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THE ZOOLOGIST: 


A MONTHLY JOURNAL 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


THIRD SERIES—VOL. VIII. 


EDITED BY 


en Ae ON Ge i AB, 


MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 


DELECTANDO PARITERQUE MONENDO. 


LONDON : 
JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW. 


1884. 


LONDON: 
PRINTED BY WEST, NEWMAN AND CO., 


HATTON GARDEN, E.C. 


PREFACE. 


Once more it becomes the pleasing duty of the Editor to 
congratulate the readers of this Journal upon the completion 
of another volume, forming the eighth of the Third Series, 
and the forty-second since the commencement of its existence 
in 1843. 


These congratulations are due to them rather than to 
himself, for it has been mainly through their labours and 
co-operation that the volume has been filled, and another 
sheaf thus stored in the granary of Zoology. Of the quality 
of the grain in this sheaf it might seem ungrateful to speak 
in any but terms of praise, yet, like the farmer who is pro- 
verbially “never satisfied,” the Editor is always “hoping for 
better times.” The fact is, that with a little more labour on 
the part of the reapers the value of the harvest might be 
materially improved. 


If the Editor could persuade some of his younger con- 
tributors to read more of the literature of the subjects on 
which they write, and extend their observations some way 
beyond the mere identification of a species, he is satisfied 
that their communications to this Journal would not only 
bring infinitely more credit to themselves, but would be of 
greater utility to others. 


The literature of Zoology is now so extensive that one 
can scarcely be expected to do much more than keep oneself 


Vv PREFACE. 


generally au courant with the teachings of leaders in the 
science. Hvery real worker now-a-days is a specialist, and a 
man has enough to do (particularly if with other occupations) 
to study the literature of his own subject. 


For specialists no more useful annual has ever been 
designed and published than ‘The Zoological Record,’ by 
reference to which the reader may discover what books and 
papers have been printed during the previous year in any 
department of Zoology at which he may happen to be 
working. This renders it no longer possible to plead the 
excuse of want of time to look up references to one’s subject. 
The recorders do it for us, and thus the materials are all at 
hand, ready to be utilised. 


‘The Zoological Record’ has a further use. An attentive 
consideration of its contents shows us not only what has been 
done, but what remains to be done; what doubtful points 
require elucidation; what discoveries have yet to be made. 
There is no need to travel over well-worn roads or dig in 
exhausted soil. 


A glance at ‘The Record’ will suggest new fields for 
labour in all directions, and the Editor would fain hope that, 
during the forthcoming year, the suggestion which he now 
makes in the interest of his readers and of science may find 
favour with many contributors to this Journal, both old and 
new. 


CONTENTS. 


ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS. 


Aptin, F. C. 

Grey form of the Tawny Owl in 
Buckinghamshire, 471; Hobby 
in Oxfordshire, 486 

APLIN, OLIVER V. 

Uncommon varieties of British 
birds, 10; Records of the Hoopoe 
in Hampshire, 28, 68; Note of 
some rare British birds in the 
collection of Mr. J. Whitaker, 50; 
Pale-coloured Kestrel from Skye, 
67; Stoats acquiring the Ermine 
dress in mild seasons, 112; Wild- 
fowl in North Oxfordshire, 113; 
Subcutaneous worms in Short- 
eared Owl, 153; Great Grey 
Shrike in Northamptonshire and 
Oxfordshire, 229; Fieldfares and 
Redwings, 339; Rare visitors to 
N. Oxfordshire, 841; Ornitho- 
logical notes from Oxfordshire, 
488 

BAcKHOUSE, JAMES, jun. 

Ornithological notes from the 
French Pyrenees, 20; Great 
Grey Shrike at York, 68; The 
American Kestrel in Yorkshire, 
230 

BarrRineton, RicHarD M., M.A. 

Wood Pigeon cooing at night, 231; 
The St. Kilda Wren, 383; Irish 
breeding-stations of the Gannet, 
473 

Becuer, Capt. E. F., R.A., F.Z.S. 

Food of the Stone Curlew, 68, 113; 
Occurrence of the Swallow-tailed 
Kite in Europe, 145; Abnor- 
mally coloured Sky Lark, 230, 
273; Blue-headed Yellow Wag- 
tail in confinement, 232; Food 
of the House Sparrow, 342; 
Lizards on the rock of Filfola, | 
431; Shearwaters on the rock of 
Filfola, 467; Hooded Crow and | 
Grey Phalarope at Malta, 486 | 


ZOOLOGIST.—DEC. 1884. 


Gg 


BecHER, Rev. W. 

Strange behaviour of Starlings, 70; 
Nesting of the Long-tailed Tit- 
mouse, 383 

BeckwitH, WILLIAM E. 
Common Sandpiper in winter, 73 
Buytu, EDWARD, the late 

Three unpublished papers on Or- 

nithology, 201, 247, 300 
Bonn, F., F.L.S., F.Z.8. 
Manx Shearwater inland in Shrop- 
shire, 4381 
Borrer, W., M.A. 
American Bittern in Sussex, 68 
BouLENGER, G. A. 

On the existence of two species of 
Aquatic Frogs in North Ger- 
many, 220; On the origin of the 
Edible Frog in England, 265 

Brown, J, A. Harvis, F.R.S.E., &e. 

Method of recording observations, 
60,140; Abnormal eggs of Ring 
Ouzel, 273 

Brown, WILLIAM 

Habits of the Magpie, 544 
Browne, MontTaGukE 

‘“ Sea-blue Bird of March,” 197 
BunkER, THOMAS 

Rudolphi’s Rorqual at Goole, 483 
Buxton, J. H. 

Soe eggs of Blackbird, 195, 

a 

CANDLER, HENRY 

Building sites of House Martin, 
470 

CarTER, THOMAS 

Badger in North Yorkshire, 63; 
Breeding of Redshank in North 
Yorkshire, 72; Green Sandpiper 
in North Yorkshire, 431; Egging 
on the coast of Yorkshire, 438; 
Breeding of the Hawfinch in 
North Yorkshire, 487 

CLERMONT, Lord 
Habits of Parrots, 145 


Vi 


CoatEs, V. H. 
Woodcock in captivity, 150 
Cocks, ALFRED H., M.A., F.Z.S. 

An autumn visit to Spitzbergen, 13; 
Albino Field Mouse, 226; The 
Avi-Fauna of Spitzbergen, 231; 
The Finwhale fishery on the 
coast of Finmark, 366, 417, 455 

CuarkE, W. Eacur, F.L.S., and 
W. Dentson Rorsuck, F.L.S. 


Notes on the Vertebrate Fauna of | 


Yorkshire, 171 
CoBpEAUX, JOHN 

Ornithological notes from North 
Lincolnshire in the autumn and 
winter of 1883, 184; Wild Duck 
laying in Rook’s nest, 280; Wild 
Cat in Lincolnshire, 880; Ruffs 
and Reeves in Lincolnshire, 466; 
Bittern, White-fronted Goose, 


and Black Tern in Berkshire, | 


469 ; Probable occurrence of the 
Lapp Bunting near Grimsby, 484 
CornisH, THOMAS 
Little Gull and Hawfinch at Pen- 
zance, 74; Ray's Bream in 
Cornwall, 75; Dwarf Swimming 
Crab at Penzance, 75; Turbot 
coloured on both surfaces, 115; 


Greater Pipe-fish in Mount’s | 


Bay, 116; Floating Crabs at 
Penzance, 116; Spinous Shark 
on the coast of Cornwall, 150; 
Occurrence of the Argentine 
near Penzance, 151; Cyclopterus 
lumpus at Penzance, 234; Large 
Surmullet in Mount’s Bay, 234; 
Basking Shark on the Cornish 
coast, 273; Abnormal growth in 


CONTENTS. 


| Dowuine, J. J. 


Cancer pagurus, 349; Long Sun- | 


fish near Penzance, 390; Water 
Rail near Penzance, 429; Wreck- 
fish at Penzance, 432; Ray’s 
Bream at Penzance, 482; Ray 
swallowing a Crayfish, 472; 
Sceyllarus arctus at the Land’s 
End, 491 
Cougs, Evuiot, M.A., M.D. 


On the application of trinomial | 


nomenclature to Zoology, 241 
CROWLEY, Puiuip, F'.L.S. 
Hybrid Pheasants, 70 
Donoyvay, C., jun. 

Little Bustard in Co. Cork, 69; 
Common Sandpiper in winter, 
115; 
Snipe, 148; Siskin and Great 
Snipe in Co. Cork, 149 


Sabine’s Gull in Dublin Bay, 490 
Dunn, Matuias 
Spawning of fish, 116; Ichthyo- 
logical notes from Mevagissey, 
Cornwall, 348 
D’Ursay, W.S. M., F.L.S. 
Phosphorescence of Syllis, 117; 
Greater Weaver in Devon, 150; 
Crustacea on the South coast of 
Devon, 151; Polecat in Devon- 
shire, 189; Greater Forkbeard 
in Devon, 196 
EArt Le, J. ROLLESTON 
Curious variety of the Blue Tit, 
69; Curious nesting-place of the 
Sand Martin, 71; Kestrel nesting 
in holes of trees, 148; Grey Wag- 
tail nesting in East Devon, 195 ; 
Curious nesting-place of the 
Great Tit, 229; Early nesting of 
the Golderest, 230 
EsrinGtTon, Viscount, M.P. 
The growth of Deer-horns, 425 
Epmonpston, T. 
Rough-legged Buzzard in Shet- 
land, 113 
Epwarp, THOMAS 
Greater Forkbeard on the Banff- 
shire coast, 274; Dipper’s nest 
on the top of a boulder, 468 
Eviiot, Epmunp A. 8. 
Great Grey Shrike in Devonshire, 
147 
Evans, HERBERT A. 
Siskin and Snow Bunting in North 
Devon, 231 
FEILDEN, Maj. H. W., R.A., C.M.Z.S. 
Breeding of Fratercula arctica on 
the Burlings, 470 
Fisuer, THEO. 
Blue-throated Warbler on Spurn 
Head, 430 
FiLemynG, Rev. Winiiam W., M.A. 
Note on the Hooded Crow, 490 
Forp, RoGer 
Great Grey Shrike in Somerset- 
shire, 69; Snow Bunting in 
Somersetshire, 73, 115; Leach’s 
Petrel in Somersetshire, 145 


| FowxLer, W. WarDE, M.A. 


| 


Habits of Woodcock and | 


Ornithological notes from Switzer- 
land, 374 
GATCOMBE, JOHN 
Ornithological notes from Devon 
and Cornwall, 53; Black Rat in 
Devon, 64; Bottle-nosed Dol- 
phins at Plymouth, 65; Sharks 


CONTENTS. 


on the coasts of Devon and 
Cornwall, 74; Blackfish on the 
Devonshire coast, 347 

GIBBINS, EDWARD J. 

Origin of the name “ Lobster” 

applied to the Stoat, 153 
GopDARD, G. BouVERIE 
Temerity in birds, 30 
GRAVES, JAMES 
Instinct of birds, 344 
Gurney, J. H., F.Z.S. 

Note on the Harvest Mouse, 112; 
Origin of the name “ Lobster” 
applied to the Stoat, 153; Note 
on a Gyr Falcon obtained in 
Sussex in 1851, 271 

Gurney, J. H. jun., F.Z.8. 

Kite and Marsh Titmouse in the 
Pyrenees, 71; Variety of Yellow- 
hammer, 114,231; Red-throated 
Pipit at Brighton, 192; Yellow 


Waetail in confinement, 272; | 


Unusual Variety of Snipe, 339; 
Food of Sparrow, 428 
Guny, T. E., F.L.S. 
Ornithological notes from Norfolk 
and Suffolk, 1 
HapFIELD, Capt. Henry W. 
Ornithological notes from the Isle 
of Wight, 29; Gulls in the Isle 
of Wight, 74 
Haminton, Epwarp, M.D., F.Z.S. 
Wayside notes in Switzerland, 41 
Harpine, Isaac 
Migratory birds on the Yorkshire 
Moors, 190 . 
Hartine, J. E., F.L.S., F.Z.S. 
Rudolphi’s Rorqual on the coast of 
Essex, 27; The ‘Attagen” of 
the Ancients, 31; Memoir of the 
late Prof. Schlegel, 75; The Red 
Deer of Exmoor, 81; The last 
Great Auk, 141; The Establish- 
ment of a Marine Biological 
Station, 161; The Asiatic Ele- 
phant in freedom and captivity, 
166; Capture of a White Whale 
on the coast of Caithness, 225; 
Sabine’s Snipe near Waterford, 
272; Mementoes of Hunting 
and Hawking, 275; Grey Seal 
in the Channel Islands, 337; 
Meaning of the word ‘‘ Gaunt” 
applied to the Great Crested 
Grebe, 350; On the growth of 
Deer-horns, with reference to 
some abnormal antlers of the 


Roe, 353; Dogs: ancient and | 


vil 


modern, 393; Hoopoe in Sus- 
sex, 428; Balistes capriscus off 
Folkestone, 472 
Hewett, W. 
Terns and Gulls inland in York- 
shire, 343 
HowarbD, RoBert J. 
Breeding of the Ruffin Lancashire, 
466, 490; Reported occurrence 
of Cranes near Clitheroe, 470 
InnEs, J. BRODIE 
White Partridges, 342 
KELSALL, J. E. 
Greater Horse-shoe Bat at Oxford, 
483 
Knieuts, J. H. H. 
Spoonbills in Suffolk, 471 
Laver, Henry, F.R.C.S., F.L.S. 
Little Bittern at Colchester, 342 
LitrorpD, Rt. Hon. Lord, F.L.8. 
Notes on the Ornithology of North- 
amptonshire, 192,450; Notes on 
the Mammalia of Northampton- 
shire, 428 
ListEeR, THEO. 
Wildfowl at Aldeburgh, 67 
LitrLesoy, J. 
Uncommon birds in Herts, 194 
Lovett, EDWARD 
Lutraria oblonga in Jersey, 274; 
Large Crayfish, 274; Instinct in 
birds, 889; Abnormal shell of 
Buccinium undatum, 490; Ab- 
normal colour of Common Lob- 
ster, 491 
Macpnerson, Rev. Hueu A., M.A. 
Hybrid Canary and Serin Finch, 
74: Grey Shrike near Carlisle, 
114; Long-tailed Duck in Cum- 
berland, 115; Ornithological 
notes from Carlisle, 127; Va- 
rieties near Carlisle, 228; Rose- 
coloured Pastor in Sutherland- 
shire, 389; Golden Plover with 
white primaries, 346; Weasel 
in Skye, 381; Greenland Falcon 
in Skye, 382 
Mann, T. J. 
Great Reed Warbler at Ringwocd, 
Hants, 343 
MarsHati, THOMAS 
Stock Dove in Perthshire, 272 
Masa, J. F. 
Rare birds in Lincolnshire, 70; 
Hybrid Canary and Serin Finch, 
144 
Maruew, Rev. M. A., M.A., F.L.S. 
The birds of Pembrokeshire, 211 ; 


vill 


Habits of Parrots, 227; A visit , 


to Skomer Island, 4383 
Matruews, Rev. A., M.A. 

Badger and Polecat in Leicester- 
shire, 271; An amber-coloured 
Mole, 271 

MitieEr, H. 
Tit’s nest in a railway carriage, 
387 
Mivart, Prof. St. Grores, F.R.S. 
Hands and feet, 281 
Moor, E. CHARLES 

Nest of Harvest Mouse, 190; Great 
Grey Shrike in Suffolk, 191 

Morg, A. G., F.L.S. 

- Greenland Falcon in Donegal, 31; 
Bonito on coast of Galway, 31 
Mosrtey, Prof. H. N., M.A., F.B.5S. 

A carnivorous plant preying on 

Vertebrata, 224 
Netson, T. H. 

Snipe perching, 28; Velvet Scoter 
near Manchester, 143; Sooty 
Shearwater at Redcar, 147; 
Black Pomatorhine Skua at Red- 
ear, 469; White Stork at Peven- 
sey, 489 

Newron, Prof. A., M.A., F.R.S. 
Origin of the name ‘Oyster- 
catcher,” 196 
NoreGate, RANK 
The Nightjar, 86 
PauM_ER, J. E. 

Lapwing perching, 69; Method of 
recording observations, 109; 
Tufted Duck in Co. Kildare, 146; 
Hooded Crow wading, 348; 
Scarcity of summer birds in Co. 
Kildare, 389 

Parkin, THomas, M.A., F.Z.S. 

Ruddy Sheldrake on Romney 
Marsh, 469; Dipper in Sussex, 
471 ; 

PENGELLY, WILLIAM, F.R.S. 

Curious variety of Guillemot, 71 

Pures, KE. CAMBRIDGE, F'.L.S. 

Ornithological notes from Brecon- 
shire, 144; On the origin of the 
Domestic Cock, 827; The birds 
of Pembrokeshire, 381; White 
Carrion Crow, 385; Black Game 
in Pembrokeshire, 431; A sup- 
plementary list of the birds of 
Breconshire, 485 

PLEYDELL, J. C. MANsEL, F.L.S. 

Hen Harrier breeding in Dorset- 
shire, 340; Ornithological notes 
from Dorsetshire, 430 


CONTENTS. 


PosTLETHWAITE, T. N. 

Birds of South Wales, 272; On 
the Nightjar, 340; On the birds 
of Berkshire, 487 

Ports, T.. H.; F-L.S: 

Habits of the Huia, 386; On some 
introduced birds in New Zea- 
land, 448 

PRENTIS, WALTER 

Little Gull at Rainham, Kent, 114; 
Red-throated Pipit in Kent, 272 ; 
Black Stork near Rainham, 429 

Rak, JOHN 

Instinct of birds, 346; Common 
Domestic Duck diving for food, 
388 

Rorsuck, W. Denison, F.L.S., and 
W. Eacie Cuarke, F.L.S. 
Notes on the Vertebrate Fauna of 
Yorkshire, 171 
Rocers, Henry 
Snipe perching, 228 
Ropg, G. T. 
Habits of the Harvest Mouse, 56; 
Weasel swimming, 837 

RUSHBROOKE, O. 

Tit’s nest in railway carriage, 388 
SANDBERG, GRAHAM 

The Bittern in Suffolk, 81 
Scorr, Lord H. J., M.P. 

Flamingo shot in Hampshire, 338 
SEEBOHM, Henry, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 

On a new British Wren, 333 
Sim, GEORGE 

An albino Cormorant, 342 
SuaTer, Rev. H. H., F.Z.S. 

Black Redstart in Northampton- 
shire, 31; The Ornithology of 
Riding Mill on Tyne and neigh- 
bourhood, 92, 142; Breeding of 
the Lesser Redpoll in North- 
amptonshire, 144; Barred War- 
bler in Yorkshire, 489 

SmirH, Ceci, F.Z.S8. 

Fulmar Petrel in Somersetshire, 
145; Great Grey Shrike and 
Snow Bunting in Somersetshire, 
149 

SouTHWELL, THomas, F.Z.S. 

Note on the Seal and Whale 
Fishery of 1882, 121; Bi-dental 
Skulls of the Narwhal, 141; 
Provincial name for the Black 
Tern, 144; Notes on the Seal and 
Whale Fishery of 1883, 295 

SQUIRE, BALMANNO 

The Burmese Elephant at the 

Zoological Gardens, 110 


CONTENTS. 1X 


STANSELL, F. 

The larder of the Red-backed 

Shrike, 341 
Stevenson, Henry, F.L.S. 

Mr. Gunn’s Lesser Terns at the 
Fisheries Exhibition, 65; Or- 
nithological notes from Norfolk, 
370, 411 

Stewart, Duncan 

Instinct of birds, 345 
Stewart, HERBERT GOW 

Growth of Deer-horns, 427 
THompson, E. V. 

Grey Phalarope in Yorkshire, 31 
Tompson, RicHarD H. 

Surf Scoter on the coast of Lanca- 
shire, 29 

TINKLER, JOHN E. 

Ornithological notes from N.W. 

Yorkshire, 131, 196 
Tuck, Rev. JuLIAN G., M.A. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull on the 
Yorkshire coast, 485; Eared 
Grebe and Velvet Scoter at Hun- 
stanton, 488 

TuRNER, HucH 
The plumage of the young Kes- 
trel, 70 
Urcuer, A. H. 
Wryneck in winter, 74 
Ussuer, R. J. 

Black Redstart in Co. Waterford, 
30; Recent occurrence of the 
Crane in Co. Mayo, 72; Early 
appearance of Wild Geese in 
Ireland, 471; Irish breeding 
stations of the Gannet, 479 

Variant, Leon 

Remarks on the fundamental dis- 
tribution of colour in a living 
Echeneis, 186 

Warp, Col. MicHart Foster 

Nesting of the Black Redstart in 

Bavaria, 430 


Warren, ROBERT 

Spotted Redshank and Long-tailed 
Duck in the Moy Estuary, 143 ; 
Ruff and Green Sandpiper in 
Co. Sligo, 429 

WEssTER, A. D. 

The depredations of Squirrels, 64 
Wuarton, Henry T., M.A., F.L.S. 
‘“*Sea-blue Bird of March.” 117 

WHITAKER, J., F.L.S., F.Z.S. 

Scaup Duck in Notts, 70; Unusual 
variety of the Common Sand- 
piper, 72; Common Buzzard 
in Nottinghamshire, 73; Birds 
hovering over dead companions, 
149; Variety of the Sky Lark, 
230; Song of the Tree Sparrow, 
232; Curious site for a Red- 
start’s nest, 339; Montagu’s 
Harrier in Nottinghamshire, 
341; Dotterel in Nottingham- 
shire, 383; Wood Sandpiper in 
Nottinghamshire, 468; White 
Wood Pigeon and other va- 
rieties, 487 

WHITE, JoHN N. 
Spoonbill in South of Ireland, 342 
WHitenurst, E. T. 
Green Sandpiper at Farnborough, 
385 
WHymMPperER, CHARLES 
Kingfisher in London, 470 
Wixumore, Joun H. 

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker near 
Stockbridge, 192; Wild Duck 
laying in a Rook’s nest, 229 

Woopwarp, B. B. 

The proposed adoption of trinomial 

nomenclature, 432 
Youne, J., F.Z.S. 

Early nesting of the Common 
Heron, 191; Scarcity of Field- 
fares and Redwings during the 
past winter, 228 


xX CONTENTS. 


ALPHABETICAL LIST OF 


Abnormal eggs of Blackbird, 195, 
227; of Ring Ouzel, 273; growth 
in Cancer pagurus, 349; antlers of 
the Roe, 353 

Abnormally coloured Sky Lark, 230 

Acanthyllis caudacuta, 310; fusca, 
811; sylvatica, 313 

Accentor modularis, 47, 94 

Accipiter nisus, 26, 43, 101 

Acredula Irbyi, 22; rosea, 94 

Acrocephalus schcenobenus, 94; stre- 
perus, 175 

AXgialitis hiaticula, 16, 232 

Agonus cataphractus, 181 

Alauda arborea, 24, 98; arvensis, 98 

Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 
223, 424 

Alea troile, 17 

Alcedo ispida, 48, 100 

Alopecias vulpes, 180 

Anas boschas, 101,177; strepera, 486 

Anchovy, 183 

Animal life, wanton destruction of in 
Shetland, 60 

Animals, British, at the British 
Museum, 188; Bewick’s engravings 
of, 223 

Anser brachyrhynchus, 14, 101; leu- 
copsis, 16, 232, 486; segetum, 177 

Anthus pratensis, 95; spipoletta, 23 ; 
trivialis, 96 : 

Aquila chrysaétus, 26, 42 

Ardea cinerea, 45, 101, 176; gar- 
zetta, 177 

Ardetta minuta, 101, 177 

Argentine near Penzance, 171 

Asio accipitrinus, 25, 100, 176; otus, 
25, 100 

Athene noctua, 25 

Atherina presbyter, 182 

** Attagen”’ of the Ancients, 31 

Auk, Great, the last, 141; Little, 18, 
105 

‘Auk, the: a Quarterly Journal of 
Ornithology,’ 142 

Auxis Rochei, 181 

Avi-Fauna of Spitzbergen, 231 


Badger in North Yorkshire, 63; in 


Yorkshire, 174; in Leicestershire, | 


971 
Balistes capriseus, 183; off Folke- 
stone, 472 


SUBJECTS. 


Barbets, 247, 249 
Basse, 181 
Bat, Greater Horse-shoe, at Oxford, 
483; Lesser Horse-shoe, 173; Red- 
dish-grey, 173; Whiskered, 173 
Bergylt, 19 
Bernicla brenta, 14 
Bewick’s engravings of animals, 223 
Birds, British, uncommon varieties 
of, 10; temerity in, 30; rare British, 
in the collection of Mr. J. Whitaker, 
50; rare, in Lincolnshire, 70; 
hovering over dead companions, 
149; migratory, on the Yorkshire 
moors, 190; uncommon, in Hert- 
fordshire, 192; of Pembrokeshire, 
211, 381; wingless, 226; of South 
Wales, 272; wild, protection of in 
India, 836; instinct of, 344, 389; 
summer, scarcity of in Co. Kildare, 
389; on some introduced in New 
Zealand, 448 ; of Breconshire, sup- 
plemental list of, 485; of Berk- 
shire, notes on, 487 
Bittern, 7; in Suffolk, 81; American, 
in Sussex, 68; in Yorkshire, 177; 
in Berkshire, 469; Little, 9, 101, 
177; at Colchester, 342 
Blackbird, 46, 92; abnormal eggs of, 
195, 227; and Thrush, hybrids 
between, 146 
Blackeap, 93 
Black-game in Pembrokeshire, 481 
Blackfish on the Devonshire coast, 
347 
Blackstart, 174 
Bluethroat, 174 
Bonito on the coast of Galway, 31; 
Plain, 181 
Booxs Revimwep :— 
‘Birds of South Africa,’ by E. L. 
Layard, revised by R. B. Sharpe, 
278 
‘Birds of Prey, Diurnal, a List of 
the, also'a Record of Specimens 
preserved in the Norfolk and 
Norwich Museum,’ by John H. 
Gurney, 280 
‘Evolution and Natural Theology,’ 
by W. F. Kirby, 38 
‘Zoology, Elementary Text-Book 
of,’ by Dr. Claus; translated and 
edited by Adam Sedgwick, 494 


CONTENTS. x1 


Botaurus lentiginosus, 177 

Brama Raii, 181 

Brambling, 97 

Bream, Ray’s, in Cornwall, 75; at 
Penzance, 432 

Breeding of Redshank in N. York- 
shire, 72; of the Ruffin Lancashire, 
466; of Fratercula arctica on the 
Burlings, 470; of Hawfinch in 
North Yorkshire, 487 

British Museum, British animals at, 
188 

Bubo ignavus, 25 

Buccinium undatum, abnormal shell 
of (with figure), 490 

Bucco asiaticus, 256; armillaris, 256; 
caniceps, 252; chrysopogon, 255; 
flavifrons, 259; franklinii, 257; 
grandis, 251; indicus, 257; linea- 
tus, 252; malabaricus, 258; philip- 
pensis, 244; quadricolor, 256; ru- 
bricapillus, 258 ; trimaculatus, 259 ; 
versicolor, 255; viridis, 255 

Bucconidez, 249 

Building sites of House Martin, 470 

Bullfinch, 98 

Bullhead, Armed, 181 

Bunting, Common, 98; Cirl, 48,175; 
Lapp, probable occurrence of near 
Grimsby, 484; Ortolan, 176; Reed, 
98; Rustic, 176; Snow, 14, 98, 486, 
in Somersetshire, 73, 115, 149, in 
North Devon, 231 

Bustard, Great, 179; Little, in Co. 
Cork, 69 

Buteo vulgaris, 26, 44 

Buzzard, Common, 26, 44; in 
Nottinghamshire, 73; Honey, 4; 
Roughlegged, 4; in Shetland, 113 

Buzzards, 3 


Caccabis petrosa, 178; rufa, 178 

Calorhamphus lathami, 260 

Canary and Serin Finch, hybrid, 74, 
144 

Cancer pagurus, abnormal growth 
in, 349 

Capitonide, 247 

Caprimulgus europeus, 99 

Carduelis elegans, 48, 97 

Carnivorous plant preying on Verte- 
brata, 224 

Cat, Wild, in Lincolnshire, 380 

Certhia discolor, 211; familiaris, 23, 
46, 95; himalayana, 210; nipa- 
lensis, 211 

Certhiide, 202 

Certhine, 209 


Chaffinch, 48, 97 

Charadrius pluvialis, 104 

Chaulelasmus streperus, 177 

Chelidon urbica, 24, 49, 97 

Chiffchaff, 94 

Chrysomitris citrinella, 24; spinus, 
97 

Ciconia alba, 44 

Cinelus albicollis, 21; aquaticus, 47, 
93; melanogaster, 174 

Circus cyaneus, 100 

Circaetus gallicus, 26 

Clangula glaucion, 102 

Coal-fish, 19 

Coccothraustes vulgaris, 24, 97 

Cock, Domestic, on the origin of 
the, 327 

Cod, 18 

Colloealia fucifaga, 321; 
321 

Columba enas, 102, 178; livia, 178; 
palumbus, 102 

Colymbus arcticus, 15; glacialis, 15; 
septentrionalis, 18 

Coot, 49 

Coracias garrulus, 176 

Cormorant, 176; an albino, 342 

Corvus corax, 25, 99; cornix, 99; 
corone, 45, 99; frugilegus, 45, 99; 
monedula, 99 

Cotile riparia, 49, 97; rupestris, 24 

Coturnix communis, 26, 103 

Crab, Dwarf Swimming, 
zance, 75 

Crabs, Floating, at Penzance, 116 

Crake, Baillon’s, 179; Corn, 103 

Cramp-ray, 181 

Crane, recent occurrence of in Co. 
Mayo, 72 

Cranes. reported occurrence of near 
Clitheroe, 470 

Crayfish, large, 274; Ray swallowing 
a, 472 

Creeper, Tree, 46, 95 

Crex pratensis, 103 

Crossbill, 98 

Crow, Carrion, 45,99; white, 385; 
Hooded, 99, at Malta, 486, wading, 
343 

Crustacea on the South Coast of 
Devon, 151 

Ctenolabrus rupestris. 182 

Cuckoo, 100 

Cuculus canorus, 100 

Curlew, 105, 179; Stone, food of, 68, 
113 

Cyanecula Wolfi, 22 

Cyclopterus lumpus at Penzance, 234 


nidifica, 


at Pen- 


xu 


Cypselide, 300 

Cypseline, 304 

Cypselus affinis, 305; apus, 49, 99; 
balasiensis, 307; leuconyx, 305; 
melba, 176, 304; vittatus, 305 


Dafila acuta, 177 

Daulias luscinia, 22, 175 

Davis Lectures (1884), 223 

Deal-fish, 182 

Deer killed by lightning, 336 

Deer-horns, growth of, with refe- 
rence to some abnormal antlers of 
the Roe (with illustrations), 353; 
growth of, 425, 427 

Delphinus tursio, 174 

Dendrophila frontalis, 207 

Dipper, 93, in Sussex, 471; Black- 
breasted, 174 

Dipper’s nest on the top of a boulder, 
468 

Diver, Black-throated, 15; Great 
Northern, 15; Red-throated, 18 

Dogs: ancient and modern (with 
illustrations), 393 

Dolphin, Bottle-nosed, 174; at Ply- 
mouth, 65 

Dotterel in Nottinghamshire, 383 

Dove, Ring, 102; Rock, 178; Stock, 
102, 178, in Perthshire, 272 

Duck, Common Domestic, diving for 
food, 888; Common Wild, 101; 
Hider, 18; Long-tailed, 15, in Cum- 
berland, 115, in the Moy Estuary, 
143; Scaup, in Notts, 70; Tufted, 
102, in Co. Kildare, 146, in York- 
shire, 178; Wild, laying in Rook’s 
nest, 229, 230 

Dunlin, 105 


Eagle, Golden, 42 

Echeneis, living, remarks on tho 
fundamental distribution of colour 
in a, 186 

Egging on the coast of Yorkshire, 438 

Eggs, abnormal, of Blackbird, 195, 
227; of Ring Ouzel, 273 

Egret, Little, 177 

Hider, King, 15 

Elephant, Asiatic, in freedom and 
captivity, 166; Burmese, at the 
Zoological Gardens, 62, 110 

Emberiza cia, 24; cirlus, 24, 48,175; 
citrinella, 24, 48, 98; hortulana, 
176; wmiliaria, 98; nivalis, 486; 
rustica, 176; schceniclus, 98 

Engraulis encrasicholus, 183 

Erithacus rubecula, 47, 93 


CONTENTS. 


Falco esalon, 101; sparverius, 176; 
tinnunculus, 26, 43, 101 

Falco or Hierofaleo, 271 

Falcon, 13; Greenland, in Co. Done- 
gal, 31, 115, in Skye, 382; Gyr, 
obtained in Sussex in 1851, 271 

Fauna, Vertebrate, of Yorkshire, Sup- 
plement to the, 109; notes on the, 
171 

Fieldfare, 92 

Fieldfares, scarcity of during the past 
winter, 228, 339 

File-fish, 183 

Finch, Serin, and Canary, hybrid, 
74, 144 

Finwhale fishery on the coast of Fin- 
mark, 366, 417, 455 

Fish, spawning of, 116 

Fisheries Exhibition, Mr. Gunn’s 
Lesser Terns at the, 65 

Fishery, Seal and Whale, of 1882, 
notes on, 121 

Flamingo shot in Hampshire, 338 

Flycatcher, Pied, 96; Spotted, 47, 96 

Food of the Stone Curlew, 68, 113; 
of the House Sparrow, 342; of 
Sparrows, 428 

Forkbeard, Greater, in Devon, 196; 
on the Banffshire coast, 274 

Fratercula arctica breeding on the 
Burlings, 470 

Fringilla ecelebs, 24, 48, 97; monti- 
fringilla, 24, 97 

Frog, Edible, origin of in England, 
265 

Frogs, Aquatic, existence of two spe- 
cies of in North Germany, 220 

Fulica atra, 49 

Fuligula cristata, 102,178; ferina, 26 


Gadus eglifinus, 18; morrhua, 18 

Gadwall, 177, 486 

Gallinago ccelestis, 105; gallinula, 
105 

Gallinula chloropus, 104 

Game-bag, an Austrian, 270 

Gannet, Irish breeding-stations of 
the, 473 

Garganey, 177 

Garrulus glandarius, 25, 45, 98 

Gasterosteus pungitius, 182 

‘*Gaunt,” meaning of the word, ap- 
plied to the Great Crested Grebe, 
350 

Gecinus viridis, 25, 46, 99 

Geese, Wild, early appearance of in 
Ireland, 471 

Glareola pratincola, 104 


CONTENTS. 


Globicephalus melas, 174 

Golderest, 94; early nesting of, 230 

Golden-eye, 102 

Goldfinch, 48, 97 

Goldsinny, 182 

Goosander, 102 

Goose, Bean, 177; Bernicle, 16, 232, 
486; Brent, 14; Pink-footed, 14, 
101; White-fronted, in Berkshire, 
469 

Grebe, Eared, at Hunstanton, 488; 
Great Crested, meaning of the 
word ‘‘Gaunt” applied to, 350; 
Red-necked, 105; Lesser, 106 

Greenfinch, 97 

Grouse, 103; Black, 103 

Grus communis, 27 


Guillemot, Common, 17; curious 
variety of, 71 
Gull, Black-headed, 105; Brown- 


headed, 180; Common, 105; Ice- 
land, 180; Ivory, 16; Lesser Black- 
-backed, on the Yorkshire coast, 
483; Little, 7, at Penzance, 74, at 
Rainham, Kent, 114; Sabine’s, in 
Dublin Bay, 490 

Gulls in the Isle of Wight, 74; inland 
in Yorkshire, 343 

Gypztus barbatus, 26, 42 

Gyps fulvus, 25 


Habits of the Harvest Mouse, 56; 
note on, 112; of Parrots, 145, 227 ; 
of Woodcock and Snipe, 148; of 
the Magpie, 344; of the Huia, 386 

Haddock, 18 

Hands and feet, 281 

Harelda glacialis, 15 

Hares and Rabbits, destruction of 
trees by, 64 

Harrier, Hen, 100, breeding in Dor- 
setshire, 340; Marsh, 5; Mon- 
tagu’s, in Nottinghamshire, 341 

Harvest Mouse, habits of, 56, 112 

Hawfinch, 97; at Penzance, 74; 
breeding in North Yorkshire, 487 

Hawking and hunting in the last 
century, mementoes of, 275 

Hedgesparrow, 47, 94 

Heron, 45, 101, 176; early nesting 
of, 191; Night, in Kent, 74 

Hippoglossus vulgaris, 19 

Hirundo rustica, 23, 48, 97 

Hobby in Oxfordshire, 486 

Holibut, 19 

Hoopoe, records of in Hampshire, 28, 
68; in Sussex, 428 

Huia, habits of the, 386 


xii 


Hunterian Museum, 336 

Hunting and hawking in the last 
century, mementoes of, 275 

Hybrid Pheasants, 70; Canary and 
Serin Finch, 74, 144 

Hybrids between Blackbird and 
Thrush, 146 

Hyperoodon latifrons, 174; rostra- 
tum, 174 


Ichthyological notes from Meva- 
gissey, Cornwall, 348 

Instinet of birds, 344 

International Ornithological Con- 
eress at Vienna, 139, 188, 346 

Ireland, Thompson’s Natural History 
of, proposed Supplement, 187 


Jackdaw, 99 
Jay, 45, 98 
John Doree, 181 
Jynx torquilla, 
winter, 74 


25, 99, 176; in 


Kestrel, 48, 101, nesting in holes in 
trees, 148; American, 176, in York- 
shire, 230; young, plumage of, 70 ; 
Pale-coloured, from Skye, 67 

King-fish, 181 

Kingfisher, 5, 48, 100; in London, 470 

Kite, 1, in the Pyrenees, 71; Fork- 
tailed, 43; Swallow-tailed, occur- 
rence of in Kurope, 145 


Labrax lupus, 181 

Lemargus borealis, 181 

Lagopus scoticus, 103 

Lammergeier, 42 

Lamna cornubica, 180 

Lampris luna, 181 

Lanius major, 175 

Lapwing, 104; perching, 69 

Lark, Sky, 98, variety of, 230, ab- 
normally coloured, 230; Wood, 98 

Larus canus, 105; leucopterus, 180 ; 
ridibundus, 105, 180 

Leuciscus erythropthalmus, 183 

Ligurinus chloris, 97 

Linnet, 97 

Linota cannabina, 97; flavirostris, 
175; limaria, 97, 175, 231; ru- 
fescens, 97 

Lizards on the Rock of Filfola, 431 

‘“‘Lobster,” origin of the name ap- 
plied to the Stoat, 112, 153 

Lobster, Common, abnorma colour 
of, 491 

Locustella nevia, 94 


XIV CONTENTS. 


