
curious. One had need go to the wharf day by day, as Mr.
Southwell did in 1901,+ to see ‘‘strangers” thrown down upon
the pavements, e.g. Porbeagles, Sting Rays, Sturgeon, Torpedo
Rays, &c. There was nothing beyond the common-place market
fishes—not a Crab, Lobster, Whelk, Squid, or Porpoise. From
what information I gathered the smacks had been scraping about
in the home waters of the North Sea, certainly not beyond
Cromer Knowle; and I also noticed more than one ominous
Shake of the head when I asked if these smacks were paying. If
‘Steam-trawlers should put into Lowestoft the sailing craft might
at once cease to trawl. I am not alone in believing so. The
** There were very few full boxes of Roker.
+ Vide * Zoologist.’
382 THE ZOOLOGIST.
trend of the fishing is northward—ever northward. Yarmouth
has lost its trawling industry; I somehow fear that Lowestoft
will some day follow suit. How can they long compete against
the northern ports which send their ever-restless steam-fleets to
the Iceland waters and the far-away north White Sea ?
It was with some degree of relief that I left the Trawl-market
for the quieter Herring basin, into which only a few shrimpers
were sailing to sort over their catches of the morning.* These
consisted mainly of Sand Shrimps (Crangon vulgaris) of a goodly
size, among which were many small Jelly-fishes (Cydippe pileus),
and nota little red seaweed. I noticed they did not pick the
weed from the Shrimps, but shook out the crustaceans from the
weed! I had armed myself with several packets of tobacco, and
was speedily on more than speaking terms with the shrimpers,
whose boats I boarded, and whose catches I overhauled. I was
not a little astonished to find but a half-dozen ‘‘ Pink Shrimps ”
(Pandalus annulicornis)—the Aisop’s Prawn.
“Pink ’uns,” said one fisherman, ‘“ won’t sell at Lowestoft ;
they want brown ’uns!”’ which is the reverse of Yarmouth.
They therefore fish on sandier bottom, avoiding the “rough”
(Sabelle) grounds. And whereas some of the Yarmouth catches
have been as high as twenty pecks for a tide, not one of these
boasted a catch of more than three pecks, and they seemed well
content at that. In one boat I saw several Soles; the best of
these were purchased by a fishmonger. These men seem to
have regular buyers, and then dispose of the smaller fish
privately.
I was not impressed by the variety of the ‘‘ captures” taken
with the Shrimps. In one boat was a fine Sprat (Clupea sprattus).
Among other refuse I ‘“‘ noted” the Lesser Weever, Piked Dog-
fish, Skulpins, small Bibs, Whitings, and Herring-syle, not to
mention a number of Pipe-fishes (Syngnathus acus), Yellow
Gobies (Gobius auratus), very small Dabs, Soles, Spotted and
Thornback Rays, Flounders, Pogges, and a few Little Squids
(Loligo rondeletti) and a L. media. I saw a few. Swimming
Crabs, and two beautiful examples of Portwmnus variegatus.
* A fortnight later (Aug. 30th) this basin was crowded with freshly
painted Herring-drifters, all high-busy getting nets and stores aboard for the
autumnal Herring fishing.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 383
A few boats were of the Yarmouth build and rig—broad-
beamed, cutter-rigged ; others were of the Southwold and Alde-
burgh “‘ punt” type, and a few of a nondescript order, one being
a queerly metamorphosed yacht—some twenty-five to thirty in all.
The men were not enamoured of the ‘rough ground”’ north of
Lowestoft, so favourite with Yarmouth men.*
On the piers, like so many Cormorants looking for prey, sat
perched in various attitudes some two hundred Atherine anglers,
seeking ‘“‘Sand Smelts.” One old gentleman, of philosophic
appearance, armed with a light rod and a crow-quill, pulled out
forty silvery-sided beauties in about an hour. These small fish
anglers were still in evidence on the 30th, catching greater or
lesser numbers. The Shrimp-boats had all been moored when I
arrived at their quarters, and the men gone home with their
catches. The retreating tide had left on the shore at the east
side numbers of creatures thrown out as refuse; among them
many Sand-stars (Ophiocoma rosula) and empty valves of . the
Mactra stultorum (the Radiated Trough-shell). I saw a Pholas,
numerous small Whitings, and a host of three-inch Bibs.
‘‘Them little pouts,” [Bibs] said an old salt, ‘‘die suner ’an
any fish livin’; they fare to blow up and float dade directly they
come out of the water. There’s lots of big ’uns come off there
[indicating Lowestoft Ness] later on, and perwide good fishin’.”’
“You have no draw-netting at Lowestoft?” I queried. ‘‘ No—
none; there’s too many groynes,’ he answered. ‘‘Any Smelt-
ing?” ‘No, sir, if you mean ‘Cucumbers,’ but they catch a
few in the basins ‘long wi’ them silver-sided ones.”
From another interesting fellow I gathered that some sixteen
Lowestoft boats engage in the November Sprat fishing, while
carts from Kessingland and Southwold run up to the Lowestoft
market with Sprats, and the boats from those places occasionally
run in with their catches. He himself had Kel-pots in the basins.
I was accosted by a young fellow, on leaving the Herring basin, who
offered me some fine Flounders at a shilling per dozen. He had
taken them, with some Eels, in the basin in a folding hoop-net.
On leaving the wharves I strolled around the older part of
Lowestoft, situated below the cliff, taking note of the fishing
premises, which do not seem of that roomy and important size
* Vide ‘Nature in Eastern Norfolk,’ p. 101.
384 THE ZOOLOGIST.
one is used to at Yarmouth. The sandy dunes were being
levelled (on the 30th), and prepared for the use of the Scotch
girls, whose numbers are increasing each fishing season.
The most interesting trip during my holiday investigations
was to Aldeburgh, on Sept. lst. There were but few visitors on
the stony beach, at the foot of whose steep incline the sea-waves
have eternally rattled the rounded pebbles. There seemed in the
everlasting rattle the sobbing of some disappointed great Evil
Spirit. The boats were out a-trawling, Soles above all else their
quest, and they would not be home till noon. So I tramped
along the apex of that unbound shingly rampart—scrunch,
scrunch—to Slaughden, a tiny hamlet a mile from the town.
How far its roots went down in the stone-heap I could not say,
but there flourished with great grey-green leaf-tufts the yellow-
horned poppy (Glacium flavum), a most delightful seaside wild
flower; sorrel and coarse thistles grew sparsely; Brassica
oleracee, Salsola kale, Crambe maritima, Vicia lutea, and some
other shore-plants that I did not recognise, cropped up here and
there. ‘The only birds I saw were a few grey Gulls. There was
not a Tern in evidence, and this, too, where there was, but three
or four years since, a well-protected colony ! *
At Slaughden I made the acquaintance of an entertaining
old man of the sea, a Mr. Chatton, of charming personality, a
boat-builder, shipwright, eel-catcher, sea-angler, and spratter in
turn. Irom him I gathered that there were from twenty-five to
thirty Sprat-boats at Aldeburgh, carrying three, sometimes four,
and rarely but two hands. The boats were ‘‘ punts’’ of about
twenty feet. A ‘‘fleet”’ of nets carried by a spratter was com-
posed of thirty nets, that spread a full half-mile, of small mesh,
and three fathoms deep. They had no deadly stow-nets on that
coast, which killed the fry of every kind of fish. The Sprat
Fishery was on from the end of October until late in December,
sometimes till Christmas-time, and on rare occasions Sprats
were taken early in the spring. Sprats were uncertain, like —
Mackerel. Their presence could be detected; even if a bit
windy the sea where they were would be like glass, and oily in
appearance [as I have seen water in which Herrings had shoaled] ;
* Cf. the destruction of Terns in ‘ Wild Life on a Norfolk Estuary,’
pp. 273-278.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF HAST SUFFOLK. 385
sometimes they gave the water the appearance of being ruffled
by the wind. ‘‘ Did the sea-birds trouble them?’ He assured
me that the Gulls were a great nuisance; they seized on the
nets and pulled them out of the water, shaking out the Sprats.
Those that ‘‘ worked’’ and those that looked on quarrelled over
the spoil, to the spratter’s disgust. The ‘‘ Willows” (Guillemots
and Razorbills) did not interfere with the nets, but dived in
among the shoals, as did the Red-throated Divers. Occasionally
they got fast inthe meshes and were drowned.
Sprats were sold by the bushel; they were sent to London in
boxes; from ten shillings to twelve shillings a bushel was a good
price at the beginning of the season, which went down to four
shillings and five shillings towards the latter part of it. A good
eatch was from forty to fifty bushels, and as much as a boat
could well carry. The boats used years ago to shoot a number
of bushels each into a yawl and send it to Yarmouth—this was
thirty years since, but it paid better now to send the bulk to
London. There were none sold off this coast, under ordinary
conditions, for manure.
From him I gathered that Grey Mullet were plentiful at times
in the estuary of the Alde; Bass were numerous also, and afforded
great sport to sea-anglers. Smelts were netted, and Hels trawled
for at night; there was fine sport sometimes in winter pritching
for Hels. -
Hanging in Chatton’s boat-shed were three or four ‘‘ pritches,”’
a kind of Hel-spear, made of thin iron rod scarcely stouter than
bicycle-spokes, spread like the fingers of one’s hand, each point
being sharp and upturned. The shaft is long and extremely
light, the whole apparatus weighing about 23 lb., whereas a
Norfolk ‘‘ Hel-pick ’ weighs 7 lb. The “ pritch”’ is said to have
the advantage of not cutting the Eel, which often happens with
the spear... .
At noon the boats returned; they came in on the beginning
of the ebb-tide, and negotiated the steep, awkward beach with
extreme care, coming straight on, carefully avoiding a broadside,
which would not only be very dangerous in anything like a rough
sea, but difficult to right. Two or three active fellows were in
waiting at each landing with “skids,” long flat spars with an
iron facing, which were thrust under the stout billage-streaks of
386 THE ZOOLOGIST.
the boats to prevent them sinking in the yielding shingle. A
rope was speedily attached to the keel, and the boat heaved by
a sturdy winch over the high angle of shingle on to the beach.
I noticed but few species of fish in the boats, the catches
evidently being sorted when the trawl is hauled. A bag-net which
averaged enough Soles to fill a bucket was invariably thrown
ashore from each boat; these after being rinsed in the sea were
immediately gutted on the beach. Some “ Roker,” Blue Skate,
Spotted Ray, and Plaice of small size, with a couple of large
Edible Crabs and a Lobster were all the other species noted. A
few Sand-stars and some broken Sabelle told of the nature of the
eround ‘‘ worked.” The men were exceedingly courteous and
communicative. The boats are marked I. H. (Port of Ipswich).
I roughly paced the trawl-beams at from eighteen feet to twenty
feet. The beach is woefully lumbered up with old gear, winches,
boxes, broken Crab-pots, &c.
There attaches some considerable interest to the chequered
histories of these Hast Suffolk fishing towns, figuring as they did
largely on the panorama of the ages; but too much room cannot
be given to a survey of them, however brief. A very condensed
and succinct account of the past and successive fisheries of
Lowestoft, Southwold, Dunwich, and Aldeburgh, full of curious
phrasing, is given by Miss IE. M. Hewett in the ‘ Victorian
History of Suffolk,’ vol. 11., in a chronologically arranged manner.
I venture to quote from two short items in Hele’s ‘Notes about
Aldeburgh,” ‘‘in respect of the fishery.’ They are couched in
the quaint language of the period, in each case referring to rights
in dispute. One is an indenture between William Saunbrugge,
Prior of the Priory of our Lady of Snape . .. on the one part,
und Robert Cosard, John Benselyn, Robert Bayer, &e.....
granteth by these present writings to the said Towne and Tene-
ments that whereas they paid in the Old time ? for every boat
.... going to fishing for sperling [Smelts] in spurling time
shall pay yearly for evermore to the said Pryor,” &c.
Hele also gives a copy of an indenture :—‘‘ The counterparte
of an Indenture between the Citye of London ana Aldburgh that the
Aldburgh men should pay no duties at London for unlading Her-
rings Spratts Coals salt and other things.—Dated Ist Dec. 1608.”
Reference must be made to a sporting pastime which in-
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 387
creases in interest year by year. I refer to sea-angling, which
has become not only a means of recreation to hundreds of lovers
of the rod, but of a source of revenue to professional men, who
cater at the various seaside resorts for those who cast angle.
There are men and boats always obtainable at Aldeburgh, South-
wold, Lowestoft, Gorleston, and the villages along the coast. At
Aldeburgh flat-fish swarm in the bay; and there is said to be
‘* Lobster-catching on the Thorpe Rocks in the summer.” Ama-
teurs, for a consideration, can generally find a skipper willing to
ship them even during the November ‘‘ spratting.” Sea-fish may
be taken at Slaughden; and at night, I understand, ‘‘ the beach
{in late autumn] is illuminated by the lanterns of enthusiastic
Isaac Waltons.”’ Mr. Clarke, of Aldeburgh, states that shoals of
fish are found from one hundred and thirty to three hundred
yards from the shore, while, if the sea is too rough for fishing,
the waters at the back of the town are available.
At Southwold equally interesting sport may be obtained under
similar conditions, while the piers are favourite resorts. Lowes-
toft also offers favourable opportunities for sea-angling.
Mr. F. G. Robson, Master of Claremont Pier, Lowestoft, has
kindly furnished me with the following statistics :—
Season FROM OcroBer 6TH to DreceMBER 5TH.
1905. | 1906.
BY MIMUNAS oi. wo 21 bp JAS eg 0 01 ss as eet 71,029
Lic ule aR eae 2,220 Cease Ts. TOT
Pang ists weepalehates 383 Dabs.) eaveschs:. 206
Pehle civians «ic Oh ors » 4524, | OGAL, 7s; 72,022
1907. 1908
PN UGTA Scan canna isi Die he KN ndings decks cats. 46,008
ls TS 981 OG eet cefasccnss 4,285
Beets ees cree tee 1,382 16 Ltt
MD teal ite he 29,165. Moe aone te es 51,404
In an article to ‘The Zoologist’ (1901), on ‘‘ Lowestoft
Fish-wharf,” the late Mr. T. Southwell, presented us with an
entertaining view of that busy fish-market, detailing an inter-
esting catalogue of species he met with during a few days’
researches among the catches of the trawlers and drifters, con-
cluding his paper by a frank admission that “it would not be
388 THE ZOOLOGIST.
right to claim the fish we see landed here as belonging to our
immediate neighbourhood. The steam-trawlers go far afield,
.... but there are others which make their captures nearer
home, and by the exercise of due caution a shrewd guess may be
formed and often accurate information obtained as to the locality
of their origin.” He further regretted there was ‘‘ nobody living
there who takes an interest in the subject.” I have shared that
regret, and have often wished that there was some enthusiastic
Suffolk ichthyologist competent to supply such a catalogue as
would bear a fair comparison with the large list of those already
known to have occurred in Norfolk waters.
Both at Aldeburgh and Southwold, as well as at Lowestoft
and the fishing villages between, rare fish must occasionally be
met with. It was quite by accident that, since I had penned the -
greater part of this paper, I fell in with Robert Wake’s ‘ South-
wold and its Vicinity’ (1839). In this interesting volume there
is a bare list of the marine species of that neighbourhood, with
but two lines of introduction. He, however, concludes the list
with a sort of footnote, remarking: ‘‘ Besides the above,
numberless nondescript small fish are occasionally taken in the
trawl-nets.” What an interesting array these ‘‘ nondescripts ”
should make! Wake gives us a list of fifty-one species, from
which two so-called species must be eliminated, and two allowed
to remain with a ?. These will be noted in the list that follows.
Thanks to Mr. Southwell’s paper for providing me with an
incentive to research, my endeavours to draw up a bona fide
list of respectable dimensions afforded me a most interesting
series of flying visits to the chief fishing stations in Hast Suffolk.