Lophophanes cristatus, 22 
Loxia curvirostra, 98 
Lumpsucker 19 

Lutraria oblonga in Jersey, 274 


Macropteryx coronatus, 323; klecho, 
324 


Macropterygiine, 322 

Magpie, 45, 99; habits of the, 344 

Mallard, 177 

Mammalia of Northamptonshire, 428 

Mareca penelope, 26, 101 

Marine Biological Station, English, 
proposed establishment of an, 161, 
270, 378 

Marten, 173 

Martes sylvestris, 173 

Martin, 49; House, 5, building sites 
of, 470; Sand, 49, curious nesting- 
place of, 71 

Meles taxus, 174 

Merganser, Red-breasted, 102 

Mergulus alle, 18, 105 

Mergus merganser, 102; serrator, 102 

Merlangus carbonarius, 19 

Merlin, 101 

Milvus ictinus, 43 

Mole, amber-coloured, 271 

Monticola cyanus, 21; saxatilis, 21 

Montifringilla nivalis, 24 

Motacilla alba, 23, 48,95; flava, 48; 
lugubris, 48, 95; melanope, 23, 95; 
raii, 95; sulphurea, 48 

Mouse, Field, albino, 226; Harvest, 
habits of the, 56, note on, 112, 
nest of, 190 

Mugil septentrionalis, 182 

Mullet, Lesser Grey, 182 

Muscicapa atricapilla, 96; grisola, 
47, 96 


Narwhal, bi-dental skulls of the, 141 

Nerophis equoreus, 183 

Nest of Harvest Mouse, 190; Rook’s, 
Wild Duck laying in, 229, 230; 
Redstart’s, curious site for, 339; of 
Tit in a railway carriage, 387; of 
Dipper on the top of a boulder, 468 

Nesting of Kestrel in holes in trees, 
148; early, of the Common Heron, 
191; of Grey Wagtail in East 
Devon, 195; early, of Goldcrest, 
230; of Long-tailed Titmouse, 
383; of Black Redstart in Bavaria, 
430 

Nesting-place, curious, of Sand Mar- 
tin, 71; of Great Tit, 229 

Nightingale, 175 


Nightjar, 7, 86, 99; note on the, 
340 


Nomenclature, trinomial, applica- 
tion of to Zoology, 241; zoological, 
335; proposed adoption of, 432 

Nucifraga caryocatactes, 45 

Numenius arquata, 27, 105, 179; 
pheopus, 16 

Nuteracker, 45 

Nuthatch, 95, 203 

Nyctea nivea, 16 


Oar-fish, Banks’, 182 

Observations, method of recording, 
60, 109, 140 

(idicnemus crepitans, 179; scolo- 
pax, 27 

Opah, 181 

Opah-fish in Shetland, 349 

Oriolus galbula, 23 

Ornithological Congress and Exhibi- 
tion at Vienna, 139, 188, 346 

Ornithological notes from Brecon- 
shire, 144; from Carlisle, 127; from 
Devon and Cornwall, 53; from 
Dorsetshire, 430; from Norfolk, 
870, 411; from Norfolk and Suf- 
folk, 1; from North Lincolnshire 
in the autumn and winter of 1883, 
184; from Oxfordshire, 488; from 
N.W. Yorkshire, 131; from Swit- 
zerland, 3874; from the French 
Pyrenees, 20; from the Isle of 
Wight, 29 

Ornithologists’ Union, American 
106; British, 226 

Ornithology of Riding Mill on Tyne 
and neighbourhood, 92, 142; of 
Northamptonshire, notes on, 192, 
450; three unpublished papers on, 
201, 247, 300 

Orthagoriscus mola, 188; truncatus, 
183 

Osprey, 1, 42, 176 

Otis tarda, 179 

Ouzel, Ring, 5, 938, 174; Water, 47 

Owl, Barn, 100; Long-eared, 100; 
Short-eared, 100, 176, subeu- 
taneous worms in, 153; Tawny, 
100, grey form of in Buckingham- 
shire, 471; Tengmalm’s, 5 

‘*Oystercatcher,” origin of the name, 
196 


Pagophila eburnea, 16 
Panurus biarmicus, 486 
Pandion haliaétus, 42, 176 
Parrots, habits of, 145, 227 


CONTENTS. XV 


Partridge, 102; Barbary, 178; Red- | 
| Querquedula circia, 177; crecca, 26, 


legged, 178 

Partridges, white, 342 

Parus ater, 22, 46; britannicus, 
95; ceruleus, 22, 46, 95; major, 
22, 95 


Passer domesticus, 48, 97; mon- | 
tanus, 48, 97 
Pastor, Rose-coloured, in Suther- 


landshire, 339 

Perdix cinerea, 26, 102 

Petrel, Fulmar, in Somersetshire, 
145; Leach’s, in Somersetshire, 
145, in Yorkshire, 180, in Brecon- 
shire, 486 

Phalacrocorax carbo, 176 

Phalarope, Grey, in Yorkshire, 31, 
at Malta, 486; Red-necked, 16 

Phalaropus fulicarius, 16 

Phasianus colchicus, 102 

Pheasant, 102 

Pheasants, hybrid, 70 

Phylloseopus collybita, 22, 94; sibila- 
trix, 94; trochilus, 94 

Pica rustica, 25, 99 

Picus caudata, 45; major, 99; minor, 
176 

Pigeon, Wood, cooing at night, 231; 
white, and other varieties, 487 

Pintail, 177 

Pipe-fish, equorial, 183; Greater, in 
Mount’s Bay, 116 

Pipit, Meadow, 95; Red-throated, 
at Brighton, 192, in Kent, 272; 
Tree, 96 

Plant, carnivorous, preying on Ver- 
tebrata, 224 

Plectrophanes nivalis, 14, 98 

Plover, Golden, 104, with white pri- 
maries, 346; Grey, 104; Ringed, 
16, 232 

Plumage of the young Kestrel, 70 

Podiceps fluviatilis, 106; griseigena, 
105 

Pogge, 181 

Polecat in Devonshire, 189; in Lei- 
cestershire, 271 

Porbeagle, 180 

Porpoise in the Thames, 466 

Porzana Bailloni, 179; maruetta, 27 

Pratincola rubetra, 93; rubicola, 93 

Pratincole, 104 

Procellaria Leachii, 
rhoa, 180 

Puffinus anglorum, 105; griseus, 180 

Pyrrhocorax alpinus, 25; graculus, 24 

Pyrrhula europea, 24, 98 


486; leucor- 


Quail, 103 
101, 177 


Rabbits and Hares, destruction of 
trees by, 64 

Rail, Water, 103; near Penzance, 429 

Raja circularis, 181; maculata, 181 

Rana esculenta, 221, 265; fortis, 221 

Rallus aquaticus, 103 

Rat, Black, in Devon, 64 

Raven, 45, 99 

Ray, Homelyn, 181; Sandy, 181 

Ray swallowing a Crayfish, 472 

Redbreast, 47, 93 

Red-deer of Exmoor, 81; Sir Edwin 
Landseer’s, 222 

Red-fish, 19 

Redpoll, Lesser, 97, 
Northamptonshire, 144; 
97, 175, 231 

Redshank, 105, 179, breeding in 
North Yorkshire, 72; Spotted, in 
the Moy Estuary, 143, in York- 
shire, 179 

Redstart, Black, 47,93; in Co. Water- 
ford, 30, in Northamptonshire, 31, 
nesting in Bavaria, 430; in Brecon- 
shire, 485; Common, 47 

Redstart’s nest, curious site for, 339 

Redwing, 92; scarcity of during the 
past winter, 228, 339 

Regalecus Banksu, 182; Grillii, 182 

Regulus cristatus, 22, 94; igni- 
capillus, 22 

Rhinolophus hipposideros, 173 

Rock-creeper, 208 

Roe, some abnormal antlers of the 
(with illustrations), 353 

Roller, 176 

Rook, 45, 99 

Rorqual, Common, 456, 461, 464; 
Lesser, 462; Rudolphi’s, on the 
coast of Essex, 27, at Goole, 483, 
colour of, 465: Sibbald’s, 461, 465 

Ruff in Co. Sligo, 429; breeding in 
Lancashire, 466, 490 

Ruffs and Reeves in Lincolnshire, 
466 

Ruticilla pheenicurus, 47, 93; tithys, 
21, 47, 174, 485 ; 


breeding in 
Mealy, 


Salmo fario, 183; salar, 18 

Salmon, 18 

Salpornis spilonotus, 209 

Sand-smelt, 182 

Sandpiper, Common, unusual variety 
of, 72, in winter, 73, 115; Curlew, 


XVi 


179; Green, at Farnborough, 385, 
in Co. Sligo, 429, in North York- 
shire, 431, at Talybont, 486; Pur- 
ple, 18; Spotted, 179; Wood, 179, 
in Nottinghamshire, 468 

Saxicola cnanthe, 21, 93 

Schlegel, Prof., memoir of the late, 75 

Scolopax rusticula, 104 

Scops giu, 25 

Scoter, Surf, on the coast of Lanca- 
shire, 29; Velvet, near Man- 
chester, 143, at Hunstanton, 488 

Scyllarus arctus at the Land’s End, 
491 

Seymnus borealis, 19 

**Sea-Blue Bird of March,’ 117, 197 

Sea-bream, Ray’s, 181 

Seal, Grey, in the Channel Islands, 
337 


Seal and Whale fishery of 1882, notes 
on, 121; of 18838, 295 

Sebastes norvegicus? 19 

Serinus hortulanus, 24 

Shark, Basking, on the Cornish coast, 
273; Greenland, 19, 181; Fox, 180; 
Spinous, on the coast of Cornwall, 
150 

Sharks on the coasts of Devon and 
Cornwall, 74 

Shearwater, Manx, 105, inland in 
Shropshire, 431; Sooty, at Redcar, 
147, in Yorkshire, 180 

Shearwaters on the Rock of Filfola, 
467 

Sheldrake, Ruddy, 
Marsh, 468 

Shoveller, 101, 177 

Shrike, Great Grey, at York, 68, in 
Somersetshire, 69, 149, in Devon- 
shire, 147, in Suffolk, 191, in 
Northamptonshire and Oxford- 
shire, 229; Grey, near Carlisle, 
114; Pallas’s Great Grey, 175; 
Red-backed, the larder of, 341 

Sild-Kung, 182 

Siskin, 97; in Co. Cork, 149; 
North Devon, 231 

Sitta cxesia, 23,95; castaneoventris, 
206; cinnamoventris, 206; for- 
mosa, 205; himalayana, 206 

Sittine, 203 

Skate, 19 

Skomer Island, a visit to, 433 


on Romney 


in 


Skua, Black Pomatorhine, at Redear, | 


469; Buffon’s, 14, 232; Poma- 
torhine, 16, 232; Richardson’s, 17 
Snipe, 105; and Woodcock, habits 
of, 148; Great, in Co. Cork, 149; 


CONTENTS. 


Jack, 105; Sabine’s, near Water- 
ford, 272 
Snipe perching, 28, 228; 
variety of the, 339 
SOCIETIES, SCIENTIFIC :— 
Entomological, 119, 158, 288, 352, 
391 
Linnean, 32, 78, 118, 155, 197, 
235, 276, 491 
Zoological, 36, 78, 119, 156, 199, 
236, 277, 350, 493 
Somateria mollissima, 18; 
tabilis, 15 
Song of Tree Sparrow, 232 
Spawning of fish, 116 
Sparrowhawk, 3, 43, 101 
Sparrow, House, 48, 97, food of, 342, 
428; Tree, 48, 97, song of, 232 
Spatula clypeata, 101, 177 
Spitzbergen, an autumn visit to, 13; 
avifauna of, 231 
Spoonbill in the South of Ireland, 
342 
Spoonbills in Suffolk, 471 
Squatarola helvetica, 104 
Squirrels, depredations of, 64 
Starling, 98 
Starlings, strange behaviour of, 70 
Stercorarius crepidatus, 17; longi- 
caudatus, 14, 282; pomatorhinus, 
16, 232 
Sterna anglica, 27; Dougalli, 180; 
fuliginosa, 180; macrura, 105 
Stickleback, Ten-spined, 182 
Stint, Little, 179 
Stoat, origin of the name “‘ Lobster” 
applied to the, 112, 153 
Stoats acquiring the ermine dress in 
mild seasons, 112 
Stonechat, 93 
Stork, 44; Black, near Rainham, 429; 
white, at Pevensey, 489 
Strepsilas interpres, 16, 486 
Strix flammea, 25, 100 
Sturnus vulgaris, 98 
Sula bassana, 473 
Sun-fish, Long, near Penzance, 390; 
Oblong, 183; Short, 183 
Surmullet, large, in Mount’s Bay, 
234 
Swallow, 48, 27 
Swan, 17 
Swift, 49, 99; Alpine, 176 
Swifts, 300; Crested Jungle, 322; 
| _ Spiny-tailed, 309 
| Swiftlets, 313 
| Switzerland, notes from, 374 
| Syllis, phosphorescence of, 117 


unusual 


spec- 


CONTENTS. 


Sylvia atricapilla, 22, 47, 93; cur- 
ruca, 98; rufa, 22, 93; salicaria, 
22, 94 

Syrnium aluco, 100 


Teal, 101, 177 

Tern, Arctic, 105; Black, provincial 
name for, 144, in Berkshire, 469; 
Roseate, 180; Sooty, 180 

Terns, Common, inland in Yorkshire, 
843; Lesser, Mr. Gunn’s, at the 
Fisheries Exhibition, 65 

Tetrao tetrix, 103; urogallus, 27 

Thresher, 180 

Thrush, 46; and Blackbird, hybrids 
between, 146; Missel, 5, 46, 92; 
Song, 92; White’s, 174 

Tichodroma muraria, 23, 208 

Tiger, photographing a, 465 

Tit’s nest in a railway carriage, 
387 

Titmouse, Bearded, 486; Blue, 46, 
95; curious variety of, 69; Coal, 
46,95; Great, 95; curious nesting- 
place of, 229; Long-tailed, 94; 
nesting of, 883; Marsh, 95, in the 
Pyrenees, 71 

Torpedo hebetans, 181 

Totanus calidris, 105, 179; fuscus, 
179; glareola, 179; hypoleucus, 27 ; 
macularius, 179; ochropus, 27, 
486 

Trachypterus arcticus, 182 

Tree-creeper, 210 

Tringa alpina, 105; maritima, 18; 
minuta, 179; subarquata, 179 

Troglodytes parvulus, 23, 47, 95 

Trout, Swaledale (var. g of Dr. Day), 
183 

Turbot coloured on both surfaces, 
115 

Turdus iliacus, 20,92; merula, 21,92; 
musicus, 92; pilaris, 92; torquatus, 
21, 93, 174; varius, 174;  visci- 
vorus, 20, 46, 92 

Turnstone, 16, 486 

Turtur communis, 26 

Twite, 175 


Upupa epops, 25 


Vaagmaer, 182 

Vanellus vulgaris, 104 

Varieties, uncommon, of British 
birds, 10; near Carlisle, 228; of 
Wood Pigeon, 487 

Variety, curious, of Waterhen, 8; 
curious, of Blue Tit, 69; curious, 


XVil 


of Guillemot, 71; unusual, of 
Common Sandpiper, 72; of Yellow- 
hammer, 114, 281; of Sky Lark, 
230; unusual, of Snipe, 339; 
white, of Carrion Crow, 385 

Vertebrata, carnivorous plant prey- 
ing on, 224 

Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire, Sup- 
plement to the, 102; notes on the, 
171 

Vespertilio mystacinus, 173; 
tereri, 173 

Visitors, rare, to North Oxfordshire 
341 


Nat- 


Waders in Breydon Harbour, 8 

Wagtail, Blue-headed, Yellow, in 
confinement, 232; Grey, 48, 95, 
nesting in East Devon, 195; Pied, 
48, 95; White, 48, 95; Yellow, 
48, 95, in confinement, 272 

Warbler, Barred, in Yorkshire, Cam- 
bridge and Norfolk, 489; Blue- 
throated, on Spurn Head, 4380; 
Garden, 94; Grasshopper, 94; 
Great Reed, at Ringwood, Hants, 
343; Reed, 175; Sedge, 94 

Waterhen, 104; variety of, 8 

Waxwing in Shetland, 113 

Weasel swimming, 337; in Skye, 
381 

Weaver, Greater, in Devon, 150 

Whale, Broad-fronted Beaked, 174; 
Common Beaked, 174; Hump- 
back, 421; Pilot, 174; White, cap- 
ture of on the coast of Caithness, 
225 

Whale and Seal fishery of 1882, notes 
on, 121; of 1883, 295 

Wheatear, 93 

Whimbrel, 16 

Whinchat, 93 

Whitethroat, 93; Lesser, 93 

Wigeon, 101 

Wildfowl at Aldeburgh, 67; in North 
Oxfordshire, 113 

Wingless birds, 226 

Woodcock, 104; and Snipe, habits 
of, 148; in captivity, 150 

Woodpecker, Greater Spotted, 6, 99; 
Green, 6, 46,99; Lesser Spotted, 
6, 176; near Stockbridge, 192 

Worms, subcutaneous, in Short- 
eared Owl, 153 

Wreck-fish at Penzance, 432 

Wren, 47; British, on a new species 
of (with figure), 333; the St. Kilda, 
383; Willow, 94; Wood, 94 


Xvill CONTENTS. 


Wryneck, 99, 176; in winter, 74 Zoological Gardens, Burmese Ele- 
phant at the, 62, 110 


Yellowhammer, 48, 98; variety of, | Zoological Society, Prosector of the 
62 


114, 231 
Zoology, application of trinomial 
Zeus faber, 181 nomenclature to, 241 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
PAGE 
New Species of British Wren, Troglodytes hirtensis, Seebohm . . 334 
The Growth of Deer-Horns, with reference to some abnormal Antlers 
of the Roe :— 


Figs. 1 and 2 : : : : : ; 3 ‘ : . 860 
Fig. 3 . c : : : : : é : : : . 861 
Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 é ; ‘ a ? : : . 362 

» 8,9,10and11 . : : ; : : * : . 863 

Fig. 12 é ‘ c c . : : ; : : * 364 
» 13 : : : : : : : . 5 : . 365 

' Dogs: Ancient and Modern :— 

Fig. 1. Egyptian Dog . c : é : : ; : . 896 
» 2. Egyptian Hound . 2 : : ‘ : : . 897 
», 3. Egyptian Greyhound . : : : ; : . 3898 
,, 4. Assyrian Mastiff F 5 : ; ‘ j : . 3899 
», 5. Ancient Egyptian Terrier 5 : : : : . 400 


Abnormal Shell of Bucciniwm wndatum 3 3 ; ; : . 490 


Z-D 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


= 


Vou. VIII.) JAN UARY, 1884. [No. 85. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. 
By T. E. Gunn, F.L.S. 


Sincz the publication of my former notes in ‘The Zoologist’ 
for 1880 (pp. 49-54) so many demands have been made upon the 
spare time at my disposal that I regret I have been unable until 
now to prepare any further notes for publication. The following 
remarks on specimens which have since then passed through my 
hands may, I hope, prove of interest to your readers. 

Osprey.—A fine male Osprey was killed at Westleton, near 
Saxmundham, in Suffolk, on September 26th, 1881. Its last 
meal I found had consisted of a small roach, the teeth and other 
hard bony parts of which I found in its stomach. It measured 
5 ft. 4 in. across its fully-extended wings, 2 ft. in length from 
beak to tail, and weighed 2 lb. 10 oz. An adult female, killed at 
Lowestoft on October 7th, 1882, and sent me the following day, 
weighed 8 lb. 9 oz., and measured over six feet across its extended 
wings ; the feathers on the breast of this bird were very ragged, 
being cut and broken. 

Kire.—An adult female bird of this species was picked up 
dead on the sea-beach at Aldborough, in Suffolk, on Sept. 23rd, 
1881; evidently exhausted in its migration to this coast, it had 
dropped into the sea and was drowned. It was washed ashore in 
a particularly fresh condition, and I found no marks on its body 
to indicate its having received any injury to account for death. 
The plumage was in perfect condition, and the body rather fat. 
Its weight I found to be 2 1b. 83 02. ; total length from tip of beak 
to end of»tail, 26}in.; in the extreme measurement of its fully- 

Tue Zooiocist.—Jan. 1884. B 


Pd THE ZOOLOGIST. 


extended wings, across the back to tip of each, 1 in. over 5 ft. ; 
in the tail 14} in., from tip of centre feathers to root, the outer 
feathers of each side of tail being the longest; the others 
graduating in length to the centre, which are the shortest in the 
tail. The stomach contained a mass of dried grass and two 
yellow berries about the size of peas; this matter had evidently 
been swallowed with its natural food, and was in process of being 
formed into a ball or pellet for the purpose of being ejected. 
A few days afterwards—namely, on the 7th October—a second 
specimen, likewise an adult female, was obtained at Winterton, 
on the Norfolk coast, and also forwarded to me. On looking over 
my notes for some years back I find an account of an adult male 
shot at Martham (near Winterton) on December 30th, 1865, and 
it will not perhaps be amiss to quote a portion of my remarks 
with reference to its measurements for comparison with those of 
the specimen last obtained :—In total length it measured 27 in., 
which is but half an inch longer than the female; and precisely 
the same in width across the extended wings and in the length 
of the centre tail-feathers, the outer feathers projecting 34 in. 
beyond those of the centre. The principal difference, however, 
appeared in the weight, which was 1 lb. 14 oz., or 103 oz. less 
than the female, although in plump condition. The stomach 
contained only a few bits of weed and the winglet of a Scoter. 

Prrnerine Fancon.—A Falcon in adult plumage was killed 
on March 7th, 1882, at Bixley, near Norwich, and brought to 
me by a friend. Although the plumage was perfect, the bird was 
in poor plight, which suggested that it might be infested with 
parasitical worms. On skinning and dissecting it, this surmise 
proved correct, as I found between the intestines and back a 
small colony of these parasites, consisting of seven or eight 
individuals, two of the longest measuring as much as 12 in. each 
in length. On December 29th, 1881, another adult Falcon was 
sent to me, which had been killed at Pulham St. Mary, near 
Harleston, and possessed a rufous-tinted breast that reminded 
me very much of the nearly-allied Falco atriceps found in India, 
as figured in the ‘Ibis’ for 1882 (p. 293), but it wanted the closer 
barring upon the thighs and under parts of the plumage. It had 
not quite finished moulting. It weighed 2 lb. 5} o0z.; total 
length, 19 in. ; extended wings to tips, 48 in., and 14 in. in the 
wing from the carpal joint to tip of longest primary. 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. 3 


SparrowHawK.—On August 17th last a live female Sparrow- 
hawk was brought me by a groom. It had been attracted by the 
light from a stable window, and, dashing against the glass, 
stunned itself, and became an easy capture. After a short time 
it regained consciousness, apparently none the worse for its 
mishap, except the loss of its liberty. I forwarded it to the 
Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, where I hope it is doing well. 

Buzzarps.—The autumn of 1881, in the Eastern Counties, 
especially with regard to Norfolk and Suffolk, may be said to 
have been a remarkable season for raptorial migrants, princi- 
pally of the larger species. Representatives of no less than 
seven distinct species passed through my hands during the 
course of a few weeks. Three of these I have already mentioned. 
Examples of all three species of Buzzards came to hand, the 
Common and Honey Buzzards most numerous, at least so far as 
my experience goes. The first Common Buzzard was sent me 
on September 27th. On unpacking the bird I found its plumage 
saturated with water, it having been shot whilst flying over 
Oulton Broad, and fell with a broken wing. It was quite fat and 
plump, and, on dissecting it, | was surprised at the extraordinary 
variety of its food, it having apparently stumbled across quite a 
larder of good things, which it seemed to have devoured indis- 
criminately ; the crop contained, first, a female dung-beetle, 
quite entire, the remains of another, the full-grown larva of a 
privet hawk-moth (Sphinx ligustri) swallowed in three pieces; a 
small toad in an entire state, a larger toad, and a frog in parts ; 
besides a putrid mass of frog and toad bones, beetles, and a 
small larva, apparently not at all affected by the gastric 
juice, and showing, I presume, that it had been the last thing 
swallowed. The gullet also was filled with frog and toad remains ; 
in fact, the bird seemed completely gorged with food. During 
over twenty years experience I have never before met with an 
instance of such variation in the food of this species. I have 
skinned and dissected a large number of Common Buzzards, 
and have found that their prey almost invariably consisted of 
the brown rat and common rabbit. The bird in question was a 
female in immature plumage. On the following day (the 28th) 
another immature bird, also a female, was killed at Mautby, the 
stomach of which contained the remains of a common brown rat 
and a large earthworm. 


4 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


RovucuH-LecceD Buzzarp.—In the Eastern Counties this bird, 
during autumn, is usually more common than Buteo vulgaris—at 
least it has proved to be so during the last eight or nine years. 
The majority of Rough-legged Buzzards that occur in Norfolk 
and Suffolk are immature birds in the first year’s plumage. The 
only example seen in 1881 (and I heard of but one other) proved 
to be a female in the second year’s plumage. It was killed on 
November 11th on the coast at Sherringham, and was sent me 
the following day. The broad band crossing its abdomen was of 
a very dark umber, several shades darker than in a bird of the 
first year’s plumage; the bars crossing the thigh-feathers also 
were more numerous and of the same shade of colour. Although 
this bird was in good plight, it had no food in the stomach. The 
usual prey of this species consists of rabbits and rats, and occa- 
sionally the Water Vole. The average weight is about 23 lb. 

Honey Buzzarp.—Several specimens were obtained along the 
eastern coast during September and October, 1881, the majority 
of examples, so far as I observed, being in the immature plumage 
of the first year. The first individual in this dress, a male, 
came to me on September 26th from Burgh, near Yarmouth ; and 
several other young birds were also obtained in the same district, 
two being caught alive in traps placed for the purpose in the 
vicinity of wasps’ nests, the birds having been previously 
observed scratching up the earth there. Wasps’ and bees’ nests 
are seemingly a great attraction to this species, whose food 
consists not only of the honey, but the comb-grubs, and the bees 
and wasps themselves, the grubs being most numerous in the 
stomachs examined. On dissecting the first-named example I 
noticed the stomach was small and apparently contracted : it 
contained only some thick sticky greenish matter. The weight 
of this a was 1 lb. 12} oz.; the measurements were, total 
length, 223 in.; extended wings, to tip of each, 48} in.; wing 
from carpus, ‘des in. A specimen in the second year’s plumage - 
was sent me a few days later, namely, on October 3rd, from 
Yarmouth. This was a fine female bird; the feathers of the 
head and nape were brown and white intermixed, giving 
those parts a mottled appearance: the broad transverse bars of 
its breast and flank feathers also showed very conspicuously, 
being of a deep brown, which contrasted well with the remaining 
portion of the plumage, which was white ; bill and claws black ; 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. 5 


eyes, legs, and toes, deep yellow ; the back, shoulders, and upper 
wing-coverts were of a dark umber; the colour of the plumage 
of the first year is of a paler chocolate-brown. 

Marsu Harrrer.—On October 15th, 1881, a fine male of this 
species was shot on the marshes near Hickling Broad. It was 
just assuming its slate-coloured tail, indicating an approach to 
maturity. Like the other raptorial migrants obtained that 
season, it proved in good plight. Just previous to capture it had 
dined on a Water Vole. 

Tenematm’s Own.— Perhaps a few additional particulars 
relating to the specimen of this bird in the collection of Mr. J. 
H. Gurney, jun. (Zool. 1882, p. 115) may be acceptable, Mr. 
Gurney having placed it in my hands for preservation. The 
measurements were as follow :—Wing, from carpal joint, 64 in. ; 
along the ridge of upper mandible of beak, 3 in. ; tail, 4 in.; 
tibia, 2 in.; tarsus, 1in.; middle toe and claw, 13 in. ; inner toe 
and claw, 1% in.; outer toe and claw, Z in.; hinder toe and 
claw, in. The first primary short, the second longer by 14 in., 
the third 2 in. longer than second, and the longest in the wing. 
The bill of a pale horn-colour, darker on the ¢utting edges of 
both mandibles; claws black; the eyes large and of a pale 
chrome-yellow ; pupil black. 

MisseL Turusu.—Whilst driving through Wroxham (seven 
miles from Norwich), on September 20th last, my attention was 
attracted by a bird that flew out of the hedge by the roadside. I 
recognised it as a Missel Thrush, but was struck by its peculiar 
pied appearance. As it passed me within a few yards I noticed 
a broad patch of white feathers extending across the back and 
wings. This species is not, I believe, much given to variation of 
plumage. I have noticed but three previous instances. 

Rine Ovzenu. — Several occurred in the neighbourhood of 
Norwich early in October, 1882. A male was picked up under 
the telegraph wires in Heigham on the 7th; another was shot at 
Earlham on the 9th; and others seen. A male was sent me 
from Cromer in April, 1888, with patches of white feathers about 
the head. 

KinerisHer. — This bird was unusually abundant in the 
neighbourhood of Norwich during August, September, and 
October. Those obtained were mostly birds of the year. 

Hovusr Marrin.—A curious variety of this bird was shot on 


6 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


July 29th last at Kirby Cane, near Bungay. The whole of the 
upper parts of its plumage were of a pale ash-grey, instead of 
the ordinary hue, the feathers of the wings and tail edged with 
white, the usual white upper tail-coverts, and the under parts of 
the plumage as in ordinary specimens ; eyes pale pink. It was ~ 
in immature plumage, and a female by dissection. 

GreEN WoopreckER.—On February 3rd, 1881, an adult male 
Picus viridis was killed at Cossey, near Norwich. That this 
bird had exceeded the ordinary limit of Woodpecker life is, I 
think, clearly shown by the extraordinary length and form of 
growth its bill had attained. This measured as much as 24 in. 
along the ridge of upper mandible, and also presented a curved 
form (with the ridge somewhat more raised in the centre) as 
much as the bill of Certhia familiaris. The yellow rump was 
very brilliant in this specimen, and assumed a rich and deep 
orange tint in the centre. The posterior red feathers of the 
crown, extending down the nape, were of a peculiar fiery 
red. In measuring the bills of several ordinary examples 
of the Green Woodpecker, I find the average length to be 12 in. 
The specimen in question had been resident in the neighbourhood 
for some years, visiting almost daily an old tree, from the 
branches of which it met with its untimely end at the hands of a 
stranger on a visit to the neighbourhood. I herewith enclose 
rough outlines of this peculiar growth of bill with that of an 
ordinary example for comparison. 

Great Srorren Wooprecker-—An adult male of this species 
was shot on January 19th, 1881, at Hickling, within two or 
three miles of the sea, rather an unusual occurrence in that 
locality. I have known but one other instance of its appearance 
there during a number of years. In the stomach I found the 
empty skins of three full-grown larve of the wood leopard moth 
(Zeuzera escult), the skins uninjured externally, but their contents 
squeezed out. 

Lesser Sporrep Wooprecker.— During the past three seasons 
the occurrence in some numbers of this species in Norfolk and 
Suffolk shows that it is now not an uncommon bird in the Eastern 
Counties, although formerly considered so. On February 25th, 
1881, an adult female was shot in Ketteringham Park; a pair 
were seen, but the male escaped. The feathers of the crown of 
the head in this specimen were white, being intermixed with a 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. Uf 


few patches of red; and, as the crown in the adult male is 
entirely red, this forming the principal outward distinction in the 
sexes, I am of opinion that the presence of these red feathers in 
this female, assimilating to the plumage of the opposite sex, is 
an indication of age; but Iam not aware of any instance of its 
completely assuming the entire red crown of the male. In 
dissecting the stomach I found it to contain the remains of the 
larve of the wood leopard moth (Zeuzera esculi) ; I counted the 
skins of as many as ten small ones. These were mixed with the 
remains of some minute Coleoptera. On December 28th another, 
also a female, was shot in Witton Park, North Walsham. This 
also had been feeding on the same kind of larve, which, with the 
remains of other insects, filled its stomach. The crown of the 
head in this specimen was entirely white. On February 27th, 
1882, an adult male was killed near Wangford, and in February 
and March, 1883, three males were obtained near Norwich ; the 
contents of the stomach in each instance proved of the same 
nature as already described. 

Littte Guiu. — A specimen of the Little Gull, in immature 
plumage, was killed by a gunner named Bensley, whilst flying 
over Hickling Broad during the second week in October last. 

Birrern.—On December 9th, 1882, a male Bittern was sent 
me from North Walsham, having just been killed in that neigh- 
bourhood. On opening the stomach I found a small pike of 
33 in. in length, and quite entire. 

Nicutsar.—In ‘The Zoologist’ for September and October 
last (pp. 880 and 429) are recorded several instances of the late 
nesting of the Nightjar; and Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., in men- 
tioning some interesting facts relating thereto, seems to be 
of opinion that this species is generally double-brooded. I 
cannot say that I quite agree with him on this point, and 
instances of a second brood I think must be rare. When young 
birds or eggs have been found late in the autumn they probably 
indicate that the first eggs had been taken or destroyed, as must 
sometimes happen from the fact of this bird selecting such 
exposed situations for the deposition of its eggs. I have received 
no late nestlings this season, although I did so in one instance 
last year, when some young birds not able to fly, but with the 
feathers nearly all in stumps, were brought to me in the middle 
of August. I have referred to my notes for the dates of finding 


8 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


other nestling Nightjars, and it appears that they were all met 
with in the preceding month, July, the dates being the 12th, 15th, 
17th, 18th, and 23rd. The Nightjar, as a summer migrant, 
arrives here rather late, some time in May, and leaves again in 
September, and there is scarcely a possibility of the young of a 
second brood, if hatched so late as the middle of August, being 
sufficiently strong to leave at the period of migration. The 
occurrence of this species after that month is very unusual ; four 
instances only are mentioned in the new edition of Yarrell’s 
‘ British Birds’ (vol. ii. p. 878), and I know of but one other 
such instance myself. There is every probability that the 
majority of these late-hatched birds must perish of cold or 
starvation. 

Wapers IN Breypon Harsour.—I was shooting on Breydon 
Water on September 12th, and the first bird that I secured was 
a fine young male Turnstone, the only one I saw during the day. 
I also killed some young Knots and Curlew Sandpipers. The 
sexes of the latter are easily distinguished in this stage, the male 
being much smaller than the female, and having the breast, neck, 
and cheeks suffused with a buffy tinge, the same parts in the 
female being white; both have the ashy grey streaks down the 
feathers of those parts, but they are more distinct in the female. 
I noticed several Curlew Sandpipers mingling with the larger 
flocks of Dunlin and Ringed Plover, but occasionally during the 
day small parties of seven or eight individuals passed by them- 
selves. I saw a few Greenshanks and Redlegs; amongst the 
former was a solitary Ruff, which was afterwards shot by 
Mr. Harmer. The Curlews were, as usual, very shy, and kept 
well out of gunshot. A Black Tern (“Blue Daw,” as it is locally 
called), in immature plumage, passed our boat, though out of 
distance, but soon afterwards I shot an adult and immature 
Lesser Tern. I also recognised Shoveller, Teal, and Mallard. 
An immature Spotted Redshank (Totanus fuscus) and a beautiful 
specimen of the Manx Shearwater were killed a few days before 
the date of my visit. 

Curious Variety or WaTERHEN.—A curious variety of the 
Common Waterhen was shot near Norwich on April 4th, 1883, 
and brought to me the following day for preservation. The 
crown of the head and cheeks circling the eyes are of the usual 
colour ; the anterior portion of the feathers of back of head of a 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. 9 


reddish orange hue; those of the back and sides of neck dark 
grey, faintly suffused with a yellowish tinge on the latter parts, 
the throat-feathers faintly tipped with grey ; the feathers of the 
back, wing, and upper tail-coverts deep reddish orange colour ; 
all the under parts greyish white, tinged with pale orange on the 
flanks, assuming a reddish orange along each side of the vent. 
The beak and legs, tail-feathers and primaries, of the normal 
colour. The eyes of a reddish brown, as observed in immature 
birds of the ordinary type. The bird in question proved a male 
by dissection, and was apparently fully adult. The thin and 
hairy nature of these abnormally-coloured feathers impressed 
me with the idea that from some cause or other the bird had been 
unable to moult during the preceding season. Mr. Bulwer, who 
shot this specimen, informed me that another bird, evidently its 
mate, was flushed by the dog at the same time from the side of 
the ditch, and, although repeatedly seen afterwards in the same 
locality, had not, so far as he was aware, been captured; this 
bird also presented the same abnormal appearance. Two previous 
instances of this peculiar variety are recorded in the ‘ Birds of 
Norfolk’ (vol. ii., p. 422). 

Lirrite Brrrern.—An immature female specimen of this rare 
species was shot on the marshes at Lower Abbey, Leiston, in 
Suffolk, on August 25th, 1882, and was sent to me the following 
_ day for preservation. I noted the measurements as follows :— 
Total length, from tip of beak to end of tail, 153 in. ; fully- 
extended wings to extreme tips, 213 in.; wing, from carpus to 
tip of longest primary, 52 in.; tibiw, 2 in.; tarsus, 1] in.: 
weight, 5 oz. The eye was of a straw-yellow, with a fine circle 
of a paler tint around the black pupil. The upper mandible 
on its upper surface was dark horn, the sides paler, merging into 
a greenish yellow from the nostril to the gape; the under 
mandible of a pale horn, with a greenish yellow tinge at gape, 
the circle around the eye yellowish green; a stripe of pale brown 
_in front of the eye divides the circle from the gape; tongue and 
mouth flesh-colour. On skinning this bird I found the body 
exceedingly fat, and the stomach distended with the remains of 
several specimens of the water-boatman (Notonecta), including 
three in so perfect a state as to admit of their being pinned out ; 
also two small pike, each measuring 3$in. in length. The heads 
of these were decomposed ; their bodies still, however, exhibited 


10 THK ZOOLOGIST. 


a certain degree of freshness, proving the rapid action of the 
gastric juice. Each fish was nipped across the middle, and the 
sharp points of the bird’s mandibles had penetrated the softer 
part (abdomen) of the fish. 

Cormorant AND SHaG.—As several instances of the perching 
of water-birds have recently been placed on record, it may 
perhaps be of interest to add that an immature specimen of the 
Shag, sent me on February 22nd last, was shot whilst perched 
on the spire of the parish church of Attleborough, as I was 
informed by Sir Thomas Beever, Bart., to whose collection the 
specimen has been added. Four or five young Cormorants were 
observed in Yarmouth Roads early in September last, and I saw 
one on the 11th of that month about a hundred yards from the 
beach. 


UNCOMMON VARIETIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 


By Oriver V APLIN. 


During a visit to Mr. J. Whitaker, at Rainworth Lodge, near 
Mansfield, I had an opportunity of inspecting his very unique 
collection of birds, amongst which are the follhwing singular 
varieties, a list of which I think will be of interest to your 
readers :— f 

Lanius collurio.—1, pure white. 

Muscicapa grisola.—1, pure white. 

Turdus viscivorus.—1, very pale coloured. 

T’.. musicus.—1, white variety ; 2, very pale coloured; 8, ditto. 

T. pilaris.—1, pied about the head and neck. 

T. iliacus.—1, curious variety (described Zool. 1882, p. 151), 
chestnut-coloured, but showing all the markings. 

T. merula.—1 and 2, white varieties ; 8, roan-coloured; 5, 
cream-coloured ; 6, hair-brown ; 7, 8, 9 and 10, more or less pied 
with white. 

T. torquatus.—1, pied about the head and back. 

Accentor modularis.—1 and 2, cream-coloured ; 3, sandy; 4, 
white, with brown wings. 

Erithacus rubecula.—1, white variety ; 2, ash-coloured. 

Pratincola rubicola.—1, pied on the head, back, and wings. 

P. rubetra.—1, pale yellow-coloured variety. 

Saxicola enanthe.—1, the upper plumage snow-white. 


UNCOMMON VARIETIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 11 


Daulias luscinia.—1, pure white variety. 

Phylloscopus sibilatrix.—1, white, with a ae tinge of yellow 
on the wings. 