It has been my pleasure to verify species already recorded,
and to add several hitherto unnoticed. I previously possessed a
number of “records” of fish which had come into my hands,
and there were a few, of rarer sorts, figuring in the lists included
in the ‘ Transactions’ of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’
Society, which were of service to me. I suppose I may term
this an initial collective list of the Kast Suffolk species ; I hope
its publication will offer inducement to still further research. I
may add that I consider greater credit is due to him who, already
having had the ground prospected, fills up gaps (which I have
certainly left) and adds fishes hitherto unrecorded.
;
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 389
The Freshwater Fishes of the East Suffolk district are neces-
sarily few, and should be thoroughly ‘‘ worked out” with ease ;
the Marine species, however, from the vast scope of the con-
stantly moving salt tides, must always afford a chance of finding
and identifying new-comers and stragglers, the uncertainty of
whose advent, coupled with their probability, should always keep
the investigator on the qui vive.
Fritton Lake, to which is attached Lound Run, lying midway
between Yarmouth and Lowestoft, is a long, narrow, tree-
embowered sheet of water, over two miles in length, nearly half
a mile across at its widest part; its waters, in the hotter
months, hold in suspension a vast amount of vegetable organ-
isms, which give them a peasoup-like appearance. Shoals of
large and very slimy Bream inhabit its depths, and form the
sreater part of the anglers’ catches. Roach and Perch are
abundant, as are Tench, and Crucian Carp, -which, however,
rarely take the hook. Pike are plentiful, but seldom trouble the
angler in summer-time. This lake is exceedingly beautiful, and
a great resort of Wild Duck, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, and others of
the Anatide, great numbers of which are taken annually in the
decoys.* Oulton Broad, a wide, clear, yacht-crowded expanse of
water, contains about one hundred acres, and is joined to the
Waveney by a “dyke” a mile and a half long, which the un-
initiated fail to distinguish from the river itself. Perch-fishing
was at one time a noted pastime here, the fish resorting to the
vicinity of the lock for the sake of the Shrimps that abounded.
Grey Mullet were at one time numerous in the neighbourhood of
Oulton Broad and Lake Lothing at certain periods.
Than Mr. W. 8. Everitt, a noted yachtsman and sportsman,
whose estate borders on Oulton Broad, no one knows this beautiful
lagoon better, he having lived in its vicinity for several decades.
In the course of a chat with him on Aug. 17th last he greatly
added to my interest in this favourite Broad. He could not tell
me offhand as to its degrees of salinity, which is heavier than
that of the Norfolk Broads, for a certain quantity of salt water
constantly escapes into it through the lock which divides it from
Lake Lothing. He assured me there were still a few small Rudd
therein, and that the Perch are much smaller than of yore; that
* Of, ‘Nature in Hastern Norfolk,’ pp. 54-57.
390 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Carp, which never take a hook, and Tench also are found. On one
occasion some ditches had been ‘“‘ fyed out,” and the great accu-
mulation of Anacharis and other weeds removed, when hundreds
of very small Tench took up their quarters there, and grew
most rapidly. He referred to the partial migration of Bream
which at certain periods came to the Broad in shoals, returning
to the rivers at other seasons—a subject well worth studying.
The Mullet, that in the earlier half of the last century were
abundant on the Oulton Broad in August, were now much
scarcer, and came in May; they delighted in lukewarm water
that was constant around certain works.
Mr. Everitt, in conjunction with some other sportsmen inter-
ested in game-fishes, near the end of the seventies turned down
in various directions sundry ‘“‘finger-length Rainbow Trout,
Salmon (Salmo salar), and half-breds” from Bungay downwards,
but they were never afterwards heard of, probably falling a prey
to Hels, Pike, and other ichthyophagous creatures. Golden
Tench, nine inches in length, were turned out into various ponds
at Haveringham, Oulton, and Park’s Hill. At the former places
they did not thrive, the Herons no doubt finding them out. At
the latter place they seem to have done well, growing to fourteen
inches and scaling three pounds. There were also small ones
discovered, which suggests multiplication.
Some ‘‘ Looking-glass”’ Carp (Cyprinus specularis) were
turned into a North Cove pond at a little later period, but did not
prosper; Mr. Everitt thinks that the Otters, which he pronounced
‘still too common” (!), found them out and destroyed them.
I visited Lowestoft on July 22nd (1909), taking a ramble
on my way around Oulton Broad and Lake Lothing, my prin-
cipal objective being an inspection of the natural history speci-
mens exhibited in the well-known ‘ Wherry Hotel’ at Oulton.
Herein I found a very interesting collection of birds, including a
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea), Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia),
Pallas’s Sand Grouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus), and others, all
shot in the neighbourhood. Here also were numerous cases of
preserved fishes, of rare or record celebrity, among them being
a Bream (Abramis brama) of 63 1b. With it is cased a 22 lb. fish
which I believed to be a hybrid Bream x Roach. Both fish
were taken on Aug. 13th, 1881. A Black Bass (Centropristes
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 391
atrarius) is exhibited as the only survivor (!) captured out of a
consignment from Austria that had been deposited in local
waters; the others, it is believed, were all devoured by the
Oulton Pike. Tench, Rudd, and Dace are represented, and a
Golden Tench of 2 lb. from a pond near Lowestoft. There
are some fine Perch, taken from one catch, and a well-preserved
plaster cast of a fine lot of Roach, which suggests Buckland.
Host Horne believes that the falling-off in the numbers of fresh-
water fishes in that locality is greatly due to the disturbance
caused by motor and steam launches, which fling a turbulent
wake into the reeds, beating the vitality out of the ova thereto
attached. There would seem some truth in this theory.
On the edge of asmall arm of Lake Lothing, cut off from the
main Broad by a railway embankment, and probably scarcely so
salt, although connected by a sluice, I found dead examples of
Gasterosteus aculeatus, varieties of both the Rough-tailed and
Quarter-armed Stickleback. These had probably been killed in
sexual fights; they were males in good colour, but had been
bitten, apparently by crustaceans. It was odd to see stretches of
reeds and sedges forefronted by ‘“‘ Raw” (Chetomorpha linum)
and ‘‘ Cabbage” (Ulv@ lactuca), species of semi-marine plants so
commonly found on Breydon mud-flats, in among which I saw
Idotea and Spheromida, which were lively and busy enough. In
the basins of the outer harbour Atherines were abundant, and
Herring-syle was flashing in the sunlit waters.
There are numerous ponds, mostly private, scattered about
Hast Suffolk which I should like to have explored, as well as
riverways, locks, &c. I visited the Waveney on Aug. 12th, in
company with Mr. H. E. Hurrell, who is keen on Rotifera and
Polyzoa, and from what I saw of the life teeming in its trans-
lucent depths, and in odd corners rank with water-plants, I
sincerely envied those whose opportunities to study it were
better than mine. The Waveney, the Blythe, and the Alde, with
heir circuitous meanderings and marshy connections, invite
areful research; while further to the south-east of the county
till more magnificent opportunities offer in the wide-spreading
stuaries of the Deben, the Orwell, and the Stour, whose marine
auna should provide excellent lists.
To come back to the marine fishes of East Suffolk—there is
592 LAE ZOChOGISE:
much to be done by careful observation ; draw-netter’s catches
are to be watched to some profit, whilst shrimpers and wolders
and punters, who trawl and dredge in the shallows and deeps
around the Corton, Newcome, and Barber Sands, the Holm, the
Sizewell Bank, and Aldeburgh Napes and the Ridge—the ‘rough
grounds ” and the sandy stretches—meet with a great variety of
genera, some of which, as the Gobide, the Blennies, and the flat-
fishes, muster quite a number of individual species. As a case
in point—on June 16th, 1906, during a walk along Southwold
beach, on which I casually looked into the boats drawn up
awaiting the morrow’s tide, I recognized no fewer than eighteen
species, among them the Pogge, Spotted and Thornback Rays,
Tope, Picked Dog, Greater Weever, and a very beautiful fresh
Pilchard.
To further augment the list, investigations should be carried
on in winter as well as in summer, for during storms and severe
weather curious fishes, as the Opah and the Ray’s Bream,
muddled among the sand-banks, might be washed ashore. Some
of-my rarest finds at Yarmouth, e.g. the Miuller’s Scopelus
(Maurolicus borealis) and the above-named species, have been
thus unceremoniously tumbled upon the beach. The good-
fellowship and co-operation of fishermen should be enlisted;
there are ways of winning their help and sympathies besides an
occasional serew of tobacco, and were they assured that a
reasonable price attached to the bringing in of a strange
although to them a worthless fish, it would soon find its way
into the hands of a generous collector. The good offices of sea-
anglers also are not to be despised, and even the urchins who
loaf around quaysides may be made useful in adding to a
naturalist’s happiness. .
The List of Species which follows is by no means a complete
one; there are many gaps, even among the commoner species,
to be filled in—fish which I am certain are to be found, and ff
have been, but, as I have not had proper verification, have
been necessarily left out, to be discovered and added by any
person having time as well as inclination to follow my lead.
The abbreviations are as follow:—Nor. N. 8. means ‘ Trans-
actions’ of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society; [ J],
not indigenous or doubtful.
(To be continued.)
( 393 )
SOME SWISS BIRDS OBSERVED AT THE RHONE
GLACIER, KLEINE SCHEIDEGG, AND MACOLIN,
JURA BERNOISH, IN 1909.
By Rey. Caarues W. Benson, LL.D.
I neLp for some weeks in July and August, 1909, three
chaplaincies in Switzerland :—
1. Rhone Glacier, 5742 ft. above sea-level.
2. Kleine Scheidege, 6768 ft. above sea-level.
3. Macolin-over-Bienne, 2883 ft. above sea-level.
I venture to contribute some observations of the birds noted
at these three stations, and also on the Grimsel Pass and the
Furka, and up to a height of 8120 ft.
July 9th we left Meiringen in the diligence with five horses
for Gletsch, the Rhone Glacier Hotel. When we had been out
for about four hours we arrived at the Handeck Falls and Hotel,
and were there told that further progress was impossible, as the
Grimsel Pass was blocked with snow. We therefore reluctantly
returned to Meiringen for the night. Next day we set out again,
and were enabled providentially to get through, as rain had set
in. But on the following day—Sunday—this changed to snow,
and the Grimsel had seven feet deep of snow in it, and icicles, I
was assured, at least one foot and a half long. The wires were
all down, and even the iron rails fastened on stone posts on the
road. Of course all communication was stopped, and travellers
who came down by the Furka intending to pass over the Grimsel
had to remain at the Rhone Glacier Hotel. The authorities
told me that this was quite an unparalleled state of things in
their experience—such a snowfall in July was a thing unheard-
of before. Large numbers of soldiers with pioneers in front and
many labourers set to work and opened the Pass for traffic by
the Wednesday following. Before the great snowfall reached
the valley, I noticed some Common Swifts and Wheatears
not very far from the hotel, but they seemed to disappear
4ool, 4th ser. vol. XIII., October, 1909, 2H
394 THE ZCOLOGIST.
after the first day of the snowstorm, and I did not see them
again.
My list for the Rhone Glacier Valley proper did not include
more than half a dozen birds. Linnets and Redpolls were very
numerous, Black Redstarts, Water Pipits, White Wagtails, and
House-Martins were about all. When the weather moderated,
however, and we were able to walk over the Grimsel and Furka
roads, we added to the number. Wrens were very plentiful and
in full song almost to about 7000 ft., and to my great surprise
I heard Bonelli’s Warbler and the Garden-Warbler at the same
height. A few Alpine Choughs and Snow-Finches were also
seen. Descending towards the Oberwald, 4816 ft., 1 observed
the Wood-Warbler, the Whinchat, and many Goldcrests, and for
the first time the House-Sparrow, though I had observed the
Hedge-Sparrow on the Furka Strasse. A bird which I heard
near the top of the Grimsel Pass was quite new to me, and I am
very anxious to identify it if possible. The height was about
7000 ft., and the note of the bird, constantly repeated, sounded
exactly like ‘‘ Titchi, duck, duck.”* There were evidently two
birds answering each other, and in exactly the same phraseology.
I never heard these notes before nor have I since, though on two
occasions I revisited the spot, hoping to see and hear the
utterers.
When I approached the spot where the birds were, they
were immediately silent, but shortly after I saw on a rock
some distance away, and one which I could not approach, a
brown bird with pale breast, somewhat like a Garden- Warbler.
I could not, however, be sure that this was the bird whose notes
attracted me, though I think it was.
Near the Grimsel I also observed a Rock Thrush descending
singing with uplifted wings close to the Todten See, ‘‘ Lake of
the Dead.” I once had a similar experience on the Pilatus
Kulm. Some distance above Grindelwald was the only place
where I noted the Meadow-Pipit, and, at Interlaken only, the
Serin Finch, but Chaffinches and Redpolls were extraordinarily
numerous.
At the hotel on the top of the Furka Pass I found the House-
Martins nesting, and circling at a great height in the air at an
* Mr. Warde Fowler suggests a Wheatear,
SOMH SWISS BIRDS. B95
elevation of about 8000 ft., but nowhere did I find Swallows
higher than about 3000 ft.
The Marmots in the Rhone Valley kept up their shrill
whistling all day long, but it was difficult to sight them.
When we left the Rhone Glacier Hotel our next post was the
Kleine Scheidegg, 6768 ft., and there I was led to expect many
bird residents, such as ‘‘ Blackcocks, Mountain Cocks (sic),
Mountain Swallows,” &c., but I could only find the following :—
Crow, Redpoll, Black Redstart, Water-Pipit, and Siskin, or
“* Zeisig,’”’ as this little bird is called in Switzerland ; but on the
rocks over the Kiger Gletscher Station, 7620 ft , the first station
on the wonderful Jungfrau Railway, there were many Alpine
Choughs, and the air was filled with their shrill cries. { thought,
also, that on one evening I saw one of the Ravens reported from
the Lauberhorn circling round the station.
Redpolls were very numerous, and were to be found all along
the descent from the Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald. On the
Lauberhorn, 8120 ft., and the Mannlichen, 7695 ft., there were
no birds whatever.
My third chaplaincy was at Macolin-over-Bienne, Jura
Bernoise, 2883 ft., a lovely spot with views embracing the distant
Alps from Sentis to Mont Blanc, and there I noted thirty-two
species; the most remarkable being the Common Buzzard, the
Black Kite over the Lake of Bienne, and the Alpine Swift—
numbers of these birds were circling round the Stadtkirche at
Bienne; but I saw none at Berne, where, at one time, they were
so numerous. Jays were also very plentiful in the pine-woods,
and Willow-Warblers and Chiffchaffs were calling ; Crested Tits
were also common. I should think that in May this would be
& splendid station for observing birds, as the woods are really
magnificent, reaching down 1500 ft. and more to the lake below.
It is easy also of access from England, being only about two
hours from Bale, whilst it can be reached even more speedily
from Belfort.
On the whole, I noted fifty-two species in Switzerland, but
I should probably have observed more were it not that my
localities were for the first month at such high altitudes, and for
the last in August, one of the most unfavourable months in the
year for bird observation.
396 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Macolin was reached from Bienne by a funiculaire in fifteen
minutes, and at the station in Bienne Swallows had a nest near
the roof, and the second brood were just beginning to fly as we
were leaving at the end of August. Hverything had been done
to ensure their safety, perches and other conveniences had been
provided, and the station was each year frequented by these
birds.
In one year we were told that they built in the carriage
itself which went up and down every hour about 1500 ft. to
Macolin; they hatched out a brood going backwards and forwards
with the car, and when the young were fairly well grown, -
allowed them to go up by themselves, and waited until they
came down again to give them food.
¢ B97 )
NOTES AND QUERIES.
AVES.