P. trochilus.—1, white variety. 

Troglodytes parvulus.—1, white wings and white markings on 
the head. 

Motacilla lugubris.—1, adult; 2 and 3, nestlings ; all white. 

M. Raii.—1, cream-coloured. 

Alauda arvensis.—1, white variety ; 2, very dark melanism ; 
3—10, pied and sandy-coloured varieties. 

A. arborea.—1, pied on the back and head. 

Otocorys alpestris.—1, sandy-coloured variety. 

Emberiza miliaria.—1, cream-coloured ; 2—4, more or less 
pied. 

E. schenicclus.—1 and 2, cream, with sandy markings. 

E. citrinella.—1 and 2, cinnamon-colour ; 3, cream-coloured ; 
4, white bars on the wings. 

Fringilla coelebs.—1, cream-coloured, showing the markings 
in pale drab ; 2, smoke-coloured ; 3, pied; 4, a very pale variety ; 
5, 6 and 7, light-coloured varieties. 

Chrysomitris spinus.—1, grey variety. 

Linota cannabina.—1 and 2, pure white; 3, pied; 4, nearly 
white, with brown feathers in the wings; 5, a melanism with 
white feathers on the back. 

L. rufescens.—Two pure white. 

Passer montanus.—1, light variety, with a few white feathers 
on the back, head, and wings. 

P. domesticus.—1—5, white varieties ; 6—20, pied, cream- 
coloured, and chestnut varieties. 

Iagurinus chloris.—1 and 2, yellow-green; 3, yellow, with 
green wings ; 4, wings and head yellow. 

Pyrrhula europea.—i1, melanism; 2, a nestling of a cin- 
namon-colour having very pink eyes; 8, black, with white 
flight-feathers ; 4, French-grey wings and back, rose breast 
normal ; a semidiaphanous-feathered bird. 

Sturnus vulgaris.—1—8, white varieties; 4—11, sandy and 
‘pied varieties. : 

Corvus corone.—1, brown, with blotches of liver-colour. 

C. cornix.—1, grey markings on the back, wings, and tail. 

C. frugilegus.—1, grey ; 2, pied. 


12 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


C. monedula.—1, white breast and marks on the wings; 2, 
the grey of the head is continued all over the body. 

Pica rustica.—1, the black replaced by cinnamon-colour. 

Garrulus glandarius.—1 and 2, pure white adult birds; 3, 
pure white nestling; 4, white on the head and white wings, 
except the blue feathers, which are normal. 

Gecinus viridis.—1, yellow blotch on the wing, and flight- 
feathers showing sandy markings. 

Picus major.—1, back and wings strongly marked with chest- 
nut (vide J. H. Gurney, ‘ Rambles of a Naturalist,’ p. 77). 

Cuculus canorus.—1, white, with markings in sandy bars, 
breast almost white. 

Hirundo rustica. —1, pearl-grey; 2, adult pied bird (rare) ; 
3, cream-coloured. 

Chelidon urbica.—1, a dirty-white variety. 

Cotile riparia.—1, white ; 2, slate-blue. 

Cypselus apus.—1, with white breast and white on the head 
and back; 2, slightly pied. 

Columba palumbus.—1, pearl-grey on the back. 

Phasianus colchicus.—1 and 2 (male and female), pure white ; 
3, pied. 

Lagopus scoticus.—1, a pale slaty grey variety. 

Perdix cinerea.—1, very pale variety with a dark horse-shoe, 
and with flight-feathers white ; 2, sandy, with brown markings. 

Vanellus cristatus.—1, a considerable amount of white on the 
wings ; head, back, and wing-coverts marked with cream-colour. 

Aigialitis hiaticula.—1, having a pale yellow back and white 
wing-coverts. 

Scolopax rusticula.—1, pale yellow, with the markings of a 
grey-brown; 2, biscuit-brown, black markings on the back; 
head black and buff ; flight-feathers ash-grey ; breast pale cream. 
Gallinago ceelestis—A pale rufous example of the variety 

known as “‘ Sabine’s Snipe.” 

Rallus aquaticus.—1, ash-grey, yellow markings on the back. 

Crex pratensis.—1, very pale-coloured variety, the markings 
on the back nearly white. 

Gallinula chloropus.—1, grey, with a sandy tint on the back 
(query : is this the “‘ sandy variety ’’ mentioned in the new edition 
of Yarrell as killed in Notts ?). 

Anas boschas.—1, white, with brown marks, 


AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBERGEN. 13 


Spatula clypeata.—Very pale buff, with some liver-coloured 
marks on the shoulders, and mottled with white. 

Lomvia troile.-—1, with white on neck and head. 

Uria grylle.—1, sandy flight-feathers. 

Larus canus.—1, wanting the black on flight-feathers, the 
grey on the back paler than usual, tail band ash-colour. 

Stercorarius pomatorhinus.—1, nearly black. 

The varieties might be roughly classified thus :— 

1.—Melanisms, e.g., Redwing, Bullfinch, &c. 

2.—Birds in typical plumage, except that they lack intensity 
of colour, e.g., Song Thrush, Landrail, &e. 

8. Albinisms: i., the feathers being white, e. g., Shrike and 
Redpole; ii., the feathers being tinged with colour, e.g., nestling 
Bullfinch and Missel Thrush. 

4,—White varieties, e.g., Nightingale, Sparrow, Willow Wren. 

5.—Birds abnormally coloured, e.g., Magpie and Yellow 
Bunting. 

6.—Pied varieties, e.g., Blackbird, Wren, &c. 


AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBERGEN. 
SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS. 
By Atrrep Henracr Cocks, M.A., F.Z.S. 


THE notes on the above subject in ‘The Zoologist’ for 1888 
concluded with the list of the species of birds actually obtained 
during this voyage. In addition to these the following species 
were noted (and among these latter Brinnich’s Guillemot should 
have been included, instead of in the preceding list, as we did 
not actually handle a specimen). 

Falcon, Falco sp ?; Norwegian, ‘‘ Falk.’”—A Falcon was seen 
by Arnesen and some of the men when we were at the Swedish 
Meteorological Station at Cape Thordsen, on Sept. 12th, stooping 
at one of the tame pigeons brought out by the Expedition. They 
succeeded in saving the pigeon by shouting and waving their 
arms. As one of the pigeons had been missing for a few days 
previously, it is possible this was not the Falcon’s first visit to 
that spot. At Recherche Bay, on Sept. 22nd, we had a good 
view of a Gyrfalcon, which species I cannot say positively, but it 


14 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


looked white enough for F’. candicans. Probably the few Falcons 
that have been seen in Spitzbergen belonged to the same species. 
One of our men told me he had previously seen a Falcon in 
Spitzbergen which, though he (very vaguely) described it as 
“the common brown falcon,” is much more likely to have been 
- one of the grey Gyrfalcons, very possibly an immature bird. 
Although it is not impossible that the bird seen by us on these 
two occasions was one and the same, and that the bird the 
seaman told me of was not a Falcon at all, yet it seems likely 
that a species of Falco is not so rare in Spitzbergen as was 
previously supposed (vide Zool. 1882, p. 416; and Newton, ‘ Ibis,’ 
April, 1865). 

Snow Bunting, Plectrophanes nivalis, L.; Norwegian, ‘‘ Sne- 
Spurv,” “ Sne-titing.” — Very numerous at Cape Thordsen on 
Sept. 12th between the coast and the house occupied by the - 
Swedish Meteorological Expedition ; and a large flock, which 
were extraordinarily shy, at Sassen Bay on the 15th. A single 
bird flew in a southerly direction past the smack, in about lat. 
75° 7’, on Sept. 28th. 

Buffon’s Skua, Stercorarius longicaudus, Vieillot.—The Nor- 
wegian ice-seamen do not, I think, recognise the existence of any 
other species of Skua than S. crepidatus, and therefore have, so 
far as I know, no name besides ‘‘Tyyjo.” A pair of Skuas, 
which may have been this species, at sea in about lat. 75° 34’ on 
Sept. 8rd; and a single bird in Green Harbour on the morning 
of Sept. 9th may perhaps also have been this species. 

Brent Goose, Bernicla brenta, Steph.; Norwegian, ‘‘ Trap 
Gaas.”—A large number, adults and young, seen by Arnesen 
close to the smack early on the morning of Sept. 7th, a little 
N.W. of South Cape. 

Pink-footed Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus, Baillon; Norwegian, 
‘‘Graa Gaas”’ (no special name for this species is in ordinary 
use).—About eight geese, which appeared to be this species, seen 
a little to the north of Horn Sound on the evening of Sept. 7th, 
flying S. Several seen during a walk Lieutenant Stjernspetz 
and I took westwards from the Swedish Meteorological Station at 
Cape Thordsen on Sept. 12th; and, as the Lieutenant succeeded 
at that time in bagging an immature example, I might have 
included this species among those obtained during our voyage. 
In Sassen Bay, on Sept. 14th, 1 saw about fourteen geese flying, 


AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBERGEN. 15 


which were without much doubt this species. About 150, which 
were extremely shy, in Recherche Bay on Sept. 22nd, and about 
a dozen seen flying the next day, were most likely the same 
species. A ‘‘skjdite,” which followed us into Recherche Bay for 
shelter, had a live gosling of each of these two species on board. 

Long-tailed Duck, Harelda glacialis, L. ; Norwegian, ‘‘ Havel.” 
—Three ducks flying in Recherche Bay on Sept. 22nd were with- 
out much doubt this species, but they did not come close enough 
to identify with certainty. 

King Hider, Somateria spectabilis, L.; Norwegian, ‘“ Pragt 
Eder,” “‘ Gronland’s Eder.’’—A single bird, doubtfully identified 
as this species by one of M. Rabot’s boat’s-crew, in Green Har- 
bour on Sept. 9th. On Aug. 6th, 1882, Herr Dreyer found many 
Hider’s nests on a small island off the S.W. coast of Prince 
Carl’s Foreland, and among them one containing four eggs rather 
smaller than the normal size of S. mollissima; two of these, 
which he kindly gave me, measure 64 and 63 mm. in length 
respectively. Though it is perhaps impossible to speak positively, 
it seems likely that these may be eggs of S. spectabilis. 

Three ducks seen by me and my boat’s crew in Sassen Bay 
on Sept. 14th were neither species of Hider, nor, I feel quite 
certain, Long-tailed Ducks, which is the only other species of 
duck hitherto recorded from Spitzbergen. My reasons for very 
doubtfully supposing them to have been Oidemia fusca (Linn.) 
have been recorded at length (Zool. 1888, p. 407). 

Black-throated Diver, Colymbus arcticus, Pennant; Norwegian, 
“Stor Lom.’’—I have no doubt that a pair of Divers met with 
near the entrance to Green Harbour on Sept. 9th were of this 
species, and out of several Colymbi seen flying later in the day 
believe that at least one pair were Black-throated. Three Divers, 
were seen flying in Sassen Bay on Sept. 15th, whose species 
could not be determined, and, though the Red-throated is the 
more probable species, they may possibly have been Black- 
throated. This species has not been previously recorded from 
Spitzbergen, but Lensmand Klerk, of Elvenes, Syd Varanger, 
told me this autumn (1883) that he had shot this species in Spitz- 
bergen when up there some years since. 

Great Northern Diver, Colymbus glacialis, L. ; Norwegian, 
“‘Tmber.”’—A bird was seen by our harpooner on Sept. 8th a few 
miles off the coast, between Bell Sound and Is Fjord, which he 


16 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


was quite confident was an ‘‘Imber,” and not a “ Lom” (a. €., 
either of the other two species of Colymbus). This species has 
not been previously recorded (even doubtfully as now) from 
Spitzbergen. 


The following species complete the Spitzbergen list, as far as 
known at present :— 

Snowy Owl, Nyctea nivea, Daud.; Norwegian, ‘“‘ Sne Ugle,” 
“Ts Orn” (lit. Ice-Eagle, but applied to this species).—Has been 
met with rarely. 

Ringed Plover, Azgialitis hiaticula, L.; Norwegian, “ Ringel” 
(fide Malmgren, quoted by Prof. Newton, ‘Ibis,’ 1865).—Has been 
met with in a few instances. 

Whimbrel, Numenius pheopus, L.; Norwegian, ‘ Smaa- 
Spove.” 

Turnstone, Strepsilas interpres, L.—A single example of each 
of these obtained by me in 1881 (Zool. 1882, p. 408). 

Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius, L.—Uncommon, 
and not met with on either of my visits ; but Herr Johan Dreyer, 
of Tromso, who visited Spitzbergen again this year (1883), met 
with several birds, which, from his description, were, I have little 
doubt, this species. 

Ivory Gull, Pagophila eburnea, Phipps; Norwegian, “Is 
Maake” (pronounced in the north ‘“‘ Maase.”) — Not a single 
example seen during our voyage of 1882, but Herr Dreyer this 
year found them breeding as far south as Bell Sound, which is 
in keeping with the opinion expressed by Professor Newton in the 
‘This’ for 1865, that he was ‘inclined to think that the Ivory 
Gull breeds sporadically on many other parts of Spitzbergen 
proper.” * 

Pomatorhine Skua, Stercorarius pomatorhinus, Temm.—Not 
recorded as actually obtained in Spitzbergen, where it appears to 
be of rare, if not doubtful, occurrence. 

Bernicle Goose, Anser leucopsis, Bechst.—Lieut. Stjernspetz 
informed me that the members of the Swedish Geological Expe- 
dition (of 1882) had shot two adult birds of this species in Bell 
Sound, and taken three young ones alive. The only previous 
mention of the Bernicle Goose in Spitzbergen is a single example 


* The summer of 1883 seems to have been an exceptionally open season 
in Spitzbergen. 


AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBERGEN. 17 


recorded by Baron Nordenskiold as shot by him in Bell Sound in 
1858. No other observer having met with this species in Spitz- 
bergen, and the fact of the confusion in the scientific names, led 
Prof. Newton to suppose that the bird in question was simply a 
Brent Goose. 

Swan, Cygnus sp.?—One recorded as shot, and on another 
occasion one seen (Newton, ‘Ibis,’ quoting Malmgren). 

Common Guillemot, Alcea troile, L.— This species has not 
been recorded from Spitzbergen since Parry’s fourth voyage, but 
Herr J. Dreyer is convinced that he shot, in 1881, “a Common 
Alke,” similar to the birds he is familiar with round Tromso, and 
which he is sure was not a “‘Spitzberg’s Alke” (Brunnich’s 
Guillemot). 

This brings up the total number of species of birds which 
have occurred in Spitzbergen, if the present doubtful identi- 
fications are all correct, to thirty-two, or five more than Dr. 
Malmeren’s total in 1864, or Prof. Newton’s in 1865. 


While in the north of Norway this autumn (1883) I saw a 
pair of young Polar Bears alive on board a Norwegian “jagt”’ 
from Spitzbergen, and one on a Russian from Novaya Zemlya ; 
and heard of others. There were two Bears seen this summer at 
Bell Sound, neither of which was killed. 

The Bear on the Russian vessel was within an ace of escaping 
from its box when I went to see it, one of the crew having 
incautiously opened the trap-door. It received a fearful blow on 
the head from the back of an axe, and was only reduced to order 
by a man charging it with a pole, which he rammed down its 
throat, and forced it backwards into its box. The uncouth crew 
were so wildly excited that 1 began to think I might be the next 
to receive a blow from the axe on my head, and was not sorry 
when I was once more over the schooner’s side and in my boat. 

Richardson’s Skua, Stercorarius crepidatus (Gmel).— Herr J. 
Dreyer gave me two eggs which he took this season (1883) from 
the same nest in Middle Hook, Bell Sound ; one is of the normal 
colour of eggs of Richardson’s Skua, olive-brown, spotted with 
dark brown; while the other more resembles a Pomatorhine 
Skua’s ege (with which, however, I have not compared it), being 
a pale greenish blue, with a few small brown spots distributed 
over the whole surface. Both eggs are unfortunately broken, but 

Tue Zootoeist.— Jan. 1884. c 


18 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


the blue one, which is in the best condition, measures about 
57 mm. in length. 

Hider Duck, Somateria mollissima, L.—Herr Dreyer, who was 
in Spitzbergen these last two seasons early enough to get eggs, 


found a very great difference in the size of those of Hider Ducks. 


Small ones (the smallest he gave me only measures 40 mm. in 
length) are perhaps the result of the birds becoming exhausted 
by the nests being repeatedly robbed; but, on the other hand, 
one he gave me measures as much as 89 mm. ! 

Red-throated Diver, Colymbus septentrionalis, L.—Herr Dreyer 
found the Red-throated Diver breeding plentifully on a small 
island off the S.W. side of Prins Carl’s Foreland in 1882 and 
1883. He kindly gave me a series of their eggs. On Aug. 6th, 
1882, he found on this island several newly-hatched young, 
while most of the eggs were highly incubated. 

Little Auk, Mergulus alle, L.—Another name commonly used 
in Norway for this species is ‘‘ Rotjems.” 

Purple Sandpiper, Tinga maritima, L.; Norwegian name, 
*Fjerplyt.”—This name is common to all the small waders 
found in Norway, and does not exclusively mean 7’. maritima. 

Herr Dreyer also gave me the following additional eggs, which 
he had taken this season (1883) in Spitzbergen :—Brent Goose 
and Glaucous Gull, from Prins Carl’s Foreland; Pink-footed Goose 
and Briinnich’s Guillemot, from Middle Hook, Bell Sound; and 
a series of Arctic Terns’ eggs. 


Very few species of fish were met with again this voyage. 
The following list includes all the species that I know of in 
Spitzbergen waters :— 

Salmon, Salmo salar, L.; Norwegian, ‘‘ Lax.’”—Well known 
to occur in Spitzbergen, but not met with by us. 

Salmo, sp. ?—Some small fresh-water fish at Green Harbour, 
as recorded (Zool. 1888, p. 401), I assumed to be some species of 
Salmo, as this is, I believe, the only genus of fresh-water fish 
recorded from the Arctic. 

Cod, Gadus morrhua, L.; Norwegian, ‘‘ Torsk.”—Very abun- 
dant, as a rule, off the west coast; but this season (1883) they 
were extraordinarily scarce, some fishing vessels catching only 
two or three during the whole voyage. 

Haddock, Gadus eglifinus, L.; Norwegian, ‘“ Huse” (this 


AN AUTUMN VISIT TO SPITZBERGEN. 19 


name is, I believe, restricted to the north of Norway; the 
Dictionary name is ‘‘ Kuller”).—Rare, but growing very large 
(Capt. Steenersen, of the ‘Isbjorn’). I saw some Haddock 
on the East Finmarken coast this autumn larger than any 
I had previously seen in England, or elsewhere, but I took no 
measurements. 

Holibut, Hippoglossus vulgaris, Flem. ; Norwegian, “‘ Kvete,”’ 
“¢ Helleflynder.””—Up to three “‘ vog”” weight (Steenersen). This 
is about equal, I believe, to one stone. 

Red-fish or Bergylt, Sebastes norvegicus ? ; Norwegian, ‘‘ Uer,” 
“ Réd-fisk.’”’— Very small, not exceeding seven or eight inches in 
length (Steenersen). The Report of the Norwegian North 
Atlantic Expedition mentions a Red-fish only found in Spitz- 
bergen in very deep water. Iam not able to refer to the Report 
as I write, but it may perhaps be that the fish known to Captain 
Steenersen are the young of this species. 

Lump-sucker, Cyclopterus sp.?; Norwegian, ‘‘ Marrolk”’ 
(unknown to the Dictionary).—I think the species I obtained 
with the dredge this voyage in Green Harbour differs from the 
Lump-suckers I found in Cods’ stomachs in 1881, but, as my 
specimens are still at Oxford, I have not had an opportunity of 
comparing them. 

Coal-fish, Merlanqus carbonarius, Cuv. ; Norwegian, ‘‘ Sej.”— 
Found by Bear Island, but not further north (Steenersen). 

Greenland Shark, Scymnus borealis, Flem.; Norwegian, 
‘‘ Haa-Kjerring.”—One harpooned and captured by us in Sassen 
Bay on Sept. 18th (vide Zool. 1883, p. 436). While in Vard6 
this autumn I saw many “jagts” returning from the Shark- 
fishery, which, as remarked by Prof. Newton (Proc. Zool. Soc., 
1864), is chiefly prosecuted about midway between that coast 
and Bear Island, not many vessels going further north than that 
island. Many of the men engaged in that fishery, with whom I 
spoke, said that they caught two kinds of Shark ; if so, I do not 
know which species this second kind would be. 

Skate, Raia.—Two species are described in the Report of the 
Norwegian North Atlantic Expedition. A single specimen (? sp.) 
recorded by me in ‘ The Zoologist,’ 1881. 

The few Invertebrates I collected (and the fossils) are in the 
hands of the same two friends who have my small collections of 
1881. 


20 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


The following are the more important misprints which have 
crept into this paper :— 


Page 400, line 12, for hverdajs read hverdags ; p. 402, 1. 12, for Konang 
read Konung ; p. 403, 1. 2, for 2 p.m. read 2a.m.; p. 405, 1. 2, between her 
and Foraaret insert i; p. 408, 1. 6, for Novara Z. read Novaya Z.; p. 408, 
nine lines from bottom, for seamen read seaman ; p. 437, 1.5, for Rypa read 
Ryper; p.438, nine lines from bottom, for and found read as we found; 
p- 440, seven lines from bottom, for Kaunedom read Kannedom; p. 441, 
last line, for Novaija Z. read Novaya Z.; p. 447, 1. 24, for large one read 
rather large lot; p. 480, 1. 20, for Lofotus read Lofotens; p. 482, three 
lines from bottom, for five read six; p. 486, 1. 6, for those read three; 
p. 486, 1.8, for Vaudvaag read Vandvaag; p. 486, |. 23, for Cephus read 
Cepphus. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM THE FRENCH 
PYRENEES. 


By James BackHouse, JUN. 


Tux following notes were collected during May and the early 
part of June last year, and are composed chiefly from observa- 
tions made by myself at Argéles and St. Sauveur, in the Hautes 
Pyrénées. 

I was also fortunate in gaining access to two local collections, 
one near Argéles, and the other at Luz, a mile or so from St. 


Sauveur. The birds contained in the former were collected and . 


preserved by a peasant farmer, most of them being admirably 
stuffed and wonderfully life-like; whilst those in the latter 
collection were just the reverse, and comparatively few in 
number. Iwas able, however, to gain from both of them some 
useful notes respecting birds taken in the district. 

Though perfectly well aware of the incompleteness and 
imperfection of these notes, yet, knowing well the comparatively 
small amount of ornithological information which is extant from 
the French Pyrenees, I hope that my writing thus may not be 
altogether in vain. 

Turdus viscivorus, Linn. — Fairly abundant. Breeding. I 
have eggs from Argéles (1530 ft.) 

T.. iliacus, Linn.—One or two in the collection at Luz. 


CO 


NOTES FROM THE FRENCH PYRENEES. 21 


T. merula, Linn.—I have no recollection of seeing this bird 
at all in the Pyrenees, nor have I any note of it from either of 
the local collections. 

T. torquatus, Linn.—In the Argéles collection there was a 
lovely specimen with a cream-coloured head. Fairly abundant 
in winter. I may here mention that in the Nice market during 
January this year I saw some magnificent specimens of the 
above. There were hundreds of them towards the latter part of 
the month, many being very fine varieties. 

Monticola saxatilis, Linn.—In both the local museums; and I 
bought one, an adult male, from that at Luz. 

Monticola eyanus, Linn.—Upon making inquiries I found that 
this bird, though scarce, is known in the ‘‘ Hautes Pyrénées,” 
and I afterwards saw one in the Argéles collection. According 
to M. Adrien Lacroix it breeds annually. 

Cinclus albicollis, Vieill—AIl the Dippers I observed at 
St. Sauveur were referable, I believe, to this species. Those at 
Argéles I failed to identify. I remember seeing a pair of un- 
doubted C. aquaticus in the Luz collection, and these were the 
only ones I satisfactorily identified as of the British species. 
On June 4th I shot a young Dipper at St. Sauveur, which is 
undoubtedly C. albicollis, and that same evening a “‘ chasseur” 
brought in an adult male, also C. albicollis. Neither Lacroix nor 
Deglaud and Gerbe include Cinclus albicollis in their works as a 
distinct species. I found a nest, which I imagine belonged to 
Cinclus albicollis, some miles above St. Sauveur at an elevation of 
about 3000 feet. It was empty, the young having taken their 
departure. 

Sazxicola wnanthe, Linn.—I shot two magnificent old male 
birds of this species high up upon Pic Bergons (about 5000 ft.) 
From their small size and light plumage I almost thought at first 
that they were some different species. I am now satisfied, how- 
ever, that in reality they are genuine Wheatears. This small 
size and unusually light colouring I have since met with in other 
continental birds as well. 

Ruticilla titys, Seop.—Many of these in the high valleys, but 
they were exceedingly wild, and consequently I failed to bring 
home any specimens. A pair evidently had a nest close at hand 
in a secluded valley at an elevation of about 4000 feet. I 
found a nest with young by the river side some distance above 


22 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


St. Sauveur, at an elevation of about 2800 feet above the 
sea-level. 

Cyanecula Wolfi, C..L. Brehm.—A pair of the above, very 
nicely stuffed, were shown to me by the Argéles collector. They 
both appeared to be immature birds, and were shot in the neigh- 
bourhood of Argéles. 

Daulias luscinia, Linn. — These charming little songsters 
swarmed at Argéles, but I heard none higher up the valley. They 
were chiefly heard in the daytime. 

Sylvia rufa, Bodd.—My brother shot a specimen at Gédre 
(2600 ft.). Several at Argéles also. 

S. atricapilla, Linn.—Common everywhere. 

S. salicaria, Linn. —I shot one, a female, on May 17th, at 
Argéles. 

Regulus cristatus, Koch. — Exceedingly abundant in the 
pine forests,—in fact, in that above St. Sauveur I may say it 
is the commonest bird. Evidently breeding. Up to about 
6000 feet. 

: R. ignacapillus, Breham.—To be found here and there among 
the Goldcrests, but decidedly the rarer of the two species. I 
shot one, a male, in the pine forest above St. Sauveur. 

Phylloscopus collybita, Vieill—I thought once that I caught 
the sound of its little voice in an obscure valley near Argéles, 
but could not be at all certain. M. Lacroix says that it is 
noticed in the Hautes Pyrénées during the migrations in spring 
and autumn. 

Acredula Irbyi, Sharpe and Dresser.—-On May 17th I shot a 
female of this species at Argéles, and another on May 28th at St. 
Sauveur. The latter was quite a young bird. The flock it was with 
must have numbered some dozens, of which most, I believe, were 
immature birds. The Argéles specimen has the light wing- 
coverts very distinct. a 

Parus major, Linn.—Plentiful everywhere. 

P. ater, Linn.—In the St. Sauveur forests this bird ranks 
next to the Goldcrest as regards commonness. I brought home 
four or five nice specimens. 

P. ceruleus, Linn.—I shot one at St. Sauveur (2525 ft.), and 
that is the only one I recollect seeing in the Pyrenees. 

Lophophanes cristatus, Linn. —I met with it twice in the St. 
Sauveur district. Once I saw three or four together from the 


NOTES FROM THE FRENCH PYRENEES. 23 


hotel baleony, but by the time I had reached the place all had 
disappeared. 

Sitta cesia, Wolf.— Exceedingly common in the deciduous 
woods round Argéles. I noticed great numbers of their holes 
(about 1600 ft.) 

Certhia familiaris, Linn.—Very abundant at Argéles; breeding. 

Tichodroma muraria, Linn.—I bought a young male from the 
collector at Argéles, and saw it in the Luz collection also. Last 
year I had the pleasure of seeing it wild upon Pic Buderaus. 

Troglodytes parvulus, Koch.—I found its nest fully 4500 feet 
above the sea-level, at above Argéles, and also once or twice near 

St. Sauveur. 

Motacilla alba, Linn. — Day after day I went down to the 
river-bed at Argéles in the hope of shooting a pair of these 
continental Wagtails, but each time I came away again without 
them. They would never come within range of my walking-stick 
gun. I saw great numbers of them at Argéles, but none at St. 
Sauveur; in fact only once above Pierrefitte (the railway 
terminus), so far as I can remember. Breeding. 

M. melanope, Pall.—Very common both at Argéles and St. 
Sauveur. A pair were breeding close to our hotel at the latter 
place. 

Anthus spipoletta, Linn.—This bird I found very abundant 
upon the high peaks. The greatest elevation at which I saw it 
would be about 6500 feet, and in a wild valley under Pic Long I 
discovered a nest which I feel satisfied belonged to this species, 
as they were the only birds about; and it was evidently referable 
to an Anthus. The elevation would be 4600 feet. I brought 
home good skins. 

Oriolus galbula, Linn.—This bird is, I suppose, fairly common 
in the Pyrenees, but I only identified it on the wing once, at 
St. Sauveur. I made its acquaintance in both the Argéles and 
Luz collections, and bought a fine male out of the latter. 

Lanius collurio, Linn.—One specimen (male) in the Argéles 
collection. 

S. auriculatus, Mull.—I bought a magnificent old male of this 
species of the Argéles collector. I saw one specimen also at Luz, 
but it was such a miserable specimen that I felt most easy to let 
it alone. 

Hirundo rustica, Linn.—Common everywhere. 


24 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Chelidon urbica, Linn.—Very abundant indeed. Breeding at 
St. Sauveur. 

Cotile rupestris, Scop.—I remember seeing several of what I 
took to be this bird last year upon the mountain range between 
St. Sauveur and Cauterets. 

Chrysomitris citrinella, Linn.—On June 7th, in the celebrated 
Cirque de Gavarnie, I shot three males of this species, and saw 
many more, but at St. Sauveur and Argéles I never saw it. 

Serinus hortulanus, Koch.—I have eggs from Argéles, and shot 
a male on May 4th near St. Sauveur. In the neighbourhood of 
houses it is very common. 

Coccothraustes vulgaris, Pall.—One in the Luz collection. 

Montifringilla nivalis, Linn.—Near the summit of one of the 
peaks immediately above Argéles I saw three or four of these 
birds, both males and females, but I failed to procure any speci- 
mens (5500 ft. ?). I also met with a solitary bird on the summit 
of the wild Col de Saucéde (5000 ft.), on the Route Thermale 
between Argéles and Eaux Bonnes. 

Fringilla celebs, Linn.—Comman everywhere. I have eggs 
from Argéles. Above St. Sauveur I shot a pair, being anxious 
to know whether any difference existed between the English and 
continental forms. I found them smaller and much lighter in 
plumage, but nothing different beyond that. 

F’, montifringilla, Linn.—One solitary specimen in the Argéles 
collection. 

Pyrrhula europea, Vieill.— Fairly common both at Argéles 
and St. Sauveur. In this bird I also noticed the same difference 
as with the Chaffinch. A female from St. Sauveur, in my col- 
lection, is wonderfully light in general colour. 

Emberiza citrinella, Linn.—Not so common in the Pyrenees 
as I should have expected. I have the skin of a female from 
near Gédre, and saw one or two at Argéles. 

E. cirlus, Linn.—I saw it once at Argéles. 

EK. cia, Linn.—Certainly the commonest Bunting in the St. 
Sauveur valley. I have a specimen also from Argéles. 

Alauda arborea, Linn.—I remember seeing one of these birds 
last summer on an eminence above Bagneres de Bigorre. 

Pyrrhocorax graculus, Linn.—Curiously enough there is a large 
colony of these birds at St. Sauveur in the sides of the gorge close 
to the Pont Napoleon, There must be some hundreds in this 


NOTES FROM THE FRENCH PYRENEES. 25 


colony, and my brother managed to secure two splendid specimens 
after daily lying in wait for them for some considerable time. One 
I believe to be an old bird, and the other one probably a year old. 
I do not remember ever having seen these birds elsewhere in the 
Pyrenees, except, of course, stragglers at a short distance away 
from the colony. ‘They are exceedingly wild birds, and con- 
sequently it is no easy matter to watch their habits at all closely. 
They generally prefer some rather isolated piece of rock to sit 
upon, from which they can survey the surrounding country 
without fear of a surprise. On referring to my diary, I find 
that the gizzards of my two specimens contained fragments of 
Coleoptera, worms, and some vegetable material. 

P. alpinus, Koch. — Abundant, excepting in the particular 
region where their larger cousins have their colony, and there, 
I imagine, they would not dare to put in an appearance. I 
saw numbers of them in the valley leading up towards Lac 
Bugeret. 

Garrulus glandarius, Linn. —Common, and breeding at 
Argéles; also breeds at St. Sauveur. 

Pica rustica, Secop.—Common. I have its eggs from Argéles. 

Corvus corax, Linn.—Abundant in the higher regions. 

Gecinus viridis, Linn.—One of the most common birds in the 
Argéles woods. Breeds there. 

Jynx torquilla, Linn.—One in the Luz collection. 

Upupa epops, Linn.—In both the local collections. 

Stria flammea, Linn.—Argéles collection. 

Asio otus, Linn.—One or two in the Argéles collection. 

A. accipitrinus, Pall.—In the Argéles collection. 

Scops giu, Scop.—I saw specimens of this “ Petit Duc” in 
both the Argéles and Luz collections. 

Bubo ignavus, Forst.—This was in the Luz collection. It had 
been shot in the great cliffs by the Pont Napoleon. It was simply 
a skin, and one which I should like well to have purchased, but 
unfortunately some mischievous individual had deprived it of its 
head, added to which the moths had been making rather free 
with the remains. 

Athene noctua, Retz.—I had one of these presented to me 
by M. Bordére, of Gedre. It was shot there some eight or ten 
years ago. 

Gyps fulvus, Gmel. —I saw what I took to be this noble 


26 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Vulture on two or three occasions in ascending some of the high 
peaks. 

Gypetus barbatus, Linn. —I met with it in both the local 
collections. 

Buteo vulgaris, Leach.— One or two were shown to me at 
Argéles. 

Aquila chrysetus, Linn.—On May 16th we encountered four 
Eagles, which I have reason to believe were of the present 
species, on one of the high peaks between Argéles and Lourdes. 
In my diary I have the following note:—‘‘ Birds seemed abso- 
lutely wanting for a long time, until we ascended on to the ridge 
again, and were busily engaged in botanising, &c., when no less 
than four magnificent Eagles quietly sailed over our heads some 
forty yards away. After a while they passed us again, and we 
had another good look at their gigantic forms. Every now and 
then they were followed by a party of small assailants in the 
shape of Alpine Choughs.” I repeatedly saw these birds higher 
up the valley. 

Circaetus gallicus, Gmel.—I noticed a specimen in the Luz 
collection, and once thought I saw one flying at Argeles, but I 
cannot be at all certain. 

Accipiter nisus, Linn.—I watched one female in ‘‘ The Park,” 
below St. Sauveur, and noticed one or two more in the Luz 
collection. 

Falco tinnunculus, Linn.— Several about St. Sauveur. One 
pair evidently had a nest in the cliffs, where the Choughs reside, 
and last year I noticed a nest of young ones on the Chateau de 
St. Marie at Luz. Of course I looked out most carefully for 
F. cenchris, but could not gain any information from either of 
the two collectors. 

Querquedula crecca, Linn.—In the collection at Argéles. 

Mareca penelope, Linn.—One, at any rate, in the Argéles col- 
lection. I believe this and the other ducks were taken in the low 
marshy land by the river between Argéles and Lourdes. 

Fuligula ferina, Linn.—In the Argéles collection. 

Turtur communis, Selby. —I only saw this in one of the 
collections. 

Perdiz cinerea, Lath.—One in the Luz eplleginats but not a 
single specimen of P. rufa, I think. 

Coturnix communis, Bonnat.—I did not see a specimen of this 


i 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 27 


bird at all, though the Luz ornithologist showed me some eggs 
he had taken there. 

Tetrao wrogallus, Linn.—I understand that they are fairly 
numerous in some of the pine forests above St. Sauveur, though 
I never had the good fortune to meet with them. In the Argéles 
collection. 

Porzana maruetta, Leach.— There-is one at Argéles. I 
imagine this bird came from the river side between there and 
Lourdes. 

(dicnemus scolopax, Gmel.—In the Argeéles collection. 

Grus communis, Bechst.—I noticed a very fine specimen 
“wrapped” in the Argéles collection. 

Totanus hypoleucus, Linn.—I saw it in the river-bed near 
Argeles. 

T. ochropus, Linn.—I watched one of these birds for some 
time through my telescope from the old bridge at Argéles. I 
have no doubt a pair had a nest somewhere near, as we saw them 
about there once or twice afterwards. 

Numenius arquata, Linn.—In the collection at Argéles there 
are two or three specimens. 

Sterna anglica, Linn.—A bird of this species has found its 
way into the collection at Luz. 


NOTES AND QUERIES, 


MAMMALIA. 


Rudolphi’s Rorqual on the Coast of Essex.—At a meeting of the 
Zoological Society, held on the 20th November last, the President (Prof. 
Flower) gave an account of a specimen of Rudolphi’s Rorqual, Balenoptera 
borealis, Lesson (Sibbaldius laticeps, Gray), lately captured at the mouth of 
the river Crouch, Essex. The animal had been stranded, and a dispute 
arose with regard to ownership, which ended in litigation between the 
captor and Sir Henry Mildmay, who claimed it as lord of the manor within 
which it was captured. The judge’s decision was in favour of the lord of 
the manor, but we have not heard what has become of the specimen or 
whether the skeleton has been preserved. Only one other instance of the 
occurrence of this whale in British waters has been satisfactorily established. 
This was a specimen taken near Bo’ness, in the Firth of Forth, in 
September, 1872, and described by Professor Turner in the ‘Journal of 


28 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Anatomy and Physiology’ for April, 1882 (pp. 471—484). The skeleton 
of this specimen is preserved in the Anatomical Museum of the University 
of Kdinburgh.—J. E. Harrine. 


BIRDS. 


Records of the Hoopoe in Hampshire.—In most works on British 
Birds mention is made of two instances of the Hoopoe attempting to breed 
in Hampshire. One of these rests upon the well-known statement of 
Gilbert White in his eleventh letter to Pennant, dated 9th September, 1767, 
that a pair came, ‘several years ago in the summer,” and frequented an 
ornamental piece of ground joining his garden (Selborne, Hampshire), 
“and seemed disposed io breed” in his outlet, ‘‘ but were frightened by idle 
boys.” The second is from Dr. Latham, who states, in his ‘ Supplement to 
the General Synopsis of Birds,’ 1787 (or in the second Supplement, 1801), 
that a pair began a nest in Hampshire, but being disturbed forsook it, and 
went elsewhere. Latham’s authority seems to have been Marmaduke 
Tunstall. Fox states (vide ‘Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum,’ 1827, 
Preface, p. ix.) that “an original MS. of Mr. Tunstall’s, consisting of 
remarks on Dr. Latham’s ‘ Synopsis of Birds,’ apparently addressed to him 
soon after the publication of his earlier volune, about the year 1783, with 
additional remarks and corrections in 1784,” had come into his hands, and 
that “ Dr. Latham made use of part of his remarks in the first Supplement 
to his work.” Many extracts from this MS. are inserted in the ‘ Catalogue 
of the Allan Museum,’ and in one of these (p. 61) occurs the note to the 
entry ‘“‘ The Hoopoe”:—“ Was informed a pair once began a nest in Hamp- 
shire, in the hedge of a garden, but being disturbed they forsook it. 
Tunst. MS.” It does not appear that ‘Tunstall was in communication with 
White, but he was a friend of his correspondent Daines Barrington, to whom 
White wrote first in 1796, and through whom the fact of the Hoopoes 
attempting to nest in White's outlet may have been communicated to 
Tunstall. The slight discrepancy in the two instances may be readily 
accounted for by the loose statement of Tunstall, as evinced by his men- 
tioning the birds as having begun their nest “in a hedge.” White does 
not mention their beginning a nest at all, and probably Tunstall did not 
either, by his speaking of them as attempting to nest in this unlikely 
situation. May not these two Hampshire records be referable to one and 
the same case ?—Otiver V. Apitn (Great Bourton, Oxon). 