The Whinchat at Wilsden.—Pratincola rubetra is not nearly so
numerous as it was in the sixties in this district. Its scarcity, how-
ever, has been most marked within this last decade. Whether this
may be due to natural or artificial or to both causes it would be
difficult to say. The almost total disappearance of whin-covers from
this neighbourhood may be one contributory, but cannot be the sole
determining factor in the problem, since it is by no means confined
to such places, but used to be quite at home nesting in our meadows,
and next to the Titlark was the nest in which the Cuckoo used to
deposit its egg; but I never once found the egg of the Cuckoo in the
nest of this species that resembled the egg of the fosterer in the least
degree, not even the type which approaches that of a Pied Wagtail.
My only wish is that in the future it may yet return to our district in
greater numbers to breed on our heathy wastes. Its well-known
call-notes amid such associations, even now, awaken many pleasant
memories.—H. P. BuTTERFrELD (Wilsden).
Marsh-Warbler in Bucks.—T wo years ago I observed the nesting of
the Marsh- Warbler at Thorpe, in Surrey, and recorded the same (Zool.
1908, p. 137), it being the first known instance of Acrocephalus palustris
breeding in the county. Two nests were then found, the first with
four eggs on June 14th, and a second nest on the 25th, also with four
eggs. Last year I spent considerable time throughout the summer
in trying to rediscover the birds around the same place, but was not
successful, and I came to the conclusion that their occurrence was
merely accidental. I was on the river on June 14th this year, and
went ashore to inspect a very dense nettle-bed not very far away from
the historic Magna Charta Island. Immediately on landing I found
a Reed-Warbler’s nest in an osier along the river front, which con-
tained two eggs and one Cuckoo’s. In proceeding to make my way
through the tall dense nettles, I came suddenly upon the nest and
two well-marked eggs of the Marsh-Warbler, and here also there was
a Cuckoo’s egg, though of a different type to the one I had just
398 THE ZOOLOGIST.
previously found in the Reed-Warbler’s nest. I was very surprised
and pleased to again find the Marsh-Warbler breeding, and especially
so at finding a Cuckoo’s egg in the nest, for there are very few
instances of its occurrence in England. The nest was placed some
twelve yards back from the river on firm though damp ground; it
was not more than eighteen inches from the ground, and was com-
posed entirely of dry round bents, fairly substantially made, and
having two live nettle-stems woven into the sides. The actual spot
was in the parish of Wraysbury, in the county of Bucks (Wyrardis-
bury, as it used to be called), and is not more than five miles from the
Surrey plantation where I met the birds in 1907. I informed my
friend Mr. Edward Pettitt, of Wraysbury, of my find, and, as he is in-
terested in ornithology, asked him to let me have any further news of
the birds. On June 30th he succeeded in finding another nest in the
same nettle-bed, and within a yard or two of my previous nest; this
nest contained four Marsh-Warbler’s eggs and one Cuckoo’s, the
latter being of a third type—that is to say, quite distinct from
either the egg I found in my Marsh-Warbler’s nest or in the Reed-
Warbler’s. This second nest was again built of dry bents and
placed about eighteen inches from the ground, and had two pieces
of dead loosestrife and two live nettles woven into the sides. It
may be that the Marsh-Warbler is attempting to establish itself
along this part of the Thames, but more evidence is required
before one can form an opinion on this point. I may say, how-
ever, that previous to 1907 I had never met the bird in these
parts, though I had worked along the river for many years, and
always hoped to meet it one day—GranHam W. Kerr (Ditton Lodge,
Datchet).
Raven in Surrey.—On the 12th September last I both heard and
saw a Raven (Corvus corax) flying overhead here. The peculiar
croaking sound was unmistakable. I believe this bird has not been
previously, or at all events for many years, recorded in Surrey.—
N. P. Fenwick, Jun. (The Gables, Esher, Surrey).
Cormorant in Warwickshire.—Replying to Mr. Smalley’s sugges-
tion (ante, p. 350), the bird I recorded (ante, p. 8315) was of course, as
I stated, a Cormorant and not a Shag. The Common Cormorant
varies considerably in size, but the usual length seems to be about
36 in.; wing from 12°5 in. to 14:00 in. The bird I referred to was a
small, young example, and thin. Its wing,was 13 in.—O. V. APLIN
(Bloxham, Oxon).
NOTES AND QUERIES. 399
Nordmann’s Pratincole in Yorkshire.—A specimen of Nordmann’s
Pratincole (Glareola melanoptera) was shot at Reedholme, near Danby
Wiske, on August 17th. It was flying with a flock of Green Plover
at the time. — R. Fortune (5, Grosvenor Terrace, Hast Parade,
Harrogate).
Machetes pugnax in Co. Mayo.—-It may interest some readers of
‘The Zoologist’ to know that a Reeve was shot by Mr. H. Knox, of
Greenwood Park, on August 30th last near Daleybann Lough, Bella-
corick, Co. Mayo. This is only the fourth specimen that I know of
shot in this western district, all being solitary birds shot during the
autumn migration.—RoBert WARREN (Moy View, Ballina).
NOTIONS. -OF NEW. BOOKS.
The Kea: a New Zealand Problem. By Groner KR. Marriner,
F.R.M.S. Williams & Norgate.
Apart from the ornithological point of view little can be said
in favour of this bird; to the sheep-farmers it is too frequently
a cause of heavy loss, to the sheep themselves it is a cruel and
fatal vivisector. It has, however, been said—and Dr. Wallace
in his ‘ Darwinism’ largely popularised the idea—that the bird
actually burrows into the living sheep, eating its way down to
the kidney, which forms its special delicacy, an erroneous
statement and unnecessary, for the Kea’s record is black enough
without this suggestion.
Mr. Marriner has written an excellent and exhaustive life-
history of this destructive bird, and clearly proves, apart from
the kidney myth, that if extermination at the hands of the
sheep-farmers eventually ensues it will have earned its fate,
though it is probable that it will survive in greatly diminished
number rather than be added to the list of extinct birds. It
inhabits the alpine regions of New Zealand, where the severity
of the winter is especially felt, and ‘‘ builds its nest, lays its
egos, hatches and rears its young, all during the severest months
of the winter.” It appears that all Keas do not kill or even
400 THE ZOOLOGIST.
attack sheep; ‘usually one or two old birds, known as ‘ sheep-
killers,’ do the killing, and the others share the spoil’; neither
do the Keas ‘‘ choose the lambs or weaklings, but in most cases
the choicest of the flocks is killed.”’ Their depredations may be
estimated by the complaint of one sufferer: ‘‘One year I had a
bad muster; four hundred woolly sheep came in at the beginning
of winter, when the snow fell and the sheep could not get away.
I placed them, as I thought, in a safe position, on the hillside
close to where I lived. In spring, when I went to have a look
at them, the Keas had killed about two hundred of them.” It
is not surprising to read that a price has been put upon the
heads of these marauders, usually 2s. 6d., though sometimes as
much as 10s. We may feel a certain amount of pity for the
destruction of birds who poach over our agricultural lands and
orchards, but for the Kea, who puts the sheep to a particularly
cruel and lingering death there need be little clemency. There
will never be perfect peace between man and other animals; the
most humane and tender-hearted florist would gladly sign a
decree for the utter extermination of slugs by the most effica-
cious means. Some teachings of Socialism, the right to live
with the right to share, fortunately fail with the treatment of
the Slug and the Kea.
There can be little doubt that the Kea has, comparatively
speaking, recently acquired its carnivorous propensities, and the
different theories proposed to account for this change in habits
are fully discussed by the author, who has successfully shown
how a small volume can be written on a single bird, readable
from beginning to end and containing all we want to inom
The pages are well and fully illustrated.
Correction.—The publishers of ‘The Wild Beasts of the
World,’ reviewed in our last issue (ante, p. 358), are T.C. & H.C.
Jack, and not T. C. & I. C. Black, as printed.
THE ZOOLOGIST
No. 821.—November, 1909.
AN OBSERVATIONAL DIARY on tor NUPTIAL HABITS
ors crue ~ BLUACKCOCK > (TETRAO TETRIX) mum
SCANDINAVIA ann ENGLAND.
By Epmunp SELovs.
(Part I. ScaNDINAVIA.)
In the spring of 1907 an opportunity was given me through
the kindness of Mr. Biesert, a Swedish gentleman of distinguished
political and other attainments, to study the nuptial habits of
Blackcocks in the neighbourhood of his wood-pulp manufactory
in Wirmland. Mr. Biesert being absent from home, on account
of his health, and the old friend, for some years a member of his
household, with whom I had been going to pass the time, having
also to leave, through some unforeseen circumstances, I found
myself in the novel position of being alone in a handsome and
luxurious residence on the borders of a beautiful lake amidst
Scandinayiau pine-forests, with servants the most obliging and
accommodating, in attendance, to whom, however, I was unable
to say the shortest sentence except through the Engelsk-Svensk
volume of a large dictionary, thoughtfully left on the table,
which, if it were a question, would be answered, again by means
of the Svensk-Engelsk portion. On the same basis less the
dictionary which was not of portable size, I had also a forester ;
but Herr Hoglind, the courteous and talented manager of the
adjoining works, was always at hand through the telephone to
4ool. 4th ser. voi. XIII.. November, 1909, 21
402 THE ZOOLOGIST.
adjust matters whenever, in the way of difficulty, they ‘‘ grew to
a point.” With all this, however—the romantic or novelistic
part of the story—ornithology has nought to do, and I, therefore,
leave it, to come, at once, to the scientific results of my visit—
for field natural history is as scientific as astronomy, or any
laboratory work.
April 12th, 1907.— This morning, having failed with the
Capercailzies, I tried the Blackcocks, getting to the shelter I had
put up, a day or two before, some time between three and four.
At about 4 there was the angry ‘‘ whush-ee”’ note of a Blackcock
on the ground, and, shortly afterwards, the musical rookooing
one—the ‘‘ whirble”’ as I call it—of several from surrounding
trees. This continued at intervals till, at about 5, three or four
cock birds appeared on the ground, but at aconsiderable distance
from where I sat. Also they kept getting behind a young fir,
by which, though it was only some three feet high, and pro-
portionately small, they were yet very much hidden. Still I was
able to see most of what went on. The great feature was the
spreading out of the tail, by which the curled feathers on either
side became a very marked feature, much enhanced by the
bunch of white ones between them. The two white spots on the
shoulders were also very conspicuous, and beyond all, perhaps,
the red comb or sere above the beak. The birds would stand or
walk with the tail expanded in this manner, and the head held
down except when, at intervals, with a little start and a note
that seemed to express sudden impatience they craned it up-
wards, and sometimes, but by no means always, gave a little leap
into the air. A quick succession of such movements on the part
of some became a sort of dancing over the ground, in which I
recognized, but very faintly, the astonishing performance of
which on one occasion only, now some 8 or 9 years ago, I was a
witness in Norway. LBesides this, some birds faced, and even
sparred a little at each other, but it was a very feeble and half-
hearted affair, suggesting either that these particular individuals
were not good fighters, or—which is perhaps more likely—that
the season is as yet too early for the martial spirit to have become
properly developed.
April 13th.—Started very early with Jacobsen (the forester),
but wasted valuable time in unsuccessful quest of Capercailzies,
NUPTIAL HABITS OF THE BLACKCOCK. 403
and it was only on our return, much later, that we visited the
lek of the Blackcocks, and, creeping up the rocky ridge bounding
it on one side, saw two or three of them on the ground. It was
the same thing as yesterday, but even poorer, since it was almost
over. Still there was a dance or two over the ground, more
particularly of one bird, but if this was intended as a challenge,
it was not responded to by any of the others, so that there was
not even the semblance of a fight. The running and jumping
were, each time, ushered in by a short flight, low over the
sround, from the place where the bird had up to then been
standing, and with the impetus of this, as it were, the leaping
began. It was, I think, accompanied with some angry notes,
but if so, they were hardly to be heard, so that the vocal effect
produced by the bird I saw in Norway, which hissed and
spluttered like an angry cat, was wholly wanting, and the dance
itself not comparable in intensity. After a little of this the bird
flew into one of the surrounding fir-trees, where it sat making
the rough yet musical notes which are as characteristic of these
northern fir-forests as is the Wood-Pigeon’s cooing of our own
woods. It then flew down again, and continued its ground per-
formances for some time longer, and, when it next left, was
accompanied by another bird, the two flying from one tree to
another, and settling, at length, in closely adjoining ones, where
they whirbled at one another. In the display of the Blackcock
some of the white feathers of the tail are seen above the black
ones, even when the bird stands fronting one. There are also
two white spots, violently conspicuous, on each shoulder, or
thereabouts.
What part, if any, is played in all this by the hen bird? As
yet I have not seen one anywhere, though probably, had any
been about in the open, my glasses would have searched them
out. This, however, is quite in keeping with the nuptial doings
of the Ruff. She has no doubt yet to make her entry into the
drama.
Though unsuccessful in seeing what I wanted to, with the
Capercailzies, this morning, yet I had a good view, through the
glasses, of one, a hen bird sitting on the very top of a fir-tree,
which may be the accustomed perch chosen. The Blackcocks
212
404 THE’ ZOOLCGIST.
also fly up into the tops of their trees, if not always into the
top bough.
April 15th.— Up at 3 and went with the forester to the Black-
cock lek, where he left me. I did not go into the shelter, but
sat under a small fir-tree on the ridge, which commanded a much
better view. From about 4, when it was still dark, the birds
were noisy, first the rookling or whirbling note from the trees
around the open space, and then, from the ground, apparently,
those curious, loud, angry notes, having a sort of wheezing,
whishing or sneezing sound in them, intensified sometimes,
during the excited ‘‘dance,’ as I have myself heard, before
now, into a sort of hiss. The best rendering of the note I can
give on paper is ‘‘to-whash”’ or ‘‘to-whay.’’ It comes very
suddenly and scrapily out of the gloom. Miungled with this I
now hear, from time to time, a softer, quite different note, which
may possibly be that of the hen; but it is impossible for me to
see anything, and this is mere conjecture.
A little before 4.30 there is a pause, both the “‘ to-whashing ”’
or ‘‘to-whaying’’ note—this last, I think, is nearer—from the
ground, and the ‘‘rookling”’ one from the surrounding trees,
cease, and with this it becomes gradually light. The place
seems entirely deserted, and it is only in the distance, over a
wide stretch of country, that I hear the latter occasionally.
The stillness now, at 5, is striking.
It is now 5.15, and, for some time, I have not caught the
faintest note of a Blackcock. It seems as though there was a
short space of nuptial activity amongst the birds, the first thing
in the morning before light, and then, with the coming of day-
light, a long pause.
5.25. — The whirbling now in evidence again, but very
slightly.
At 5.45 a Blackcock comes sailing, like a Pheasant with
spread wings, across the open space, and settles in a fir, just
skirting it. He sits there erect, on its very top, his head held
well up, as though listening for any impudent rooklings. Now
they begin, but far off. He does not answer, and his first note
is that angry ‘‘to-”’ or ‘‘tir-whay’’ which I had connected wita
the bird being on the ground, but proves now to be independent
of situation. Afterwards when three more males sit in firs
NUPTIAL HABITS OF THE BLACKCOCE. 405
skirting the space—two, again, at the very tip-top—it is heard
from one or another of them, and now the first-comer begins to
rookle continuously. The note is now longer than before, and
has a greater volume of sound init. It is a sort of talking, and
begins to sound, after a preliminary ‘‘ roor”’ or two, wonderfully
like the sentence, ‘‘ Give him his coppers; he’s going to take the
electric.” This may be fanciful, but so I suppose is the con-
stantly repeated remark, or dark allusion, of the ‘“‘ Brain-fever ”
Bird in India, and having heard the thing once it is impossible
not to go on hearing it, with increasing distinctness, every time
the sound goes up, which it does continually, or almost so,
during a whole hour, till I leave. At long intervals the bird
stops to utter the more angry-sounding note, which is the only
relief from this distracting hallucination.
At 7.30 no other birds are there, and I go.
April 17th.—Up at 3, and get to the place about 3.40.
First ‘‘ tir-whay ” note at 3.45, and now come some very loud
and striking ones. Then the rookling, and that other and more
plaintive-sounding note that I have spoken of. With them all
the air is now quite vocal. Itis all amongst the belt of trees,
however, and probably from amongst their branches. ‘‘ Choc-
choc-kerade,”’ in soft, complaining, yet resonant tones, represents,
fairly well, the plaintive-sounding note.
4.5.—I can now see some birds—at least two in the arena;
three or four, as it turns out, for all at once, now, at 4.15, there
is a sudden and instantaneous flight of all of them back into
the trees.
4.25.—It is now light, and the pause I spoke of, the other
day, seems to have commenced. All around the arena silence
reigns.
At 5.30 three birds, and then another one, fly down into the
arena. They stand, or make a step or two, spreading out their
tails, as described, and then two approach each other, uttering
that note which I have called the plaintive one—very soft and
plaintive-sounding it is—and conjectured might belong to the
hen, but which would now seem to be the note of war par excel-
lence. Once or twice the birds approach in this manner, but the
utmost they do is to make a slight feint at one another. Then,
all at once, all four—for there are not more—rise and fly into
406 THE ZOOLOGIST.
the trees. From these rookling now proceeds, and the ‘‘ Give
him his coppers; he’s going to take the electric” is as apparent
as ever. It seems likely, therefore, that when i heard all these
‘notes in the darkness the other morning some of the birds, at
any rate, were in the arena, though it being, perhaps, a little
darker then, I did not see them. Whilst still dark it is a good
deal warmer than at and after daybreak, and whether for this
reason or that the sexual stimulus is not yet fully developed, the
birds seem shy, as yet, of remaining for long on the ground—
certainly shyer than some days ago, when the weather was finer
and warmer. These last two mornings—Monday and Wednes-
day—there has not been any of that darting and flying about
over the ground, and springing into the air, that, though little
compared to the tremendous ‘‘ dance”’ which I once saw in Nor-
way, in May, has yet been the most noticeable feature of these
present nuptial performances. The difference between the earlier
and later form of this sexual whirlwind, as it may be called—
between the breeze and the whirlwind—is very great, insomuch
that one would hardly at first, or without the evolutionary habit
of thought, suppose that the one could have passed into the
other. Nevertheless, the last is merely the first intensified, or,
at any rate, if one imagines a constant addition, can very well
be seen in this light.
In speculating on the meaning of this frenzy, as at its height
it may be well called—indeed it then beggars description—of the
Blackcock, its probable course of development must be con-
sidered. At first, as shown by my observations of the 12th and
13th, the actions indulged in are no more than slight exaggera-
tions of ordinary flying and running about over the ground.
There is little or nothing suggesting some special object to which
they are adapted. They seem the outcome of general excite-
ment, or, speaking more accurately, the more or less generalised
outcome of a special kind of excitement, which we must hold to
be the sexual kind, since, though the sexual instinct may be the
greatest provocative of the combative one, we cannot identify it
with this, but must suppose it to be anterior to and producing
the other, as a consequence of itself. All creatures, whether
combative or not, become thus excited during the pairing-time,
such excitement standing, as I suppose, in direct connection
NUPTIAL HABITS OF THE BLACKCOCK. 407
with the physiological development proper to the season. I would
consider, therefore, that these violent motions are, in their in-
cipency, at any rate, sexual rather than combative, to whatever
end and object they may have been ultimately shaped, whether
to that of terrifying rival males by a warlike display, or rousing
the amatory feelings of the hen bya courting one. Also, should
evidence of any more special end be wanting (end is perhaps the
better word, as not implying consciousness), the benefiting of the
bird through mere violent activity—erotic athletics one might
call it—would be a quite sufficient one.
Observation is the only path by which we can arrive at true
notions in regard to all this. At present I have observed that
the birds, when they have seemed most like fighting, when they
have most made believe of it as I may say—for of true fighting
there has been as yet nothing—have sometimes, at any rate, if
not always, approached and thus feinted, without any previous
display of this sort—at least that seemed to stand in any imme-
diate connection with it. This was certainly the case, this
morning, when there was a little of this advancing, confronting,
and half-hearted threatening—only a very little certainly—but
not any previous saltatory movements. Probably Blackcocks
sometimes quarrel and fight out of the breeding-season. It
would be interesting to observe whether they then indulge in
these antics. If not, they are, probably, not of the war-dance
order. The same argument might even be applied in the case
of a quarrel with another species, since if such actions, whatever
their origin, have now become fighting ones, or such as usher in
fighting, then fighting at any time and for any reason ought,
one would think, to produce them. Thus male Stone Curlews,
when threatening one another in the spring-time, fan the tail
very effectively—which I look upon as essentially a sexual dis-
play. I have, however, seen one of these birds—when the two
Species were intermingled over a sandy area—make a rush ata
Pheasant, who fled most ignobly, and the tail was not then
fanned. Surely if the action had been evolved along lines of
intimidation it would have become so essential a point in combat
that it could never be dropped. So much then, for the present,
in regard to the war-dance or challenging theory of these actions.
As to that of sexual display, the hens have not yet put in an
408 THE ZOOLOGIST.
appearance, which, however, is far from conclusive against it,
since not merely association of ideas, in rivalry, but the season
itself, without their presence, would be sufficient to produce
them.
In the evening I questioned the forester, through the inter-
pretership of Herr Hoglind, in regard to certain statements
which I had dimly understood him to make, as to certain winter
habits of the Blackecocks here—to wit, their burrowing in the
snow and eating their own excrements. From finding so many
little collections of these in the fcrest—the whole country is
either lake or forest, with open spaces of rock, moor, or peat-hag
—I had surmised that it was the habit of the birds to void them
in one spot, either coming to it singly, or at different times, or
else collectively, for, from such heaps being frequently found in
the open, they could not be accounted for as having fallen from
their roosting-trees. Jacobsen, however, says that such collec-
tions are made by one and the same bird that has burrowed down
in the snow and remained there for several days, or even weeks,
if I understood him correctly—or say a week or ten days—
eating their excrements many times over. He says that hard
weather and scarcity of food oblige them to do this, and that it
is their regular habit. Asked if several birds might not burrow
in the snow together, like this, and the number of excrements
be thus accounted for, and if they did not go together in winter,
he said that they did go together, but that each one would make
its own hole in the snow, so that there would be one here and
another there, close together perhaps, but not united—a sort
of Blackcock warren in the snow, it would seem. It seems to me
possible, however, that though each bird makes its own separate
hole in the snow, which indeed one would expect, yet that several
may come together under it and stay thus for the sake of
warmth. Yet even thus they would occupy some space, and it
would, in fact, be impossible for such compact heaps as I have
found to be produced by more than one bird, unless they had a
special habit of voiding their excrements in one particular spot
—and this seems highly improbable. I do not, however, see
how the fact of the birds eating their excrements, as a means of
nourishment, is made out, since Jacobsen did not profess to have
actually seen them do so, which would have been difficult under
NUPTIAL HABITS OF THE BLACKCOCK. 409
the circumstances. Not that the thing seems unlikely in itself,
but since excrements are supposed to be the waste products of
food, how should the birds be nourished by them, many times
in succession? Moreover, the explanation would seem to be
destructive of the phenomenon to be explained. Such heaps,
however, certainly seem the products of a considerable space of
time, and if the bird is all that time in the one spot, under the
snow, which is what Jacobsen says, how is it nourished? As
Jacobsen has passed his whole life in these forests, his father
having been forester (the equivalent here of gamekeeper, or
rather game-getter) before him, he may be supposed to have
intimate knowledge of the bird’s habits. The Capercailzie, he
says, does not burrow in the snow, its food consisting entirely of
pine-needles, so that it would never be driven to do so. In
explanation of a large heap of over a hundred droppings of this
bird under a tree, he said it would be from the same one roosting
always on the same branch. To me it seems more likely that
the Blackcock burrows under the snow to get food. But to do
this it would have to move about, and, here again, these compact
heaps of droppings seem rather curious.
April 18th.—To-day, unfortunately, was a blank, for having
arranged with the forester not to call me any more, since I could
now find my way to the lek alone, even in the dark, I overslept
myself.
April 19th.—Called by the night watchman at 2.80, and
started shortly after 3, getting to the ridge from which I watch
in the first twilight of dawn. It is night, however, in the dark
forest, and, as yet, silence. Then, just asl get settled and com-
posed, in my rugs, comes the first almost sleepy “ tir-whay,”’
then a pause, and another—still sleepy—and then several others
no longer so, and now I hear the flight of a bird or two down, as
I think, into the arena, where I-seem for a moment, amongst the
shadows, to distinguish one black form. Then comes the first
imperfect whirble with another or two in the distance, whilst
the “‘ tir-whaying”’ increases, though with fluctuations.
Another near rookle. I can take no note of the hour, my
watch (price 7s. 6d.) having become incapacitated for the second
time. I have hardly been here ten minutes, however.
Some loud, fierce-sounding “ tir-whays,” whilst the full
410 THE ZOOLOGIST.
rookle—‘‘ give him his coppers, &c.’’—sounds now here and
there. I can make out no birds, but from the sounds, some
seem to be down, and might even be fighting. Very loud, harsh
and fierce, now, are the “ tir-whays” (or ‘‘ choc-heys”’), and a
white tail or two, as I think, gleams for a moment through the
mist and frost of the bog—for it is in a part of a large swampy
‘‘ peat-hag”’ or ‘‘ moss’’—which is the Swedish word—only just
crossable, that the birds gather or should gather. I can see one
now, clearly, and then the black body—blacker than night—
whilst, from the sounds, birds seem to be flying and leaping,
here and there, over the ground. The only one, however, that I
can see distinctly, and keep in view, seems to be pretty quiet.
Rookling comes all round about, now, as light slowly struggles
out of the darkness. Before this, too, I have heard the plaintive-
sounding, but really bellicose, ‘‘ choc-choc-kerada’”’ note. Now,
however, when morning has really come, I can make out no
birds.
Yes, one now—a coal-black blot. But the early pause has
come, and there are none on the arena. Frost is over moss,
grass, and bog-heather, and amidst the sombre green of the fir-
trees the slender white stems of the birches—here mere saplings
—slash the air in innumerable perpendicular cuts. All the sky
to the westward is now a deep, dusky blue—almost purple—
whilst slowly, from the eastern horizon, a brightness begins to
climb. The silence and still beauty of the scene is impressive,
and one might think that the birds were impressed with it,
since, for a considerable time, now, there has not been a note
of one.
Now, after a long interval, and in broad daylight—though
the sun has not yet topped the firs, only fired them a little—
the whirbling recommences, having been preceded by the
harsher note.
A hen bird now flies down into the arena, and is courted first
by one and then another cock that I had not seen before. She
alights at some distance from either, and one comes over to her
some time before the other. He courts her much in the way
of the common Pheasant, passing by her, first on one side and
then the other, and, as he does so, tilts his whole body sideways
and downwards, towards her, so that she gets a near view of its
NUPTIAL HABITS OF THE BLACKCOCK. 411
whole upper surface, the upper part of the farther side* (owing to
the tilt) and the whole nearer side, consisting principally of the
carefully drooped and spread wing. There is also the crimson-
combed head, held down, with the swelled, glossy neck for her
inspection, and of course the ornate tail. Thus poised, as it
were, the bird passes in front of her, coming from behind, and
then round on the other side, when he turns and repeats, and it
is noticeable that the part wanting to complete the full circle
is where, if he were to make it, he would pass directly behind
her. Thus she gets as much of all the decorated parts as it is
possible for her to do in a single coup d’wil—the tail, if I mis-
take not, being also tilted, so that the whole Cupid’s bow of it
is visible. The thick white feathers behind it do not seem so
capable of being shown in this posture. A considerable portion
of their ends, however, project over the black arch—or between
the double arch—of the tail, and the rest must also be con-
spicuous, at least in flashes, and particularly when the cock
passes in front of the hen, before turning to repeat his display
on the other side. She has then a full view. Now when cock
birds face one another, to fight, and when they strut, or face, or
turn, by themselves, the tail is fanned, the wings lowered, and
the head, though sometimes lowered, generally held erect. But
this particular tilt of the body, as also a certain pace and look,
which belong to it, is entirely wanting. This is most signifi-
cant, for the object of the tilt is unmistakable, and demands the
presence of the hen. Also it is to the female alone that one
wing only—that nearest her—is presented and spread in a very
particular way.
The hen bird seems by no means unalive to these attentions,
which, however, may be not now so ardent as they probably
become later on. Her manner is very conscious, and she has
almost a nervous look. She does not, however, yield to them,
but walks forward in a series of little starts, with pauses between.
After a while the other (or another) cock comes up, and the two
court her, in the above-described way, one on each side, but I
again notice that the courtship does not seem very ardent, nor
do the cocks, though they have made a show of fighting before,
* This seems to me now a little doubtful, though I have it on my notes
(like Justice Stareleigh). It is unimportant—the bird shows quite enough.
412 THE ZOOLOGIST.
show any signs of doing so now. The hen passes on, and after
awhile flies into the surrounding fir-belt, and now that she is
gone the two cocks again advance against each other, and there
are the beginnings of a half-hearted fight between them. Thus
the presence of the hen, on this occasion, has not brought about
a combat, but rather diverted it. It is the very same observa-
tion which I have made, day after day, in the case of the Ruffs,
whilst these were in the very height of the sexual frenzy. Itis, in
fact, obvious that if male birds assemble specially to court the
hens, fighting must interfere with this object, so that if the
courting is really the more important matter of the two, we
might expect it to become gradually weaker, and, as it were,
broken up, in birds which have developed these habits. On the
other hand, if fighting, rather than courting, were the object of
such assemblies, it is strange that ordinary observation gives
quite a contrary idea. According to their relative importance,
the one element, as it seems to me, must be weakened by the
other, so that by what we see, in the presence of the hen, we
may judge of such relative importance.
This is not the only hen that has appeared this morning.
Another has sat on a baby fir within the arena, with a cock
beside her on another one, whilst several others have flown over
the ground and come down in the trees that encircle it. A
sreater number of cocks, too, than I have before seen have swept
from this tree to that, whilst some half-dozen, perhaps, have
come down upon the place, or sat in small firs close upon it,
two of the former rookling continually. During this rookling
the head is lowered, and the feathers of the neck swell and
move. ‘Then, with a sort of start, the bird raises its head, gives
a little jerk of the wings, and stretching upwards, utters the
fierce ‘‘choc-kai”’ note. There have been some little runs over
the ground, but not very vigorous, and the leaping off it has
been almost, if not quite, wanting. It was entirely wanting in
the presence of the hen, forming no part of the display. All
this last has been in the bright sunshine, which floods now
both trees and arena. It is, however, most bitterly cold,
and I can sit still no longer. But all, I think, is over for this
morning.
The birds, therefore, are obviously in a more coming-on
NUPTIAL HABITS OF THE BLACKCOCK. 413
disposition than they were, either the day before yesterday or
any morning since I came, before it, nor is it likely that they
were more forward before I came, since it is evident now, as I
feared, and as is confirmed by Jacobsen, that I have come too
early. Were it not for my oversleeping myself yesterday, I
might almost say positively that this has been the first appear-
ance of the hen upon the scene; yet, even now, only one has
actually come down into the arena. In all, perhaps, some half
a dozen cock birds entered it, but never all at the same time—
four, I think, was the limit, exclusive of the one hen. When
one or other of the cocks advanced towards another, to fight—
or, at any rate, with this thought in its mind—it would make a
sort of elastic quick step—hardly or only just a run—-but not
those remarkable leaps into the air, even as I have seen them
made here, much less as I have in Norway (only, however, as I
have before said, on one occasion). The war-dance—to call it
so, for convenience sake—seems a special feature, which, as yet,
has hardly come into play. I cannot say, as yet, therefore,
whether it has more to do with fighting or courting.
(To be continued.)
414 THE ZOOLOGIST.
ROUGH NOTES ON THE FISH AND FISHERIES
OF EAST SUFFOLK.