Snipe perching.—Whilst at Easterside, Ryerdale, North Yorkshire, 
last June, I took a walk one evening with the keeper, through some 
“sievey” fields, where a number of Snipe were breeding, several of which 
we flushed. One rose in the air, over our heads, emitting the peculiar 
bleating sound so often noticed, and flew off to a dead ash tree close by, 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 29 


where it perched on the topmost twig for at least a minute. The keeper 
remarked that he had never seen a Snipe perch before; I have read of 
such things, but never till then witnessed the fact. Is it a usual habit 
with the Snipe? I may as well add my mite of information on the subject 
of Snipe “drumming,” which some people say is caused by the motion of 
the wings. I particularly noticed, and also called the keeper’s attention to 
the circumstance, that when we heard the humming noise, the birds were 
coming in a slanting direction towards the earth, and that, invariably, the 
wings were kept stretched out at full extent, and not moved in the slightest 
degree. I cannot say positively that the sound was caused by the vibration 
of the tail-feathers ; but I am quite certain that the wings were motionless, 
for one bird came down within two or three yards of where we were 
standing.—T. H. Netson (Bishop Auckland). 


Surf Scoter on the Coast of Lancashire.—When sailing in the 
estuary of the river Ribble, about 2 p.m. on the 9th December, 1882, 
I shot a fine female Surf Scoter, Gdemia perspicillata. It was swimming 
about 500 yards from the shore opposite Lytham. The bird was quite 
alone, and allowed my boat to approach within about fifty yards, when 
I fired and killed it. I find only twelve instances of its occurrence in 
British waters mentioned in Harting’s ‘Handbook of British Birds’ (p. 162). 
I may add that the bird has been seen and identified by my friend Mr. A. G. 
More, of the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, so that no doubt remains 
as to the correctness of the name.—Ricnarp H. Tuompson (Lytham, 
Lancashire). 


Ornithological Notes from the Isle of Wight.—I am informed by 
Mr. Rogers, of Freshwater, that the under-mentioned birds—some of them 
of rare occurrence—have been seen or procured in that neighbourhood 
during the past year. Last February a Glaucous Gull appeared off Fresh- 
water during a severe gale, soaring at a great height, but occasionally 
alighting on the broken water or skimming the waves with light and 
buoyant flight; it was eventually shot by Mr. Rogers’s son, and proved 
to be a male in perfect plumage. A pair of Bohemian Waxwings were 
procured in April, in perfect summer plumage, having the wax-like 
appendages on the tail as well as on the wings. Several others were met 
with, but not molested, Mr. Rogers thinking they might possibly remain 
to breed, but all had disappeared by the end of May. The Waxwing is 
generally supposed to be a winter visitant only. A pair of Peregrines 
having been shot at Freshwater during the summer, a second pair appeared 
and nested in the cliff, eggs were laid, but no young reared. Mr. Rogers 
tells me that some years since, a male Peregrine having been killed, in the 
course of ten days another male appeared; but the female was then shot, 
and the male had to seek another partner, which was also shot, and falling 


30 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


into the sea was picked up in Freshwater Bay. Astonishing as it may 
appear, a third female was found—paired, nested and reared young. Two 
Hoopoes anda Golden Oriole were procured in May. Several Dotterels 
were met with on the Downs (date not given). Tengmalm’s Owl was 
procured during the year. A pair of Bar-tailed Godwits were obtained 
in September, and several Black Redstarts in October and November. 
Several pairs of Shags bred in the cliffs, and Cormorants, as usual, in 
great numbers; also a pair of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Black- 
headed, Gulls, Kittiwakes, &c., and numerous Divers, Puffins, Guillemots, 
and Razorbills. Though the Chough has not been met with this year, 
there is reason to believe it may again breed in the Freshwater cliffs—the 
only suitable spot left. With regard to the Peregrine, considering how it 
is persecuted, it is surprising to find it still frequenting the cliff. It is to 
be regretted that a watch is not kept to protect it during the breeding 
season. It would appear that Freshwater is in the direct line of flight of 
many migratory species, more rare birds being met with there than in any 
other part of the island.—Hxrnry Hapritxp (High Oliff, Ventnor). 


Temerity in Birds.—The following instances of unwonted temerity, or 
perhaps curiosity, in birds, which came under my own personal observation, 
seem to me sufliciently curious to deserve mention. On one occasion, when 
out flight-shooting in Dorsetshire, I was sitting motionless, in ambush, with 
gun aslant, when to my astonishment a Barn Owl noiselessly approached 
and perched for a moment on my gun. Feeling the oscillation, I looked up 
suddenly, only in time to see the bird spread its wings, and, with a weird 
shriek, leave its unaccustomed perch. On another occasion—namely, in 
September last—I was sketching by the sea near Wells, in Norfolk, at a 
spot where Wheatears were tolerably common, when one of these birds, 
gradually approaching me, at length hopped boldly on to my palette. 
T remained perfectly still, and after a few seconds of investigation, the little 
visitor took its departure—G. BouvEerie Gopparp. 

[We have heard of two or three instances of Kingfishers perching on 
the rods of fishermen.—Eb.] 


Black Redstart in Co. Waterford.—An immature female Black Red- 
start, shot in the churchyard at Dungarvan on the 5th November last, was 
forwarded to me, and identified by Messrs. Williams & Son, of Dublin, to 
whom I sent it for preservation. This bird was in company with another 
when shot, and on the following day three were stated to have been seen at 
the same place, which they had frequented for several days. I have never 
before seen this species in the flesh, though there are several instances 
recorded by Thompson, and Harvey, of its having occurred in the neigh- 
bouring county of Cork. In Dr. Burkitt's collection in Waterford is the 
mature specimen, mentioned by Thompson, obtained in Co. Wexford on 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 31 


January 30th, 1837, and also an immature bird of this, or the common 
species, obtained near Waterford, March 28th, 1880. Harrison, one of the 
lighthouse-keepers at Mine Head, in this county, told me that in December 
last, during the severe frost, two birds frequented the rocks there. He shot 
one, which he described as being of the size and shape of a Wagtail, and 
said that it was slate-blue all over, except the central tail-feathers, which 
were ruddy. Unfortunately before he carried out his intention of sending 
it to Mr. More for the Museum it became unfit for preservation.—R. J 
UssuEr (Cappagh, Co. Waterford). 


Black Redstart in Northamptonshire.—A bird of this species, 
apparently an adult female, was haunting the steeple of this parish church 
on Sunday, December 2nd, and feeding busily.—H. H. Starter (Irchester, 
Wellingborough). 


Grey Phalarope in Yorkshire——Allow me to record the occurrence 
of a Grey Phalarope, which I shot on the 6th December last, in Cayton 
Bay, three miles south of Scarborough. It is a mature bird, in full 
plumage.—E. V. Tuompson (68, Eastborough, Scarborough). 


Greenland Falcon in Donegal.—I am indebted to my friend Mr. H. 
Becher for the information that a Falcon was killed, on the 29th November 
last, by the gamekeeper of Mr. Charles Stewart, on Horn Head, north 
coast of Donegal. This locality is not far from the island of Innistrahull, 
where a Snowy Owl was obtained about the same time last year. The 
bird has been mounted by Mr. Williams, of Dame Street, and passes into 
the collection of Mr. Becher. It is a Greenland Falcon, Falco candicans 
(J. F. Gmel.).—A. G. More (Curator of Natural History Museum, Leinster 
House, Dublin). 


The Bittern in Suffolk—Mr. Asten, the birdstuffer in this town 
(Woodbridge), has received for preservation a fine male Bittern, in full 
plumage. It was shot towards the end of November, at Sudbourne, near 
Orford, by the head gamekeeper of Sir Richard Wallace, of Sudbourne 
Hall.—Granam SanpBere (Woodbridge). 


FISHES. 

Bonito on the Coast of Galway.—From Mr. Glennon | have lately 
obtained, for this Museum, a fine specimen of the Bonito, Thynnus pelamys, 
Cuv. et Val., measuring two feet four inches in length, and which I under- 
stand was captured near Clifden, Connemara, in August last.— A. G. 
More (Museum of Science and Art, Dublin), 


ARCHA OLOGY. 


The “Attagen” of the Ancients.—-The name attagen, arrayny, is to 
be found in all the lexicons, but great diversity of opinion prevails as to the 


82 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


species of bird intended. It has been variously ideutified with a Grouse 
(the Hazel Grouse, Tetrao bonasia), Francolin (Ff. vulgaris), and Little 
Bustard (Otis tetrax). Liddell and Scott describe it as a ‘ long-billed bird,” 
and suggest a Woodcock or Snipe, referring to Aristotle's description. But 
Aristotle’s words do not seem to justify this view. He says (Hist. An. ix. 
26):—* The Woodcock is taken in the orchards with nets; it is of the size 
of a fowl; its bill is long, its colour similar to that of the Attagen.” Nota 
word about Attagen having a long bill. I have little doubt that the Attagen 
of the ancients was a Sand Grouse (Pterocles) of some kind, and Cuvier was 
probably right in identifying it with the Pintailed Sand Grouse (Pterocles 
alchata), a bird which is not uncommon in the countries bordering the 
Mediterranean.—J. EK. Harrine. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


LinnEAN Socrety oF Lonpon. 


November 15,1881.—Sir Joun Luszock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

Messrs. P. Crowley and J. Murray were elected Fellows of the Society. 

Prof. P. Martin Duncan showed a specimen of coral (Desmophyllum 
cristagalli) which had grown upon an electric-telegraph cable off the 
shores of Spain; it possessed radicles, apparently due to the presence of a 
worm close beneath the base of the coral. 

Mr. E. P. Ramsay exhibited a series of rare birds from New Guinea 
and the Solomon Islands, prominent among which were Charmosyna 
margaretha, Geffroyius heteroclitus, Cinnyris melanocephalus, Myiagra 
ferrocyanea, Ptilopus Richardsti, P. Lewisti, &e. 

Dr. J. Murie showed and made remarks on specimens of Ascaris bicolor, 
Baird, from the living Walrus at the Westminster Aquarium. 

A paper was read by Mr. 'T. J. Briant, ‘“‘ Notes on the Antenne of the 
Honey Bee,” in which he describes the minute structure of the segments, 
the joints and certain rod and cone-like organs, of highly sensitive function, 
previously referred to by Dr. Braxton Hicks. 

The next communication was “On the Japanese Languriide, their 
habits and external sexual characteristics,” by Mr. George Lewis. He 
remarks that one representative of the family (L. menetriesi) has been found 
in Siberia, lat. 46°; there are none in Europe, and one is known from 
Egypt; others inhabit the Malay Archipelago, Ceylon, and the American 
Continent. The author infers, from the geographical distribution of these 
beetles, that they have emanated from a tropical area. Some in the imago 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 33 


state cling to the stems of brushwood, others sit on the leaves of moist 
shade-loving plants in the forests, while others, again, frequent débris on hill- 
sides. Their colours are all dull, their bodies elongate, but not structurally 
adapted for boring. The sexes show peculiar differences in size, monstrous 
enlargement, and obliquity of the head, volume of tibiw, &c. In the 
Munich Catalogue, 1876, there are only 114 species of Lunguriid@ given, 
and Harold, in the paper cited, describes in 1879 about 40 more, yet the 
total—say 160—can be but a small portion of those existing in nature, or 
even acually now extant in our collections. It cannot be said that the 
fashioning of the Languriide is the result of influences affecting the insect 
in some early stage (as larva or pupa) before the imago appears, because we 
see throughout the whole of the insect world that in each stage of an insect 
forms are assumed which are adapted solely to such stage, and are entirely 
free and uncontrolled by any internal structure of the individual during any 
antecedent stage of its existence. ach, as a larva or imago, is formed for 
its environment to crawl or fly, and a process which is not immediately 
obvious checks in all its stages variation or an abrupt departure from the 
type of its predecessor. The following new species are described by the 
author :—Doubledaya succulenta, Languria nigens, L. nara, L. columella, 
and L. fuscosa. 

Prof. P. Martin Duncan read a paper “On the replacement of a true 
wall or theca by epitheca in some serial Coralla, and on the importance of 
the structure ia the growth of incrusting Corals.” After alluding to the 
discussions which have taken place regarding the value of epitheca in 
classification, the author states that one form of this structure is simply 
protective, and that another form is of high physiological value, for it 
replaces eutirely the usual theca or wall. The anatomy of the hard 
structures of a Cwloria illustrates the second proposition, for the broad base 
is covered by an epitheca within which is uo wall or « plateau commun”; 
the septa, remarkable nodular walls (described in detail), and the columelle 
arise from the epitheca directly, and it limits the interseptal loculi inferiorly. 
In a Leptoria the same replacement of a wall by epitheca is seen. In 
inerusting Porites and such Astreid@ as Leptastrea, the majority of the 
corallites of the colony arise from this basal epithecate structure, and grow 
upwards, budding subsequently from their sides. 


December 6, 1883.—Sir Joun Luszocg, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

His Highness the Maharajah of Travancore, and Messrs. C. A. Barber, 
EK. Bostock, H: Friend, J. Hannington, J. 8. Hicks, J. Richardson, R. Tate, 
and H. Tisdall, were elected Fellows of the Society. 

A large number of Lepidoptera from the district of Georgetown, 
Colorado, and a few from Missouri, were exhibited by Mr. Ernest Jacob, 

Tur Zoouoaist,—Jan. 1884. D 


84 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


who had collected them while engaged in the U.S.A. Geological Survey in 
the above-mentioned districts, 1880-81. 

An essay “On Instinct,” by the late Mr. Charles Darwin, was then 
read by the Zoological Secretary. 

After detailing sundry facts with reference to the migratory instincts of 
different animals, the author of the essay suggests a theory to account for 
them. This theory is precisely the same as that which was subsequently 
and independently enunciated by Mr. Wallace in ‘ Nature,’ vol. x. p. 469 
(1874). Thus, to quote from the essay :—‘ During the long course of ages, 
let valleys become converted into estuaries and then into wider arms of the 
sea; and still I can well believe that the impulse (originally due to seeking 
food) which leads the pinioned goose to scramble northwards, would lead 
our bird over the trackless waters; and that, by the aid of the unknown 
power by which many animals (and savage men) can retain a true course, 
it would safely cross the sea now covering the submerged path of its ancient 
journey.” The next topic considered is that of instinctive fear. Many facts 
are given, showing the gradual acquisition of such instinctive fear, or here- 
ditary dread of man, during the period of human observation. These facts led 
Mr. Darwin to consider the instinct of feigning death, as shown by sundry 
species of animals when in the presence of danger. Seeing that “ death is an 
unknown state to each living creature,” this seemed to him “a remarkable 
instinct,” and accordingly he tried a number of experiments upon the 
subject with insects, which proved that in no one case did the attitude in 
which the animal “ feigned death” resemble that in which the animal really 
died; so that the instinct really amounts to nothing else, in the case of 
insects at all events, than an instinct to remain motionless, and therefore 
inconspicuous, in the presence of danger. From the facts given with 
regard to certain vertebrated animals, however, it is doubtful how far this 
explanation can be applied to them. A large part of the essay is devoted to 
“ Nidification and Habitation,” with the object of showing, by an accumu- 
lation of facts, that the complex instincts of nest building in birds, and of 
constructing various kinds of habitations by mammals, all probably arose 
by gradual stages under the directing influence of natural selection. Among 
other “ miscellaneous remarks” on instincts in general he notes, first, the 
variability of instinct is proved by sundry examples; next, the fact of double 
instincts occurring in the same species; after which, ‘‘as there is often 
much difficulty in imagining how an instinct could first have arisen,” it is 
thought “worth while to give a few, out of many cases, of occasional and 
curious habits, which cannot be considered as regular instincts, but which 
might, according to our views, give rise to such.” Finally, cases of special 
difficulty are dealt with; these may be classified under the following 
heads :—(1) similar instincts in unallied animals; dissimilar instincts in 
allied animals; (8) instincts apparently detrimental to the species which 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 35 


exhibit them; (4) instincts performed only once during the lifetime of 
an animal; (5) instincts of a trifling or useless character; (6) special 
difficulties connected with the instinct of migration; (7) sundry other 
instincts presenting more or less difficulty to the theory of natural selection. 
Mr. Darwin concludes :—“ We have in this chapter chiefly considered the 
instincts of animals under the point of view whether it is possible that they 
could have been acquired through the means indicated on our theory, or 
whether, even if the simpler ones could have been thus acquired, others 
are so complex and wonderful that they must have been specially endowed, 
and thus overthrow the theory. Bearing in mind the facts given on the 
acquirement, through the selection of self-originating tricks or modification 
of instinct, or through training and habit, aided in some slight degree 
by imitation, of hereditary actions and dispositions in our domesticated 
animals; and their parallelism (subject to having less time) to the instincts 
of animals in a state of nature; bearing in mind that in a state of nature 
instincts do certainly vary in some slight degree; bearing in mind how very 
generally we find in allied but distinct animals a gradation in the more 
complex instincts which show that it is at least possible that a complex 
instinct might have been acquired by successive steps; and which moreover 
generally indicate, according to our theory, the actual steps by which the 
instinct has been acquired, inasmuch as we suppose allied instincts to have 
branched off at different stages of descent from a common ancestor, and 
therefore to have retained, more or less unaltered, the instincts of the 
several lineal ancestral forms of any one species; bearing all this in mind, 
together with the certainty that instincts are as important to an animal as 
their generally correlated structures, and that in the struggle for life under 
changing conditions, slight modifications of instinct could hardly fail 
occasionally to be profitable to individuals, I can see no overwhelming 
difficulty on our theory. Even in the most marvellous instinct known, 
that of the cells of the hive-bee, we have seen how a simple instinctive 
action may lead to results which fill the mind with astonishment. Moreover 
it seems to me that the very general fact of the gradation of complexity of 
instincts within the limits of the same group of animals; and likewise the 
fact of two allied species, placed in two distant parts of the world and 
surrounded by wholly different conditions of life, still having very much in 
common in their instincts, supports our theory of descent, for they are 
explained by it; whereas if we look at each instinct as specially endowed, 
we can only say that itis so. The imperfections and mistakes of instinct 
on our theory cease to be surprising; indeed it would be wonderful that 
far more numerous and flagrant cases could not be detected, if it were not 
that a species which has failed to become modified and so far perfected in 
its instincts that it could continue struggling with the co-inhabitants of the 
same region, would simply add one more to the myriads which have become 


36 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


extinct. It may not be logical, but to my imagination it is far more 
satisfactory to look at the young cuckoo ejecting its foster-brothers, ants 
making slaves, the larve of the Ichnewmonid@ feeding within the live 
bodies of their prey, cats playing with mice, otters and cormorants with 
living fish, not as instincts specially given by the Creator, but as very 
small parts of one general law leading to the advancement of all organic 
bodies—Multiply, Vary, let the strongest Live and the weakest Die.” * 

An interesting discussion followed, in which Professors Huxley, Allman, 
Mivart, Foster and Lankester, Messrs. Wallace and Seebohm, and others 
took part. 


December 20, 1883.—Aurrep W. Bennett, F.L.S., in the chair. 

Messrs. N. Cantley, W. Dobson, F. G. Smart, and Rev. R, Thom were 
elected Fellows of the Society. 

Mr. 8. O. Ridley exhibited and made remarks on a series of 177 
vertical sections of Sponges eollected in the neighbourhood of Point de 
Galle, Ceylon, by Dr. W. C. Ondaatje, and transmitted to England by him 
in letters. They are in most instances sufficient for the identification of 
the genera and some species. 

Mr. F. Maule Campbell showed the web of a spider (T'egenaria Guyonit) 
which had been spun in the centre of a paste-board cylinder, the peculiarity 
being the manner in which the solid part of the web was medially swung ; 
for in this species of spider it is more usually on the sides of objects. 

A communication was read ‘On the Auditory Ossicles of Rhytina 
Stelleri,” by Mr. Alban Doran. This was based on skeletons obtained by 
the ‘ Vega’ Expedition, and shown at the late International Fisheries 
Exhibition by the Swedish Government. The author found that the 
malleus in Rhytina is larger than in Manatus, and is therefore the largest 
and bulkiest malleus to be found in any animal where such a bone exists, 
that in the characters of its body it resembles Manatus rather than 
Halicore, and that in the manubrium it differs from the other Sirenia, 
aud is far more generalised. The incus is of the Manatus type, and so 
is the stapes, which is also larger and bulkier than that of any other 
animal —J. Murir. 


ZvoLoGicaAL Socinry oF Lonpon. 
December 4, 1883.—Prof. W. H. Frower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 
Mr. Philip Crowley exhibited and made remarks on an egg of a Bower- 


* The full text of this essay will appear shortly in the ‘Journal of the 
Linnean Society.’ 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 37 


bird from Southern New Guinea, supposed to be that of Chlamydodera 
cerviniventris. 

Sir Joseph Fayrer exhibited a shed deer-horn, apparently gnawed by 
other deer, and made remarks on this subject. 

Mr. Sclater exhibited, on the part of Dr. George Bennett, four skins of 
a species of Paradise-bird of the genus Drepanornis, obtained in the vicinity 
of Port Moresby, in Southern New Guinea. Mr. Sclater considered this 
form to be only subspecifically different from D. Albertisi of North-eastern 
New Guinea. 

Mr. W. Burton exhibited a supposed hybrid between a male Blackcock 
and a hen Pheasant. 

Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe gave descriptions of some new species of Flower- 
peckers, viz., Dicewum sulaense, from the Sula Islands; D. pulchrius, from 
S.E. New Guinea; and D. Tristrami, from the Solomon Islands. The author 
added some critical notes on other species of Dicwum and Prionochilus. 

Mr. J. B. Sutton read a paper on the diseases of Monkeys dying in the 
Society’s Gardens, on which he gave many interesting details. Mr.Sutton 
called special attention to the prevalence of the belief that Monkeys in 
confinement generally die of tuberculosis, and showed that such is not 
really the case. 

Mr. H. O. Forbes read a paper describing the peculiar habits of a 
spider, Thomisus decipiens, as observed by him in Sumatra. 

A second paper by Mr. Forbes gave an account of some rare birds from 
the Moluccas and from Timor Laut. ‘To this the author added the 
description of a new species of Ground-Thrush from Timor Laut, which he 
proposed to call Geocichla Machiki, in acknowledgment of services rendered 
to him by Dr. Julius Machik in Sumatra. 

A communication was read from Prof. J. von Haast, containing notes 
on Ziphius (Hpiodon) nove-zealandia, in continuation of a former paper 
read before the Society on the same subject. A second communication from 
Prof. Haast gave a description of a large Southern Rorqual, Physalus 
(Balenoptera) australis, which had been washed ashore dead on the New 
Brighton beach, about five miles from Christchurch, New Zealand. Prof. 
Haast was doubtful as to the distinctness of this animal from Balenoptera 
musculus of the Northern Atlantic. 

Mr. G. French Angas read some notes on the terrestrial Mollusca of 
Dominica collected during a recent visit to that island.—P. L. Scrarsr, 
Secretary. 


38 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 


Evolution and Natural Theology. By W. F. Kirsy, of the British 
Museum. 8svo. London: Sonnenschein & Co. 1883. 


Somer ten years ago the subject for the “ Actonian Prize 
Essay” was the relation of the doctrine of Evolution to Natural 
Theology ; if we were, at the time, correctly informed, two essays 
were submitted to the adjudicators; at any rate, Mr. Lowne, the 
well-known student of the histology of insects gained the Prize, 
and published an essay on the ‘ Philosophy of Evolution,’ which 
we must confess we have never read. We do not know whether 
Mr. Kirby’s was the unsuccessful essay, but he tells us that “a 
great part” of the present work was written some time ago, and 
we do see in it the very notes,—we cannot say of an unsuccessful 
prize essay, for we do not remember ever to have had the mis- 
fortune to read one,—but of the ordinary “prize essay.” We 
see, that is, the hasty appropriation of work done by others, 
undigested, crude, and careless statements of facts, and an 
uncritical use of general works and more or less trustworthy 
compilations. For example, the Mollusca and the Vertebrata 
are supposed to have a common origin in the ‘“‘ Molluscoida”—as 
though the very facts of Tunicate development had not, once for 
all, separated them from the Mollusca. We hear of Monera as 
having no “outer epidermis,” and we have the works of Darwin, 
Spencer, and Carpenter quoted side by side with those of Murphy 
and Ponton. 

Sometimes the point insisted on by the authority quoted is 
completely misunderstood. Writing of the origin of life, Mr. 
Kirby tells us that “the semi-organised mud at the bottom of 
the deep sea may be the transitional stage between inorganic and 
organic matter.” There is no “may be” at all about it—if by 
this curious mud he means the “ooze”; this is, in a sense, an 
intermediate stage, but in the very opposite direction to which 
Mr. Kirby points, for it is being converted into red clay and 
greensand. 

In other cases,—e.g. in his chapter on Evolution in Astronomy 
and Philology,—there is no reference at all to the more suggestive 
writers, such as Schleicher, whose famous essay, translated into 


a on 


NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 39 


English under the title of ‘Darwinism tested by the Science of 
Language,’ is one of the most remarkable supports to the Dar- 
winian doctrine that has ever appeared from the philological side. 

The present essay deals with so many subjects,—inclusive of 
witches and intermediate intelligences,—that it is difficult to 
give any idea of its scope, and the “philosophical” portion is 
altogether beyond us. Our opinion as to its value has been 
based chiefly on the chapters which deal with subjects to which 
our own studies and those of our readers have been more par- 
ticularly devoted, and we are compelled to say that on the subjects 
of Homology and Embryology Mr. Kirby has been writing about 
what he clearly does not understand. He writes (on p. 79) of the 
“skin” and the “lining of the stomach” in Hydra, and declares 
that ‘‘ the functions of life’’ “ devolve almost entirely” upon the 
former; this is followed by a statement which, if it has any 
meaning at all, is absolutely ridiculous—‘“‘ Even in the highest 
animals, the functions of different organs are interchangeable to 
a limited extent”; but not even an acrobat can walk on his hands 
and feed himself with his feet. ‘The Amphibia, Vertebrata, and 
(with some fossil exceptions) also the Reptilia, have four limbs, 
normally possessing five digits.” Again, on p. 81, we learn that 
“in nearly all Vertebrata,’ the neck is composed of seven ver- 
tebre. The old story of the sacral vertebre varying in number 
is repeated without any reference to the views of Gegenbaur, who 
speaks of sacral and pseudo-sacral vertebre, or to the teaching of 
A. Milne-Edwards, who tells us that “the posterior limit of the 
sacral region is characterised, not by the union of the different 
osseous pieces, which varies with age,” &c. Then we have the 
old objections to the vermiform appendix in the human ccecum, 
and the idea is derided that this exists for the purpose of 
rendering his internal anatomy more like that of a Kangaroo. 
My. Kirby says, “Can anything be more preposterous than 
such a suggestion?” Truly there cannot; the apex of the 
Kangaroo’s cecum, as is well known, is ‘‘rounded”; it is the 
Wombat that has a vermiform appendix. The eyes of Cephalopods 
are said to be perfectly homologous with those of the Vertebrata ; 
but there is no notice of their different developmental history. 
Our author seems to think that the epipubes or so-called mar- 
supial bones of certain mammals have a relation to the secondary 
sexual characters, for he says that the development of mamme 


40 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


in the male is “perfectly analogous to that of the presence of 
marsupial bones” in male marsupials ! 

This will be enough of Mr. Kirby’s anatomy. 

His “ embryology” is of much the same character; we are told 
(p. 97) that the “ovum of a mammal presents at one period an 
extremely close resemblance to Volvox globator”! ‘That the larvee 
of all Crustacea resemble each other very closely on emerging 
from the egg!, whereas, as a matter of fact, the Cirriped is at first 
a Nauplius, the Crab a Zoea, and the Crayfish is born in the form 
of the adult. 

This will do, we think, for Mr. Kirby’s embryology, which, by 
the way, seems in Man to be a useless rudiment: no other 
meaning can we give to the sentence, “ For, apart from embry- 
ology, which we will consider in the next chapter, there are in 
man more than one of the useless and even dangerous structures 
to which we have just alluded.” Of course this is only bad 
grammar, but the many instances which we have noted of bad 
science, bad grammar, and worse taste, have unfortunately pre- 
cluded the expression of anything like a favourable opinion of the 
work. In regard to the last-named failing, Mr. Kirby must of 
course be his own arbiter morum, but it seems hardly in good 
taste to observe (p. 22), that “on the whole, the divines to whose 
lot it fell to fix the canon of the New Testament appear to have 
made a very judicious election”; or (p. 193), “I follow the usual 
story of Herodotus here merely in illustration of the argument, 
without in any way pledging myself to the historical accuracy of 
the tradition which he records”; or again (p. 170, “It was in this 
sense that Christ himself observed that although not a sparrow 
was forgotten before God, yet men are of more value than many 
sparrows,—a very suggestive remark of this profound observer of 
man and Nature.” 

Should the reader consider our criticism too severe, let him 
look at the fifteen conclusions which Mr. Kirby has set down in 
his last chapter, and say whether he can find in them aught else 
save truisms, scarcely worth printing, dogmatic assertions such 
as “Evolution reveals to us the true system of Nature;” or 
nonsense such as ‘“‘ Man is immortal by virtue of the inherent 
indestructibility of Life itself’! 


Z.. D 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vou. VIII.) FEBRUARY, 1884. [No. 86. 


WAYSIDE NOTES IN SWITZERLAND. 
By Epwarp Hamitton, M.D., F.Z.S. 


OnE sees more birds, particularly of the smaller kinds, in 
Switzerland than in the neighbouring countries of la belle 
France or of sunny Italy. They are not so much sought after by 
the chasseur. No strings of Robins, Tits, Redstarts, Chaffinches, 
Blackbirds, and other songsters of the grove, are to be found 
hanging up on the stalls on market days, as is invariably the 
case in the cities and towns of Northern Italy. The Switzers 
appear not to care for such trifles, but they dearly love a good 
Squirrel; and it is amusing to see how the connoisseurs handle 
and pinch the loins of the defunct beauties to test their fatness. 
On one stall at Lucerne I counted eighteen of both species 
(S. vulgaris and alpinus), and they were all sold within a quarter 
of an hour. The smaller birds, for the most part, are left to 
themselves to perform their duties, unmolested by nets or guns, 
and the consequence is that many pleasant voices enliven the 
woods and gardens of this happy land. 

The few remarks I have noted down were made at a time 
when many birds are silent, and many about to depart or have 
departed south; but I am told by competent authorities that 
there is no lack of birds of all kinds singing and breeding in the 
spring months, which a glance at some of the museums where 
special rooms are devoted to the fauna of the country fully 
verifies. At the Grand National Exhibition, held at Zurich last 

THe Zoouroeist.—F rp, 1884. E 


42 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


year, the Swiss Alpine Club built a chalet in the gardens, in 
which was exhibited a fine collection of the fauna of the country ; 
most of the specimens were well set up, but some of the birds 
not quite in accordance with their natural instincts. 

LamMerceier, Gypaétus barbatus.—Had a fox in his talons, 
as if alive. According to most authorities, this bird, like other 
Vultures, depends mainly on dead animals or carrion, for its 
food. Its claws are not formed, as those of the Eagles or other 
Raptores, for grasping or carrying off live animals of any size. 
There were specimens of the bird in three different states of 
plumage. In the second figure in Dresser’s ‘Birds of Europe’ 
the head appears to be too black. The Gypaétus is almost 
extinct in Switzerland; in fact, the curator of the Natural 
History Museum at Zurich informed me that it could not now 
be found in any part of that country. I was told, however, by 
Herr Stauffer, at Lucerne, that he still knew of two pairs of 
these birds, but he would not say where. I suspect, from hints 
he dropped as to his own sporting localities, that the most 
unfrequented craigs of the Grisons still hold them. 

Goutpen Eacue, Aquila chrysaétus.—Also well represented at 
this exhibition in various states of plumage. Here, again, the 
bird, in its early immature state, that is, with the white on the 
basal part of the tail very distinct,—in fact, the plumage which 
in former days caused this bird to be classed under the specific 
name of Aquila fulva,—is set up, with wings outspread, feeding 
its young. Query, does the bird breed in this state of plumage ? 
The Golden Eagle is a long time getting to its perfect plumage, 
and some white feathers remain on the tail, probably for two or 
three years, and it may breed then, but hardly in the first year’s 
plumage. On one occasion, when ascending the Schelthorn, a 
splendid Eagle, which my guide declared to be a Golden Eagle, 
soared over my head; but this bird is becoming very rare in the 
inhabited or frequented districts. 

In the Berne Museum of Natural History, Aquila imperialis 
and A. clanga are placed in the department appropriated for the 
fauna of Switzerland, where the whole of the Kuropean Falconide 
are well represented. 

Osprey, Pandion haliaétus— Still to be found in many ~ 
localities. I noticed one sailing above Schaffhausen, on the 
Rhine, and another—or, may be, the same or its mate—on the 


WAYSIDE NOTES IN SWITZERLAND. 43 


lower part of the Lake of Constance. Twenty-five years ago a 
pair were daily to be seen on the Lake of Lucerne, just below 
Brunnen, and I recollect disturbing one off the great mass of 
rock, the Mythenstein, which is now devoted to a monument to 
Schiller, at the entrance of the Bay of Uri. The specimens in 
the exhibition of the Swiss Alpine Club were particularly good 
ones, and well set up. 

I noticed what I believe to have been a female Hen Harrier, 
Circus cyaneus, hunting in the meadows between Baden and 
Zurich, although not near enough to distinctly state it was that 
bird, yet from its mode of quartering its ground, &c., like what 
I have seen many times in this country, when I have been able 
to get much nearer the bird, I am pretty certain it was the 
female of this species. 

Forxk-TaiteD Kirt, Milvus ictinus.—Not uncommon. When 
I was at Schaffhausen one of these birds would come every 
evening between four and five o’clock sailing and soaring over 
the river, and remain hovering over one place, always the same, 
for a minute or two—a kind of farmyard, where, no doubt, he 
had often picked up his supper. He looked a noble fellow, and 
as he wheeled round and round, the evening sun would light up 
his plumage, making him look quite golden. I rather selfishly 
wished to possess him, knowing, as a salmon-fisher, what power 
a “‘glead tail” fly exerts over the migratory monsters of the 
Lochy and other well-known salmon rivers. I also saw a pair 
of these birds on the Lake of Zug. 

Tue Kusrren, Falco tinnunculus, is everywhere, and the 
SPARROWHAWE, Accipiter nisus, also. One of the last-named 
birds, a male, used to frequent the banks of the Limmat, close 
to the Hotel at Baden; under the terrace which was built on 
the banks, the Wagtails and Redstarts collected in considerable 
numbers to prey upon a species of Ephemera, very like a small 
mayfly, only grey, filling the air in vast swarms, and I have 
seen him whisk round the corner of the terrace and carry off 
a Wagtail with a rapidity quite astonishing. At another time 
I saw him take away a young Redstart from the balcony at the 
corner of the hotel: he appeared to rise up from the river, swoop 
and carry off his prey before one could wink. On this particular 
occasion he was baulked of his dinner: as he flew across the 
river to his dining-place,—a large flat stone, where I have often 


44 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


seen him, he was suddenly surprised by two fishermen, and _ 


he dropped the poor bird, which fell among the vines, and 
“Mr. Accipiter” took refuge in some high trees close by. Twice 
I saw him attempt to recover his dinner, but both times 
being frustrated by the fishermen, he at last very reluctantly 
gave it up. 

Buzzarp, Buteo vulgaris.—Very common. I have watched a 
pair of these birds soaring to a great height over the vines and 
pastures, and then suddenly descending. I only once saw this 
bird seize its prey, which he did much like an Owl, suddenly 
dropping on the grass, and after a time rising and flying off with 
a rat, or something about that size, in its claws. At Felsinegg, 
on the Zuger Berg, 3250 feet above sea-level, there were four 
pairs within a comparatively small radius. They were very fond 
of sitting on the poles placed for stacking the fern and bracken 
in the open uncultivated places, and were very tame, often 
allowing me to come within fifty yards of them, and then only 
slowly flying to the next pole or neighbouring pine tree. It 
appeared to me that there were two species, one rather larger 
and lighter in colour than the other—perhaps Buteo lagopus. 

Stork, Ciconia alba.—Generally takes its departure from 
Switzerland before the arrival of the autumn tourists, but up to 
the 12th or 15th of August a pair or two, with their young, 
may be found, if looked after; most of them, however, have 
gone to warmer climes. They are very tame, as, being un- 
molested, they fear not man. About three or four miles out of 
Basle, on the road to Zurich, there is a Stork’s nest on a high 
chimney at a farmhouse, and I noticed the pre and mere Stork 
with their family, walking stately about the marshy fields by 
the Rhine, in close proximity to the men mowing the grass, 
apparently quite accustomed to their presence. There used to 
be a nest in one of the towers or pinnacles of Basle Cathedral, 
but the necessary repairs, which continued for some time, have 
driven them away. Whilst sitting on the terrace of the cathedral, 
I saw a Stork fly across the river, and then begin gyrating 
upwards and upwards in ever-increasing circles till it became 
but a speck and almost invisible. I noticed two of these birds 
near Regensberg as late as the 12th August; they settled down 
quite close to some men in the fields, and appeared to be quite 
familiar with them. The Swiss, I suppose, believe in the old 


WAYSIDE NOTES FROM SWITZERLAND. 45 


saying, “If a Stork builds in the housetop conjugal affection 
is never disturbed within.”” Montgomery says :— 


Stork, why were human virtues given thee ? 
“That human beings might resemble me, 
Kind to my offspring, to my partner true, 

And duteous to my parents. What are you?” 


Heron, Ardea cinerea.—With its lazy, flapping flight, is found 
amongst the marshy fields by the Limmat. I only saw two, 
and I think they are not very common. 

Raven, Corvus corax.—Two or three times I heard the un- 
mistakable bark of the Raven,—a sound distinctly audible even 
when the bird is so high as to be almost out of sight,—but it is 
not very common in the lower valleys. 

Crow, Corvus corone, and Roox, Corvus frugilegus.—Common 
enough. The latter abounds in all the lower plains, but I never 
could detect any with the bare warty base of the beak. Is it 
that all the birds we see in August are young ones? or is it 
that the food of this bird is chiefly derived from moister ground, 
and therefore this condition is not attained? How fond these 
birds are of young walnuts! Along the shores of the Lake of 
Constance, where walnut trees abound, the Rooks commit great 
depredations. 

Maaepre, Picus caudata.—Common as this bird is in France 
and Italy, I only saw it twice in Switzerland, near Basle. 

Jay, Garrulus glandarius.—Plentiful, but very shy. In the 
woods near Baden (Aargau) I have occasionally come upon a 
flock, but on the first note of warning they all disappeared into 
the depth of the pine forest, without the screaming clamour Jays 
usually make when disturbed. At Felsinegg, where the pine 
woods extend to a great distance, I have found their feathers on 
the ground, but only once or twice got a glimpse of the bird. 

Nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes.—It was in the locality 
last named, hovever, that I had the great pleasure of being able 
for two or three days to watch the habits and mode of feeding of 
the Nutcracker. I have seen this bird, while walking over the 
Pass of St. Gothard, come down to the hazel trees, which are 
found on the lower part of the Pass about Amsteg, pick off a nut, 
and then fly to a stone and commence breaking it by repeated 
blows with his beak; but here at Felsinegg a party of six, two 


46 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


old and four young ones, came every morning to a group of fir 
trees, Pinus abies, covered with cones, and remained for some 
time feeding on these. Occasionally I could see one fly off with 
a cone, and some descended to the ground. They do not appear 
to feed on the cones as the Crossbills do, but to snap them off 
first before getting the seeds out; and having had their break- 
fast they flew across, passing within twenty yards of where I was 
sitting to another and larger pine forest. I could easily dis- 
tinguish the young birds, being of a kind of sooty brown, with 
only indications, as it were, of the white spots. The old birds 
were in full plumage, and one of them always came first, then 
the four children, and then the old mother or father bringing up 
the rear. They fly with a slow Jay-like flight, and without any 
noise. I came upon another, or perhaps the same, lot in an 
afternoon walk, some three or four miles away, in the middle of 
a large pine wood. Itis quite surprising to see the great number 
of fir cones which lie on the ground under the trees, broken up 
by Squirrels, Nutcrackers, and Crossbills, particularly the two 
former. When sitting and sketching, I have watched the 
Black Squirrel come down from the trees and turn over cone 
after cone, occasionally finding one untouched, and I have no 
doubt the Nutcrackers do the same. Although I kept a sharp 
look out, and once or twice thought I heard their peculiar note, 
I never came upon any of the Crossbills. 

GREEN WoopPECKER, Gecinus viridis.—Plentiful about the 
orchards round Zug and Lucerne. I was much disappointed at 
not seeing more of the Picide in these forests, this species being 
the only one of this family observed. 

Trex Creeper, Certhia familiaris.—Also pretty plentiful in 
the same localities. 

Coat Tir, Parus ater.—Seen about Felsinegg: there was 
always a colony together, which appeared to take a regular round 
daily, as always at the same place, at the same hour, I found 
them flitting from tree to tree searching for their food. 

Buve Trr, Parus ceruleus.—Very common about Baden and 
the orchards round Zug. 

BuackBirD AND THRUsH.—In every thicket and garden, and 
very tame, particularly the former. 

Misset Turusu, Twrdus viscivorus.—Collects in flocks early 
in September. I found a number of them in my walks around 


WAYSIDE NOTES FROM SWITZERLAND. 47 


Felsinege, but (as is always the case with this bird) could never 
get very near. When they congregated together I counted over 
twenty in one flock. 

Water Ovuzen, Cinclus aquaticus.—To be found on almost 
every river and stream. At Baden, near Brunnen, &c., I found 
a nest of this bird placed just at the entrance of a small tunnel 
which conveyed the water of the Seyon from Vallengin to Neuf- 
chatel. Iam afraid, after what has been seen of this bird when 
kept in confinement, he cannot plead guiltless of fishy proclivities. 
The young birds in the Zoological Gardens were extremely partial 
to minnows. 

Hpcesparrow, Accentor modularis—Common at Baden, and 
I came upon it also at Felsinegg. 

Repsreast, Hrithacus rubecula.—Always to be seen, with the 
last-mentioned bird, about the cultivated and frequented gardens 
and walks. 

Common AND Buack Repstart, Ruticilla phenicurus and 
R. tithys.— At Baden (Aargau) both were very plentiful; at 
Felsinegg the black species was most abundant. ‘They are very 
tame, and allow you to come quite close to them. They are 
late roosters; I have often seen them hawking Phryganie, 
which are found in vast quantities on the Limmat till quite 
dark, and long after the Flycatchers and Wagtails have gone 
to bed. Why is Switzerland so very seldom mentioned in 
Dresser’s ‘Birds of Europe’? ‘This country is quite passed 
over as the breeding-place of the Black Redstart. The figure 
of the female bird in Mr. Dresser’s plate is not at all correct as 
to colour. 

Wueatear, Saxicola enanthe.—Pretty common at Felsinegg 
in September. I found a good number of them on the upper 
waste lands; but I do not recollect seeing one old male there ; 
they appeared to be all females or birds of the year, and were 
evidently migrating southwards. 

Buacxeap, Sylvia atricapilla.—The only Warbler [ saw near 
enough to identify. 

Wren, T'roglodytes parvulus.—Observed to be very common. 

SporteD FiycarcHer, Muscicapa grisola.a— Very common 
everywhere. Up at Felsinegg I noticed it as late as the 10th 
September. At Baden in 1882 this bird was extremely plentiful ; 
a pair had a nest under the verandah, which in the afternoon 


48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


was crowded with ladies and children, and close to the electric 
lamp, of which the birds took no notice at night. Every garden, 
almost every house, had its pair of Flycatchers. In 1883, from 
some cause or other, there were comparatively very few, but 
many more Redstarts. 

Waite anp Prep Waaratn, Motacilla alba and M. lugubris.— 
Frequented the banks of the Limmat at Baden. My attention 
was particularly attracted to the difference in plumage of the two 
species, more particularly in the colour of the back. I have 
counted as many as twenty of these birds on the wing at once, 
hunting after the Phryganie which hover over the Limmat. 
They would sit in rows under the terrace of the hotel,—and now 
and then one was snapped up by the Sparrowhawk,—and I could 
distinctly see that some of them were much blacker than others. 
M. alba was most numerous. 

Grey Waerain, Motacilla sulphurea.—Appeared also amongst 
the others. 

Yettow Waertaw, Motacilla flava.—On the 15th August we 
had a flight of these birds, which only remained three days, 
hawking flies in company with the other species; on the 18th 
they were all gone. <A few days after the grey species disappeared, 
but the pied and white birds remained, and I left them still 
pursuing their prey. 

YELLOWHAMMER, H’mberiza citrinella.—Rather plentiful. 

Cirt Bunrine, Emberiza cirlus.—On the 12th September, at 
Schaffhausen, I noticed a pair of these birds, very restless, and 
both having food in their beaks, in a secluded part of the grounds 
of the hotel. I could not discover the nest, but they evidently 
had young close by. Surely this was very late. The nest 
appeared to be among some low bushes and fir trees. 

Cuarrinon, Fringilla celebs.—Extremely common. 

GouprincH, Carduelis elegans.—A little colony along the 
banks of the Limmat, on the old railroad near Wettingen. 

House Sparrow, Passer domesticus.—Everywhere on the lower 
grounds; none at Felsinegg. 

TREE Sparrow, Passer montanus.—At Baden. 

KinerisHer, Alcedo ispida.—Not common. I only saw this 
bird twice on the Limmat. 

Swatitow, Hirundo rustica—Remains very late ; plenty were 
seen up to the end of September: 


WAYSIDE NOTES FROM SWITZERLAND. 49 


Martin, Chelidon uwrbica.—Began to congregate about the 25th 
August, and I did not see any after the middle of September. 

Sanp Martin, Cotyle riparia.—About the 15th August a large 
number of these birds arrived at Baden, and remained hawking 
up and down the river for three or four days and then dis- 
appeared. 

Swirt, Cypselus apus.—All left about the middle of August ; 
there were plenty of them about the old tower and the church- 
steeple, but I could not detect alpinus amongst them. At Berne . 
this latter species predominates, and it is a pretty sight to 
watch them gyrating and screaming round the tower of the 
Cathedral. I noticed one as late as September 22nd. 

Coot, Fulica atra.—Amongst the many interesting sights at 
Lucerne are the Coots on the lake. When I first visited Lucerne 
this bird chiefly frequented the neighbourhood of the old covered 
bridge, and, above and below it, I one day counted fifty. Last 
year I could only find thirty. They had changed their locality, 
and were to be found chiefly near the new bridge and by the 
landing-places of the steamers, always on the look out, and 
sharing with the half-tamed wild ducks, the bread, &c., thrown 
to them by the passers by. They feed much on a water-plant 
which grows plentifully at the bottom of the lake, particularly 
where the rapid stream commences; it looks very like the 
American weed which has so encumbered our canals and 
rivers. It is amusing to watch them when thus feeding. 
Some of the old male birds, too lazy to dive for their own dinner, 
watch the younger ones busy at the bottom, and the moment 
they rise to the surface, with a beak full of the weed, give chase, 
and, like the Skua amongst the Gulls, seize the coveted morsel, 
which the fugitive is obliged to relinquish. Whilst watching 
them I saw one of these birds seize a Bleak and eat it. It 
happened thus: there was a great scamper amongst a large 
shoal of Bleak, arising from the dash of a Pike or Trout, and 
one appeared to be injured, and kept jumping out of the water. 
A Coot immediately rushed at it, seized and in a few moments 
swallowed it. In the fourth edition of Yarrell, we read, “if 
deprived of water, it (the Coot) will roost, as other land birds, 
upon any elevated situation.” My hotel being close to;the bridge 
at Lucerne, I went out every night between 10 and 11 p.m. to 
see the Coots, I found them all arranged along the beams which 


50 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


separate that portion enclosed for the Swans, &c. They stood 
all of a row, some on one leg, some on both, but evidently in 
that position were prepared to pass the night. They are very 
late feeders, and the whole of them were not collected together 
till near 10.30; some stragglers were even later, but it appeared 
as ifa place was assigned to each. Whilst watching them the 
“quack, quack” of the Wild Duck would be heard all around, 
numbers coming in from other parts of the lake. The Coot is a 
most interesting bird, and notice him diving! the pearly hue he 
has when under water leaving him as he comes to the surface. 
Then, half paddling, half flying— 


“The wanton Coot the water skims, 
Rocked on the bosom of the sleepless wave.” 


No one should leave Lucerne without visiting the Coots. 


NOTE OF SOME RARE BRITISH BIRDS IN THE 
COLLECTION OF MR. J. WHITAKER. 


As it is always interesting to know where rare and historical 
specimens are preserved, I have compiled the following list of 
uncommon birds in the collection of Mr. J. Whitaker, of Rain- 
worth Lodge, Notts, hoping that it may be of service to other 
ornithologists.—O iver V. APLIN. 


Falco islandus, Gmel.—Kirkwall, Orkney, 1876. 

F. vespertinus, Linn. — Bempton Cliffs, near Bridlington, 
Yorkshire, July 6th, 1865. Vide ‘Handbook of British Birds,’ 
p. 87, and ‘ Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata,’ p. 47. 

F. «salon, Tunstall.—A female Merlin killed at Ramsdale, 
Notts, in November, 1870, presents a curious appearance, being 
quite half as large again as an ordinary specimen. ‘ Birds of 
Nottinghamshire,’ p. 7. 

Circus cineraceus (Mont.)—Obtained near Salisbury, 1871. 

Milvus ictinus, Savigny.—Skot by W. Wilson, at Sanday, 
Orkney, in April, 1877. 

Scops giu (Scop.)—Renwick, Cumberland, May 15th, 1875. 
Recorded in ‘ The Field,’ 22nd May, 1875. 


NOTE OF SOME RARE BRITISH BIRDS. 51 


Cinclus melanogaster, C. L. Brehm.— Shot near Southwell, 
Notts. 

Oriolus galbula, Linn.—A male, Warwickshire, May, 1870, 
vide ‘The Zoologist,’ 1871, p. 2765; a female, Horsham, Sussex, 
1872. 

Cyanecula suecica (Linn.)—A red-spotted male Bluethroat is 
in a case with a male Redstart, and a label on the case, on the 
handwriting of Mr. Sim, of Aberdeen, runs as follows :—‘‘ Both 
birds were caught as they flew on board a fishing-boat about six 
miles off Aberdeen. The Bluethroat was captured on the 16th 
May, 1872.” ‘Handbook of British Birds,’ p- 104. 

Pastor roseus (Linn.)—Adult male, Ramsdale, Notts, Sept. 
1856. ‘Birds of Nottinghamshire,’ p. 26. 

Pyrrhocorax alpinus, Koch.—A female example procured in 
Oxfordshire, and mentioned in ‘The Zoologist,’ 1881, pp. 442, 471, 
and 1882, p. 481. 

Merops apiaster, Linn.—Two fine specimens. One killed at 
Stainsby Gardens, Derby, May 4th, 1879 (Zool. 1879, p. 461), 
and the other at Ingoldsby, near Bowes, Lincolnshire, July, 1872 
(Zool. 1882, p. 149). 

Cypselus melba, Illiger—Finchley, August, 1860. Recorded 
in ‘The Field,’ March 18th, 1875, and ‘The Zoologist,’ 1879, 
p. 489. 

Caprimulgus egyptius, Licht.—Since taking my notes of this 
collection, a brief record, by Mr. Whitaker, of this interesting 
specimen has appeared in ‘The Zoologist,’ 1883, p. 874, and a 
longer account with notes on the species by Mr. Harting, in 
‘The Field’ of Sept. 15th, 1883. 

Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Pall.)—-A male, one of four obtained 
at Farnsfield, Notts. Two females caught June, 18638, in rabbit- 
traps set for crows, in a potato-field near Mansfield. Their 
companions (some six or eight in number) remained about the 
place for upwards of a month. ‘Birds of Nottinghamshire,’ 
pp. 35, 36. 

Tetrao tetriz, Linn.—A pair of the old Nottinghamshire stock, 
shot at Ratcher Hill, Mansfield Forest. 

Tringa canutus, Linn.—In breeding plumage. Fountain 
Dale. ‘Birds of Nottinghamshire,’ pp. 44, 45. 

Ardea ralloides, Scop.—Bestwood Park, Notts, July, 1871. 

Zoologist,’ 1871, p. 2803, and ‘ Birds of Nottinghamshire,’ p- 50. 


52 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Ardetta minuta (Linn.)—Scarborough, February 25th, 1879. 
‘ Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata,’ p. 50. 

Phalaropus hyperboreus (Linn.)—One in_breeding-dress, 
Ramsdale Pond, Notts, July 6th, 1848. ‘Birds of Nottingham- 
shire,’ p. 46. 

Anser cinereus, Meyer.—One shot out of a flock of a score at 
Walling Wells by Sir J. White, June 29th, 1880. 

Clangula albeola (Linn.)—Bessingly Beck, near Bridlington, 
Yorkshire, winter of 1864-5. See ‘ Zoologist,’ 1865, p. 9659. 
‘Handbook of British Birds,’ p. 161; ‘Birds of the Humber 
District,’ p. 177; and ‘Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata,’ 
p. 57. 

Cosmonetta histrionica (Linn.)—Male, Filey, Yorks., autumn 
of 1862. Mr. Roberts, of Scarborough, saw some men throwing 
this bird into the sea for a dog to retrieve. They had found 
it dead on the shore. ‘Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata,’ 
p. 58. 

Somateria mollissima (Linn.)—Shot near Nottingham, Noy. 
16th, 1882; the only example procured in the county. Zool. 
1883, p. 129. 

Mergus merganser, Linn.—An adult male, Park Hall, Notts, 
1876. ‘Birds of Nottinghamshire,’ p. 64. 

M. albellus, Linn. —An adult male, Thornton Reservoir, 
Leicester, 1877. 

Xema Sabinii (Leach).— Bridlington, Yorkshire, Oct. 14th, 
1875. ‘Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata,’ p. 81. 

Pagophila eburnea (Phipps).—Shot off the North Pier, Aber- 
deen, Nov. 17th, 1874. 

Stercorarius crepidatus (Banks).—Mansfield, 1880. 

Puffinus griseus (Gmel.)—Flamborough, Oct. 1881. 


Amongst the hybrids in this collection I particularly noticed 
one between Goldfinch and Linnet, and another between Linnet 
and Greenfinch, obtained in Cambridgeshire (Zool. 1883, p. 302). 


( 53 ) 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM DEVON AND CORNWALL. 
By Joun GatcomBE. 


On September 8rd, during a trip up the river Tamar, where 
few waders but Herons and Curlews were to be seen, I was 
much interested in watching the struggles of a Cormorant with a 
large fish on a mud-flat near the river, which it must have just 
caught, or possibly found left dry by the tide, but had the greatest 
difficulty in killing and swallowing. This was the first time 
I ever saw a wild Cormorant kill and eat a fish out of the water. 

On Sept. 5th a Fork-tailed Petrel, Procellaria leucorrhoa, was 
picked up dead by a rural postman on the road near Cargreen, 
a village close to the Tamar. Its occurrence inland was no 
doubt due to the terrific gale which took place on the Ist of that 
month. It appeared to be a bird of the year, and in a most 
interesting state of change, the new dark slate-coloured feathers 
on the wings and other parts of the body contrasting strongly 
with the old rusty brown and weather-worn plumage of the 
previous season. 

By the 8th September some Common Redshanks were to be 
_ seen in the markets, and a very young Black Grouse, which latter 
was no doubt bred on Dartmoor. A day or two afterwards, on 
my way to Exeter, I observed on the mud-banks of the rivers 
Teign and Exe many Herons and large numbers of Black-headed 
Gulls, both old and young. On the 13th quite a flight of Titlarks 
seem to have arrived on the coast, all in very bright and newly- 
moulted plumage. I noticed also some Cormorants, with white 
breasts and bellies, flying overhead, in which stage of plumage 
I have often remarked them in the autumn, and have no doubt 
that such birds are the supposed Northern Divers occasionally 
mentioned as having been seen standing bolt upright on the rocks. 
On the 24th numbers of Wheatears appeared on the coast, after 
a strong gale from the N.E. during the previous night, and large 
flocks of Scoters, Gidemia nigra, | was informed, were to be seen 
in Start Bay. 

On October 1st I heard of a white Spoonbill having been 
killed by a wildfowl-shooter on the St. Germans river, and sent 
to Mr. Vingoe, of Penzance, for preservation. This river seems 


54 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


to be a favourite resort of the species when it visits us, as so 
many have been obtained there from time to time. 

On October 2nd, wind north and very cold, flocks of Skylarks 
were seen crossing the Sound, flying N.W. Examined an adult 
Gannet, Arctic Tern, and young Storm Petrel (Procellaria 
pelagica) at the Stonehouse birdstuffer’s, all obtained in the 
neighbourhood. The Petrel had been caught and brought into 
the house alive by a cat, from the garden of the late Mr. Charles 
Trelawny, situate in the centre of Plymouth, after a severe gale 
from the north. It was a very young specimen, still showing 
some of the nestling down, especially on the abdomen and under 
tail-coverts; the greater wing-coverts, too, were prettily tipped 
with white, forming a conspicuous bar across the wing. 

On the 10th October I visited Looe and Polperro, and was 
shown the house in which the late Mr. Jonathan Couch lived, 
and the room in which he died, now converted into a Reading 
Room and small Library, called “The Couch Reading Room,” 
in memoriam. When passing by the St. Germans mud-flats, in 
the train, I remarked a vast number of Curlews; a flock consisting 
of fully two hundred rose together at the report of a fowling-piece 
discharged from a boat on the river. I bought in the Plymouth 
market another young male hybrid between Pheasant and Black- 
cock, similar to the one described by me (Zool. 1879, p. 60). 
The skin is now in the fine collection of varieties and hybrids 
belonging to my friend Mr. Frederick Bond, of Fairfield Avenue, 
Staines. 

A nice specimen of the Cornish Chough examined by me had 
been sent up from Padstow; in its stomach I found only the 
mandibles of beetles. Some Common Terns were forwarded for 
preservation from Starcross, on the coast of Devon, but I saw 
none near Plymouth during the past autumn. 

A friend told me that, when cruising in his yacht off Plymouth 
Sound, he noticed a tremendous struggle in the water between a 
Cormorant and large eel, which had twisted itself so tightly round 
the bird’s neck as to almost cause suffocation, but before getting 
his boat quite close enough, as he thought, to pick up the 
exhausted bird, it just managed, with some extra exertion, to 
swallow its prey and make good its escape. 

Scaup ducks were rather plentiful during October. There 
were four young birds of this species at a poulterer’s shop in 


NOTES FROM DEVON AND CORNWALL. 55 


Devonport, and my friend Col. Marcon killed a young male 
assuming the adult plumage, on the river Yealm, near Plymouth ; 
its stomach was distended with small spiral mollusks, mixed 
with the claws and remains of minute crabs. 

On November 12th I observed three or four immature Black 
Redstarts near the Plymouth Citadel, but a pugnacious Robin 
having quarters in the same locality, to my great annoyance, 
constantly trying to drive them off, which he effectually did on 
their attempting to approach his domain. The following day 
I saw Redstarts at the Devil's Point, Stonehouse, and an old 
male with the others near the Citadel, the Robins again allowing 
them no peace. 

On November 14th I saw another adult male Redstart near 
the Point. At the birdstuffer’s there were some Owls, both 
brown and white, with one Short-eared Owl, the first and only 
specimen the stuffer had received for the season. The stomach 
of the Barn Owl contained three whole shrews with the remains 
of others. A great many Woodcocks were brought to the markets 
about this date, and I examined a nice male Lesser Spotted 
Woodpecker and Water Ouzel, both obtained in the neighbourhood 
of Plymouth. 

The following albino varieties were observed or procured :— 
A white Swallow seen near Dartmouth; a white Bullfinch killed 
at St. Germans; and a white Linnet shot out of a flock of birds 
of the ordinary colour, in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, by my 
friend Mr. C. Clark, of St. James Place. This specimen, the 
prettiest variety of Linnet I ever saw, was of a delicate pure 
white, with just a brownish feather on either side of the tail. 

Kingfishers were very plentiful last autumn, and many, I am 
sorry to say, found their way to the local birdstuffers. 

During the first week in December many Black Redstarts 
were observed on the coast; one was killed on the Laira embank- 
ment near Plymouth, and others observed in different localities. 
On the 10th a Long-eared and a Short-eared Owl were brought 
to the Stonehouse birdstuffer from Cornwall, the latter being 
only the second recorded during the season. White and Brown 
Owls, I am sorry to say, are almost daily brought in, and the 
stomachs of all I have examined were invariably filled with the 
remains of rats and mice. ‘Two specimens of the Cornish Chough 


oe 


were also received, both of which were caught in “ gins,” and 


56 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


had their legs badly broken. I found the stomach of one quite 
empty, but that of the other was crammed with the pupe of some 
dipterous insect. A Shelldrake was killed in the neighbourhood, 
the only one I heard of last year. Numerous Redshanks were to 
be seen in the markets, and Kingfishers seemed plentiful, judging 
from the numbers sent to be stuffed. 


HABITS OF THE HARVEST MOUSE. 
By G. T. Rope. 


Havine at various times kept the Harvest Mouse, Mus mes- 
sorius, in confinement, I have observed certain little peculiarities 
in their habits and manner of life which may be worth recording. 
First, as to their food and manner of feeding, I have invariably 
found them exhibit a marked preference for wheat, rejecting while 
that is to be had all other kinds of grain. They will, however, 
eat both oats and barley when their favourite food is withheld. 
Unlike most of the British mice and rats in a state of captivity, 
they do not care for bread, though perhaps they might eat it if 
kept without corn. I have found M. sylvaticus and our two 
smaller Voles prefer bread to almost any other kind of food. 
Dr. H. Laver, of Colchester, in a communication relating to the 
habits of these mice in Essex, which lately appeared in ‘ The 
Field,’ states that the stacks in which they are most likely to be 
found, in his neighbourhood, are those of oats and wheat, and 
sometimes barley; adding that he finds them more frequently 
in corn stacked in the fields, than in that which is carted home. 
In this district I have found them as often in stackyards attached 
to farm buildings as in outlying stacks, and principally in those 
of wheat, oats not being much grown in these parts. Last year a 
great many were captured here in a barley-stack, but wheat- 
stacks seem to be their principal winter rendezvous in this district. 
After the stacks are threshed, these mice often remain in the 
straw throughout the winter. Their manner of disposing of a 
grain of wheat is as follows:—Sitting up and holding the grain 
in a horizontal position between the fore paws (one being placed 
at each end), the little animal begins dexterously and rapidly 
turning it round, like a wheel on its axle, at the same time 
applying to it the edge of his sharp incisors, and by their means 


HABITS OF THE HARVEST MOUSE. 57 


slicing off the outer skin or bran, and letting it fall like the 
shavings from the tool of a wood-turner at his lathe, to whose 
operations the whole process bears a striking resemblance; nor 
does he begin eating till he has reduced the grain to a perfectly 
white and almost cylindrical body. On placing a Harvest Mouse 
for a few minutes in a vessel containing broom-seed, I was 
surprised to see it, after searching about among the seeds, pick 
up one and devour it. 

As to their carnivorous and insectivorous propensities, these 
mice are well known to be fond of flies, of which they will devour 
several kinds; they catch them in a singularly adroit manner, 
and without the least apparent effort or exertion. On a fly being 
put into the cage, the mouse, instead of rushing about after the 
insect, appears at first to take no notice whatever of it; but when 
the latter, in buzzing about the cage, approaches within its reach, 
in the twinkling of an eye he has it firmly grasped in his paws, 
and it is devoured almost before one can realise the fact of its 
being caught, the wings and legs being generally rejected. These 
mice will probably devour many other insects, and I have seen 
woodlice eaten by them. In common with M. musculus, M. 
sylvaticus, and A. agrestis, the present species appears to possess 
carnivorous tastes, and cannot honestly be declared innocent of 
the charge of cannibalism; one of mine, having died from the 
effects of an accident, had its head eaten by its companion. The 
prehensile power of the tail is certainly more perfectly developed 
in this than in any other British species of its genus; though 
not altogether wanting in M. musculus, as may be easily seen in 
the pole-climbing feats of the trained mice so often exhibited in 
the streets of- London and elsewhere. The voice of the Harvest 
Mouse is not pitched so high as that of the Common Mouse, and 
more resembles a harsh grating chirp than a squeak. I have 
never as yet been so fortunate as to get this little animal to breed 
in confinement, but do not as yet despair of success.* I find that 
even under the disadvantage of a square sleeping-box, with which 
my only present example (a female) is provided, and which is 
much larger than necessary for so small a tenant, the superior 


* In ‘The Field’ of Jan. 2nd, 1875, will be found an account of some 
young Harvest Mice which we had at that time in confinement, supplemented 
by some interesting remarks by the late Dr. J. E. Gray on the behaviour of 
a second litter which we had presented to Mrs. Gray.—Eb. 

Tux ZooLoais:.—Jan, 1884. F 


58 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


architectural skill possessed by this little creature, as compared 
with other rats and mice, is decidedly apparent. The bedding 
(consisting of hay alone), though merely stuffed into the box so 
as nearly to fill it, has been arranged so as to form a round and 
compact nest, about the size of those built in the spring and 
summer to serve as nurseries, but differs from these latter in 
possessing two opposite entrances, so that if disturbed at one the 
mouse makes her escape at the other. The nest is lined with 
small particles of hay, split by the little animal's teeth, and thus 
rendered softer and more suitable for the purpose. These mice 
seem to have a decided partiality during the summer months for 
the borders of ditches, building their nests among the tall rank 
herbage growing in such situations, in low bushes, or even in the 
reeds growing in the ditch; see ‘ Zoologist,’ June, 1881, p. 233, 
where a very interesting account is given by Prof. H. Schlegel of 
a colony of Harvest Mice, discovered by him near the town of 
Leyden, containing over fifty nests, some of the colonists having 
even adapted to their own requirements the nests of aquatic 
warblers built in the same spot, by covering them with a cap of 
grass. Of the two nests, which is all I have been fortunate 
enough to find up to the present time, one was built in a low 
blackthorn bush growing by the side of a ditch, and I once 
picked up a freshly-killed mouse of this species in a similar 
situation; the other nest was in a plant of the common broom. 
I am not aware that this habit of congregating during the 
breeding season has ever been observed in England. Although a 
most accomplished climber, every movement being performed 
with consummate grace and ease, this species lacks the extra- 
ordinary speed and activity which is so characteristic of our 
familiar little household thief, and is much more easily pounced 
upon when discovered. I have repeatedly seen a Harvest Mouse 
support the whole weight of his body on the tail, for a second or 
so, in trying to climb out of an upright glass jar, the fore paws 
alone merely touching the glass to preserve the animal’s balance. 

This little creature, like its congeners, M. musculus and M. 
sylvaticus, bites savagely when handled, and, from a habit 
(common to all three) of hanging on like a bull-dog, at the same 
time moving the jaws about while the teeth are still in the wound, 
makes one a little cautious after the first experience, especially 
where a sound finger is an object. 

The colour of the Harvest Mouse, though very beautiful, is in 


HABITS OF THE HARVEST MOUSE. 59 


most works given in rather general terms, without going much 
into details; and gives the idea of a uniform tint prevailing on 
the upper parts, whereas, in all the specimens which I have 
examined, the bright sandy yellow or orange fawn of the upper 
part was purest and brightest towards the tail; being focussed 
(so to speak) on the hind-quarters just at the root of the tail, and 
extending underneath as far as the vent. This bright but 
delicate tint shades off gradually, above, into the light yellowish- 
or orange-brown, which is the prevailing colour of the upper 
parts, the latter hue becoming again brighter and lighter as it 
extends downwards to meet the white of the under parts. The 
fur of the cheeks and that surrounding the ears is also bright 
sandy or orange; the hams are nearly always of that colour, 
varying, however, in intensity in different individuals. There is 
considerable variation, too, in the colour of the upper parts, the 
brilliant fawn tint being more or less wanting in some specimens, 
whereas in others it is more generally diffused, and less con- 
centrated on the hind-quarters, being, I fancy, most pronounced, 
as a rule, in the female sex; but of this fact I cannot speak 
positively, not having had the opportunity of examining anything 
like so many females as males. In a very large and probably old 
male, which I kept lately in a cage with others, the orange tint 
was almost altogether absent, the fur of the upper part being of a 
nearly uniform brown, of a similar shade to that of a very old 
example of M. decumanus, a species, by the way, which appears 
to me to approach nearer in the form of the head and general 
expression of countenance to the Harvest Mouse than does 
either M. musculus or M. sylvaticus. 

Another male had the middle of the back of a dark red- 
brown, inclining to purple; this purplish shade, which in a less 
degree is visible on the back of most specimens, being produced 
apparently by an unusual abundance of the longer and coarser 
hairs which are found on that part of the body. The long and 
beautifully-formed feet are covered with fine hairs of a yellowish 
colour, shading off on each side to white, the under surface being 
naked. The tail is scantily furnished with short hairs as far as 
the extremity. 

The average dimensions of seven adults, irrespective of sex, 
is as follows:—Length of head and body, 2in. 7} lines ; length 
of tail, 2 in. 1 line; total length, 4 in. 83 lines. 


60 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


Wanton destruction of Animal Life in Shetland.—The ‘Shetland 


Times’ for the 12th January last contains the following mischievous 
advertisement :— 


“DestRucTION oF VERMIN.—Mr. Urquhart will pay the undernoted prices for 
Vermin brought to him :—ls. for every Gyr or Peregrine Falcon, Osprey, Buzzard, 
Kite or Hobby; 6d. for every Black-backed Gull, Raven, Merlin, and every species 
of Hawk and Harrier; 8d. for every Hoody Crow; 6d. for every Weasel. 

By order of Committee of Commissioners of Supply. 

Lerwick, 12th January, 1884.” 

If it is not too late to protest against such wholesale slaughter, we 
would urge some of our northern correspondents to exert their influence to 
avert the blow which seems destined to fall upon the fauna of Shetland. 
If the fate of the above-named animals is sealed, then it is, perhaps, as well 
that Dunn's ‘ Ornithologist's Guide’ and Saxby’s ‘ Birds of Shetland’ should 
have been written while the island still had a fauna of its own. 


Method in recording Observations.—In sending you the record of a 
specimen of the Little Gull, Larus minutus, observed in Scotland, I wish 
particularly to direct the attention of British ornithologists to the necessity 
now-a-days of recording such occurrences on some methodical plan, as all 
such records have direct and often most valuable bearing upon the causes © 
and reasons of migratorial phenomena. I have an idea that if the pro- 
prietor of ‘The Zoologist’ would issue to his principal ornithological 
contributors a printed form for such records, to ensure uniformity, each 
single sheet being intended to contain full particulars of each separate 
occurrence or group of occurrences, a very great and very useful assistance 
would be rendered to students of migration generally, and to our British 
Association Committee in particular. The Americans have taken up the 
subject keenly, and you may depend upon it they will not be long before 
they have some such uniform method for recording issued to hundreds of 
collectors and contributors over the whole States and Canada. I am in 
correspondence with Mr. Merriam, the Secretary of the Migration Com- 
mittee of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and he means work. If 
Mr. Newman sees the advantage of the above suggestion, let it be begun 
with a New Year, and issue to those desiring forms along with the January 
or February number of ‘'The Zoologist.’ These forms could be supplied 
gratis singly, or to order in blocks or with counterfoil, for the recorder’s 
own use, in lots of ten, twenty, thirty, or more. At the end of the year 
each recording ornithologist would have a complete list of all occurrences 
in his own district on his counterfoil, and the Editor of ‘The Zoologist’ 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 61 


the duplicates for publication. Had this been done during the past few 
years our records would long since have solved the mystery of migration— 
of this I feel firmly convinced. A volume of such forms would soon come 
to be indispensable to the working ornithologist—Joun A. Harvie Brown. 

(This communication being signed also by Mr. John Cordeaux, the 
Secretary of the British Association Committee on the subject of Migration, 
we assume that he approves of the scheme above mentioned.—Eb. | 


The following is the “form” suggested :— 


Form for more uniformly recording the Occurrences of Rare Birds 
or other Migrational Phenomena. 


= == 
ee ae A. |e8s| Seg | eos | S884 
2 38 Ha | RBS | a8 | S835 | she 
= es ‘2 i} | onl 3S 
. So | gad 5 =] sugdzu Soe 
Date.. 5 Species. -&|Sex.}| So |S@S | SB egac Se Shoo) 
4 & 8 Se |Efx| Se | FESS | Se88 
° « 
= < ° A a Basg 


Noy.|N. Uist Larus minutus |Juy.| ? | Alone ? S.W. |S. & W. Clear 


Remarks.—This rare British bird was shot at Newton, N. Uist, by Mr. John 
MacDonald, factor there. It had been seen previously on Bunera Island, Sound 
of Harris. It is a bird of the year, and when obtained was found to have one 
foot wanting. Flying southwards at the time it was shot. 


Nore sy Mr. Corpeavx.— Although the Little Gull is a rare 
wanderer to the West coasts of Scotland, seldom a year passes without 
examples being recorded on the East coasts of Great Britain, more especially 
in the neighbourhood of Flamborough Head, and sometimes in very con- 
siderable numbers. Thus, in the winter of 1869-70, after a terrific three 
days’ gale from the east, on February 12th, 13th and 14th, twenty-nine 
were shot south of the headland, nineteen of which were old birds in winter 
plumage. It occurs in large numbers in the neighbourhood of Heligoland 
in the autumn. On September 5th, in 1880, enormous numbers were 
seen on the water near the island.” 


[Before any steps are taken to carry out Mr. Harvie Brown’s suggestion, 
it would be desirable to know the views of other correspondents on the 
subject. At present it is our impression that it would not meet with 
universal favour. Many would find it irksome to have to record their facts 
in so formal a way, and we must say, candidly, that such formality would 
in our opinion detract very much from the pleasure which we now derive in 
perusing the original observations which are received from all parts of the 
country.— ED. j 


62 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Prosector of the Zoological Society.—We learn that Mr. Frank E. 
Beddard, M.A., of Oxford, Naturalist to the ‘ Challenger’ Commission, has 
been selected out of thirteen candidates for the post of Prosector to the 
Zoological Society of London, in succession to the late Mr. W. A. Forbes. 
Mr. Beddard was a pupil of the late Prof. Rolleston, and for the past year 
has been employed on editorial and other work connected with the issue of 
the official reports on the scientific results of the ‘Challenger’ Expedition. 
He has also been entrusted with the examination and description of the 
Isopoda collected by the Expedition. 


MAMMALIA. 


The Burmese Elephant at the Zoological Gardens.—By the time 
these pages are in the hands of our readers most of them doubtless who 
are within reach of the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, will have 
gratified their curiosity by inspecting the singular-looking Elephant which 
is at present on view there, and which has been imported at considerable 
trouble and expense by Mr. P. T. Barnum, from a village called Doang 
Damee, in the State of Karennee, a mountainous country lying to the 
north-east of Pegu. For those who, residing at a distance, may not have 
an opportunity of seeing the animal, the following description of it, com- 
municated to ‘The Times’ by Professor Flower, F.R.S., President of the 
Zoological Society, will doubtless prove of interest :— 

“The Burmese Elephant, belonging to Messrs. Barnum, Bailey, and 
Hutchinson, now deposited in the Zoological Society's Gardens, Regent’s 
Park, is apparently not quite full grown, being between 7 ft. and 8 ft. in 
height, and has a well-formed pair of tusks about 18 in. in length. It has 
a remarkably long tail, the stiff bristly hairs at the end of which almost 
touch the ground. ‘The ears are somewhat larger than the ordinary Indian 
Elephant, and are curiously jagged or festooned at the edges; whether as a 
natural formation or the result of early injuries it is difficult to say. It is 
chiefly remarkable, however, for a peculiarity of coloration which is quite 
unlike that of any Elephant hitherto brought to this country. As is well 
known, the special colour of the skin of all animals depends upon the 
presence in the deepar layer of the epidermis, or outer skin, of certain 
minute dark particles or ‘ pigment corpuscles,’ which obscure or modify the 
pale pinkish colour of the true skin beneath. In this Elephant the 
general surface of the integument is quite as dark, if not darker than that 
usually seen in its kind, being, perhaps, of rather a more bluish or slaty 
hue. There are, however, certain definite patches, disposed with perfect 
bilateral symmetry, in which the pigment is entirely abseut, and the skin is 
of a pale reddish brown or ‘ flesh-colour.’ These patches are of various 
sizes, sometimes minute and clustered together, producing only an indistinct 
mottling of the surface, sometimes in large clear spaces, but which are 


= a 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 63 


mostly, especially at the edges, dotted over with circular pigmented spots of 
the prevailing dark colour about half an inch or more in diameter, which 
give a remarkable and even beautiful effect. The largest and clearest 
light-coloured tract is on the face, extending from the level of the eyes to 
the base of the trunk. A few white patches can be detected at various 
parts of the dorsal surface of the trunk, and more on its under surface. 
There is a very distinct and circumscribed oval light patch behind each eye. 
Another, which is larger and more diffused and speckled, is seen upon each 
side of the neck, behind the ears, and extends to the throat and chest, so as 
to form a sort of collar. The eyes themselves are of the usual colour and 
surrounded by normally pigmented skin. The free border of the outer 
surface of each ear, extending inwards to the breadth of 6 in. in the middle 
part, is light coloured, but variegated with round dark spots. The greater 
part of the under surface of the ear is light. A group of small, not very 
distinct, uncoloured spots can be detected on the outer side of the fore 
limbs, above the elbow joint, and there is a similar one, still less distinct, on 
the outer side of the upper part of the hind limbs. The hoofs are of 
a pale horn-colour, with a few longitudinal dark streaks. The animal is 
therefore not a pale variety of the ordinary Elephant, as some have 
supposed the so-called ‘ White Elephant’ to be, but one characterised by a 
local deficiency of the epidermic pigment, in symmetrically disposed patches, 
and chiefly affecting the head and anterior parts of the body. It does not 
result from any disease of the skin, as has been suggested, but is doubtless 
an individual congenital condition or defect. If Elephants are prone to 
such a condition, it is easy to believe that sometimes it may exist greatly 
in excess of that shown in the specimen now exhibited, and if complete 
and extending over the whole of the integument, as well as the tissues of 
the eye, would constitute true ‘albinism.’ It is perfectly clear that the skin 
of an Elephant could not under any circumstances present the milky white- 
ness some of us have lately been picturing to ourselves, as this one clearly 
shows what may be called the ‘ uncoloured’ tint of its skin, strongly tinged 
by the hue of the blood circulating within its tissues. Unpigmented hair 
or feathers are pure white, hence albinism in a furred or feathered animal 
produces a perfectly white effect, which the almost naked skin of an 
Elephant can never show. Such local deficiencies of pigment are common 
enough in domestic animals, and are occasionally met with in the dark 
races of men. ‘They are also by no means unknown among wild animals, 
but very rarely present the perfect bilateral symmetry noticeable in the 
very curious and interesting specimen now to be seen in the Zoological 
Society’s Gardens.” 


Badger in North Yorkshire.—On the 5th December last the Bedale 
hounds met at Sleningford Park, the seat of Mr. John Dalton, six miles 
from Masham and four from Ripon. The covers having been drawn blank, 


64 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


a terrier was sent up an artificial earth which sometimes holds a fox, but it 
shortly emerged, bearing signs of having come off second best in an under- 
ground conflict. A second terrier was then procured, and both went up the 
earth. A confused scuffling was heard, and soon both dogs appeared, 
having been unable to dislodge the occupant. Spades were now brought 
into requisition, when to the astonishment of all present a fine Badger 
bolted, passed right through the pack standing round, and escaped in the 
surrounding cover, the hounds not owning the scent. It is many years 
since a Badger has been seen in the neighbourhood, though they were once 
plentiful— Tomas Carrer (Burton House, Masham). 


The Depredations of Squirrels —Whilst walking through an old 
plantation here a few days ago my attention was directed to a couple of 
Squirrels busily engaged in depriving a cluster pine of its cones. As the 
cones were quite green and hard, I was determined, if possible, to find out 
their reasons for taking the cones. This, however, was apparent, for lying 
at the bottom of the tree were several cones gnawed to the heart and all the 
seeds extracted. The cones were gnawed through at the base and carried 
by the Squirrels to a neighbouring spruce tree, under the dense shade of 
which they greedily devoured the seeds from the cones. Some of the cones 
were too heavy for them to carry, and these they let fall to the bottom, 
where, no doubt, they were feasted on at leisure. Here the Squirrels are 
very destructive to the young buds of the horse-chestnut, indeed to such an 
extent that we have several times had to put a stop to the mischief. Lime 
trees often suffer severely by having the bark torn from their branches, 
evidently as material for nest-making, and the holly occasionally is treated 
in a similar manner.—A. D. Wusster (Llandegai). 


Black Rat in Devon.—During the last week of December I found a 
specimen of the old English Black Rat, Mus rattus, lying dead in the street 
at Devonport, which I secured and took to the taxidermist for preservation. 
Besides the difference of colour, the ears and tail of this species are much 
larger and longer, in proportion to its size, than those of the now much too 
common Brown or Norway Rat, Mus decumanus.—Joun GarcomBe (Stone- 
house, Devon). = 


Destruction of Trees by Hares and Rabbits.—A writer in the new 
weekly journal ‘Woods and Forests,’ lately started by the accomplished 
editor of ‘The Garden,’ remarks :—“ It is difficult to get two people to 
agree as to the trees with which Rabbits and Hares meddle. Some 
experienced planters say that Rabbits and Hares cut Pinus laricio very 
much if planted small, but do not touch P. austriaca. Now, as for the 
latter, I can confidently assert that they cut it more than any other of 
the pine tribe. With me they have attacked and thoroughly destroyed fine 
plants of it four feet and five feet high. A neighbour who has planted 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 65 


P. laricio largely (I have none except guarded) says that it is rabbit-proof, 
and, on his assertion, I am planting some hundreds of it this season. The 
fact is, I believe, in a really severe season Rabbits will attack anything,—in 
a deep snow I have had yews eaten down,—but in the generality of years 
certain things escape.” Another writer in the same journal (Dec. 12th) 
says :—“TI have hit upon a good material for protecting the bark of young 
trees from the attacks of Hares and Rabbits, and one which can be readily 
applied. Virgin cork, so much employed in the construction of Ferneries, 
and which can be easily placed round the stems of young trees, and attached 
in such a way that the attacks of Hares and Rabbits will be rendered 
ineffectual. The mischief caused to specimen trees planted near dwelling- 
houses, in parks, or on lawns, by cats and dogs, &c., may also be prevented 
by the same means. I first fix the pieces in their proper position, and then 
fasten them together with wire or strong twine, an operation which can be 
done at a trifling expense; but, of course, such tree-protectors might be 
made to close round the stems, and open and shut by means of hinges.” 
Apropos of forestry, we observe that in the same number of this new 
periodical (pp. 28, 29) an extremely ingenious instrument for measuring 
heights of trees, known as “ Kay’s Dendrometer,” is described, with 
illustrations. It is to be obtained of Messrs. Dickens & Co., 1, Waterloo 
Place, Edinburgh, and we imagine that some of our readers would find it 
both useful and amusing in determining the heights of birds’ nests. 


Bottle-nosed Dolphins at Plymouth.—On December 15th I examined 
two immature Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Delphinus tursio, which had been cap- 
tured in shallow water on the mud banks of Hooe Lake, near Plymouth, one 
measuring eight feet nine inches, and the other about eight feet in length. 
Their beaks or snouts were much shorter and thicker, in proportion, than 
those of the Common Dolphin, Delphinus delphis, and the teeth much less 
numerous, there being only about twenty-five in each jaw. ‘These were not 
truncated, as would have been the case, I believe, in older animals; the 
pectoral, dorsal, and caudal fins were also smaller in proportion to the 
animal’s size, and the colours on their bodies much more uniform, without 
any signs of the wavy lines so often seen on the sides of the more common 
species. They were both females. Delphinus tursio is, I think, rare on 
our coast. The only one I ever before recorded was driven on shore under 
the Plymouth Hoe a few years since —an adult male, twelve feet long, with 
truncated teeth, the skull and bones of which are now in the possession of 
Mr. W. Hearder, Union Street, Plymouth.—J. GarcomBe (Stonehouse). 


BIRDS. 
Mr. Gunn’s Lesser Terns at the Fisheries Exhibition.—M y attention 
has been drawn to a notice in ‘The Zoologist’ for last November (p. 463) 
by Mr, K. Cambridge Phillips, of the collection of stuffed birds and fish in 


66 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


the late Fisheries Exhibition in London, in which all due credit is given to 
Mr. Gunn, naturalist, of Norwich, for his extensive series of fish-eating _ 
birds avd cases of stuffed fish, the branch of taxidermy in which he chiefly 
excels. Special mention, however, is made by Mr. Phillips—and in other 
journals I have remarked similar comments—of Mr. Gunn’s case of Lesser 
Terns, a sensational group most likely to attract attention; but as, with 
regard to that particular case, Mr. Gunn seems inclined to absorb all the 
credit due to the sentiment and design, in justice, at least, toa Norwich 
birdstuffer who has been dead some years, [ must ask permission to 
explain whence Mr. Gunn got his inspiration, and how such a group of 
Terns happened to form a part of his collection. More than twenty years 
ago I visited Salthouse, on our Norfolk coast, where, at that time, a large 
colony of Lesser Terns bred on the beach, and, desirous of having a pair, 
with the eggs, for my collection, and little contemplating the sad rebuff 
which my collecting fit would experience, I watched a pair to their nest and 
shot one as they rose. The bird fell dead; its mate, unscared by my 
presence and the noise of the gun, hovered low over the fallen victim, and 
once even attempted to lift it up by the bill. This was “ too too,” and I 
killed the bereaved one to end its sorrows, though not my vexation at the 
result of the first, thoughtless, shot. Thinking over this scene, it struck 
me that a warning group might be made if the birds were arranged in a 
case, in exact imitation of what I had witnessed, with the eggs in a hollow 
amongst shingle, gathered on the beach. Making a rough sketch of what 
I wished to have represented I took it to my then birdstuffer, Mr. John 
Sayer, of Norwich (to whom Mr. Gunn was formerly assistant), and from 
my drawing he executed the beautiful case in my pussession, which has 
been so generally admired, and which, amongst my other exhibits in the 
Norwich Fisheries Exhibition, in 1881, attracted special notice. Whether 
Mr. Gunn, whose collection, at the Drill Hall, was arranged just opposite 
mine, observing this fact, thought that a similar group would be an 
attractive feature amongst his own cases in London, I must leave; but 
with the exception of the stuffing of his own birds, slightly varying the 
position of the hovering Tern by suspending it by the tail instead of the 
wing (which Sayer did in the first instance, but altered at my suggestion), 
and placing four eggs in the nest instead of three, a mistake pointed 
out by Mr. Saunders, in his paper in ‘The Ibis’ (1883, p. 352), neither 
the sentiment nor the design is Mr. Gunn’s more than a picture 
painted from the work of some “old master” (to make the simile correct), 
with a single figure, or tree in an altered position, could be called an 
original! I have, of course, no copyright in my own case of Terns, 
though I have heard that Mr. Gunn, himself I presume, fearful of imitators, 
has registered all his designs (?); and in his Catalogue (p. 18) appears the 
following eutry:— Case 122. Lesser TErn.—Pair of adult birds and 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 67 


nest of eggs, Norfolk, 1879. This group is entitled ‘ The Widowed Bird, 
and illustrates the well-known fact of the living bird hovering over its dead 
or wounded partner.” Now, it so happens that two or three of my own 
friends, who had seen Mr. Gunn’s Terns in London (not noticing the 
altered position of the hovering bird), have asked me whether I lent 
my case to Mr. Gunn for exhibition, because it was his own work. 
I may state, however, that Sayer did execute a copy for another customer, 
with my permission, though, like most replicas, it was not. equal to the first. 
This, if I remember right, was not very long since in Mr. Gunn’s hands 
to dispose of. On the principle, therefore, of “ Palmam qui meruit ferat,” 
the design, unquestionably, is not Mr. Gunn’s; the sentiment, perhaps, 
may be traced home in the following couplet which I wrote at the time, 
and had placed on the front of my case “ to point a moral ” :— 


Have they no feeling? or does man pretend 
That he, alone, can make or mourn a friend. 


Now, it has been said that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” 
LT ought to feel proud, therefore, that Mr. Gunn has appended the following 
lines to the entry of Case 122 in his Catalogue :— 


‘Oh, pity the sorrow of a lonely mate 
Whose partner met with a cruel fate ; 
And your voice in future protesting 
The wanton destruction of birds when nesting.” 


—Henry Stevenson (Norwich). 


Wildfowl at Aldeburgh.—With regard to Mr. Rope’s statement (Zool. 
1883, p. 496) concerning the breeding of the Shoveller near Leiston, I 
may say that while at Aldeburgh last summer I saw at least twenty 
Shovellers, both mature and immature, in the poulterers’ shops, and 
naturally concluded that the immature birds had been bred in the neighbour- 
hood. I was, however, surprised to see amongst them an immature Gad- 
wall, which I purchased. I afterwards procured an immature Pochard ; 
and, after I had left Aldeburgh, a male Pintail, in summer plumage (shot 
on September 17th), was sent up tome. I saw an immature Great-crested 
Grebe that had been shot by a gunner the summer before last, and another 
that had been shot on the Alde River. On August 7th a fisherman brought 
me a nearly mature Red-necked Grebe in summer plumage that he had 
shot on the Alde River.—Tueo. Lister (Erfurt Lodge, Greenwich). 


Pale-coloured Kestrel from Skye.—Referring to Dr. Saxby’s remarks 
(‘ Birds of Shetland,’ p. 28) upon “ the exceedingly pale and faded appearance 
of the plumage of Kestrels killed in Shetland, especially in autumn,” I may 
mention that a specimen which my friend the Rev. H. A. Macpherson sent 
me in May last, from the north-west coast of Skye, exhibited this peculiarity 


68 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


in a marked degree. It was a fairly old male, with bluish head and tail ; 
this colour was very pale, and the “red ” of the body was really more of a 
yellowish brown, and presented a most washed-out appearance. It was also 
avery small bird, but, owing to the warm weather and delay in transit 
caused by the railways, it arrived in such an advanced state of decomposition 
that I was unable to take any measurements. — OLiver V. APLIN (Great 
Bourton, near Banbury). 


Food of the Stone Curlew.—On skinning a Stone Curlew the other 
day I remarked the stomach distended with some hard substance, and, on 
opening it, found that it contained an entire Helix variabilis, the diameter 
of which was about one inch and height about five-eighths: the substance 
of the shell of this species is thick. The stomach contained nothing else, 
nor did there appear to be room ; the mollusk was slightly digested, and the 
epidermis around the apex of the shell had been removed by the action of 
the gastric juices. The bird was fat and in good condition; it must have 
experienced considerable difficulty in passing the shell down the gullet.— 
E. F. Becuer (Malta). 

[In many grallatorial birds the gullet is very distensible. We have 
taken a number of cockles of large size with the shells entire from the 
stomach of a Curlew, and wondered how they could have been swallowed 
whole.—Ep. ] 


Great Grey Shrike at York.—On November 3rd, 1883, my father saw 
a bird in our grounds which, from his description as to the colouring, note, 
&c., must have been a Great Grey Shrike. It had been seen about the 
place for some few days, though after the 38rd I could hear nothing more of 
it. A week or so after this a Great Grey Shrike was killed in the immediate 
neighbourhood of this city, and I was shortly afterwards able to examine it. 
I found it to be a female of the northern type of Lanius excubitor, i. e., 
Lanius major of Pallas. ‘This is the second instance which has come 
under my own notice of the capture of the above type in our county. The 
other one, which is now in my collection, was taken five or six years ago 
only a few miles away.—J. Backuoussg, Jun. (West Bank, York). 


American Bittern in Sussex.—A specimen of this bird was shot from 
a patch of reeds near Amberley, in this county, on November 80th last, by 
a man of the name of Knight, who attempted to stuff it, but, making a 
mess of it, the bird was handed over to Pratt, the naturalist, of Brighton. 
It proved, on dissection, to be a female, and the stomach was quite empty. 
The flesh had not been taken out from the wings, and it was quite fresh 
when I saw it. It is now in my collection.—W. Borrir (Cowfold, Sussex). 


Records of the Hoopoe in Hampshire.—A slight mistake occurs 
in my note on this subject (p. 28) which I should be glad to have corrected, 
as it rather alters the meaning. In the fourth line from the bottom 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 69 


“’s birds” (I probably omitted it in my copy) should be inserted after 
Tunstall, so that the sentence would read ‘‘and probably Tunstall’s birds 
did not either."—Otiver V. Apxin (Great Bourton, near Banbury). 

{Our correspondent appears to have overlooked the remarks on this 
subject made by Prof. Newton, who in a couple of lines (Yarrell’s ‘ British 
Birds,’ 4th ed. 11. p. 421) has anticipated the suggestion that the records by 
Tunstall and Gilbert White possibly referred to the same bird.—Ep. } 


Lapwing perching.—The uote on Snipe perching (p. 28) reminds me 
of a somewhat similar occurrence on the part of another of the Grallatores 
which I witnessed, and which perhaps it may also be worth while to record 
in the pages of ‘The Zoologist.’ I was making a walking tour through 
parts of Wharfedale, Airedale, and Nidderdale (Yorkshire) in July, 1875, 
and, when in the neighbourhood of Appletreewick, in Wharfedale, a flock 
of Lapwings and Starlings rose from a pasture on my approach. They 
flew only a short distance, I think to the next field, and one of the Lapwings 
alighted on a stone wall, where it remained for a short time, and then 
rejoined its companions. I mentioned the fact, which at that time was to 
me unique, in a letter to the late Mr. W. C. Hewitson, who informed me 
that it was not an uncommon thing with some waders which do not 
habitually perch in this country to do so in Norway, but that there they 
had generally been observed to perch on trees.—J. EH. Patmer (Lyons 
Mills, Straffan, Co. Kildare). 


Little Bustard in Co. Cork.—In ‘ The Field’ of Dec. 8th I notice the 
reported occurrence of the Little Bustard, Otis tetrax, near Youghal, men- 
tioned by Mr. H. F. Allin. Will any of your readers kindly tell me 
whether this is the first of the species observed in this county. I do not 
find the name of this bird in Dr. Harvey's ‘ Fauna of Cork.’ By-the-by, 
has any naturalist continued observations or published a supplemental list 
since the publication of Dr. Harvey’s work ? — C. Donovan, sun. (Myross 
Wood, Leap, Co. Cork). 


Great Grey Shrike in Somersetshire.—A very good specimen of the 
Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor, was shot near Clevedon on Dec. 15th, 
1883. Although this may not be considered a very rare bird in this 
county, it is nevertheless far from common.—RocrErR Forp (Wraxall Court, 
Somerset). 

[Mr. Cecil Smith, in his ‘ Birds of Somersetshire,’ p. 46, remarks upon 
the rarity of this species in his county, and states that at the date of 
publication (1869) only two specimens had come under his uotice. In 
Cornwall also it is regarded as a rare winter visitant.— Eb. | 


Curious Variety of the Blue Tit.—Towards the end of November last 
a singular variety of the Blue Tit was captured near Oxford. Its colour is 
a uniform dull yellow all over, very similar to that of a Canary, but the 


70 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


species could be immediately recognised by its bill and feet, and the feathers 
being slightly elevated on its head. It has since been preserved for the 
Museum.—J. R. Earue (15, Norham Road, Oxford). 


The Plumage of the young Kestrel.— Having had ten or twelve young 
Kestrels, mostly from different districts, within the last four years, Tam 
pleased to be able to corroborate the fact, mentioned by Mr. F. C. Aplin in 
your December issue, that the young males have the blue tail, and are thus 
in the nest distinguishable from the females. Besides the authors men- 
tioned by Mr. Aplin, the Rev. F. O. Morris, in his ‘ British Birds,’ falls 
into the same error in stating that until after the first moult there is no 
difference in the plumage of the sexes.—Hueu Turner (Ipswich). 


Scaup Duck in Notts.—On December 1st I shot a female Scaup on 
Mansfield Reservoir ; it was quite alone, and, as this piece of water is about 
forty miles from the sea, I think its occurrence worth recording. This is 
only the third or fourth instance in which the Scaup has been killed in this 
county.—J. Wartaxer (Rainworth Lodge, Mansfield). 


Strange behaviour of Starlings. — On November 7th I shot at three 
Starlings feeding close together, but separated by a few feet from the flock 
to which they belonged. I should think I was distant from them about 
thirty yards. Of course at the report of my gun every bird, with the 
exception of the two I killed, took wing. ‘To my surprise, however, three 
birds turned back, and then the whole flock returned, and for about a minute 
hovered over the dead ones. They seemed anxious to settle, but did not 
do so, the nearest birds being about two feet above their dead companions ; 
they then took flight to return no more, though I waited to see what would 
be the result. Was it curiosity or compassion which impelled their return ? 
—W. Becuer (Hill House, Southwell, Notts). 


Hybrid Pheasants.—Early in December last a Mr. Smith, of Croydon, 
shot, near Woking, three hybrid Pheasants, a cross with the common fowl, 
which were sent for preservation to Charles Thorpe, of South Croydon, in 
whose shop I saw them in the flesh; two were males, nearly black in 
colour, and much larger than either parent, one weighing 4 1b. 9 0z., the 
other over 41b.; the third, a hen, resembled the Pheasants, and weighed 
2 1b. 14 oz.—Paiiie Crow ry (Croydon). 


Rare Birds in Lincolnshire.—Allow me to record the occurrence in 
Lincolnshire during the past year of the following birds, which have passed 
through my hands between January 1st and March 81st, 1883, and which 
have been preserved by Mr. Barber, taxidermist, of this city:—A male 
Osprey was killed at Hartsholme; it was in splendid plumage and 
condition, and had frequented the lake for several days previously. An 
adult female Kite was shot at Croft Bank, near Skegness; the stomach 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 71 


contained a mass of half-digested earthworms. Two female Peregrines 
were shot at Branston, one adult, the other in immature plumage; their 
stomachs contained one shrew mouse, three frogs, one toad, and a mass of 
frog, mouse, and lark remains—the mouse was nearly entire. The 
Common Buzzard was pretty numerous in this county last year: I had no 
less than twelve specimens in uand, and the majority were immature birds. 
Their stomachs contained nothing worth recording, but in one I found two 
pheasant chicks, two partridge chicks, two mice, and the remains of some 
frogs. I had one specimen of the Honey Buzzard (a female) from Gains- 
borough. A fine male Hoopoe was shot at North Hykeham; its stomach 
was full of lepidopterous larve, which I could not distinguish, as they 
were too much digested.—J. F’. Masnam (South Park, Lincoln). 


Curious Variety of the Guillemot.—A Guillemot was shot in Torbay 
by Mr. Drummond on November 27th, 1883, and was taken at once to the 
Torquay Natural History Society, where it was carefully examined by Mr. 
W. Else, the curator, an experienced taxidermist. It answers completely to 
Yarrell’s description of the Common Guillemot ( Uria troile), with the single 
exception that those parts of it which should have been black are a very 
light ash-grey, while the shafts of some of the small feathers in the said 
parts are brown. In short, looked at casually, the bird would be pronounced 
to be entirely white. As the irides were dark hazel it cannot be regarded 
as a case of albinism; nor does it appear to bea case of disease, for the 
bird was in good condition, aud weighed 386 0z. average, while an ordinary 
specimen of the Common Guillemot, also in good condition, shot in Torbay 
a few days after, weighed 34 oz. Yarrell makes no mention of such 
a variety. Jt is now in the Museum of the Torquay Natural History 
Society.— Wixtiam PENGELLY (Torquay). 


Curious Nesting-place of the Sand Martin.—Underneath a bridge of 
the London and North Western Railway, which crosses the canal at 
Oxford, we found a nest of the Sand Martin, containing one egg. The nest 
was placed in a hole between the bricks, and could not possibly have been 
excavated in any way by the old birds; —J. R. Harte (15 Norham Road, 
Oxford). 


Kite and Marsh Titmouse in the Pyrenees.—1 was at Eaux Bonnes, 
in the French Pyrenees, which is only a few miles from Argeles, for a few 
days in December, 1876. I had not any gun, but I scrutinised every bird 
with a pair of binoculars, and I noted two species—the Common Kite, Milvus 
regalis, and the Marsh Titmouse, Parus palustris—not met with by Mr. 
James Backhouse (p. 20). Of the latter bird I identified two examples, 
while of the former I saw eight or ten in one valley; and I remember that 
one passed the carriage so near as to make me long particularly for a gun.— 
J. H. Gurney, gun. (Hill House, Northrepps, Norwich). 


ae THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Unusual Variety of the Common Sandpiper.—Through the gift of 
Mr. Backhouse, jun., of York, I have been able to add to my collection of 
varieties a specimen of the Common Sandpiper with white wings, the rest 
of the plumage being of the ordinary colour.—J. WHITAKER. 


Recent occurrence of the Crane in Co. Mayo.—I am indebted to 
the kindness of Mr. John C. Hearne, of Killoshine Cottage, near Ballinrobe, 
for a specimen of the Crane, Grus communis, recently shot near Lough 
Mask. It was an immature male, and weighed in the flesh, when 
I received it on January 5th, eleven pounds. It measured, from bill to tail, 
3 ft. 64in.; from bill to longest toe, 4 ft. 7in.; spread of wings, 6 ft. 9 in. ; 
from carpal joint to end of longest primary, 1 ft. 10in. The beak was of a 
yellowish horn-colour ; the irides, which were narrow, were yellowish, as far 
as I could judge in the sunken condition of the orbits. There is no black 
nor white on the plumage of the head, which has a tinge of brownish buff, 
and the feathers of the back have brown mingled with the general grey 
colour of the plumage. ‘The tertial plumes are not developed. Messrs. 
Williams & Son, of Dublin, in whose hands I have placed it, inform 
me that the stomach contained some small freshwater snail-shells. 
Mr. Hearne wrote to me on the 2nd of January that he had shot it on 
the previous day near Lough Mask and the mountains. He saw it alight 
with another on a stubble-field. In a note by Dr. Harvey, referring to the 
Crane in the museum of Queen’s College, Cork, he states that it was 
“from Annah Bog, Kinsale, shot on the 17th November, 1851, by Com- 
mander Douglas.” He adds:—* Of four which were seen three were 
obtained; two, I understand both males, were sent to the Dublin Natural 
History Society. I know of no other instance of the occurrence of the bird 
in Ireland since the great frost of 1739, when one was taken in Cork 
Harbour.” Smith, in his ‘ Natural History of Waterford’ (p. 336), states 
that in 1739 Cranes were seen in the counties of Cork and Waterford. 
Two instances of its occurrence in Ireland within the present century are 
“ mentioned by Thompson (vol. ii. p. 132), and he quotes Geraldus Cam- 
breusis to show that in the days of that writer flocks of a hundred Cranes 
were frequently to be seen. See also ‘ Zoologist,’ 1881, p. 436. The two 
male birds mentioned above as shot in 1851 are now in the Museum of 
Science and Art, Dublin.—R. J. Ussuur (Cappagh, Co. Waterford). 


Breeding of Redshank in North Yorkshire.—On the 9th April last 
a pair of Redshanks made their appearance in a large marshy field here, 
and seemed to find abundance of food, as they could always be seen there. 
On the 13th May I found the nest of the birds in the centre of the 
enclosure. ‘The eggs, four in number, were snugly concealed in an over- 
hanging tuft of grass, and a few pieces of bent and grass only intervened 
between them and the ground: they were very richly marked specimens. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 73 


This is the first known instance of Redshanks breeding in this locality. 
A pair of these birds visited the same piece of land six years ago, but after 
staying a day or two they disappeared, and though they might have bred 
on some of the moors around, I never heard of anyone having noticed 
them.—TuHomas CARTER (Burton House, Masham). 


Snow Bunting in Somersetshire.—I have just seen a specimen of the 
Snow Bunting, which was picked up at Lodway about the middle of 
December last. It is a scarce bird in this county. The weather here 
(Jan. 22) is like April, and I hear that some Starlings have commenced 
building already.—RoceEr Forp (Wraxall Court, Nailsea, Somerset). 

{Mr. Cecil Smith, in his ‘ Birds of Somersetshire,’ has noticed the 
occurrence of the Snow Bunting at Weston-super-Mare. It occurs on the 
coasts of Devon and Cornwall in late autumn and winter, and ought not to 
be rare at the same season in Somersetshire.— ED. ] 


Common Sandpiper in Winter.— As the Common Sandpiper, Totanus 
hypoleucus, has hitherto, I believe, been considered only a summer visitant 
to England, the following instances of its remaining here through the 
winter may be interesting :—In 1879 a Common Sandpiper was brought 
to me that had been killed on the Severn near Leighton, on Nov. 27th. 
In 1882, I saw one near Leighton on Dec. 19th, and frequently afterwards 
up to the end of March. Mr. H. P. Shaw also shot one, near Cound, on 
Dec. 26th of that year. In 1883, Iagain saw one of these Sandpipers near 
Leighton on Dec. 8th, and one, probably the same bird, was shot there on 
the 21st of that month. The three that have been killed were all birds of 
the year, but in very good plumage. They were excessively wild and 
difficult to get near. The one shot by Mr. Shaw is now in my possession, 
and that killed on the 21st December is being preserved by Mr. Henry 
Shaw, of Shrewsbury. I may add that this Sandpiper is common in 
Shropshire in summer, usually arriving in April, and leaving again in 
September, or the early part of October. There is no doubt about the 
specific identity of the birds mentioned. They were very fat, and had 
evidently, from the bright state of their plumage, found plenty to eat. No 
symptoms of any previous wound could be found when skinning them, 
and they certainly were well able to fly—Wiuttiam E. Becxwirta (Eaton 
Constantine, Salop). 


Common Buzzard in Nottinghamshire.—One of these birds alighted 
near the hall-door at Fountain Dale, where it allowed itself to be caught. 
It was put in astable, but the next morning died, evidently from shot- 
wounds. It was in very poor condition, and its plumage was much draggled. 
The Buzzard is now a rare bird in these parts, and as it is at once shot or 
trapped when seen, I am afraid its breeding in any of the large woods here 
is now a thing of the past.—J. Wuiraxker (Rainworth Lodge, Notts). 

Tue Zoouocist.—F Es. 1884. G 


74 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Hybrid Canary and Serin Finch.—I have lately acquired the only 
hybrid between the Serin Finch and Canary that I know to have been 
reared in England. It is a male, and sings the Goldfinch-song with 
accuracy and spirit. It was reared in confinement, in June, 1883, by 
Mr. J. H. Verrall, of Lewes. It closely resembles a Serin, but the tail is 
longer, and there is a green shade about the plumage, strongest on the 
breast. The shape of the head and bill are exactly those of the Serin. It 
was bred between a male Serin and a yellow domesticated female Canary.— 
H. A. Macpuerson (Carlisle). 


Wryneck in Winter.—On the Ist of January, in Norfolk, I both saw 
and heard a Wryneck. Is not this a very uncommon occurrence, or has 
the Wryneck ever been known to stop through the winter? The bird 
uttered its note, so well known in spring time, only a few yards above my 
head, it being perched upon the tree under which I was passing. It 
sounded so loud that I looked up, expecting to see a Kestrel, and was very 
much surprised to see the Wryneck fly off—A. H. Urourr. 


Night Heron in Kent.—Ata meeting of the Zoological Society held 
on the 14th January last, the Secretary exhibited a specimen of the Night 
Heron, Nycticorax griseus, which had been shot during the previous month 
of December in Plumstead Marshes, Kent. See ‘ Handbook of British 
Birds,’ p. 56.—J. EK, Harrina. 


Little Gull and Hawfinch at Penzance.—Mr. Edward Vingoe has a 
specimen of the Little Gull, Larus minutus, lately shot by him on Lariggan 
Rocks, to the westward of Penzance. It is now with his father, Mr. W. H. 
Vingoe, who will set it up. The Hawfinch has been observed at Pendarves, 
near Camborne. The fact is worth notice, because the occurrence of this 
bird in West Cornwall is very rare.—THomas Cornisu (Penzance). 


Gulls in the Isle of Wight.—Mr. Rogers, from whom I heard this 
morning (Jan. 15th), says that neither the Kittiwake nor the Black-headed 
Gull breeds in the Freshwater cliffs, as stated in my note (p. 30). The fact 
is that Mr. Rogers's letters are seldom punctuated, and the two specimens 
referred to, though frequenting the cliffs, do not breed there. I shall 
therefore feel obliged by the correction of this statement.—H. Haprieip 
(High Cliff, Ventnor). 


FISHES. 


Sharks on the Coasts of Devon and Cornwall.—Since my notice of 
the appearance and capture of Sharks on the coasts of Devon and Cornwall 
in September last (Zool. 1833, p. 471), on my way to Polperro, through 
Looe, I called on Mr. Stephen Clogg, who told me of many more that had 
been caught on that part of the coast, among which were one or two 


NOTES AND QUERIES. wo 


Threshers, Squalus vulpes, and on my visiting the beach, after leaving his 
house, I saw an exceedingly fine Blue Shark, S. glaucus, which had been 
brought in during the night, moored to the quay, Mr. Clogg showed 
me the original water-colour drawing of the immense Basking Shark, 
S. maximus, 31 ft. 8in. long, that was taken in Cornwall many years since, 
and from which the figure in the late Mr. Couch’s work on British Fishes 
was copied. I do not remember Sharks ever having been more plentiful on 
our coasts than during the past autumn.—Joun Garcomsx (Stonehouse). 


Ray’s Bream in Cornwall.—Mr. F. W. Millett, of Marazion, has 
handed me a very fine specimen of Ray’s Bream, Brama Rayjii, which was 
taken by him, on the 29th November last, on the beach between Penzance 
and Marazion. As in the case of all previous specimens obtained, this 
fish was found dead and washing on the beach at the edge of the waves.— 
Tuomas Cornisu (Penzance). 


CRUSTACEA. 

Dwarf Swimming Crab at Penzance.—On January 15th T obtained 
a second specimen of the Dwarf Swimming Crab, Portunus priscillus, and, 
singularly enough, I found it where I found my first—on a doorstep in the 
middle of Penzance. I have no doubt that it was rejected from his basket 
by a dealer in sprats caught in St. Ives Bay, who had just passed on. If 
80, it shows that the crab must have been swimming with the sprats when 
they were taken in a seine-net. It is not by any means a common crab in 
the seas of West Cornwall. After watching for it for twenty-five years 
I have only obtained two specimens which I have identified, and seen one 
living crab, which I believe to have been P. pusillus, in a rock-pool of salt 
water at Prussia Cove, but, as I failed to capture it, my identification is not 
complete.—Tuomas Cornisu (Penzance). 


MEMOIR OF THE LATE PROFESSOR SCHLEGEL. 


On January 17th, at the age of 79, died Professor Hermann 
Schlegel, for five and twenty years Director of the Royal Museum 
at Leiden, and for nearly fifty years one of the most indefatigable 
zoologists the world has ever seen—a man whose name is known 
not only throughout Europe, but in every part of the globe 
where the literature of zoology is studied or read. 

It would indeed be difficult to point to any one who, as a 
Professor, has done more for students than he has done, for his 
teachings have not been imparted merely to those in his own 


76 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


country, but have been acknowledged and appreciated by students 
of all nations. 

The reputation which he has enjoyed, and the respect which 
he has justly earned, have been due to various causes; partly 
to his natural ability and command of languages, partly to his 
method of study, and partly again to the splendid opportunities 
which he enjoyed for prosecuting his studies in a museum 
which, mainly through his instrumentality, has become one of 
the finest in Europe. 

By the agency of well-trained Dutch collectors in Japan, the 
Dutch Indies, and various islands of the Malay Archipelago, the 
most valuable collections found their way to his study, and were 
systematically examined and described, and eventually arranged 
in the wonderful Museum at Leiden, of which he was appointed 
Director in 1858, on the death of his predecessor in that office, 
the eminent naturalist, Temminck. 

No collections could have been turned to better account, for 
they furnished materials for the most important memoirs on the 
zoology of countries previously little explored by zoologists, and 
led Prof. Schlegel to acquire the comprehensive knowledge and 
sound views of classification which were subsequently made 
manifest in so many of his published memoirs. 

Perhaps no work relating to the zoology of the East (unless 
it be Jerdon’s ‘Birds of India’) has been more frequently 
consulted than Temminck and Schlegel’s ‘Fauna Japonica’ ; 
while no Museum Catalogues (if we except those of our own 
British Museum) have been found more useful by students than 
the eight volumes known as the ‘Museum des Pays Bas’ put 
forth by the untiring industry of Professor Schlegel. His 
appreciation of a large series of every species collected for him 
was well known, and went far to establish that confidence which 
was expressed in the opinions so often asked of him by fellow- 
workers. The acquisition of so large a number of specimens 
of each species as he possessed, collected at different seasons 
and in various localities, prevented him from falling into the too 
common error of making new species out of mere examples of 
individual variation, while it enabled him at the same time to 
note and fully describe the limits of variation in any given 
species of which a sufficient number of examples were available 
for examination. 


ee 


‘See er 


MEMOIR OF THE LATE PROF. SCHLEGEL. 77 


One of his earliest works was his ‘ Essai sur la physiognomie 
des Serpens,’ which appeared in 1837, in two vols. 8vo, with a 
folio Atlas. This may be said to be the first really scientific 
work on Serpents ever published, and, although since that date 
ereat advancement has naturally been made in the science of 
Ophiology, this work still remains a monument to the learning 
and zoological acumen of its author. 

In 1844 appeared his ‘ Revue Critique des Oiseaux d’Europe,’ 
in French and German, a most useful book in its day, and one 
which is still quoted with approbation. 

Ten years later came his ‘ Vogels van Nederland’ (of which 
another edition appeared in 1878), and in 1857 his useful 
‘Handleiding der Dierkunde,’ in two vols. 8vo, with folio Atlas. 

His intimate knowledge of the birds of prey, as exemplified 
in ‘Die Europiischen Tag-Raubvogel’ and his ‘Traité de 
Fauconnerie,’ was universally recognised; the last-named folio 
volume, illustrated by Joseph Wolf with coloured figures, life- 
size, of all the hawks used by falconers, being justly regarded 
as the finest work on falconry produced in modern times. 

Quite as important as the ‘ Fauna Japonica’ or the ‘ Vogels 
yan Nederlandsch Indie,’ published in 1863, are the ‘ Recherches 
sur la Faune de Madagascar,’ in which, with the aid of those 
observant travellers, Pollen and Van Dam, the most valuable 
additions were made to our knowledge of the Great African 
Island, whence many rare species were described and figured. 

Not to mention the numerous essays and memoirs which 
Schlegel’s busy pen contributed, in several languages, to various 
zoological journals during his long scientific career, we may 
refer to his latest publication—which happens to be in English— 
‘Notes from the Leiden Museum,’ a useful periodical which 
has found much favour with zoologists in this country. Our 
readers may remember that an interesting article by Professor 
Schlegel ‘‘On the Winter Nest of the Harvest Mouse” was 
reprinted from these ‘Notes’ in ‘The Zoologist’ for June, 1881. 

For some months before his death, his friends had observed 
with concern his failing health and fading eyesight, which 
gradually put a stop to that active daily routine in which he 
delighted, but which nevertheless did not deter him from visiting 
to the last the Museum in which he had so long and ably worked, 
and in which his interest seemed as keen as ever. 


78 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Could his friend Prince C. L. Bonaparte have been now 
amongst us, what a tribute would he not have paid to the 
memory of one whose fame he long ago predicted, when, in 
that elegant Latin preface to his ‘ Conspectus Generum Avium,’ 
which he dedicated to Schlegel in 1850, he referred to the bright 
expectations of a career which have since been so nobly realised. 
—J. HE. H. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES: 


LinNEAN Society or Lonpon. 


January 17, 1884.—Sir Jonn Luszocx, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

Mr. A. Pennington was elected a Fellow of the Society. 

A presumed portrait, in oil, of Linneus was exhibited on behalf of 
Mr. F. Piercy. 

A paper was read by Mr. A. D. Michael, ‘‘ On the ‘ Hypopus’ question, 
or life-history of certain Acarina.” From a careful series of experiments 
and observations he concludes that true Hypopi are not adult animals, 
but only a stage, or heteromorphous nymphs, of Tyroglyphus and allied 
genera. Nor do all individuals become Hypopi, which latter stage takes 
place during the second nymphal ecdysis. It seems a provision of nature 
for the distribution of the species irrespective of adverse conditions. 
Hypopi are not truly parasitic, nor confine themselves to any particular 
insect. A new adult form described is called by the author Disparipes 
bombi, and he believes there are other species of the genus Donnadieus, 
bee-parasites admitted to be adults, though it is uncertain if they are 
identical with Dufour’s Trichodactylus. The following specimens were 
exhibited under the microscope in illustration of the paper :—Disparipes 
bombi, inert fully grown nymph, showing the adult female fully formed 
inside; also male, female, and latter from under side, of the new species 
D. bombi.—J. Muniz. 


ZootoaicaL Society oF Lonpon. 