By Artruur H. Patterson.
(Continued from p. 392.)
List or Kast Surroux FisuHes.
THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK (Gasterosteus aculeatus).—lIt is safe
to state that this species in its several varieties is plentifully
distributed in all the ponds and ditches in the county. I found
near Lowestoft examples of the Rough-tailed (G. trachurus) and
Quarter-armed (G. gymnurus).
TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK (G. pungitius).—I have found this in
company with the Three-spined, in ditches bordering on the
Waveney. Mr. C. W. Long informs me it is found in ditches
near Oulton, and also in the Ham, between Lowestoft and Oulton
Broad. :
FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK (G. spinachia).— Said to have
been taken in the estuary of the Alde.
Perou (Perca fluviatilis).-- Much has been written of ‘the
bold-biting Perch ’”’ as an inhabitant of Suffolk waters. Browne*
makes reference :—‘‘ Perca or Pearch great & small. Whereof
such as are in Braden on this side Yarmouth in the mixed water
make a dish very daintie & I think scarce to bee bettered in
England.” Lubbockt referred to the species (1848) as plentiful
in the Bure and Waveney. He cites St. Olave’s asa ‘‘celebrated
station for anglers,” where, ‘‘if Shrimps are up as high as the
bridge, it is generally found that Perch are there also.” The
favourite bait used by anglers was the Ditch Prawn (Palemon
varians), which abounds in the brackish marshland ditches. To-
day St. Olave’s would be the last place chosen for Perch-fishing,
* Natural History of Norfolk,’ by Sir Thos. Browne. Edited by the
late T. Southwell, p. 52. 1902.
+ ‘Observations on Fauna of Norfolk,’ by Richard Lubbock. Second
edition, with notes and additions, by the late T, Southwell, p. 191. 1879.
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 415
although Bream and Roach are still occasionally to be taken on
the neap-tides. The deepening of Yarmouth Harbour has “ let
in’? so much more salt tide, which pushes up the rivers some-
times to an alarming extent. Christopher Davies* gives an
account of a Perch taken in the ‘‘ new cut”’ (between Haddiscoe
and Reedham), weighing 7 lb. (!); and of a barber in Beccles
who had captured ‘‘ eleven Perch, weighing 2 1b. each, in one
spot, in a couple of hours, using Gudgeon as bait.” One is
recorded as taken at Geldeston Lock, of 4 lb. weight.
AmrricaN Rost Prercow (Scorpena dactyloptera).—On April
. 24th, 1894, I obtained what I believe to have been the first of
this species taken off the East Coast. It was captured in a
Shrimp-net ; length, 5} in. An 8 in. example came to me from
Lowestoft, on Dec. 11th, 1895; and yet another was sent me by
Mr. F’. C. Cook in the spring of the present year (1909).
Bass (Labrax lupus).— Locally known as ‘‘ Sea-Perch,”’ this
species is by no means rare off the Suffolk coast. Wake, of
Southwold, curiously enough, omits it. Several have been
captured off Claremont Pier, Lowestoft (Robson). Mr. Clarke,
of Aldeburgh, had known one netted there weighing 18 lb., and
one taken on a rod in August, 1906, scaling 163 lb. This fish
is rarely taken off Yarmouth, and then runs of very small size.
Mr. Whistler, of Aldeburgh, assures me that spinning for Bass
provides excellent sport in the estuary of the Alde.
[Buack Bass (Micropterus salmonoides).—An introduced species,
which did not flourish ; had it done so I think anglers would
have very soon desired the extirpation of so voracious a fish.|
RurFe (Acerina vulgaris).—Plentifully found in Fritton Lake,
giving anglers who fish in shallows considerable trouble by its
persistently taking the baits. The wisest thing to do when dis-
covered by it is to shift to another spot as soon as possible.
SurmMuLtet (Mullus surmuletus). — Mostly taken among
Mackerel. Mr. Howard Bunn states that ‘‘ very fine specimens
are taken [Lowestoft], and at times very plentifully.”’
SeA-Bream (Pagellus centrodontus). — ‘‘ Once or twice I have
seen this on the [Lowestoft] market’ (W. A. Dutt). Mr. Howard
Bunn states that examples up to 4 lb. are brought in.
* © Norfolk Broads and Rivers,’ new edition, p. 21, 1884,
416 THE ZOOLOGIST.
GILTHEAD (Chrysophrys aurata).—An accidental visitor. One
is recorded from Pakefield, near Lowestoft, in April, 1829. This
fish is named the ‘‘Gilthead’’ because of the brilliant golden
spot or crescent between the eyes.
Minuer’s Taums (Cottus gobio). — Mr. Dutt informs me that,
when a boy, he used to catch Miller’s Thumbs in a “beck ”
connected with the Waveney at Ditchingham, near Bungay.
Mr. C. W. Long assures me there are a goodly number of this
species to be found at Beccles.
Faruer-LAsHErR (C. scorpius).— Taken in Shrimp-nets, and
known at Lowestoft and at Aldeburgh as the ‘ Bull-rout.” This —
large-headed, spine-armoured species (which is nicknamed at
Yarmouth the ‘‘Hummer’”’) Dr. Day (‘ British Fishes’) sug-
gests is ‘‘a degenerated variety of the Greenland Bull-head.”
Very beautifully coloured examples of Cottus granlandicus are
occasionally brought into Yarmouth by the shrimpers. It un-
doubtedly extends its range further south.
Busauis (C. bubalis).—Occasionally brought into Yarmouth
by shrimpers fishing between the port and Corton. It does not
run so large as the preceding, from which it is easily distinguished
by the very long spines upon the gill-covers.
Four-HoRNED Cortus (C. quadricornis).—On March 3rd,
1907, I received three examples of this species, the longest
measuring 8} in., from the neighbourhood of Lowestoft.* I have
since seen one taken off a pier at Yarmouth. The Cottide are
distinguished by their bulky heads and the fan-like spread of
the pectoral fins.
Rep Gurnarp (T'rigla cuculus). — Small ones occasionally
taken off Lowestoft with Shrimps. I saw one there on August
30th, about 8 in. in length, thrown out with the refuse from a
Shrimp-boat. Southwold (Wake).
Tus-FisH (7'’. hirundo).—Fine examples brought to the Lowes-
toft wharf in May and June from the deep seas. Mr. Whistler
informs me it has been taken off Aldeburgh. Locally known as
the ‘‘ Latchet.”
SrreakeD GurnarD (7’. lineatus).—An example of this short-
nosed Gurnard, taken off Lowestoft on March 9th, 1896, came
nto my hands.
* Of. * Zoologist,’ 1907, p. 461,
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 417
Poaar (Agonus cataphractus).—Sir Thomas Browne calls it:
“A little corticated fish about 8 or 4 inches long ours answering
that weh is named piscis octangularis by Wormius, cataphractus
by Schoneueldeus. Octagonis versus caput, versus caudam hexa-
gonius.” ‘‘A MS. note in Berkenhout says it was called at
Lowestoft a Beetle-head (1769)” (T. Southwell). Abundant
along the east coasts. I found numerous examples at South-
wold among ‘‘refuse,” and many small ones at Aldeburgh,
Sept. 1st (1909). This queer little fish is entirely encased in
bony plates.
GREATER WEEVER (T'rachinus draco). —Common enough on
Lowestoft wharf among “ offal.” An example taken on a hook
off Claremont Pier (Robson). Referring to the poisonous pro-
perties of its first dorsal fin, Sir Thomas Browne says : “‘ If the
fishermens hands bee touched or scrached with this venemous
fish they grow paynful and swell.’’ This detested although
toothsome fish is still notorious for its dangerous properties,
while seine- and deep-sea fishermen still cautiously approach it
when freshly shot out of the nets.
Lesser WEEVER (1’. vipera).—-Taken in shallow waters abun-
dantly along the Suffolk coast. When strolling by the bank of
the Blyth, at Walberswick, in company with Mr. Percival
Westell, on August 4th, 1909, we came across quite a small
heap of these fishes that had evidently been flung out of a boat,
or had been, as he suggested, hooked by some urchin. Numbers
are taken off Gorleston in draw-nets. On August 26th, 1909, I
saw some visitors’ children playing ‘‘ fish-shops” with quite
thirty of these fish, some of unusual size; they were handling
them with impunity. Yarmouth smelters show the utmost
disgust with this species, and are very careful not to handle it.
At Southwold (Wake).
- Matere (Sciena aquila).— A fine specimen of this noble fish,
a strageler undoubtedly from the Mediterranean, where it is
well known, was cast ashore at Thorpe, near Aldeburgh, on
August 30th, 1868; length, 5 ft.; weight, 84 lb. The man who
secured it thought it was a monster Bass, a fish it somewhat
resembles, the spiny-rayed first dorsal fin much resembling that
of the commoner fish. The tail, however, is truncated or
rounded, that of the Bass being concave or forked. Two others
Bm Zool. 4th ser. vol. XIII., November, 1909, 2K
418 THE ZO00OLOGIST.
are recorded for the Norfolk coast, as having been taken in the
Herring-nets.
MackEreL (Scomber scomber).—‘‘ Scombri are mackerells in
greate plentie,”’ says Sir Thomas Browne, ‘“‘ though . . . a com-
mon fish yet our seas afford sometimes large & strange ones as
I have heard from fishermen & others. & this yeare 1668 one
was taken at Lestoffe an ell long by measure & presented to a
Gentleman friend of myne.” This must have been either a
Tunny or a Bonito (8 ft. 9in.!). The largest Mackerel I have
ever seen was one taken off Yarmouth on October 21st, 1898;
weight, 8lb. 7 oz.; length, 214 in.; girth, 12 in.
[ScRIBBLED MackerEu (S. scriptus).—This by some authorities
is referred to as a variety of S. scomber. Occasionally found at
Lowestoft among the preceding. There chance-time is found
among the Mackerel a variety (concolor), blue-backed, but entirely
without the familiar stripings. |
Tunny (S. thynnus).—This is the species that Browne (see
Mackerel) referred to. The Pagets* mention ‘‘ small specimens
[as] not infrequently taken during the Mackerel fishery.” In
Lowe’s ‘Notes’ is a record from Mr. Gurney as follows: —‘“‘ An
immature specimen, taken off the Suffolk coast near Southwold,
I believe, is preserved in the Norwich Museum ”’ (Nor. N. 8.).
Pinot Fisu (Naucrates ductor).— The late Mr. J. H. Gurney
(Nor. N. 8.) says :—‘‘ Many years ago I saw a specimen freshly
caught off the Suffolk coast, and sent for preservation to the late
Mr. J. Tims, of Norwich, in whose house it was unfortunately
destroyed by a fire on the premises.”
Dory (Zeus faber).— The local trawlers catch an occasional
John Dory at Southwold” (R.J. Canova). ‘‘ Occasionally in the
Aldeburgh trawls”’ (Whistler). Is in no repute in Hast Anglia
for the table.
Boar-FisH (Capros aper).— Mr. T. E. Gunn, of Norwich, in
his ‘ Catalogue of Fishes,’ exhibiting at the Great International
Fisheries Exhibition in London, 18838, refers to an example
which was ‘‘ caught off Lowestoft in May, 1881.” I have seen
only two—one taken in a Shrimp-net the same year; the other
was washed up on the beach in May, 1882.
* Sketch of the Natural History of Great Yarmouth,’ by C. J. and
James Paget. 1834,
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 419
Scap (Trachurus trachurus). — ‘‘ Frequent off Lowestoft ”’
(J. H. Gurney in Nor. N.8.). ‘‘ Has been taken off Claremont
Pier, Lowestoft’? (Robson). ‘‘ Not so frequent off Aldeburgh ”
(Whistler). ‘‘ Before the herrings there comonly cometh a fish,”
says Sir Thomas Browne, “ about a foot long, by the fishermen
called an horse... . of a mixed shape between a mackerell & an
herring.” It is known generally as the ‘‘ Horse-Mackerel.”’
Sworp-FisH (Xiphias gladius). — One brought into Lowestoft
on Sept. 27th, 1893. Length, 9 ft. It had been entangled in a
Herring-net. Another landed there, Sept. 27th, 1897. I under-
stand that one was also recorded in November, 1882.
LirtLe Gosy (Gobius minutus). This tiny fish frequents the
estuaries all along the Suffolk coast. Haunts muddy resorts.
YELLOW-SPECKLED GoBy (G. auratus).— Preferring a sandy
habitat, this species abounds off the eastern coasts. I found
examples in the Southwold and Lowestoft boats.
WuirtE Gosy (Latrunculus albus).—I found one specimen in a
Southwold boat in June, 1906. {I have six Gobies on my Yar-
mouth list, and am convinced that they all would be found off
the Suffolk coast if carefully looked for.]
YELLOW SKULPIN (Callionymus lyra).—Abundant off Gorleston.
I saw several at Lowestoft, August, 190%, in the Shrimp-catches.
Lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus).— ‘‘ By some esteemed a
festiuall dish though it affordeth butt a glutinous jellie & the
skin is beset with stony knobs after no certain order’”’ (Browne).
On Mr. Gunn’s ‘Fish List’ he refers to a fine example caught off
Lowestoft on Jan. 30th, 1882; weight, 113 lb.; length, 20} in. ;
girth, 26in. The roe was developed and contained thousands
of eggs; Mr. Howard Bunn assures me that he has had this
fish ‘‘in all colours,’ and up to 28 lb. in weight. I have seen
numerous young ones taken by the Shrimp-boats in spring the
size of walnuts, which they much resemble in shape, of a rich
emerald-green colour. Hele, in ‘Notes about Aldeburgh,’ men-
tions ‘‘an enormous specimen, weighing over fifteen pounds,”
captured off that place, March 15th, 1868. Length, 223 in.
“ Occasionally at Aldeburgh in trawl-nets’’ (Whistler). South-
wold (Wake).
Sea-Snait (Liparis vulgaris). — Abundant all along the East
Coast. I found it plentiful among the ‘‘refuse” on Southwold
2k 2
420 THE ZOOLOGIST.
beach, and at Aldeburgh. Several at Lowestoft (August, 1909).
This species is variously striped and marbled.
Monracu’s Sucker (Ll. montagui).—I found two at Southwold,
August, 1909.
ANGLER (Lophius piscatorius).—On the authority of the late
Mr. T. Southwell, quite a number of this species were captured
in the Mackerel-nets of Lowestoft in the autumn of 1897, a most
unusual circumstance, I should consider, for such a sluggish,
clumsy, ground-loving species. Mr. Dutt has seen examples at
Lowestoft. ‘‘ Fishing-Frog,’’ Southwold (Wake).
Wour-FisH (Anarrichas lupus).— “ Catfish.’ Mr. Dutt men-
tions seeing several on the Lowestoft fish-market. This species,
filleted and smoked, and made bright yellow with anatto, has of
late years come into favour, and is sold as ‘“‘ Grimsby Haddock.”
The flesh is excellent eating, but not in much request, except
under the disguise of smoked fish, or when fried at the fish-shop,
where questions are seldom asked.
Butter-FisH (Centronotus gunnellus).—Known as “‘ Nine Eyes,”
from the spots on the extended dorsal fin, and also as the Spotted
Gunnel, this species is a common capture off Gorleston. I
failed however, although carefully searching for it, to find it
at either Aldeburgh or Southwold. A fine example brought me
from a Lowestoft Shrimp-boat, September 9th, 1909, by Mr.
I’, C. Cook.
Viviparous BLENNY (Zoarces viviparus),— Common. Has
been taken off Claremont Pier, Lowestoft. I saw a fine one
netted in the Herring-basin, August 380th, 1909. ‘‘ Caught at
Aldeburgh ” (Whistler). Breeds on this coast.
ATHERINE (Atherina presbyter). — This beautiful little fish
seems to be remarkably abundant in all the Lowestoft basins
throughout the summer months. Itis most industriously angled
for by young and old, and is known as the ‘Silver Smelt.”.
“Occasionally at Aldeburgh ”’ (Whistler).
Grey Muurer (Mugil capito).—This species used to swarm up.
Breydon fifty years since, and was common twenty-five years
ago; thence it found its way up the Waveney and other local
rivers, showing up in numbers in Oulton Broad. Col. Leathes
(‘Rough Notes’) refers to a plan that was successful in its
capture. Two men would row over the Broad, one holding a
FISH AND FISHERIES OF EAST SUFFOLK. 421
light barbed spear, which he would adroitly throw into a shoal
of Mullet, ‘‘ success very often attending the cast.”’ He was not
smitten with the fish’s edible qualities. Numerous at times at
Aldeburgh, where it has been known to attain a weight of
93 1b. A nine-pound example is my largest recorded fish for
Great Yarmouth. Southwold (Wake). Mr. Gurney writes :—
‘“‘] have seen some fine specimens taken on the Suffolk coast, at
the mouth of the River Orwell” (Nor. N. §8.).
[Lesser Grey Muuturer (M. chelo)—On November 10th, 1890,
an example of this little-known species was foully hooked on
Breydon. Length, 73 in. Dr. Gunther identified it as a variety
known as M. septentrionalis. 1 have no doubt this example was
not alone, but that in all probability it (with its companions)
was making for the waters of the Waveney. ]
Bauuan Wrasse (Labrus maculatus).—‘‘ A young one, about
eight inches long, was taken with hook and line in the outer
harbour of Lowestoft in August, 1852 ’’—‘‘ J. H. G.” in Lowe’s
‘Notes’ (Nor. N.S.). Mr. Howard Bunn has had several ex-
amples in for preservation. [The Jago’s Goldsinny (Ctenolabrus
rupestris) has on several occasions been brought to me by Yar-
mouth shrimpers during the past three summers. I cannot
positively describe this as a Suffolk species, although the boats
fish often as far south as Corton, and in all probability one or
two, if not more, may have been taken off the Suffolk coast. It
would be interesting to look for this fish, which grows to a span
in length, is of a lively, almost goldfish-red when freshly taken,
with decided black spottings on the base of the tail and on the
anterior part of the dorsal fin. Other Wrasses undoubtedly
occur.) The Labride are widely distributed in British waters,
preferring rocky haunts. They run to a considerable size, and
by some are adjudged good eating. The flesh to me is soft and
glutinous, with the bones over-much pronounced. Their colours
are brilliant, especially during the breeding season.
(To be continued.)
THE ZOOLOGIST.
CHECK-LIST OF THE GENERIC NAMES OF LEECHES,
WITH THEIR TYPE SPECIES.
By, Rosrer “fT... burrs. Mob. “EAs.
Helminthologist to the London School of Tropical Medicine.
Abranchus, Johannson, 1896. Type: A. brunneus, Johannson,
1896.
Acanthobdella, Grube, 1850. *Type: A. peledina, Grube, 1850.
Actinobdella, Moore, 1901. *“Type: A. imsquiannulata, Moore,
EOE:
Adenobdella, Leidy, 1885. Type: A. oricola, Leidy, 1885.
Albione, Savigny, 1820. Type: A. muricata, Linneeus, 1767.
Archeobdella, (Original not found.)
Astacobdella, Vallot, 1840. Type: A. branchialis, Vallot, 1840.
Aulastoma, Moquin-Tandon, 1826. “Type: A. nigrescens, Moquin-
Tandon, 18206.
Batrachcobdella, Viguier, 1879. *Type: B. latastei, Viguier, 1879.
Bdella, Savigny, 1820. (*Type: Hirudo nilotica, Savigny, 1820),
preoce. 1795.
Blennobdella, KE. Blanchard, 1849. “Type: B. depressa, Ki. Blan-
chard, 1849.
Branchellion, Savigny, 1820. “Type: B. torpedinis, Savigny, 1820.
Branchiobdella, Odier, 1823. “Type: B. astacz, Muller, 1806.
Calliobdella, v. Beneden et Hesse, 1863. Type: ? C. lopha,
v. Beneden et Hesse, 1863.
Centropygus, Grube, 1858. *Type: C. yocensis, Grube, 1858.
Chthonobdella, Grube, 1865. *Type: Hirudo limbata, Grube, 1865.
Clepsine, Savigny, 1820. Type: Hirudo bioculata, Bergmann,
1757.
Codonobdella, Grube, 1872. Type: C. truncata, Grube, 1872.
Cyclicobdella, Grube, 1871. Type: C. lumbricoides, Grube, 1871.
Cyclobdella, Wegenbergh, 1877. Type: C. glabra, Wegenbergh,
1377.
Cystobranchus, Diesing, 1859. ? Type: C. respirans, Troschel,
1850.
~* ype, only species originally in the genus.
+ Type, designated.
GENERIC NAMES OF LEECHES. 423
Dactylobdella, vy. Beneden et Hesse, 1864. “Type: D. mustela
v. Beneden et Hesse, 1864.
Dermobdella, Philippi, 1867. Type: D. purpurea, Philippi, 1867.
Diestecostoma, Vaillant, 1890. Type: D. mexicana, Baird, 1869
(for Heterobdella, Baird).
Dina, BR. Blanchard, 1892. +Type: D. quadristriata, Grube.
Dineta, Goddard, 1908. “Type: D. cylindrica, Goddard, 1908.
Diplobdella, Moore, 1900. *Type: D. antellarwm, Moore, 1900.
Entobdella Blainville. (Original not found.)
Epibdella, Blainville, 1828. Type: Hirudo hippogloss:, Linneus,
£767.
Erpobdella, Blainville, 1828. Type: Hirudo vulgaris, Linneus,
1767.
Eubranchella, Baird, 1869. Type: Hirudo branchiata, Menzies,
iy 23% ,
Geobdella, Blainville, 1828. Type: Trocheta viridis, Dutrochet,
1817.
Geobdella, Whitman, 1886 (preocce. 1828).
Glossiphonia, Johnson, 1816. Type: G. tuberculata, Johnson, 1816.
Glossobdella, Blainville, 1828. Type: Hirudo complanata, Lin-
nus, 1767.
Glossopora, Johnson, 1825, nomen noyum for Glossiphonia.
Gnatho, Goldfuss et Schinz, 1828. Type: Hirudo pisciwm, Miller,
1774.
Gyrocotyle, Diesing, 1850. Type: G. rugosa, Diesing, 1850.
Hemadipsa, Tennent, 1860. Type: H. ceylanica, Bosc., 1802.
Hementaria, Filippi, 1849. Type: H. ghilianii, Philippi, 1849.
Hempcharis, Savigny, 1820. Type: Hirudo pisciwm, Miller, 1774.
Hemopis, Savigny, 1820. Type: Hirudo sanguisuga, Linneus,
1767.
Helobdella, Blanchard, 1896. +Type: Hirudo stagnalis, Linneus,
1767.
aaa “ete 1815. (Type: Hirudo complanata, Muller), preoce.
Hemuibdella, v. Beneden et Hesse, 1863. “Type: H. solee, v. Bene-
den et Hesse, 1863.
Hemuiclepsis, Vejdovsky, 1883. +Type: Hirudo marginata, Miller,
1774.
Herpobdella, vide Erpobdella.
Heterobdella, vy. Beneden et Hesse, 1863. Type: H. pallida,
v. Beneden et Hesse, 1863.
44
THE Z00LOGIST:
Heterobdella, Baird, 1869. (Type: H. mexicana), preocc. 1863.
Hexabdella, Verrill, 1872. *Type: H. depressa, Verrill, 1872.
Mippobdella, Blainville, 1828. Type: Hemopis sanguisorba,
Savigny, 1820. |
Hirudella, Munster, 1842. Type: H. angusta or H. tenws,
Munster, 1842 (doubtful fossil).
Hirudinaria, Whitman, 1886. Type: Hirudo yavanica, Wabhl-
berg, 1855,
Mirudo, Linneus, 1767. Type: Hirudo medicinalis, Linneseus,
ti Gir.
Histriobdella, v. Beneden, 1858. *Type: H. homari, v. Beneden,
1858.
Hybobdella, Wegenberg, 1877. Type: H. doringit,, Wegenberg,
1877.
Ichthiobdella, Blainville, 1827. Type: I. geometra, Blainville, 1827.
Jatrobdella, Blainville, 1828. Type: Hirudo medicinalis, Lin-
neeus, 1767.
Leptostoma, Whitman, 1886. (Type: LZ. pigrum, Whitman, 1886),
preoce. 1837.
Limnatis, Moquin-Tandon, 1827. Type: Hirudo nilotica, Savigny,
1820.
Linvnobdella, Blanchard, 1893. {Type: L. mexicana, Blanchard,
1893.
Inostonum, Wagler, 1831. “Type: ZL. coccimewm, Wagler, 1831.
Lophobdella, Poirier et Rochburne, 1884. “Type: L. quatrefagesz,
Poirier et Rochburne, 1884.
Lumbricobdella, Kennel, 1886. Type: L. scheffert, Kennel, 1886.
Macrobdella, Philippi, 1872. *Type: M. valdiviana, Philippi,
1872.
Macrobdella, Verrill, 1872. *Type: Hirudo decora, Savigny, 1820.
Mesobdella, Blanchard, 1893. *Type: H.gemmata, Blanchard, 1898.
Microbdella, Blainville, 1845. (Original not found.)
Mierobdella, Moore, 1900. Type: M. biannulata, Moore, 1900.
Mimobdella, Blanchard, 1897. Type: ?M. japonica or M. butti-
kofert, n. spp., Blanchard, 1897.
Myzobdella, Leidy, 1851. “Type: M. lugubris, Leidy, 1851.
Nephelis, Savigny, 1820. +Type: Hirudo vulgaris, Muller, 1774.
Nephelopsis, Verrill, 1872. *Type: N. obscura, Verrill, 1872.
Notostomum, Levinsen, 1881. *Type: N. leve, Levinsen, 1881.
Ophibdella, v. Beneden et Hesse, 1863. *Type: O. labracis,
v. Beneden et Hesse, 1863.
GHNERIC NAMES. OF LEECHES. 425
Orobdella, Oka, 1895. Type: O. whitmane (probably), or O.
ajumatr, O. octonaria, n. spp., Oka, 1895.
Oxyptychus, Grube, 1848. Type: O. striatus, Grube, 1848.
Oxytonostoma, Malm, 1863. Type: O. typica, Malm, 1863.
Ozobranchus, Quatrefages, 1852. ?Type: O. branchiatus.
Pachybdella, Diesing, 1850. Type: P. rathkez, Diesing, 1850.
Pecilobdella, Blanchard, 1893. {Type: Hurudo granulosa,
Savigny, 1820 (subgenus of Lamnatis).
Paleobdella, Blainville, 1828. Type: Hirudo nilotica, Savigny,
1820.
Philemon, R. Blanchard. (Original not found.)
Philobdella, Verrill, 1872. Type: P. floridana, Verrill, 1872.
Phornuo, Goldfuss et Schinz, 1820. Type: Hirudo muricata,
Linneeus, 1767.
Phytobdella, Blanchard, 1892. *Type: P. meyert, Blanchard,
1892.
Pinacobdella, Diesing, 1850. *Type: P. kolenattc, Diesing, 1850.
Piscicola, Blainville, 1828. Type: Hirudo piscowm, Miller.
Placobdella, Blanchard, 1893. ? Type: P. rabotz, Blanchard, 1893,
Planobdella, Blanchard, 1892. Type: P. modesta, Blanchard,
1892.
Platybdella, Malm, 1863. ? Type: P. sexoculata, Malm, 1863.
Podobdella, Diesing, 1850. *Type: P. endlichert, Diesing, 1850.
Pontobdella, Leach, 1815. Type: P. verrucata, Leach, 1816.
Praobdella, Blanchard, 1896. Type: P. biitinerz, Blanchard, 1896.
Protoclepsine, Moore, 1898. *Type: P. sexoculata, Moore, 1898.
Protoclepsis, Livanow, 1902. “Type: Hirudo tessellata, Miller,
1774.
Pseudobdella, Blainville, 1827. Type: Hemopis nigra, Savigny,
1820.
Pseudobranchellion, Apathy, 1890. *Type: P. margor, Apathy,
1890.
Saccobdella, vy. Beneden et Hesse, 1865. Type: S. nebalie,
v. Beneden et Hesse, 1865.
Salifa, Blanchard, 1897. *Type: S. perspicax, Blanchard, 1897.
Sanguisuga, Savigny, 1820. Type: Hirudo medicinalis, Lin-
neus, 1767.
Scaptobdella, Blanchard, 1897. “Type: S. horstz, Blanchard,
1897.
Schlegelia, Wegenberg, 1877. (Type: S. nepheloides, Wegenberg,
1877), preoce. 1864.
426 THE ZOOLOGIST.
Scorpenobdella, Saint-Loup, 1886. Type: S. elegans, Saint-Loup,
1886.
Semrscolex, Kinberg, 1866. +Type: S. ywvenalis, Kinberg, 1866.
Semilageneta, Goddard, 1908. «Type: S. hallr, Goddard, 1908.
Theromyzon, Philippi, 1867. *Type: 7. pallens, Philippi, 1867.
Toriz, Blanchard, 1898. Type: 7. mirus, Blanchard, 1898.
Trachelobdella, Diesing, 1850. Type: T. miilleri, Diesing, 1850.
Trochetia, Dutrochet, 1817. *Type: YT. subviridis, Dutrochet,
LSK7:
Typhlobdella, Diesing, 1850. Type: TZ. kovatsz, Diesing, 1850.
Whitmana, Blanchard, 1887. Type: Leptostoma pigrum, Whit-
man, 1886 (for Leptostoma, preocc.).
Xerobdella, Vrauenfeld, 1868. *Type: X. lecomte:, Frauenfeld,
1868.
The following generic names are not included in the lists pub-
lished by Scudder (‘Nomenclator Zoologicus’), the ‘ Zoological Re-
cord’ (Index, 1880-1900) :— .
Archeobdella, Astacobdella, Chthonobdella, Dermobdella, Dina,
Hubranchella, Gnatho, Hemadipsa, Microbdella, Notostomum, Whit-
mana, Xerobdella.
ON THE HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITES OF
RHYNCHOTA.
By CuaupEe Mortury, F.E.S., F.Z.S.
(Concluded from p. 347.)
95. Aphis papaveris, Fabr.
From an Aphis on Papaver somniferwm, Giraud bred (Ann.
Soc. Fr. 1877, pp. 415-427) Praon volucre, Hal., Trioxys auctus,
Hal., Allotria castanea, Htg., Encyrtus atheas, Walk., Pachy-
neuron aphidiphagus, Ratz., Isocrates eneus, Nees, and I. vulgaris,
Walk. Reinhardt, however, bred quite different insects from
maps papaveris (Berl. Ent. Zeit. 1857, p. 77; l.c. 1858, p. 12;
et Stett. Ent. Zeit. 1859, pp. 194-6), since these were Pachycrepis
clavata, Walk., Aphelinus flavicornis, Forst., A. tibialis, Nees, and
Tetrastichus diaphantus, Walk. (cf. Gaulle, Cat. 103-107).
96. Aphis cardui, Linn.
Aphidius cardui, Marsh. (Bracon. d’EKurop. ui. 594) was bred
by Bignell in Devon very commonly from this species in the
middle of July, while of A. cirsii, Hal., he bred but one, in June,
and it is to this species that Marshall is of opinion (I. c. 589)
Buckton refers as the commoner parasite. From an Aphis
feeding on Carduus nutans Kieffer records his new Lygocerus
antennalis, var. subserratus.
97. Aphis instabilis, Buck.
Only Bignell has recorded (Trans. Devon. Ass. 1901, p. 690)
the presence of parasites upon this species; he bred Aphidius
eirstt, Hal., from it in South Devon, on June 18th, 18838.