December 18, 1888.—Prof. W. H. Frower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the 
Society's Menagerie during the month of November, and called special 
attention to a pair of Gold Pheasants, presented November 10th by Sir 


——— 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 79 


Henry W. Tyler, and remarkable for the hen bird having gradually assumed 
the (now nearly complete) dress of the male; and to a young pair of singular 
Deer of Mantchuria called Pére David's Deer, Cervus Davidianus, purchased 
November 16th. 

Dr. F. Leuthner read an abstract of a memoir which he had prepared 
on the Odontolabani, a subfamily of the coleopterous family Lucanide, 
remarkable for the polymorphism of the males, while the females remained 
very similar. The males were stated to exhibit four very distinct phases 
of development in their mandibles, which the author proposed to term 
“‘priodont,” “amphiodont,” ‘ mesodont,” and “ telodont.” These forms 
were strongly marked in some species; but in others were connected by 
the insensible gradations, and had been treated by the earlier authors as 
distinct species. The second part of the memoir contained a monograph of 
the three known genera which constitute the group Odontolabini. 

Mr. EK. B. Poulton read a memoir on the structure of the tongue in 
the Marsupialia. The tongues of species of nearly all the important groups 
of this subclass were described in detail. It was found possible to classify 
the tongues in three divisions. Of these Hulmaturus was the type of 
the lowest, Phalangista of the intermediate, and Perameles of the most 
advanced division. 

Mr. J. Wood-Mason read a paper on the Embiida, a little-known family 
of insects, on the structure and habits of which he had succeeded in making 
some investigations during his recent residence in India. He came to the 
conclusion that the Hmbiid@ undoubtedly belong to the true Orthoptera, and 
are one of the lowest terms of a series formed by the families Acridioidea, 
Locustide, Gryllide, and Phasmatide. 

Mr. G. A. Boulenger read an account of a collection of Frogs made 
at Yurimaguas, Huallaga River, Northern Peru, by Dr. Hahnel. The 
collection contained examples of eighteen species, eight of which were 
regarded as new to science. 

Mr. W. F. R- Weldon read a paper on some points in the anatomy of 
Phenicopterus and its allies. An aceount was given of the air-cells of the 
Flamingo, which were shown to differ from those of Lamellirostres, and to 
agree with those of Storks—(1) in having the prebronchial air-cell much 
divided, (2) in the feeble development of the posterior intermediate cell, 
and (3) in the great size of the abdominal cell. The pseudepiploon was 
also shown to differ from that of Lamellirostres, and to agree with that of 
Storks, in extending back to the cloaca. A detailed comparison between 
the muscles, especially those of the hind limb, gave the same results. The 
larynx, however, being Auserine, and the skull intermediate, the position 
expressed by Huxley’s term Amphimorphe was considered fully justifiable. 

Mr. Sclater read a paper, in which he gave the description of six 
apparently new species of South-American Passeres. 


80 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


January 15, 1884.—E. W. H. Hoxpsworrg, Esq., F.Z.S., in the chair. 

The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the 
Society's Menagerie during the month of December, 1883. 

The Secretary exhibited, on the part of Mr. H. Whitely, an immature 
specimen of the Night Heron, Nycticoraa griseus, which had been shot in 
Plumstead Marshes, Kent, in December last. 

A communication was read from Mr. J. C. O’Halloran, Chief Com- 
missioner and Police Magistrate for Rodriguez, accompanying a specimen 
of a large Lizard found only in that island, and very rare there. ‘The 
specimen had been identified by Mr. Boulenger as Phelsuma Newtoni, 
belonging to the family Geckotide. 

Sir Joseph Fayrer exhibited some additional specimens of the horns of 
Deer gnawed by other Deer, in confirmation of previous remarks on the 
subject. 

Canon Tristram exhibited and made remarks upon some specimens of 
species of the genus Pachycephala, which appeared to have been ignored or 
wrongly united to other species in a recently published volume of the 
‘ Catalogue of Birds of the British Museum.’ 

Mr. W. F. R. Weldon read a paper in which he gave a description of 
the placenta in Tetraceros quadricornis. The author showed that this 
placenta is iutermediate between that of Moschus and that of the typical 
Bovide, having few cotyledons with diffuse vascular ridges between them. 
Associated with this primitive character is a uniserial psalterium. 

A second paper by Mr. Weldon contained some notes on the anatomy 
of a rare American Monkey, Callithria gigot, which had recently died in 
the Society's Gardens. The author gave a description of the external 
characters, and the principal viscera were compared with those of C. moloch 
and of Mycetes. 

A communication was read from Mr. E. J. Miers, giving an account of 
a collection of Crustacea from the Mauritius, which had been forwarded to 
the British Museum by M. V. de Robillard. In the collection was an 
example of a new species of Callianassa, proposed to be called C. Martensi. 

Mr. Francis Day read a paper on races and hybrids among the 
Salmonida@, and exhibited a series of specimens of young Salmon and 
hybrid Salmonide reared at Sir J. Gibson Maitland’s Howietown Fish 
Establishment. 

Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell read a paper on the generic position and relations 
of Echinanthus tumidus of Tenison-Woods, from the Australian Seas, 
which he showed to belong to a different genus, proposed to be called 
Anomalanthus.—P. L. Scrater, Secretary. 


7D 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


mou Vil.) - MARCH, 1884. [No. 87. 


THE RED-DEER OF EXMOOR. 


THosE who have ever given the subject a thought must some- 
times have wondered what there is peculiar about that corner of 
the West of England which continues to harbour the wild Red- 
deer when no other part of England affords it shelter. The fact 
is that the country around Exmoor has not changed with the 
times, but has remained what it is for ages, a vast uncultivated 
hilly moorland, a land of mist and heather, resembling nothing so 
much as a Scotch deer-forest moved south, and therefore as 
attractive to deer now as it must have been centuries ago when 
King John hunted in Somersetshire, and flew his jerfalcons at 
the cranes on its wild wastes. 

The moors of the Exe river are not flat stretches of marsh- 
land, but hills of great height, covered with heather. The term 
mountains may almost be applied to them; numbers of the 
ridges are twice the height of Beachy Head, or the Dyke at | 
Brighton; Dunkery Beacon is three times as high. But the 
conformation of the country is such that on entering it the 
elevations do not seem very unusual, for as it is all high and 
raised, the eye has nothing with which to contrast it. When on 
the moor it appears an immense table-land, intersected by deep 
narrow valleys, called coombes, at the bottom of which a stream 
always flows. At some distance apart are ranges of hills rising 
gradually, and with gentle slopes above the general level of the 
moor. The curves appear so moderate and the ascent so easy, 

ZOOLOGIST.—MARCH, 1884. H 


82 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


that there can be no difficulty in walking or riding over them. 
But on going towards hills which seem only a mile or two away 
the table-land sinks in a deep coombe, which has to be descended 
and reascended, and the sides are high and steep. Presently 
another coombe intervenes, and after five or six miles’ walking 
very little progress seems to have been made. At last the slope 
of the hill is reached, and has now expanded into a mountainous 
ascent, not to be overcome without much labour and more time. 

The country is in fact very deceptive, much wider and much 
more difficult than it looks. The expanse confuses the eye, and 
will not allow it to judge distances. The illusion is assisted by 
the smooth outline of the moors without a fence for miles 
together, and without a visible tree; for the covers are in the 
coombes, and there are few or no copses on the hills. Nothing 
breaks up the surface and measures the view. Heather covers 
the largest part of the ground, which is never ploughed or sown, 
and where there are no flower-grown meads. One vast breadth 
of open, wild, and treeless country reaches in every direction, 
and it is at once obvious why the deer have remained at large 
since the earliest times, for the land is in the same condition 
as it was centuries ago. The plough has not touched it, and 
civilization has not come near. 

The questions naturally arise, Why has Exmoor remained in 
this condition uncultivated for so many centuries? Why does it 
still defy agriculture and improvement? ‘These questions have 
been asked and answered in a very pleasantly-written volume* 
recently published by Mr. Richard Jefferies, the author of ‘ Wild 
Life in a Southern County,’ ‘The Gamekeeper at Home,’ and 
other works, which have been already noticed in the pages of 
this Journal. According to this author, three impedimentary 
causes present themselves—the nature of the soil, the cost of 
labour, and the character of the climate. 

The soil, he says, consists of a black friable peat, in some 
places deep, in others shallow. Under a hot sun it becomes dry, 
but during the winter, and indeed for the greater part of the year, 
it is soft and watery. Bogs are numerous, gnd springy places 
that are almost bogs. Labour must first be expended in clearing 


* «Red Deer,’ by Richard Jefferies. Post 8vo, pp. 207, London: Long- 
mans, Green & Co. 1884, 


THE RED-DEER OF EXMOOR. 83 


the surface of heather, whortleberries, and rough grass. Lime 
must then be carried up, and the cost of haulage equals the price 
of the material. When ploughed and laid down to grass, unless 
broken up from time to time, the ground will revert and yield 
nothing but rushes. Acres upon acres may be seen covered with 
rushes where land has been reclaimed, and has reverted to waste. 

The deer not only lie in the heather, but find abundant shelter 
in the copses which skirt the coombes. Of late years, owing to 
the protection afforded them, or rather to the freedom from 
molestation which they enjoy through the liberal and sportsman- 
like feeling of the west country farmers, who like to see them 
hunted legitimately, but not poached, the deer have notably 
increased in numbers. A few years ago, if seven or eight were 
killed in a season it was as much as was expected. Once eleven 
were killed, and it was thought that such a number would never 
be reached again; but in the season of 1881-82 no less than a 
hundred and one deer were killed, the slot of the hundredth being 
mounted in silver, and preserved at the huntsman’s house. He 
reckons that there are fifty stags in the district, and some two 
hundred and fifty deer of all sizes. But, besides these, there 
must be many more outlying in the broad tract of country they 
now roam over. 

They are no longer limited to the moors—they roam over a 
region of which Exmoor forms only a corner, and which is thus 
described by Mr. Jefferies :—‘‘ With a pencil,” he says, ‘“ draw a 
line on the map from Bridgewater to near Ilfracombe, from 
Ilfracombe down to Exeter, and again from Exeter up to Bridge- 
water, enclosing a triangle, each side of which on the map would 
be about fifty miles, but to ride twenty more, on account of the 
irregular ground. It is not to be supposed that every acre of this 
region is visited by the deer, but, either while wandering at will, 
or running before the hounds, it is crossed and recrossed, and 
marked by their ‘slot’ or footprints. They have been killed at 
the very gate of Exeter city, and recently Tiverton has become a 
pivot of the hunt. 

“This country contains a large part of Somerset and Devon, 
Exmoor and part of Dartmoor, the Dunkery Hills, and the steep 
Quantocks, besides numerous minor ranges. 

“The moors of the Exe, the original home of the Deer, are 
but a corner. There are vast stretches of fertile land in the 


84 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


valleys and plains, cultivated to the highest degree, innumerable 
meadows, each with its thick hedges and trees; so that with 
the copses and covers they resemble woodlands. The triangle 
above described has within it not only moors and hills, but good 
farming land, a city, and many large towns. The paths of the 
deer wind round about the rich and enclosed districts, but if 
chased they frequently go straight across them. 

“So wide a space may more aptly be called a country than a 
district, and it is strictly correct to say that the Red-deer are now 
local. They are the Red-deer of the West of England.” 

The mode of hunting them as pursued in Devon and Somerset 
has been so well described by Collyns in his ‘ Chace of the Wild Red 
Deer,’ published in 1862, that we need not dilate here upon it, or 
follow Mr. Jefferies over this portion of the subject, with which he 
is evidently less familiar. His description, however, of the habits 
of deer (either as observed by himself or gathered from the hunts- 
man) is extremely interesting, and developes some characteristic 
traits which would have escaped an ordinary observer. 

Stags, he says, carry their necks perpendicular; hinds hold 
them aslant. In jumping the walls of the country, made of loose 
flat stones, the stags leap to the top, which is always broad, and 
then down the other side; hinds regularly climb them, getting 
their fore feet on the top of the wall, and digging their hind hoofs 
into the earth and loose stone, and making a sort of step. 

The stag drops his antlers in March; but few of these cast 
horns are found compared to the number that must be shed, and 
those that are found are more often single horns than pairs. 
Certainly the extent of the woods is very great, but they are 
traversed by gamekeepers and others; the moors are crossed by 
shepherds; and all keep a sharp look-out for horns, which are 
valuable. 

Mr. Jefferies thinks it possible that the stag may drag 
brambles or branches over the dropped antlers if they chance to 
grow at hand, but he makes no allusion to the well-known fact 
that a great many of shed antlers are devoured by the deer 
themselves, which have been often disturbed while in the act of 
gnawing them. 

In the West of England, he tells us that a good pair of 
antlers will fetch £5, and as much as £10 has been given for a 
pair with a remarkable number of points. These prices show 


EE ES ee ee 


THE RED-DEER OF EXMOOR. 85 


that it is not so easy to find a pair of dropped antlers as might be 
imagined. Many of the horns sold are odd antlers dropped by 
different stags; these are fitted together, and generally to a hind’s 
head. The stag’s head is generally claimed by the master of the 
hounds, consequently few genuine heads of the red stag come into 
the market. The weight of the stag varies: tweve score is a good 
weight; some are not more than nine, but the huntsman has 
killed at fourteen score or 280 pounds. 

On the subject of the food of Red-deer Mr. Jefferies has 
much to tell us. They will have the best of everything, he says, 
and roaming about at night select the meadow with the most 
succulent grass. They enter orchards, too, in spring, for the 
long grass that grows between the apple-trees, and again in 
autumn for the apples, of which they are very fond. Turnips are 
a favourite food, and leaving the moors they wander miles down 
into the cultivated fields to find them. The stag, as he walks 
across the turnip-field, bites a turnip, draws it from the ground, 
throws it over his shoulders, the jerk detaching the fragment he 
holds betweenhis teeth, and which is the only portion he touches. 
He takes but one bite at each turnip, casting the remainder aside 
in this way, and his course can be traced from one side of the 
field to the other by the turnips pulled and thrown away after his 
snatch. In this disdainful manner he damages far more than he 
actually eats. Hinds eat the turnip down to the ground as a 
sheep would. 

A herd of stags getting into a turnip-field will eat broad 
patches and paths about it. In a small field they may destroy 
every root. Potatoes they are very fond of, and get at them by 
sweeping away the earth with their fore feet. Carrots, too, attract 
them, and cabbages. ‘They will strip a garden of cabbages in no 
time as clean as possible. But perhaps the greatest injury is done 
to wheat. Deer visit the wheat-fields at two seasons. They come 
as soon as the green leaf shoots up, and nibble it, and are 
especially fond of it just before the ear appears, when it is full of 
succulent juice. They return again when the ears are ripe, and 
lying down in the daytime, when the wheat at its height conceals 
them, they will eat and destroy many pounds’ worth of grain 
before they are discovered and driven away. 

The damage they do to crops is so extensive that without the 
goodwill of the farmers, stag-hunting could not last a single 


86 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


season. Nothing could demonstrate more thoroughly the enthu- 
siasm which hunting the Red-deer inspires in those who follow it 
than the fact that the farmers over such an immense breadth of 
country should unanimously agree to endure these losses. Com- 
pensation is of course paid, but even compensation may fail to 
recoup. Unhesitating goodwill alone can explain the continuance 
of stag-hunting under such circumstances. Only the noblest 
sport of all—the chase of the wild Red-deer—could excite a whole 
country to such generous enthusiasm. 

Those who are unacquainted with this part of the West of 
England would do well to obtain and read Mr. Jefferies’ book, 
from which we have quoted. His vivid description of the appear- 
ance and habits of the Red-deer as studied in its last English 
haunt, with all the natural surroundings which go to charm the 
eye of an observer, cannot fail to interest even those who do not 
profess to be naturalists. 


THE NIGHTJAR. 


By F. Noreate. 


Tur few facts which I have noted in my diary, with some 
additional notes from memory, and from others who have had 
greater opportunities for observing this species than I have 
had, refer only to the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, from 
1859 to 1888. The wild haunts, crepuscular habits, strange 
noises, and the vulgar errors as to the food of this bird, haye 
made it a great favourite with me. 

In Norfolk the eggs are commonly thought to be those of the 
Cuckoo by the non-ornithological birds’-nesters, many of whom 
recognise the churring song of the Nightjar as ‘“‘ the noise of the 
scissor-grinder,” without knowing that the two oval stone-like 
eggs which they see on the bare ground, without the slightest 
vestige of a nest, are laid by the same bird. 

I need hardly allude to its habit of squatting lengthwise 
along a bough (rather than across the bough), and I am probably 
unable to describe accurately to those who have not heard it the 
churring or jarring song, which reminds me somewhat of the 
croaking of frogs. This churring is usually uttered from a bough, 


THE NIGHTJAR. 87 


and is continuous for many minutes, occasionally altering in 
tone suddenly. The call-note is perhaps even more difficult to 
describe. It is a single note like that produced by twanging a 
short bit of india-rubber cord when it is tightly strained, or 
a metallic tongue fixed by one end in a vice. This note is 
uttered on the wing at intervals of a few seconds, as also the 
occasional clapping noise, which seems to be made by a single 
stroke of the wings clapped together. 

The Nightjar arrives in Norfolk and Suffolk by the second 
week in May, or possibly earlier. On the 11th of May, 1882, 
I heard it on Sparham Heath, in the county of Norfolk. On 
the 16th of May, 1883, I saw and heard one at Downham, in 
Suffolk. On the 25th, at the same place, I saw many flying 
about in the evening, three or four being in sight at once. 

The two following dates were given me by two gamekeepers, 
and I have reason to think they are correct:—Nightjar at 
Heydon, May 10th, 1876, and at Taverham, May 18th, 1879. 

The following dates are for Nightjars’ eggs, all found or seen 
by me in the above-named counties, between 1863 and 1883. 


May 25. In Hockering I saw one egg, which had been taken. 
,» 30. Two eggs brought from Lyng, and two found yesterday. 
June 2. Two fresh eggs in game shop in Brandon (laid some days ago ?). 
» 7. Two, shown to me, but found some days ago. 
5, 8. Six, like all the above named, possibly laid some days before 
I saw them; four of these six were sat on. 
» 9. Two; a fresh-laid clutch. 
», 11. Six. Three clutches, nearly fresh, sat on, and much sat on. 
Between June 11th and 28th, inclusive, I saw fifteen clutches 
(twenty-nine eggs altogether), in Downham, Herringfleet, 
Cawston, Lyng, Sparham, Hockering, and Heydon. 
July 5. Two, amongst green brakes in the Swannington sheep-walk. 
» 7. One fresh-laid egg in Bluestone Wilderness. 
» 8. Two, nearly hatched, at Drayton Drury. 
,», 18. Two, nearly hatched; one was chipped 
», 14. One, at Sparham, on the Heath. 
» 27. Two, fresh-laid, at Hockering. 
Aug. 4. Two; one was clear and probably rotten, the other much incubated. 


I think the last-named was possibly a third clutch and a 
failure, or, supposing the bird had been robbed of eggs earlier in 
the season, this was probably a fourth or fifth clutch. I have 


88 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


reason to think, however, that this bird had not been robbed 
this year. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., and Capt. Feilden were with 
me when we found this clutch, and Mr. Gurney was also with 
me at the same place, on the 19th of the previous month, when 
we saw three or four young Nightjars not only flying well, but 
pretty shy for young birds. 

On heaths and in open country away from trees, the Nightjar 
chooses a small bare spot of earth where there are rounded 
bleached stones much resembling the eggs in size and colour. 
The two eggs are often different in size, shape, and colour, 
and, when hatched, one young bird is sometimes about 
double the size of the other. This irregularity tends to make 
both eggs and young less easy to find. 

I will now give a table of dates for young and late Nightjars 
in Norfolk and Suffolk, all observed by me, except where other 
authority is given. 


June 28. Mr. F. D. Wheeler found two, nearly able to fly. 
», 29. Two nearly feathered ; old bird sitting on them. 
July 2. Two at Drayton Drury. 
» 18. Two strong fliers flew with mother from two eggs. 
», 14. Two downy ones about three days old. 
» 17. Nightjars hatched at Heydon. 
» 19. Two just hatched from eggs found with former brood. 
,, 19. Three or four strong fliers, rather shy for young birds. 
Aug. 6. Two downy ones. I saw nine or ten Nightjars flying the night 
before. 
» 7. Two and their mother, and a young one of former brood, all flew 
up from within a few feet of spot where they were hatched. 
, 14. I saw Nightjars at Drayton, possibly old birds. 
Sept.15. Three dead Nightjars in a shop in Norwich, “brought in on 
Saturday” previous. 
Oct. 14. My brother-in-law, Mr. J. E. Cremer, saw a Nightjar in Sparham. 


I feel quite sure that several years ago, when shooting in 
turnips in Sparham, I saw a Nightjar on the wing, but I can 
find no note of it in my diary. It was probably in September, 
possibly later. 

On the 5th of August, at Beeston Regis, I shot a female 
Nightjar which was hawking about on the wing, in company 
with eight or nine other birds of the same species, and apparently 


eFa- 


THE NIGHTJAR. 89 


in good health. On skinning it I took from its stomach several 
large moths, and found, living, in its eyes and brain, twenty-four 
round greyish white parasitic worms, each about half an inch 
long, and spirally coiled up. The following day I found one 
young Nightjar, about the size of a Starling, and without 
feathers. An old Nightjar fluttered away from it along the 
ground, apparently carrying something, about the size of the 
young one, in its mouth. On returning to the spot I found 
the old bird and two young ones. ‘Two or three days afterwards 
I looked in vain for them, and suppose the old one had removed 
them both. 

Mr. Baker, the Cambridge taxidermist, in 1875, told me 
he was once walking with the late Mr. Clough Newcome at 
Feltwell, when they found a clutch of two Nightjar’s eggs. 
Baker touched one, and wished to take them, but left them till 
he should return that way. Mr. Newcome said the old one 
would remove them after the handling. When they returned 
the eggs were gone. 

On the other hand, last year when a Nightjar was hatching 
and rearing a second clutch, with the assistance (or very close 
company) of two older young ones, near my house, she was 
visited and disturbed day after day for weeks, but I could never 
see that the young were shifted more than a yard or two; 
possibly they crawled that distance when hungry to meet the 
mother, for they are much more active with their feet than they 
appear to be before they are disturbed. After the young were 
able to fly a few yards they returned to about the same spot 
where they were hatched. My attention was called to this double 
brood on the 18th of July, when a gamekeeper stated he had 
seen two young “ Night-hawks”’ about a fortnight ago, and told 
me where to find them, which I did the same day. Three 
Nightjars flew up from the same spot. The two young ones 
were greyer and lighter in colour than the old bird, which 
feigned lameness considerably, fluttering along the ground, and 
often alighting very near me. 

On looking at the place whence they arose, I found two 
Nightjar’s eggs much sat on; one was chipped. The next day 
I saw the old female and two young ones fly up together from 
the two eggs. The same day, at a few hundred yards distance, 
I found another female Nightjar sitting on two downy young 


90 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


ones, about three days old. On the 19th I inspected the double 
brood, and again saw the old one fly off from two very small 
downy young ones, the eggs being hatched and the egg-shells 
lying near. I did not see the fledged young of the former brood 
on the 19th, but the next day one of them flew up with the 
mother from the newly-hatched young ones. 

On the 7th of August I saw the old one and the two last- 
hatched young ones fly from the spot where they were hatched, 
or within a yard or two of it, for they bad shifted their home a 
few feet now and then. I also saw a fourth bird—evidently one 
of the older young ones of the former brood—fly from a spot 
about three yards from the others. 

I never saw more than two Nightjar’s eggs in one clutch, 
but have heard of a brood of three young ones found, about the 
the year 1868, by an old woodman, who showed me where he 
found them. He was well acquainted with the bird and its 
eggs and habits. Another man, in 1877, told me he had once 
seen three ‘‘ Night-hawk’s”’ eggs in one clutch. 

On the 29th of June, 1876, in Hockering Wood, I saw a 
female Nightjar sitting on her two young ones, which were 
nearly feathered. The old bird on my approach remained 
motionless, except that it closed—or nearly closed—its large 
eyes, or at any rate that eye which I could see, as if it was 
aware that its eyes were the most conspicuous part of it. 

All the newly-fledged Nightjars seen by me are of a lighter 
and more uniform brownish grey colour than the old birds, and 
do not exhibit the white spots which are so visible on the tail 
and wings of old males. 

In woods of oak or mixed timber, the Nightjar usually 
chooses a small bare spot of ground in the “low fell”—i.e. 
where the brushwood had been cut a year or two ago and the 
stumps are growing bushy again. In such places there are 
many “‘spoll-heaps” and scattered “ spolls” on the rough butt- 
ends which have been chopped off from the felled underwood 
in making hurdle-stakes, bobbin-wood, and hoop-wood. These 
“spolls” vary from six inches to about eighteen inches in 
length, and they are so irregular in shape and colour that it 
is no easy matter to identify a sitting Nightjar amongst them. 

On open treeless heaths the barest soil is chosen, such as 
where a few turfs have been cut, and one or two short rotten 


a 


THE NIGHTJAR. 91 


stumps of furze have been left lying among the bleached 
pebbles. Here the bird resembles the bits of dead furze-wood, 
and the eggs are very like the pebbles. 

I generally find the Nightjar most abundant in such places 
as the pine woods in the Breck District, especially where a large 
extent of heath has been overgrown by self-sown Scotch pines 
scattered in clumps, with plenty of open spaces and single 
isolated trees. Here I have found three clutches in about two 
hours; in all the eggs were on bare earth or amongst dead 
pine-needles and old cones, just under the outer ends of the 
lowest boughs of large isolated specimens of Pinus sylvestris. 
There was also plenty of pine-bark and bits of dead wood lying 
about, and matching very well, in colour and shape and size, 
the sitting Nightjar. I searched in vain where the trees were 
growing in numbers close together. 

Although the evening is usually the active time for the 
Nightjar, I heard one on the 12th of July, 1874, “jarring” at 
4 p.m., and a few days previously I heard one in the early 
morning before breakfast. Gamekeepers in the Breck District 
(in both counties) shoot Nightjars because they make a noise at 
night. I fancy Pheasants are not troubled with nerves so much 
as the gamekeepers seem to be, and that neither Nightjars nor 
Nightingales (whose eggs are destroyed for the same reason) are 
likely to spoil the night’s rest of any kind of game. 

The foregoing notes show that the Nightjar arrives here in 
the second week in May or earlier, and lays its two eggs as 
early as the last week in May, and as late as the first week in 
July, or later, as some of those mentioned were found unhatched 
in the first week in August; that its young are hatched pretty 
early in June, and are nearly able to fly by the 28th of that 
month; that it occasionally raises more than one brood, one 
brood apparently assisting in keeping the eggs of a later brood 
warm; that the late brood fly well by the first week in August ; 
and, lastly, that the Nightjar remains here till the middle of 
September, and has been seen on the wing as late as the middle 
of October. 

I should be glad to know if the Nightjar usually stays later 
in the South of England than it does here; if there is any 
proof of its carrying its young or eggs; and if it ever lays more 
than two eggs in one clutch. 


$2 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THE ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE AND 
NEIGHBOURHOOD. 


By tue Rey. Henry H. Surarer, F.Z.5., 
Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union. 


A mAnuaL of the Ornithology of any county, in order to 
be exhaustive, must necessarily be to a considerable extent a 
compilation. Human life is too short for any one man to pass, 
in each part of a tract of country so large as an English county, 
a length of time sufficient to enable him to write a memoir of its 
Ornithology—from his own observations alone—with that fulness 
which is demanded of all such publications now-a-days. 

It is in the hope of being of some small assistance, in the event 
of such a work being undertaken by Northumbrian ornithologists, 
that the present notes are now put together. They are merely a 
digest of the contents of such of my ornithological note-books as 
relate to the neighbourhood of Riding Mill; these notes were 
accumulated during a close and pretty constant observation of 
the fauna of that neighbourhood from the year 1868 to 1883; 
and nearly all the items inserted are the results of my own 
observations alone. 

The sequence of the birds has been decided by Dresser’s 
‘List of European Birds’ (London, 1881). 

Missel Thrush, Turdus viscivorus, L., and Song Thrush, 
T. musicus, L.—Resident and common. 

Redwing, 7’. iliacus, L.—An abundant winter visitor; its 
earliest appearances at Riding Mill, as noted by me, are Sept. 21, 
1873, and Sept. 18, 1877; its latest stay, April 29, 1877, May 3, 
1878. Its note, whilst in this country, consists of a sort of low 
monosyllabic “cluck,” but in its breeding quarters, near the 
Arctic Circle, it has a fine wild song. 

Fieldfare, 7’. pilaris, L.—A winter visitor, but in very irregular 
numbers, being very scarce some years. My earliest record is 
Oct. 9, 1878; the latest stay, May 15, 1879; these two being in 
the same winter, when they were unusually plentiful with us. 

Blackbird, 7’. merula, L.— An abundant resident, whose 
numbers are, however, largely reinforced at the times of the 
autumn and spring migrations. Like the other members of the 
Thrush family, the Blackbird is very subject to internal parasites ; 


ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 93 


several species of Tenia, besides Filarie, of large size, and in 
surprising numbers, are found in the intestines of this bird. In 
addition, both the Blackbird and Fieldfare are frequently found 
to have a Filaria under the tendon of Achilles. I have never 
seen the occurrence of parasites in this part of the frame 
mentioned by other observers, but in some years the Blackbird 
seems to be as often saddled with this uninvited guest as not. 

Ring Ouzel, 7. torquatus, L.—Rarely seen near Riding Mill, 
but is occasionally found on the higher ground—e.g., near Healey, 
and towards Blanchland; in the former place it occurs sparsely, 
but will probably be found to breed near the latter. 

Dipper, Cinclus aquaticus, Bechst.— Resident and common 
up all the smaller streams, but not so often seen on the Tyne. 
Were it not that the statement still “ periodically” finds its way 
into print, and that much ignorance on the subject yet prevails 
amongst persons of the gamekeeper class, it would hardly be 
worth while to mention that the instances of this bird being found 
to have been feeding on the ova of fish are so few as to form the 
rare exception. 

Wheatear, Saxicola enanthe, L.—A summer visitor, and one 
of the first to make its appearance, my earliest record being 
March 21,1876. Rare near Riding Mill; a pair or two two breed 
near Healey, and it becomes commoner the higher the altitude, 
and the opener and stonier the ground. 

Whinchat, Pratincola rubetra, Iu.—A summer visitor; not 
uncommon, but local. Seems to be more abundant near Dipton 
House than anywhere else, where a few pairs may often be met 
with during the summer. 

Stonechat, P. rubicola, L.—A resident, but in small numbers. 
A fine old male in my collection was shot at Healey, Dec. 21, 1877. 

Redstart, Ruticilla phenicurus, L.—A summer visitor, but not 
abundant. Larliest record, April 23, 1878. 

Redbreast, Hrithacus rubecula, L.—An abundant resident. 

Whitethroat, Sylvia rufa, Bodd.—One of the most abundant 
summer visitors. Earliest record, April 27, 1876. 

Lesser Whitethroat, S. cwrruca, L.—An uncommon summer 
migrant. J have only thrice seen the nest near Riding Mill. 
Earliest record, April 27, 1872. 

Blackcap, S. atricapilla, L.—A summer visitor, more abundant 
near Riding Mill than anywhere else I know. I found, without 


94 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


looking for them, four nests of this bird within about three- 
quarters of a mile of country, in 1883. Larliest recorded 
appearance, April 18, 1871. 

Garden Warbler, S. salicaria, L.—A summer visitor, but much 
less abundant than the last, of which half-a-dozen examples may 
be met with to everyone of this. Earliest record, April 27, 1870. 

Golden-crest, Regulus cristatus, Koch.—A resident, breeding 
not uncommonly. Its numbers are greatly increased during the 
winter, when fir-woods sometimes appear almost alive with these 
birds. 

Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita, Vieill.—A summer visitor, 
but in small numbers, and very local in its distribution. A pair 
or two are invariably seen in two small woods up the burn, 
belonging to Mr. Henry Straker, where they may be counted 
upon with certainty at the proper season; elsewhere they are 
sedom noticed. 

Willow Wren, P. trochilus, L.—The most abundant summer 
visitant. Earliest records, April 8, 1877; April 12, 1869, 1872, 
and 1874. In song, usually, about a week after its arrival, but 
this depends partly on the state of the weather. 

Wood Wren, P. sibilatrix, Bechst.—A summer visitor, nowhere 
commoner than near Riding Mill, where it occurs in every wood 
(except those consisting of Scotch fir) where the trees are pretty 
tall, though it prefers those with little undergrowth. I found 
four nests in one morning late in May, 1883, in one wood, by 
watching the birds go to the nests. Earliest record, April 3, 1876, 
but this is unusually early, and the bird is very seldom seen before 
the middle of that month. 

Sedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schenobenus, L.—A summer 
migrant, common enough by the Tyne, but not often seen else- 
where. Earliest records, April 24, 1871 and 1877. 

Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella nevia, Bodd.—A summer 
visitor, local in distribution. On Broomley Fell it is very 
common amongst young fir-growth planted amongst heather ; 
here it is by no means uncommon to hear four or five singing 
at the same time. 

Hedgesparrow, Accentor modularis, L.— Resident and common. 

Long-tailed Titmouse, Acredula rosea, Blyth. A common 
resident. As it is a sociable bird in general, so it appears to be 
in the breeding season also. I have noticed that if you finda 


oe. 


ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 95 


nest in a hedge, you may expect to find another or two not far off. 
There can be little doubt of the propriety of separating this bird 
from the white-headed continental form; the latter, as well as in 
the bright yellow eyelids and white head, differs also somewhat 
in note and habits. The mere fact of the similarity of the 
immature individuals ought not to have much weight; the young 
of the Rook and Carrion Crow are not separable, yet who doubts 
that the species are distinct ? 

Great Titmouse, Parus major, L.; Coal Tit, P. britannicus, 
S. & D.; Marsh Tit, P. palustris, L.; Blue Tit, P. ceruleus, L.— 
Common and resident. 

Nuthatch, Sitta cesia, Wolff—I cannot mention this bird as 
having occurred near Riding Mill, but there is an adult specimen 
in my possession, which was shot near Wolsingham in the year 
1873, and which was skinned and given to me by the Messrs. 
Tinkler, birdstuffers, of Stanhope. 

Tree Creeper, Certhia familiaris, L.; Wren, Troglodytes par- 
vulus, Koch.—Common and resident. 

White Wagtail, Motacilla alba, L.—On the 19th April, 1878, 
I saw a fine male of this uncommon species, in full nuptial dress, 
in a small field near Riding Mill. It was extremely tame, and 
I watched it for some time with the greatest interest, being 
occasionally within ten yards of it. I looked for it subsequently, 
but in vain. 

Pied Wagtail, M. lugubris, Tem.—A common summer visitor. 
T have never known it pass the winter at Riding Mill, though it 
occurs sometimes as late as mid-October. 

Grey Wagtail, M. melanope, Pall.—Common in summer by 
stream-sides, breeding in some abundance by the burn. I have 
never seen it in the winter. 

Yellow Wagtail, M.raii, Bp.—A summer migrant, much rarer 
than the last; indeed I have only three records of its appearance, 
April 18, 1875, June 15, 1876, and March 14, 1878. The bird 
seen in the second instance, a young male, is in my possession. 

Meadow Pipit, Anthus pratensis, L.—A common summer 
resident, leaving the neighbourhood (for the seaside, in all proba- 
bility) late in autumn, and returning early in spring. I have 
taken considerable pains to satisfy myself as to whether this 
autumnal migration of the Meadow Pipit is partial only or com- 
plete, and find it to be the latter. The Titlarks, with us, begin 


96 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


to gather themselves into flocks during the month of September, 
and after the end of October none are to be seen, search the 
likeliest places as much as you will. From the middle of February 
to the middle of April (according to the state of the weather) they 
re-appear in flocks, which quickly break up and disperse. I have 
seen a good many individuals about this time in a very dark, dingy 
state of plumage, like that of the London Sparrows, as if they had 
been staying in a smoky neighbourhood, which may easily have 
been the case. I have noticed the same peculiarity about the 
Sky Larks in spring, who leave us during the winter in much 
the same way, but who do not leave the neighbourhood so 
completely. 

Tree Pipit, A. trivialis, L.—A common summer visitor. 
Earliest record, April 12, 1868; usually seen about the third 
week in that month, leaving about the end of July. 

Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa grisola, L.—A common summer 
migrant, appearing generally about the first week in May. Earliest 
record, April 28, 1878. 

Pied Flycatcher, M. atricapilla, L.—An uncommon summer 
visitor. I never came across it near Riding Mill until 1874, after 
which I have seen it every year until 1878. On May 8, 1874, 
I saw three pairs the same day by the Devil’s Water. I found, 
but did not take, the nest with three eggs, by the Devil’s Water, 
near Swallowship, in May, 1876. This bird should be looked 
for by burn-sides early in May, where it resorts especially to 
branches of trees which overhang the water. Late in May, 1883, 
I saw a male in full breeding dress near Smithyburn, close to 
Stockfield. I watched it for some time with my glass, and saw 
it thrice peer into a hole in a dead oak-branch. Getting the 
assistance of the woodman, and fetching a long ladder, with 
considerable labour, from Bromley, I ascended the tree, sawed 
off the branch with great care, and lowered it with a rope, the 
bird showing himself at intervals, apparently in a state of great 
agitation. I then descended to investigate. There was no nest 
whatever, and I was obliged to come to the conclusion that the 
bird had deliberately, seeing my object, “taken a rise” out of me. 
At least I can think of no other explanation for the interest he 
took in that hole. I may mention that the Pied Flycatcher used 
to breed regularly in the farmyard at Broadwood, near Lan- 
chester; the place selected was a pillar of masonry, which with 


= 


ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 97 


others had formerly supported a conical roof covering a threshing- 
machine crank, worked by horse-power. The roof was gone, and 
the pillars stood, each capped by a flagstone, under which the 
nest was placed. I find by my notes that the bird nested there 
in 1866, 1867, and 1868, and always in the same pillar. I have 
eggs from there. 

Swallow, Hirundo rustica, L.; Martin, Chelidon urbica, L.; 
Sand Martin, Cotile riparia, L.—Common summer visitors, the 
first and last the commonest. 

Goldfinch, Carduelis elegans, L.—I have not met with this 
bird in Northumberland nor in Durham, but in 1866 I took a nest 
with four eggs near Cronkley Scar, in Upper Teesdale: this was 
within a quarter of a mile of the county of Durham. 

Siskin, Chrysomitris spinus, L.—A rare occasional winter 
visitor, never seen in large numbers, but usually in twos and 
threes. Very irregular in its appearance. 

Greenfinch, Ligurinus chloris, L.—A common resident. 

Hawfinch, Coccothraustus vulgaris, Pall.— One day, late in the 
summer of 1871, as I was sitting by a hedgeside whilst out 
shooting rabbits, a female Hawfinch flew on to the hedge 
close to where I was, and remained there for some little time 
without seeing me. This is the only instance I know of its 
appearance here. 

Sparrow, Passer domesticus, L.—A common resident. 

Tree Sparrow, P. montanus, L.—A rare occasional visitor. 
One specimen in my possession was shot during the autumn of 
1877 at Riding Mill. I took the nest some years ago at Durham; 
it was in a hole in a tree not far from the Prebend’s Bridge. 

Chaffinch, F'ringilla coelebs, L.A common resident. 