98. Aphis sambuci, Linn.
Gaulle tells us that the Cynipid, Allotria circumscripta, Htg.,
has been bred from this species, which is said to be common
in Britain (cf. Cat. 26). I took it at Cosham, Hants, July,
1909.
428 THE ZOOLOGIST.
99. Aphis myosotidis, Koch.
Three direct parasites have been bred from this species by
Bignell in Devon. The commonest probably is Aphidius avene,
Hal., with its hyperparasitic Allotria cursor, since he bred but
two of each sex of A. matricarie, Hal., on Oct. 22nd, 1884, and
but once, on the same date, A. polygoni, Marsh. (cf. Br. d’Kurop.
11, 572, 592, 603).
100. Aphis amygdali, Fonsc.
The figure of Buckton’s inadequately described Cynips atri-
ceps (Mon. Aph. 11. 106 et 150, pl. Ixxiii. fig. inf.), which he bred
from this Aphis, clearly shows it to be a Cynipid and no “‘ Diplo-
lepis,”’ to which, believing it a genus of Proctotrypide (!), he
wished later (i1. addenda) to ascribe it. Cameron was unable to
interpret it, and I have failed to find the type in Buckton’s
collection, now in the British Museum; but a study of the
figure leads me to believe it an “‘ artistically” drawn femaie of
Allotria minuta, Htg.
101. Aphis aparines, Kalt.t
Allotria posticus, Htg., was bred from an Aphid under this
name by Kirchner (Cat. 31).
102. Aphis euphorlie, Koch.
From Aphides on Huphorbia paralias, supposed by Marshall
to be this species which is not mentioned as British by Buckton,
Bignell bred two males of the new Aphidius euphorbie, Marsh.,
on July 4th, 1885.
103. Aphis crithmi, ? auct.
Bignell bred Aphidius crithmi, Marsh., from this species in
+ It is not now known to which of our Aphidiine such aphidiphagous
species as Ichnewmon aparines, Schr., I. dipsaci, Schr. (employed by Giraud),
and I. aphidiphagus, Schr. (F. B. ii. 808, Bavaria), I. aphidum, Linn. (F. 8.
1643, misplaced by Spinola and restored by Fallen to the Aphidune), or
Cryptus aphidum, Fab., may belong. It was, I believe, Van Leeuwenhoek |
who first noticed Hymenopterous parasites upon Aphididae in his ‘ Arcana
Nature’ in 1695. Frisch, Cestoni, and De Geer first gave accurate accounts
of their metamorphoses. Ichnewmon aphidum, L., is synonymised by Hali-
day, with some doubt, with his Aphidius cirsii (Ent. Mag. 1835, p. 101), and
Westwood (Introd. ii. 182) refers the ‘‘ Cinips de l’Ichneumon des Pucerons ”
of Geoffroy (11. 805) to the Chalcidide.
HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITES OF RHYNCHOTA. 429
Devon on July 2nd, 1884, and A. lonicere, Marsh., from it on
the following day (Trans. Devon. Ass. 1901, p. 689).
104. Aphis pteridis, ? auct.*
From an Aphid under this name Dalla Torre (Cat. 111.) tells
us that Reinhard has bred Aphelinus euthria, Walk.
105. Aphis medicaginis, ? auct.*
Three parasites, all apparently indirect, are said by Kieffer
to attack this species, or, more correctly, his Lygocerus aphidum
and L. subtruncatus are recorded from an aphis on Medicago
sativa, which we may suppose to belong here. The other Cynipid
is Alloxysta scutellata, Kief.
106. Aphis monarde, ? auct.*
Howard tells us in his ‘ Revision of the Apheline of North
America’ (p. 24) that an Aphis of this name is attacked by
Aphelinus malt, Hald.
107. Aphis primule, ? auct.
Both Dourst and Gaulle (Cat. 87) record Aphidius rufus,
Gour., as parasitic upon this species, which is not indicated by
Buckton, though probably the same as that mentioned by New-
man (Ent. Mag. 1836, p. 208) as inhabiting the cowslip, but not
primrose.
108. Hyalopterus prunt, Fabr.
His Macrostigma aphidum is recorded from this species by
Rondani (Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital. 1874, p. 134 et l.c. 1877, p. 184).
109. Hyalopterus arundinis, Fabr.
His Lygocerus antennalis has been mentioned by Kieffer as
preying upon Aphis arundinis (André, Spp. Hym. Europ.).
110. Chaitophorus popult, Linn.
The only known parasite of this common species is [Hypsi-
camara ratzeburgt, as given by Reinhard (Stett. Ent. Zeit. 1859,
pe 195).
+ Goureau’s breeding of Aphidius rufus was, I believe, first published by
Dours (Cat. Hym. France, 1874, p. 81), and he ascribes the parasite to
Forster. Dours’ hosts are so unreliable as a whole, however, and have
recently been so thoroughly revised by my friend M. de Gaulle, that I have
not troubled to examine his work, mainly culled from Goureau in this respect,
very closely.
430 THE ZOOLOGIST.
111. Chaitophorus aceris, Linn.
Haliday described (Hnt. Mag. 18338, p. 490) his T'rioarys
aceris, of which he says, ‘‘ Prodiit mihi ex Aphidibus Aceris
Pseudoplatani Julio mense,”’ from the same specimen as is
figured and described by Curtis (B. E. pl. et fol. 883) under the
name Aphidius cars, through the latter erroneously supposing
it to have been bred from an aphis on Cursiwm (Carduus) arvense.
Curtis’s name should, however, be restored, on account of its
two years’ priority. Aphidius restrictus, Nees, and A. rose, Hal.,
are also given as preying upon this species by Gaulle (Cat. 87).
Ratzeburg’s Chrysolampus (Sphegigaster) aphidiphagus is probably
a hyperparasite; he says of it (Ichn. d. Forst. 1. 181 et i. 184),
‘‘Spater hat Hr. Bouché dasselbe Thier aus Aphis Aceris erzo-
gen.’ Buckton gives (Mon. Aph. 11. 125) a remarkable account
of receiving two oviparous females of this species from Mont-
pellier, which had deposited three apparently normal eggs
en route; the latter were left exposed, and the following morning
were found to consist merely of shrivelled membranes. Their
parents had already been parasitised by a species of Aphidius,
and Buckton suggests that the latter’s larve had penetrated the
eggs within the Aphides’ bodies. He, however, thinks that the
parasites may have been Pteromali, one species of which, P.
ovulorum, Forst. (given at l.c. 154, though not associated), is
known to lay its eggs within those of Aphids; and of it Buckton
says: ‘‘ The parasitic egg afterwards discloses the young grub,
which attacks the aphis hardly older than itself.’ But I have
never heard of an egg, containing a Hymenopterous parasite,
attaining the larval state. Surely the mere pressure of a foreign
substance within the host-egg, to say nothing of its ruptured
shell, would preclude development; and certainly the whole
account requires confirmation.
112. Pterocomma pilosa, Buck.
Six females of Aphidius pterocomme, Marsh. (Bracon. d’ Europ.
ii. 579), were bred in Devonshire on June 24th, 1889, by Bignell
from this species.
113. Cryptosiphum gallarum, Kalt.
Allotria victriz, Westw., and Kieffer’s new A. orthocera are
said by Gaulle tu have been raised from this species (Cat. 26, 27).
HYMENOPTEROUS PARASITES OF RHYNCHOTA. 431
114. Callipterus betularius, Kalt.
Marshall knew but a single female of his Triorys betule, and
this had been bred from the present host by Bignell in Devon-
shire (Bracon. d’Kurop. ii. 554).
115. Callipterus coryli, Goet.
The Chalcid, Myina flava, is said by Buckton (Mon. Aph. ii.
156 et ii1. 18) to oviposit freely in the larve of both this and the
following species. Cameron (Phyt. Hym. ii. 2831, following
Kaltenbach) records Allotria brachyptera, Htg., from an Aphid
on Fraxinus, which is probably referable to the present species,
since it is the only one mentioned by Buckton as feeding
on ash.
116. Callipterus quercus, Kalt.
The common and polyphagous Praon volucre, Hal., is said by
Marsh. (Bracon. d’Europ. ii. 540) to prey upon this common
species, together probably with its hyperparasites, Allotria uwll-
richi, Isocrates vulgaris, and Lamprotati. Bignell also bred in
Devon the unique specimen of Aphidius calliptert, Marsh. (I. ¢.
610) from this host. Giraud bred his Tetrastichus aphidum from
an ‘‘ Aphis sur Quercus’’ (Ann. Soc. Fr. 1877, p. 432), and Myina
flava also attacks it, as noticed under the last species.
117. Pterocallis alni, Fabr.
This abundant species is said by Kieffer to be parasitised by
his new Alloxysta transiens.
118. Pterocallis juglandicola, Kalt.
In the middle of September, 1907, at Sibton Abbey in Suffolk,
I took a large winged female of this species, whose dead body
was attached to the cocoon of an already emerged species of
Praon.
119. Pterocallis tiie, Linn.
Praon flavinode, Hal., a rare species with us and unknown on
the Continent, has been bred from this species in Devonshire by
Bignell on Oct. 1st, 1883 (Trans. Devon. Ass. 1901, p. 688) ; its
hyperparasites may be Kieffer’s new Allotria albipes, which he
records from Aphis tilie, and the Chaleid, Myina flava, of whose
parasitism upon the present host Buckton (Mon. Aph. 11. 18)
was doubtful.
432 THE ZCOLOGIST.
120. LacHNus.
Giraud gives two parasites, Allotria forticornis, Gir., and
Megaspilus fuscipes, Nees, as preying respectively upon the
Aphids of Pinus pumilio, and, according to Perris, on those of
P. maritimus. These probably belonged to this genus (cf. Ann.
Soc. Fr. 1877, pp. 416, 434).
121. Lachnus pint, Linn.
Aphidius pini, Hal., has been bred from this species on Abies
excelsa by Bignell in Devonshire on Feb. 16th, 1886, the host of
which had been captured during the preceding September, and
possibly a different one of the same genus on Pinus sylvestris and
Abies larix by Haliday (Marsh. Bracon. d’Europ. 1. 567). Mar-
shall’s unique female of his Aphidius abietis was also bred by
Bignell ten days after capturing the host on Abies excelsa in
Cann Woods, Devon, on Aug. 6th, 1886 (1. c. 566). t |
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London: WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C
= on = 4 ‘ee a —_ : > t
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| ee | March 15th, 1909. No. 813.
5 ORE FOR
Monthly Journal
JATURAL HISTORY,
Edited by W. Le. Distant.
> A See Oe
ondor:
WeST, NEWMAN &C9 54 Hatton Garden.
~ Simekin, MARSHALL & C9? Limited,
»
ee ed
PRICE ONE SHILLING.
Hutchinson, F.R.S., at Haslemere. The Chart will be useful to |
ve _ the 18th (two) and 19th (three columns).
a.
Lady Louise Loder has compiled a Chart of Universal History from e.
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a
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POCKET-BOOK of BRITISH BIRDS |
8 By E. F. M. ELMS.
ee aie is given respecting all British birds that breed in —
- i these islands, and those that are regular visitors at one time of —
the year or another, with remarks as to a species being resident, inter- _
migratory, or migratory. Each species is separately treated under |
the headings: Haunts, including distribution; Plumage, briefly charac- —
terizing the predominant and striking features, with differentiation of ~
species nearly alike; Language, with song and various cries; Habits; —
Food ; Nidification, with site and materials of nest; and number and ~
description of Eggs. For those who love the birds this ‘ Pocket-book’ —
will be a constant and much-appreciated companion.
80 pp., cloth, gilt, price 2s. 6d.
FAMILIAR INDIAN BIRDS
GORDON DALGLIESH.
Illustrated by Half-tone Blocks from the Drawings’ of
R. H. BUNTING and H. B. NEILSON. <
This little book is intended mainly for those who live in, or visit, India, —
and who are interested in the birds they are likely to meet in everyday life,
and who wish to learn something about them. The author writes from _
personal knowledge and observation. —
a
UE
c. o ae
wore
rr
Apri ‘agth,, 1909. Tah INGE Sige
tx
a's
» PB Monthly Journal
OF
JATURAL KISTORY,
Cited by W. Le. Distant.
West, NEWMAN & C° 54 Hatton Garden. ‘2
SIMPIKIN, MARSHALL& C® Limited, i =
E a “Lady I “agrees Loder hee patie a ‘Chant of Gnveret tntore om
oe ~ 4000 B.c. to 1900 a.p., on the same lines as those of Sir Jonathan
_ Hutchinson, F.R.S., at Haslemere. The Chart will be useful to”
— schools and students, as it has been revised by several educational _
Pe Gihorities. Each century is allotted one column of the table, except _
eee 18th (two) and 19th (three columns).
__ Mounted on canvas for hanging on schoolroom wall, 10s. 6d. (posts
ee: free). Mounted and folded in cloth case, 12s. Six unmounted sheets -
= Sector. making small sixfold screen, 5s. ae
Se CEE ais |
ae - “The work, as far as we have been able to examine it, seems to be well done. —
p= Aftixed to the al of a school-room or lecture-room it choula be useful as giving a 4
great mass of information in an easily accessible form.” —Spectator.
2 ** Lady Louise Loder has done a difficult work exceedingly well, and she deserves —
the cordial thanks of all who are interested in education.’ Dae Daily News.
_ By its use the eye will help the memory in fixing the period of the great events —
in the world’s history. It is the most valuable piece of school equipment vii
ie at we have come across for some time.”—Irish SALON Monthly.
\
Foolscap 8vo, Cloth, gilt top, 160 pp. + blanks for Notes. Price 2s. 6d.
POCKET. BOOK of BRITISH BIRDS
dye ott F. M. ELMs.
TNEORMATION - is given respecting all British pte that breed in |
; these islands, and those that are regular visitors at one time of
the year or another, with remarks as to a species being resident, inter-—
migratory, or migratory. Hach species is separately treated under
the headings: Haunts, including distribution; Plumage, briefly charac-
ee terizing the predominant and striking featur es, with differentiation of
< “species nearly alike; Language, with ; song and various cries; Habits;
Food; Nidification, with site and materials of nest; and number and
description of Eggs. For those who love the birds this ‘ Pocket. books ‘:
will be a constant and much-appreciated companion. F
80 pp., cloth, gilt, price 2s. 6d.
FAMILIAR INDIAN BIRDS”
GORDON DALGLIESH.
Illustrated by Half-tone Blocks from the Drawings of 4
R. H. BUNTING and H. B. NEILSON. 3
This little book 1s intended mainly for those who live in, or visit, India a,
and who are interested in the birds they are likely to meet in everyday life,
er and who wish to learn something about them. The author writes f from
personal knowledge and observation.
"London: WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 64, Hatton Garden r
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
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INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION
| By tHe Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A.
E Mike ee ELE Lo.N:
Entirely revised, and extended, by A. B. FARN.
The Chapter on Coleoptera by Enpwarpd Newman; on Hymenoptera by
FREDERICK SMITH; on Breeding Gallflies by Enwarp A. Fircu.
: “Few books on entomology have done more to encourage the study and
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_ beginner in the study of our British Insects, and is still read with pleasure and
> interest by many more advanced workers.’”’—Fntomologists’ Monthly Magazine.
London: WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C.
a tea ali Me! SiN tf Lhe l t miAE ho’
5
‘
o
ah ali Ase ilaae pala be Sati Bg
% xe ¥ rx - i a
Oiniiiolosical eae for Novfol (1908) (vith Pate a ana three i aeation ne),
=i é) Gurney, F.Z.S.,
Pie ahiti a Mal SRN TNS Or Tee) ns St Oa ST Poa
Ab) erro Fk ha Pal tp al at ta
¥ ‘ ) . ‘ ties
Lincolnshire Gulleries aria vidcbun dad, ‘Rev. F. T Blathwayt, M. A., M. B. 0.0.
139.
~ The Voeal and Instrumental Musie of she A. H. Swinton, 145.
Nores and QUERIES :—
Mammatra.—The Greater Horseshoe Bat in Berks, Alfred Heneage Cocks, 154.
_ Aves.—Where are our Nuthatches? W. Warde Fowler, 155. Strange Death off a
Kingfisher, G. B. Corbin, 155. Roller at Cumberland, Linnaeus E. a 3
156. Goldeneye (Clangula glawcion) in Surrey, Gordon Dalgliesh, 156. —
Mouuusca.— ‘‘ Vertical Distribution of the Mollusca,” John R. B. Masefield, 156.
Notes from South-western Hants, G. B. Corbin, 157.
_ EprrortaL GLEANINGS, 160.
Articles and Communications intended for publication, and Books —
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meee LIFE OF PHILIBERT COMMERSON,
D.M., NATURALISTE’ DU ROI.
An Old-World Story of French Travel and Science in the days of Linnea
By the late CAPTAIN §. PASFIELD OLIVER, RB.A., A
Edited by G.-F. SCOTT ELLIOT, F-L:S., F.R.G:S. ¥
EPR.
=3
io ]
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hal
With Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d. net. Just out. =
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who reads about him, for his liberal and reverent spirit is intensely refreshing in this | a
materialistic age.”’—Morning Post. . =:
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Cloth extra, Foolscap 8vo. Price 1s. 6d. Postage 2d.
By tHe Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A.
Pe ETH ER DATION.
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FREDERICK SMITH; on Breeding Gallfiies by EpwarbD A. FITcH.
' “Few books on entomology have done more to encourage the study and
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nterest by many more advanced workers.’ ‘_Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine.
ae”
London: WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C.
WAS et - Naas 3 ig \ ;
eminently useful little book, which has “probably been in the hands of every
INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION | :
collecting of butterflies and moths than this most useful little book. ... Inevery way 2
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~The Darwinian Hicor in 1867 aan Nore Ww. C. MeIntosh, Me nm Lge,
ON COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS,
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Rough Notes on Derbyshire Natural History, 1906-1908, ee. jghne bre os BR. Jour- |
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_ Aves.—The Reported Great Bustard in Yorkshire, W. HA. St. Quentin, 113.
Nottinghamshire Bird Notes, Professor J. W. Carr, M.A., F.L.S., 118.
-PISCEs. —Tr achinotus ovatus an Enemy to the Queensland Oyster ‘Fisheries, |
The London Correspondent of the ‘ North Queensland Herald,’ 114.
Opiruary.—Charles Berry, H. B. W., 115.
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Be
Pe anf 7 P
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
' Subscription for 1909, 12s. post free, should now be sent
_ to West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C.
WATKINS & DONCASTER,
Manufacturers of Cabinets and Apparatus for
Collectors of Birds’ Eggs, Insects, Plants, &c.
A large stock of Insects, Birds’ Eggs, &c. List of Clutches of Birds’
Kggs on “application. Climbing Irons, best steel, with straps complete,
Bs. per pair. Egg Collector’s Outfit, containing Drills, Blowpipes, and all
Requisites complete, with Book of Instructions, post free, 3s. 3d. Label
Lists of every description. Birds and Animals stuffed and mounted in
Natural Positions. For particulars see our Catalogue, one hundred pages.
36. STRAND, LONDON, W.C.
Crown 4to, Cloth, gilt, extra. Pp. 144. Price 10s.
Bird Collector's Medley
BC: (ARNOLD;~M.A;
@ With Twelve full-page Coloured Illustrations and Eight Un-
coloured, from the Author’s Drawings. Illustrated in the Text
by Twenty Process Blocks.
@ A Book for Amateur Collectors and Shore-Shooters.
‘‘ All who take delight in the study of birds, whether collectors or not, will
thoroughly enjoy and profit by Mr. Arnold’s instructive volume.”—Tribune.
Cloth extra, Foolscap 8vo. Price 1s. 6d. Postage 2d.
INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION
By tHe Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A.
Minis 2k ea ON.
Entirely revised, and extended, by A. B. FARN.
The Chapter on Coleoptera by EKnpwarD NEWMAN; on Hymentai by
FREDERICK SMITH; on Breeding Sane by Epwarp A. Fire.
‘“Few books on entomology bie die more to encourage the study and
collecting of butterflies and moths than this most usefullittle book. . . . In every way
an excellent little book, and no young collector should be without it.’ ”__The Field.
P: “We are glad to see a new and well got-up edition of this unpretentious but
eminently useful little book, which has “probably been in the hands of every
beginner in the study of our British Insects, and is still read with pleasure and
Bpierest by many more advanced workers.’ ‘—Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine.
: London: WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C.
CONTENTS. | ae
‘ On the Vertical and Bathymetrical Distribution of the British non-Marine Mol- a
lusea, with Special Reference to the Cotteswold Fauna, W. Harcourt- |
Bath, 41. y,
Hunting the Hump-back Whale (Megaptera longimana) in Natal Waters (with —
Plate), H. W. Bell-Marley, 54. .
The Eastbourne Crumbles, H. C. Arnold, 64.
An Early Work on Bird-Migration, W. Ruskin Butterfield, 71.
Novrres AND QUERIES :—
Mammat1a.—Mammals of the Channel Islands, R. H. Bunting, 74. Correction,
metE. Patterson, 14. ,
AvEs.—Nightingale breeding in Shropshire, H. H. Fors est, 74. Nesting of the —
Nightingale (Daulias luscinia) in Staffordshire, John Rh. B. Masefield, 75. —
Breeding of Coal-Tit in Wilsden District, 75; Two Young Cuckoos fed by a
Titlark, 76; H. P. Butterfield. Honey-Buzzard (Pernis apivorus) in Staf-
fordshire, Rk. B. Masefield, 76. Snow Geese in Co. Mayo, Robert Warren, —
76. Smew (Mergus albellws) in Middlesex, Charles Uldham, 77. Black —
Grouse, g (Tetrao tetrix), Alfred Newstead, 77. Red-throated Diver
(Colymbus septentrionalis) in Hertfordshire, Charles Oldham, 77. Ornitho-
logical Records for Chester and North Wales since January, 1908, Alfred —
Newstead, 78. Ornithological Notes from Scarborough, J. Morley, 78.
Bird Notes from the Tyrol, J. H. H. Kelso, M.D., M.B.O.U., 78
4}
Articles and Communications intended for publication, and Books —
and Pamphlets for review, should be addressed ‘‘ The Editor of —
‘The Zoologist, c/o West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, ff
London”; or direct to the Editor, W. L. Distant, Shannon Lodge,
Selhurst Road, South Norwood. |
Bound rolumes, 1908, can now be had at 14s. each; also cases for
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WEST, NEWMAN @ Co. __
LITHOGRAPHIC, CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC, AND)
LETTERPRESS “PRINTERS. ‘
54, HATTON GARDEN, LONDON, E.C. *
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TERS of books on scientific subjects gene-
rally, but especially of books relating to Natural)
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artists are on the spot ready to receive instruction
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Lithographers for various Government and other
Museums, and for learned Societies in London, India,
South Africa, &c. Original drawings are accurate.
reproduced by Lithography or Photo- Lithograpial
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tone blocks. a
be ti v¥
ae ee
=a , ; ee
Ri . f by tee =. : e, ? oa me Py
to > LF el a 2 ete Ee eee
aT m ae ar, aw ae L” an a . id
2 aa, ‘*
wi bs Ve eet +o oe
¥
sae ae en oder
3 eS NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. _ ‘
- Subscription for 1909, 12s. post free, should now be sent
P to West, Newman & Ca, 54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C.
WATKINS & DONCASTER,
Manufacturers of Cabinets and Apparatus for
Collectors of Birds’ Eggs, Insects, Plants, &c.
A large stock of Insects, Birds’ Eggs, &. List of Clutches of Birds’
Eggs on “application. Climbing Irons, best steel, with straps complete,
5s. per pair. - Egg Collector’s Outfit, containing Drills, Blowpipes, and all
Requisites complete, with Book of Instructions, post free, 3s. 3d. Label
‘Lists of every description. Birds and Nera stuffed and mounted in
Natural Positions. For particulars see our Catalogue, one hundred pages.
36, STRAND, LONDON, W:C.
Crown 4to, Cloth, gilt, extra. Pp. 144. Price 10s.
ied Collector’s Medley
1 EC. ARNOLD. MA.
Q With Twelve full-page Coloured Illustrations and Eight Un- ~
coloured, from the Author’s Drawings. _ Illustrated in the Text
by Twenty Process Blocks.
@ A Book for Amateur Collectors and Shore-Shooters.
*“ All who take delight in the eiede of birds, whether collectors or not, will
th Beroughly enjoy and profit by Mr. Arnold’s instructive volume.” — Tribune.
Cloth extra, Beatie 8vo. Price 1s. 6d. Postage 2d.
INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION
By tHe Rev. JOSEPH GREENH, M.A.
Pee EL EDT TON.
Entirely revised, and extended, by A. B. FARN.
The Chapter on Coleoptera by Epwarp Newman; on Hymenoptera by
FREDERICK SMITH; on Breeding Galiflies by Epwarp A. Fircu.
. Few books on entomology have done more to encourage the study and
sollecting of butterflies and moths than this most usefullittle book. .. . Inevery way
n excellent little book, and no young collector should be without it."—The Field.
ay We are glad to see a new and well got-up edition of this unp:etentious but
Berently useful little book, which has “probably been in the hands of every
ginner in the study of our British Insects, and is still read with pleasure and
terest by many more a vanced workers.’ ‘—Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine.
ondon : WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, Hatton Garden, B.C.
eS > ae as Be are aa
3 3 es pt Sy eh
2 “CONTENTS
Notes on the Feeding-habits of the Dunlin ( Tringa alpen J. M. Doth
Bibliography of London Birds, Hugh Boyd Watt, 15. . :
The Vocal and Instrumental Musie of Insects, A. H. Swinton, 17.
- Aretic Whale Fishery in 1908, Thomas Southwell, F'.Z.S., 26.
Notrs and QuERIES :—
Mammaria.—Courage in Putorius nivalis, T. Thornton Mackeith, 28. “4
AVEs. —Phylloscopus sibulatrixa, A. B. Farn, 23. Nesting of the Nightingall |
(Daulias luscinia) on the Borders of Staffordshire cart Shropshire, 283
Nesting of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecl.er (Dendrocopus minor) and the.
Great Spotted Woodpecker (D. major) in Staffordshire, 29; A. Hugh Dun-
calfe. Local Name of Corn-Crake, G. EH. H. Barrett- Hanution. 30. Bing
Notes from the Tyrol, W. H. Workman, 380.
_ Pisces.—Large Take of Herrings in the Moy Estuary, Killala Bay, Robert |
Warren, 32. 4
NoTviIcEs OF New Books, 34-88. EDITORIAL GLEANINGS, 388-40. x
t
Articles and Communications intended for publication, and Boole
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Bound rolumes, 1908, can now be had at 14s. each; also cases al
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Published early in January. Royal 8vo. Price 81s. 6d. net.
BRITIS-H- = Biles:
STRATIOMYIDZAE
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DIPTERA BRACHYCERA
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POCKET-BOOK of BRITISH BIRDS s
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NFORMATION is given respecting all British birds that breed in
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migratory, or migratory. Each species is separately treated under |
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terizing the predominant and striking features, with differentiation of.
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description of Eges. For those who love the birds this ‘Pocket- books
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FAMILIAR INDIAN BIRDS
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London: WEST, NEWMAN é€ CO., 54, BUS Gardena
ose Sune 15th, ee No. 816.
JATURAL: HISTORY, ©
Edited by W. Ls. Distant.
-
Notes ie Millport Marine Biolowiéal Beaton a Pie] Ted BRE
Additional Notes on Flying- Fish, Lionel E. Adams, B.A., 204.
~ Some Mud-flat Bird-Notes, A. H. Patterson, 208. —
~ Onthe Hymenopterous Parasites of Rhynchota, Claude eee BES Pee Su2 213. |
Notus AND QUERIES :— |
Mammatta.—An Instance of Affection evinced by Fectete for’ their Feeder, Robe rt
Warren, 226. F
AVEs. —Ring- Ouzel at Yarmouth, B. Dye, 227. Some Bird-Notes from Balli ne
Robert "Warren: 227. Notes on the Birds of West Renfrewshire (Caldwell
District), 1908, T. Thornton Mackeith, 228. Some Ornithological Notes |
from North-East Surrey, William A. Todd, 231.
‘© A List of'the Zoological Gardens of the World,” T. Lennard, 238. ¥
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POCKET-BOOK of BRITISH BIRDS|
By Ai, eS:
NFORMATION is given respecting all British birds that breed in
these islands, and those that are regular visitors at one time of
the year or another, with remarks as to a species being resident, inte
migratory, or migratory. Kach species is separately treated unde
the headings: Haunts, including distribution; Plumage, briefly chara
terizing the pr edominant and striking features, with “iifferentialioll
species nearly alike; Language, Rina song and various cries ; wioaal
Food; Nidification, with site and materials of nest ; and number ane
description of Eges. For those who love the birds this ‘ Pocket: bool
will be a constant and much-appreciated companion.
ie
=
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FAMILIAR INDIAN | BIRDS
GORDON DALGLIESH.
Illustrated by Half-tone Blocks from the Drawings of
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This little book is intended mainly for those who live in, or visit, Tn nd
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personal knowledge and observation. i
ees
Joe
London: WEST, NEWMAN & UO., 54, Hatton Garden, 1
ote Or be ve SES ES oe} all z
ST eR Rs ect ae nee en ie es PNY Ae
| July 15th, 1900. No. 817.
:
. ay \ ie el»
A Monthly Journal
OF
JATURAL HISTORY,
Edited by W. L.Distant,
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Meyrick, 270. The Occurrence of the Bean Goose in Cumberland. 270; |
Nesting of the Wigeon in Cumberland, 271; H. W. Robinson. Redshank 7
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By E. F. M. ELMS.
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This little book is intended mainly for those who live in, or visit, India,
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personal knowledge and observation. .
London: WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, Hatton Garden, B.C
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“CONTENTS 2
_ + Notes on Cornish Crustacea, James Clark, M.A., D.Sc., MRC aE. ee a
On the Hymenopterous Parasites of Rhynchota, Clade Morley, RF. E. Dey Lie 304, ;
Nores anp QurERI&ES :— ;
Aves.—Where are our Nuthatches?, Robert Morris, 315. A White Chaffinch,
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O. V. Aplin, 815. Shoveler breeding in North Devon, Rev. F. C, R. Jour- —
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Nest-Boxes, Rev. Julian G. Tuck, 316.
Vertebrate Fauna of Cheshire, 7’. A. Coward, 317.
Notices oF New Books, 318-3820.
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‘an excellent little book, and no young collector should be without it. ”__The Field.
= “We are glad to see a new and well got-up edition of this unpretentious but
eminently useful little book, which has “probably been in the hands of every
beginner in the study of our British Insects, and is still read with pleasure and ~
interest by many more advanced workers.’’—Entomologists’ Monthly Magazine.
BIRDSNESTING & BIRD=SKINNING. A Complete
Description of the Nests and Eggs of Birds which Breed in Britain,
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VOLUME IV, “COMPLETING TI ).
Bs THE CAMBRIDGE NATURAL ‘HISTORY.
fon EDITED BY 8.:F. HARMER, Se.D., F.RB:S.,: anp |
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PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED. 4
VOLUME I. Srncnarr, M.A.; and Davip SHarp, M AS
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| PROTOZOA. By Professor Marcus Har- | F.R.S. 4
toe, M.A. (D.Sc. Lond.). PORIFERA | oF a
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London: WEST’, NEWMAN ¢ CO., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C.
EDITED BY
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_Avess.—Household Visits by Sand-Martins and Swallows, A. H. hill 437.
tt Sooty Tern near Barmouth, Ff. C, Rawlings, 488.
* Notices oF New Books, 439-440.
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Nores AND QUERIES :—
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