Brambling, F’. montifringilla, L.—A rare and irregular winter 
visitor. 

Linnet, Linota cannabina, L.—A common resident. 

Mealy Redpoll, L. linaria, L.—A rare and irregular winter 
visitor, usually in small numbers, consorting usually with the 
following. One shot by me at Healey in November, 1878. 

Lesser Redpoll, L. rufescens, Vieill.—A resident, pretty com- 
mon. Large flocks occasionally seen during the winter (when 
this bird is much more plentiful, owing to immigration from the 


more northerly parts of the kingdom); these flocks number 
several hundreds. 


ZOOLOGIST.—MARCH, 1884. 


98 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Bullfinch, Pyrrhula europea, Vieill.—A shy but common 
resident. I rarely go out near Riding Mill without seeing or 
hearing this bird, and could make sure of shooting a couple of 
specimens any day I might wish to do so. 

Crossbill, Lovia curvirostra, L.—A winter visitor, of rare and 
irregular occurrence. It is possible that odd pairs may remain 
to breed, especially in the fir woods towards Dilston, where it 
seems to occur oftenest. 

Common Bunting, Emberiza miliaria, L.—Common during 
the summer months, moving towards the sea in autumn, to swell 
the flocks which are usually seen there during the winter. 

Yellowhammer, EF. citrinella, L.—A common resident. 

Reed Bunting, EL. scheniclus, L. Common during the summer 
by the Tyne, not often seen elsewhere. 

Snow Bunting, Plectrophanes nivalis, L.—A winter visitant in 
small numbers, only seen on higher ground, as at Healey, and 
then usually on or near stone walls. Towards the moors it occurs 
more frequently. 

Sky Lark, Alauda arvensis, L.—Common throughout the 
summer, the majority leaving (for the sea coast?) late in 
autumn. 

Wood Lark, A. arborea, L.—I have observed this bird but 
once, in 1876, when a pair nested within a hundred yards of my 
father’s house. I had frequent opportunities of watching them 
and examining the nest, until the young were fledged, when they 
left. I was in hopes that they might return the next year, but 
I never saw them again. : 

Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, L.— Common. An admirable 
mimic, imitating the notes of the Swallow, Swift, Sparrow, 
Chaffinch, Magpie, Curlew, Redshank, and other birds, including 
the domestic fowls. 1 have even heard them echo the whistle 
with which my father’s poultry are called to be fed. 

Jay, Garrulus glandarius, .—I cannot agree with Mr. Han- 
cock’s remarks (‘Birds of Northumberland and Durham,’ 1874, 
p. 41) on the impending extinction of this species. It is seldom 
you go out shooting in the woods near Riding Mill without 
meeting with this bird; near Healey it is commoner still. I was 
once trying to stalk what I imagined to be a Carrion Crow, until 
I found that the note (an exact imitation of that of the Carrion 
Crow) proceeded from the throat of a Jay, which I watched for 


— Se oo 


ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 99 


some time. The bird contorted its neck oddly while uttering this 
note, as if its production required a considerable effort. 

Magpie, Pica rustica, Scop.—A resident, somewhat more 
abundant than the last, and I think on the increase here. 

Jackdaw, Corvus monedula, L.—A resident, breeding in old 
buildings, in rocks by burn-sides, in clay cliffs (such as Thorn- 
brough Scar), and in the bases of such Rooks’ nests as consist of 
the accumulated materials of several years. 

Carrion Crow, C. corone, L.—A resident, and pretty common ; 
its numbers have perceptibly decreased since 1868. 

Hooded Crow, C. corniz, L.—A rare and accidental visitor, 
only seen about the seasons of the migrations. 

Rook, C. frugilegus, L.— A common resident. There are 
rookeries near Bywell, Styford, and Healey Halls. 

Raven, C. coraz, L.—A rare accidental visitor at migration 
times. I saw one near Sealey in the autumn of 1873; another 
crossed the Tyne Valley near Riding Mill on Oct. 23, 1878. On 
both occasions my attention was called to the bird by its note. 

Swift, Cypselus apus, L.— A common summer visitor. 

Nightjar, Caprimulgus ewropeus, L.—A summer visitor, not 
uncommon. Breeds in some numbers on and near Broomley 
Fell, where it is usually to be seen on a summer evening. 

Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Picus major, L.—I possess an 
adult male, shot near Corbridge in 1872, the only instance of its 
occurrence that has come under my notice. It nested near Ripon 
in 1881. 

Green Woodpecker, Gecinus viridis, L.—Occasionally seen in 
the older woods. Is far from uncommon near Healey and Minster 
Acres, where I have noted it on a good many occasions. There 
was a nest near Healey in 1878 in a dying Scotch fir. It used, 
moreover, to breed regularly at Woodlands, where I have several 

times found the nest. 
Wryneck, Jynx torquilla, L.—I never noticed this bird here 
till 1883. About the middle of May, in that year, I heard one 
day the scream of a Wryneck (with which I am familiar) in a 
damp wood of alder and birch in a gill a little S.W. of Dipton 
House. I approached the bird and watched it for some time, 
then and subsequently, but failed to find the nest, of the existence 
of which I had little doubt. When Mr. Hancock (l.¢., p. 24) 
speaks of Northumberland being the bird’s ‘“‘ northern limit,” is 


100 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


he not speaking of its distribution in Britain alone? It has 
nevertheless occurred more than once in the Orkneys, and I have 
seen half-a-dozen examples in a day in Central Norway, about 
62° North. 

Kingfisher, Alcedo hispida, L.—A resident, usually, however, 
leaving the neighbourhood in very severe weather. Some years 
it is more abundant than others; seldom seen except by the Tyne. 
My notes mention four nests in 1877, in little more than a mile 
and a half of the river. 

Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, L.—A common summer visitor. 

Barn Owl, Strix flammea, L.—A resident, pretty common. 

Long-eared Owl, Asio otus, L.—A resident, but not abundant. 
Breeds sparingly in the less-disturbed woods. 

Short-eared Owl, A. accipitrinus, Pall.—A winter visitor, which 
I have only once met with here. 

Tawny Owl, Syrniwm aluco, L.—A resident, and probably as 
common as the three foregoing species together, and a very 
favourite bird of mine. I know of several nesting-places of this 
bird near here. On one occasion I found a large ejected pellet 
(the means by which the Tawny Owl avoids the discomforts of 
indigestion), which I had the curiosity to investigate. I found 
therein the remains of no less than twenty-four field mice,—there 
being twenty-four of the right half of the lower jaw,—of two 
shrews, and two beaks of small birds. I may here remark that 
St. John states that Owls (he referring especially to the present 
species) never eat Shrew-mice. Of the incorrectness of this 
I have had proofs, of the nature of that mentioned above, on 
several occasions. He observes, on the next page, that Shrew- 
mice are in the habit of barking trees! In the first-place, their 
little jagged teeth are utterly unfitted for any such task; in the 
second, the muscular strength of their jaws renders the feat 
impossible; in the third, what on earth should lead them to do 
anything of the kind, seeing they are strictly insectivorous in 
diet, and that they hybernate during the time of scarcity of food ? 
I merely mention this last case to show that it is not improbable 
that St. John might be in error as to Owls eating Shrews. 

Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus, L.—William James, my late 
gamekeeper, had a stuffed example of this bird, an adult female, 
shot by himself on the Bog Hall estate, near Minster Acres, about 
the year 1873. 


oD cael ch ee 


ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 101 


Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, L.—A resident, not uncommon, 
and breeding in all the larger and more unfrequented woods. It 
is a great ornithological treat to watch this bird dash at full speed 
through a thick wood, avoiding the branches by the merest shave. 
The female appears much more abundant here than the male. 

Merlin, Falco @salon, Tunst.— Being almost exclusively a 
moorland bird, is seldom seen very near Riding Mill. In the 
autumn of 1877 I saw a fine old blue male one day at Branch 
End, near Sealey. I have several times seen Merlins whilst 
driving between Riding Mill and Stanhope; and up North Tyne, 
above Bellingham, they are plentiful enough. 

Kestrel, F’. tinnunculus, L.—A resident, slightly commoner 
than the Sparrowhawk. 

Heron, Ardea cinerea, L.—A resident, and not uncommon, 
which does not appear to have decreased in numbers since 1868. 

Little Bittern, Ardetta minuta, L.—I am not able to record 
this bird from Riding Mill, but I possess an immature example 
which was shot on the Wear, between Stanhope and Frosterley, 
in or about the year 1869, and brought in the flesh to Messrs. 
Tinkler, the Stanhope birdstuffers, who afterwards kindly gave 
it to me. 

Pink-footed Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus, Baill.—I have 
several times seen geese pass over which were most likely of this 
species. On the evening of the 8th December, 1878,—being, of 
course, a Sunday,—I heard a flock of wild geese on the Tyne 
above Riding Mill. I carefully abstained from going to look at 
them, hoping to get a shot the next day, but they left at daybreak, 
and were seen at that time at Corbridge. These were also, most 
likely, Pink-footed Geese. 

Common Wild Duck, Anas boschas, L.— Occasionally seen on 
the river. During very severe frosts odd examples are met with 
on the burns. 

Shoveller, Spatula clypeata, L.—A pair rose from the Tyne, 
on March 1, 1877, when I went down to fish for Salmon, and, 
for some reason, flew straight towards me, and passed close over 
my head. 

Teal, Querquedula crecca, L.—Occasionally on the Tyne in 
spring and autumn. 

Wigeon, Mareca penelope, L.—An occasional visitor, during 
the winter months, in small parties. 


102 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Tufted Duck, Fuligula cristata, Leach.—I observed a male of 
this species on the Tyne on Feb. 12, 1875. It is possible that it 
may have been a Scaup, as it was nearly a hundred yards distant 
from where I stood watching it, but I do not think it was. 

Golden Eye, Clangula glaucion, L.—I have several times seen 
females or immature examples of this salt-water duck on the 
Tyne ; once I noted an old male. 

Goosander, Mergus merganser, L.—Several times seen alive 
on the Tyne, generally young examples or females. On Dee. 21, 
1878, a fine old male, in the flesh, passed through my hands, 
which had been shot on the Tyne at Smithy Burn, near Stocks- 
field. 

Red-breasted Merganser, M. serrator, L.—I only once satis- 
factorily identified this bird near Riding Mill. 

Ring Dove, Columba palumbus, L.—Common ; to some extent 
migratory during the winter months. On Oct. 1, 1876, when I 
was ascending a crab-tree, with a view to gathering the fruit for 
culinary purposes, I was surprised to see a Ring Dove fly off 
from a nest in the tree, and to find that she was sitting on 
an egg. 

[Stock Dove, C. e@nas, L.—The occurrence of this species in 
the neighbourhood has been several times reported to me, but I 
have never been able to confirm it, though I have shot a good 
number of Pigeons in the woods. I heard, too, that it had 
nested in the Scar at Thornbrough, but, though I have seen 
many Ring Doves fly from holes in that Scar, where they regu- 
larly nest, I never saw a Stock Dove.) 

Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus, L.—By the introduction of the 
oriental race of the Pheasant the breed of English Pheasants has 
been completely modified, both in appearance and habits, and 
the bird should be called ‘‘ P. torquato-colchicus.”’ On the higher 
grounds near Riding Mill wild-bred birds still occur, which have 
little or no trace of the white collar, and are of a darker colour 
than most English Pheasants, approximating nearly to the true 
colchicus ; 1 once shot a male of the Bohemian variety on the 
estate of Henry Straker, Esq., and another on the Healey Estate 
with a white head. 

Partridge, Perdix cinerea, Lath.—A common resident, yet, 
like most birds, to some extent migratory. I have known, on 
the Healey Estate, a large covey vanish in the beginning of the 


a 


ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 103 


shooting season, in such a complete manner as to raise suspicions 
of its having met with foul play ; about the end of January the 
covey returned to the same spot in undiminished numbers (it had 
been frequently looked for meanwhile in vain), and in a few days 
the members separated and paired off. 

Quail, Coturnix communis, Bonnat.—A casual summer visitor. 
Curiously enough, it only seems to occur on the high ground 
near Broomley, where I have several times heard it. A keeper 
of the late George Fenwick, Esq., informed me that he generally 
noticed some Quail there every year, and that he had once taken 
the nest. His account may be relied on, as he certainly knew 
the bird, and showed me a specimen he had shot and stuffed 
himself. — 

Grouse, Lagopus scoticus, Lath.—Rare near Riding Mill; a 
few pairs only breed on Broomley Fell (on the Healey Estate), 
or did as late as 1878, when I ceased to have the shooting 
there. Towards Blanchland, of course, Grouse are much more 
numerous. 

Black Grouse, Tetrao tetriz, L.— Used to be much more 
common near Healey than the last, and might be plentiful there 
if there were more suitable ground, and if the grey-hens would 
choose the places for their nests with more judgment ; but, from 
their choosing spots particularly exposed to the action of the 
water, their chicks, which are very delicate in constitution, 
probably suffer more from a wet hatching season than those of 
any other species. I never killed more than five brace in a 
day, and I should say that they have decreased there of late 
years, owing to the growing up of young trees in all the open 
spaces, by which alone the young birds were preserved in wet 
summers. 

Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus, L.—Most probably more com- 
mon than it appears to be, owing to its retiring nature. A male 
in my possession, shot near Healey Church, on Noy. 20, 1878. 

Corn Crake, Crex pratensis, Bechst. — A common summer 
visitor, and apparently not decreasing in numbers, as would 
seem to be the case in some places. I was very much surprised, 
on June 8, 1876, by finding that a Corn Crake, which I had 
stealthily approached while uttering its peculiar note, was 
perched on the top of a high hedge; there was no doubt 
whatever on this point, as I got quite close to it. 


104 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Waterhen, Gallinula chloropus, L.—Not uncommon by the 
Tyne; occasional by burnsides. A few pairs breed every year 
at the mill-dam at Riding Mill. 

Pratincole, Glareola pratincola, L.—I may here mention that 
a specimen of this bird was killed near Stanhope on July 14, 
1876. For this piece of information I am indebted to the 
Brothers Tinkler, the Stanhope birdstuffers. 

Golden Plover, Charadrius pluvialis, L.—I have never noticed 
or heard of this bird on the higher ground, but flocks often pass 
a few days in the grass-fields near the river on their way to and 
from the fells at migration times. On March 24, 1879, I watched 
for some time a flock of about fifty near Broomhaugh, some of 
which ran within twenty yards of where I was concealed. Early 
as it was, about half of them had the full black breast of summer, 
whilst the rest showed no sign of change whatever ; I could not 
perceive that one was in a transition state of plumage. 

Grey Plover, Squatarola helvetica, L.— An accidental visitor. 
On Oct. 27, 1877, five Grey Plovers crossed Broomley Fell, where 
I was shooting; they passed close enough to where I was for me 
to see distinctly the colour of the axillaries. 

Lapwing, Vanellus vulgaris, Bechst.— A common summer 
visitor, appearing as early as Feb. 12 (1878), and breeding in all 
suitable places. 

Woodcock, Scolopax rusticula, L.—A resident, breeding not 
uncommonly in all suitable woods near Riding Mill, but their 
numbers are largely reinforced at the time of the autumn migra- 
tion. I have known of a nest or two every year since 1869. I 
cannot think that the Woodcocks leave the neighbourhood as 
soon as the young are able to fly, according to the opinion of 
Mr. St. John; and the following records, which I collected with 
a view to satisfy myself on this point, are my grounds for the 
belief :—1876, Aug. 20, one seen at Riding Mill by myself. 
1877, Aug. 9, one seen at Healey by William James, my keeper ; 
Sept. 8, one by myself at Riding Mill; Sept. 20, one at Broomley 
by keeper of Mr. George Fenwick; Oct. 23, one, and one next 
day, at Healey by myself. 1878, May 20, one near Healey, with 
three young ones, by my keeper; June 19, five, four of them 
young ones, near Dipton House, by Mr. Straker’s coachman ; 
July 21, two, at Healey, by myself; Aug. 29, one, near Riding Mill, 
by myself. 1883, July 5, three at dusk, Riding Mill, by myself. 


ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 105 


I have had a good many opportunities of watching the old birds 
carry their young to the feeding-grounds; this is effected by 
pressing the young to the breast with the feet, but the young 
bird must be partly between the legs also, as it is so far ‘‘ aft.” 
I have also seen Woodcocks ‘‘tiltmg” in the air, after the 
manner described by Charles St. John, but later in the year 
than he speaks of it as occurring, 7.e. about the middle of May. 

Snipe, Gallinago celestis, Frenzel.—Not uncommon during 
the winter months in suitable localities. Breeds sparingly near 
Healey. 

Jack Snipe, G. gallinula, L.—A winter visitor in irregular 
numbers. My earliest record is Oct. 9, 1878. 

Dunlin, Tringa alpina, L.—Single birds are occasionally seen ° 
in spring by the Tyne, doubtless on their way to breeding-grounds 
up the country. 

Redshank, Totanus calidris, L.— Occasional examples seen by 
the Tyne at migration times. 

Curlew, Numenius arquata, L.—A summer visitor, only seen 
on Broomley Fell, where one or two pairs breed, or used to, 
every year, whence I have examples both of the birds and eggs. 
In 1877 it had arrived as early as March 27. 

Arctic Tern, Sterna macrura, Naum.; Common Tern, S. 
fluviatilis, Naum.—Rare casual visitors occasionally seen on the 
Tyne. 

Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus, L.—A migrant, passing 
up the Tyne Valley in some numbers every year from the end of 
April to the middle of May. 

Common Gull, Larus canus, L.; Lesser Black-backed Gull, 
L. fuscus, L.—Seen occasionally in stormy weather. 

Manx Shearwater, Pufinus anglorum, Temm.—It may not be 
out of place to mention that an exhausted specimen of this bird 
was found and picked up on Crawley Side, near Stanhope, on 
Sept. 9, 1876. | 

Little Auk, Mergulus alle, L.—I obtained a specimen at Holy 
Island on Jan. 1, 1879; it was shot in the deep water between 
the Island and the Beacon. 

Red-necked Grebe, Podiceps griseigena, Bodd.—I shot a pair 
near the Inner Farne in the first week of December, 1876, an 
adult female (with a neck still partially red), and a young male. 
There were half-a-dozen others. 


106 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Lesser Grebe, P. fluviatilis, Tunst.—A rare occasional visitor, 
only seen on the Tyne. A pair, one of which I saw in the flesh, 
were shot by a loafer at Smithy Burn on Jan. 14, 1878. It is 
odd that this bird has not been observed more frequently, since 
Mr. Hancock, in his Catalogue of Northumberland birds, includes 
it as a resident. 


AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 


BIRD MIGRATION. 


At the first congress of the American Ornithologists’ Union, 
held in New York City, September 26th to 28th, 1883, a Com- 
mittee was appointed to investigate in all its bearings, and to the 
fullest extent possible, the subject of the migration of birds in 
the United States and British North America. The work will 
not be limited to the accumulation of records of the times of 
arrival and departure of the different species, but will embrace 
the collection of all data that may aid in determining the causes 
which influence the progress of migration from season to season. 
For example, severe storms, gales of wind, protracted periods of 
unusually high or low temperature (for the locality and time of 
year) are among the atmospheric conditions that are known to 
exert marked effects upon the movements of birds. The opening 
of the leaves and the flowering of certain plants, with the cor- 
relative appearance of a multitude of insects, are also among 
the actors that have to do with the abundance of many species. 
Hence the careful registration of certain meteorological phe- 
nomena, and of the state of advancing vegetation from day to 
day, will constitute prominent items in the record-books of the 
observer. 

For the purpose of rendering the result of the season’s work 
as full and valuable as possible, the Committee earnestly solicits 
the co-operation of every ornithologist, field-collector, sportsman, 
and observer of nature in North America. 

For convenience in collecting and arranging the enormous 
mass of material which will be accumulated by the joint labours 
of this army of field workers, it has been deemed advisable to 
divide the vast expanse of territory embraced in the United 


AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 107 


States and British North America into thirteen Districts (which 
are specified in a circular issued by the Committee from which 
we quote), each of which will be placed under the immediate 
direction of a competent Superintendent. 

The home of each observer is called a Station, and is recorded 
by number upon the books of the Committee. The Committee 
particularly requests that all persons who are willing to aid in 
the work will immediately communicate with the Superintendents 
_of their respective Districts. Those residing in Districts whose 
Superintendents have not as yet been named may address the 
Chairman. 

It is the duty of each Superintendent to exert himself to the 
utmost to increase the number of observers in his District; to 
answer the questions they may put to him concerning the details 
of the work, &c.; to collect at frequent intervals the product of 
their labours; to ascertain from these data the whereabouts of 
certain species in winter, and the times of leaving their winter 
homes ; to determine if possible the number and extent of the 
chief avenues of migration within the limits of his District, and 
the average rate of speed at which the different species travel ; to 
locate the breeding areas of the summer residents ; and, finally, 
to submit the result of the season’s work to the Chairman of the 
Committee. The Chairman shall, in turn, arrange, condense, 
and systematise the material received from the Superintendents 
of the several Districts, and shall present to the Union the fruits 
of the joint labours of all the collaborators, together with any 
comments, deductions, or generalisations he may have made 
upon the same. 

The data collected may conveniently be arranged in three 
general classes: a. Ornithological Phenomena. 0b. Meteoro- 
logical Phenomena. c¢. Contemporary and Correlative Phe- 
nomena. 

(a) Ornithological Phenomena. 

Each observer is requested to prepare, at his earliest con- 
venience, a complete list of the birds known to occur in the 
vicinity of his Station, and to indicate (by the abbreviations 
enclosed in parentheses) to which of the following five categories 
each species pertains :— 

1. Permanent Residents, or those that are found regularly 
throughout the entire year (R). 


108 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


2. Winter Visitants, or those that occur only during the 
winter season, passing north in the spring (WV). 

3. Transient Visitants, or those that occur only during the 
migrations, in spring and fall (TV). 

4. Summer Residents, or those that are known to breed, but 
which depart southward before winter (SR). 

5. Accidental Visitants, or stragglers from remote districts 
(AV). 

It is desirable also to indicate the relative abundance of the 
different species, the terms to be employed for this purpose being: 
Abundant, Common, Tolerably Common, Rare. 

In many species the males arrive in advance of the females ; 
hence it is important 'to note the sex of the first comers, and the 
date at which the opposite sex is first seen. 

In recording arrivals and departures it is highly important to 
distinguish between the movements of the great bulk of the 
species and those of the forerunners or advance guard. For this 
purpose two dates should ‘be recorded for the incoming, and two 
for the outgoing of every non-resident species, as follows— 

1. The first appearance of the species (IF). 

2. The arrival of the bulk (BA). 

8. The departure of the bulk (BD). 

4. The last individual seen (L). 

In addition to the above, which may be regarded as essential 
data, there are many other noteworthy details which bear more or 
less directly upon the complicated problems involved in the study 
of migration. Among such may be mentioned the bodily con- 
dition of the bird (whether fat or lean), the moult, and the 
periods of song. The time of mating, when observed, should 
always be recorded. 


(b) Meteorological Phenomena. 

Extended meteorological data are not required, though the 
observer would derive material assistance from a systematic 
weather record: The Committee desires information upon— 

1. The direction and force of the wind. 

2. The direction, character, and duration of storms. 

8. The general conditions of the atmosphere, including rainfall. 

4, The succession of marked warm and cold waves, including 
a record of all sudden changes of temperature. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 109 


(ce) Contemporary and Correlative Phenomena. 

The Committee desires that the data under this head be as 
full and complete as possible, and requests exact information 
upon :— 

1. The date at which the first toad was seen. 

2. The date at which the first frog is heard. 

3. The date at which the first tree-toad or “‘peeper ” is heard. 

4, The dates at which certain mammals and reptiles enter 
upon and emerge from the state of hybernation. 

5. The dates at which various insects are first seen. 

6. The dates of the flowering of various plants. 

7. The dates of the leafing and falling of the leaves of various 
trees and shrubs. 

8. The dates of the breaking up and disappearance of the ice 
in rivers and lakes in spring, and of the freezing over of the 
same in the fall. 

The Chairman of Committee on Migration is Dr. C. Hart 
Merriam, of Locust Grove, Lewis County, New York. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


Method of recording Observations.— With regard to Mr. Harvie 
Brown’s communication on a more uniform method of recording observations 
(p. 60), I think that the use of the suggested form would lead to useful 
and valuable results which might not be obtained in any other way. There 
can be no doubt as to the value of such a system. At the same time 
I think that its exclusive adoption would probably cripple original 
observations; and I thoroughly appreciate your remarks as to such 
formality detracting from the pleasure derivable from more original com- 
munications. I therefore hope that original observations may be kept up 
as at present, and that the suggested form, or possibly a slightly more 
elaborated one, may be brought into use. Would it not answer the purpose 
fully for the filled-up forms, or a synopsis of them, to be published in 
‘The Zoologist’ annually? I am inclined to think that a full and detailed 
synopsis of the forms, complete for a year, would be more convenient and 
useful than a number of untabulated forms in each number of the Journal. 
—J.E Pater (Lyons Mills, Strafford, Co. Kildare). 


Supplement to the Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire.—Messrs. W. 
Eagle Clarke and W. Denison Roebuck, Leeds, are preparing a Supplement 


110 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


to their ‘ Handbook of the Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire,’ and would be 
glad to have notes of additions or corrections to that work, or notices of the 
occurrence of any species of quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, or fishes in York- 
shire, which their friends may be pleased to communicate. As they wish 
to publish in the April magazines, it is hoped that the desired information 
may be sent them immediately. 


MAMMALIA. 

The Burmese Elephant at the Zoological Gardens.—The question 
that appears most to interest the public mind in the matter of this Elephant 
is that of whether his peculiarity be a disease or not a disease. Now in 
styling it leacoderma, which is a known and definite disease, I differ point- 
blank from Prof. Flower, who says (p. 63), “it does not result from any 
disease of the skin, but is doubtless an individual congenital condition or 


defect.” He then goes on to say that if it extended over the whole of the — 


integument, including the eye, it would constitute true “ albinism,” so that 
he commits himself to regarding the condition as “ congenital” partial 
albinism, which I aver it is not. Prof. Flower concludes by expressing 
some surprise at the perfect bilateral symmetry noticeable in this instance, 
which he says is very rarely present in the local deficiencies of pigment 
found either in domestic animals or dark-skinned men. Now as to that 
last assumption he is partly right and partly wrong. Leucoderma is so 
extremely rare a disease, either in man or in animals, that it is possible 
Paof. Flower has never seen a case of it. For the twenty years that I have 
been surgeon to the British Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, during which 
time very many thousands of cases of skin disease of all kinds have passed 
under my hands, I have met with but very few cases of leacoderma. I might 
almost say I could count them on my fingers. In the dark races of 
mankind it is supposed to be commoner than in Europeans, but this 
supposition may well arise from the fact that in a black man the disease 
constitutes a much more striking phenomenon than in a white man, and 
that in the black races of man, who go about more or less completely 
unclothed, the condition is much more exposed to general observation. 
Now it is of the essence of leucoderma that it is not congenital. ‘The 
individual affected with leucoderma is not born so. It is a condition he 
acquires during his lifetime, sometimes at an early, sometimes at quite an 
advanced age; and then, again, it does not commence all at once as a large 
patch, but, beginning in one or more small spots of decoloration, gradually 
extends, until by degrees, spreading more in some directions than in others, 
it at length forms large patches of irregular shape, which, however, always 
have one notable peculiarity—namely, that more or less perfect “ bilateral 
symmetry” which seems to have rather surprised Prof. Flower in this 
instance. Now from enquiry of Mr. White, in whose charge the Elephant 


th Mi oe, 


a, ee 


: NOTES AND QUERIES. 111 


is, I learn that the Elephant is fifteen years old; that the white patch was 
at one time no bigger than my fist; that the patch began to spread from 
small dimensions to its present gigantic size when the animal was about 
five years old; that Mr. White has been told that the animal exhibited a 
very little patch indeed when he was as young as one year old; and that 
Mr. White should imagine that the animal must have been born with the 
patch, but that he had never been told so. Now, this history, for so far as 
it may help, tallies with leucoderma, but is quite opposed to congenital 
albinism. ‘Then, as to the question of bilateral symmetry, I have before 
me a photograph of a well-marked example of the piebald negro—that is to 
say, of a negro affected with leucoderma. ‘lhe negro is most extensively 
and grotesquely piebald, but the bilateral symmetry exhibited by his 
piebaldness is most exact. Now, it may be asked, do I deny the possibility 
of such a thing as a partial congenital albinism? By no means. Such a 
thing is quite well known, and I have repeatedly met with it. There are 
many people now living in this country who have been born with a white 
lock of hair, the rest of their hair being of a natural colour. But here 
comes the point. Such patches always remain stationary; they do not 
increase progressively in size, and, moreover, they fail to present bilateral 
symmetry; they are perched oddly on one side only of the individual, and 
there is no corresponding patch on the other side. Then why do I call the 
Elephant’s patch a disease? Does it not come to the same thing, in effect, 
in the one case as in the other—namely, to a sheer local deficiency of the 
epidermic pigment? Well, scarcely so. In the first place, the fact of 
leucoderma commencing during the lifetime of the individual constitutes 
it a disease as against local albinism, which, being congenital, is a mal- 
formation or deformity of the skin; but this is by no means the only 
difference between the two. The one is not bilaterally symmetrical; the 
other is so. ‘The one has no tendency to spread; the other has a tendency 
constantly to spread by slow degrees as long as it lasts. And then comes 
a very important difference. Congenital local albinism is a thing which it 
is impossible to cure, whereas leucoderma is open to the possibility of being 
cured— in fact, it sometimes cures itself. I have known three instances in 
which it has undergone spontaneous recovery within an average period of 
six years. When I was taken to see the White Elephant I naturally 
expected to see an albino—that is to say, an animal entirely white or faint 
pink (as. Prof. Flower properly puts it), and with pink eyes. Such a thing 
is not unknown among the Pachydermata. It occurs in Pigs, for example. 
In some animals true albinism is notoriously common—in the Rabbit, for 
example. In the Elephant it is obviously extremely rare; but so also is 
leucoderma. There is one point I would touch on before 1 conclude. 
A popular impression has gained ground that this animal may have the 
leprosy, and it may be asked, Has leucoderma anything to do with the 


112 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


leprosy? Most certainly not. For example, leprosy undermines the 
health most miserably, and always eventually kills the individual affected 
with it; whereas leucoderma exerts no influence whatever either on the 
health of the oubject of it or on the duration of his life——BaLMaNnno 
Squire.—[From ‘The Times,’ in reply to Prof. Flower’s letter, printed in 
‘The Zoologist’ for February, pp. 62, 63.] 


Stoats acquiring the Ermine Dress in Mild Seasons.—A Stoat, in 
full ermine dress, was killed at Broughton on the 19th January last. ‘The 
whole of the upper parts were of an unusually pure white, with the 
exception of a very slight tinge of yellow (less than is shown in many 
made-up furs) at the base of the tail, and a narrow light brown mark on 
the near fore leg. Mr. Wyatt tells me that he received another a few days 
before, but this had a dark patch on the crown of the head, the part which 
is, I believe, least often white, the tip of the tail of course excepted. Is it 
not contrary to the generally accepted opinion for Stoats to change during 
such mild seasons as the present? I observed the same thing in the mild 
winter of 1881-2. They do not all change, for the day I handled the 
white one—four days after it was captured—I saw a specimen in the 
flesh which did not show a sign of white on the upper parts.—Oxtver V. 
Aptin (Great Bourton, near Banbury). 

[We should be glad to have some expression of opinion, founded on 
observation, as to whether the assumption of the ermine dress in the Stoat 
is the result of a gradual change of colour in the hair, or an actual growth 
of new hair. Has any correspondent ever kept a Stoat in confinement and 
observed the changes of colour in summer and winter? What is the origin 
of the provincial name “lobster” applied to this animal in some of the 
eastern counties of England? Can it have any connection with the change 
of coat analogous to the change of shell which takes place annually in 
Crabs and Lobsters, and which is well known to the east coast fishermen ? 
—Ep.] 


Note on the Harvest Mouse.—I may make a few slight additions to 
Mr. Rope’s interesting account of the Harvest Mouse. In confinement 
these mice are very fond of canary-seed, as much so, according to my 
observation, as of wheat. They also much appreciate a small bone of 
cooked mutton, especially a bone from a mutton chop after it has left the 
table; the fragments of meat attached to the bone are very attractive to 
the Harvest Mice, and a constant supply of such bones seems to diminish 
their propensity to cannibalism, to which they are much addicted where 
several are confined in the same cage, and I think especially during the 
spring months. I once saw the commencement of the act of cannibalism, 
at a time when several instances had occurred amongst the Harvest Mice 
which I was then keeping. The cannibal, a large specimen, was busy 


ee ee a ee 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 113 


nibbling one ear of a smaller mouse, which was crouching in a quiescent 
state, as though in some manner mesmerised; but when I interrupted 
the operation and removed the patient from the cage to some rough grass 
it speedily recovered its activity and made its escape. These mice, after 
being kept for some months in confinement, may not unfrequently be seen 
nibbling off the tops of their own tails, just as is sometimes done by tame 
monkeys. IJ may add that in the spring I give my Harvest Mice twigs of 
hazel, the leaf-buds and partly-expanded leaves of which they devour. with 
great avidity. Also that a bunch of fresh moss, with the earth adhering to 
the roots, seems to be a great treat to them; they eagerly burrow into it, 
probably in search of small insects and similar dainties.—J. H. Gurney 
(Northrepps Hall, Norwich). 


BIRDS. 


Rough-legged Buzzard in Shetland.—Some weeks ago I received from 
my native island of Unst a fine specimen of the Rough-legged Buzzard, 
Buteo lagopus, shot at Haroldswick. This bird, although frequently occur- 
ring elsewhere in the British Isles, has not before been observed in Shetland, 
so far as I am aware. It is not included in Dr. Saxby’s list, and its 
appearance in Unst is therefore possibly worthy of being recorded as an 
addition to the number of occasional feathered visitors. I am indebted for 
this handsome bird to Mr. Thomas Thomson, of Baltasound, who carefully 
preserved the skin and sent it to me. He mentions that it was a female, and 
apparently adult, both observations being borne out by the measurements 
and plumage.—T. Epmonpsron (Jan. 24). 


Waxwing in Shetland.— A specimen of the Waxwing was shot in 
January last at Norwick, Unst, and submitted to Mr. J. T. Garrick, who 
writes, “ This bird has been met with in Shetland only at very rare intervals. 
Dr. Saxby has mentioned its occurrence in Unst in 1861, and again on the 
mainland in 1866. In the spring of 1851 several were seen on the main- 
land by Mr. Dunn.” Unfortunately the specimen now referred to had 
been kept unskinned so long that it was found impossible to preserve it. 


Food of the Stone Curlew.—In my note on the food of the Stone 
Curlew (p. 68) I see I must have made a clerical error, writing Helix 
variabilis for Helix vermiculata. Both are equally common here, but the 
substance of the shell of H. vermiculata is considerably thicker than that of 
H. variabilis, and is also larger.—E..F. Becunr. 


Wildfowl in North Oxfordshire.—A Dunlin, Tringa alpina, was shot 


‘in the Cherwell Valley, at Gouldern, on November §th; it was seen in 


company with two others wading ina partly flooded meadow, and allowed 
my informant to walk up within shot. Wildfowl have not been plentiful 
this winter. Of Mallard and Duck we have had comparatively few, and 


ZOOLOGIST.—MARCH, 1884. K 


114 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


there has been no great flight of birds bred at a distance. I saw the first 
Teal on October 6th. On the 21st of that month T counted eight Pochards 
on Clattercutt Reservoir, and have since seen as many as a score together. 
A Tufted Duck has been joined by three others. Wigeon appear to have 
been very scarce, the first I heard of was on November 19th. On the 12th 
January I watched for some time three Goldeneyes, Clangula glaucion, on 
the reservoir. One was a beautiful male, almost, if not quite, adult; the 
others were in brown plumage, and apparently females, from their smaller 
size. Some of the common Wild Ducks were paired by that date, as one 
might almost expect, considering the extremely mild season. A male 
Siskin, which I have since obtained, was taken by a Goldfinch catcher 
at Broughton about November 10th; this may have been one of the 
Northamptonshire birds (Zool. 1883, p. 502) which had passed further 
south-west— Oniver V. Apiin (Great Bourton, near Banbury). 


Grey Shrike near Carlisle-—A female Shrike was shot on the 16th 
January last, in the immediate neighbourhood of Carlisle, which appears 
to be intermediate between Lanius major and L. excubitor. The bases of 
the secondaries are slightly tinged on the inner edge with greyish white, 
but the outer edges are black. It was much discoloured by smoke, having 
haunted the neighbourhood of the Caledonian Railway for at least a week. 
When observed by me, on January 12th, it was perched almost motionless 
on the inside of a tall hedgerow, towards the top. It looked very grey and 
dark, until it saw me, when it flew swiftly across the corner of the field, 
showing well the first white bands across the black wings. The Great 
Grey Shrike has often occurred in Cumberland,—an old male was shot at 
Kirklinton last December,— but I have not yet examined a local thorough- 
bred Pallas’ Grey Shrike. ‘The above-mentioned female Shrike weighed 
two ounces and half-a-drachm.—H. A. Macruerson (Carlisle). 


Variety of the Yellowhammer.—Last March a curious variety of the 
Yellowhammer, with bright rufous marks, about one-fourth of an inch long, 
on either side of the chin, and a tinge of the same colour over the eye, was 
netted at Coldham Common, near Cambridge, and is at present in the 
possession of Mr. Daggett, taxidermist. The rest of the plumage is of 
the normal type of a cock bird.—J. H. Gurrny, sun. 


Little Gull at Rainham, Kent.—A Little Gull was shot on the 
Medway near here on the 17th September last. It was prettily mottled 
on the back with black and white, all the under plumage being a pure 
white. The bird is still with Mr. Charles Gordon, of the Dover Museum, 
where I sent it to be stuffed. On the 7th February, 1870, I shot an 
immature Little Gull when flying over a ploughed field beside the river ; 
the wind at the time was blowing strong from the east. On the 14th 
a Little Gull, an adult in winter plumage, was brought me, which was 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 115 


shot at the entrance to Milton Creek. Later in the season, about the 
latter end of March, the same year, I observed another Little Gull, with 
a black head, flying amongst a flock of sheep, having separated itself from 
a flight of the common species flying up our creek.—WaALTER PRENTIS 
(Rainham). 

Snow Bunting in Somersetshire.—Siuce sending you a notice last 
month of a Snow Bunting being picked up at Lodway, I hear from 
Mr. John Marshail, of Taunton, of one having been shot in fine plumage 
on November 5th, 1883, near Huntspill—Rocrr Forp (Wraxall Court, 
Nailsea, Somerset). 

Occurrence of the Common Sandpiper in Winter.—In last month’s 
issue (p. 73) I note the occurrence of the Common Sandpiper, Totanus 
hypoleucus, Linn., in winter, mentioned by Mr. W. E. Beckwith. I shot 
one on January 15th last on the rocks by the sea below the village of 
Glandore. ‘The bird was in good condition, and in no way (so far as 
I could see) suffering from any injury.—C. Donovan, gun. (Myross Wood, 
Leap, Co. Cork). 

[The bird, which has been obligingly forwarded by our correspondent, is 
unquestionably the Common Sandpiper (7. hypoleucus).—Ep.] 


GreenlandF alcon in Co. Donegal.—In the January issue of ‘ The 
Zoologist’ (p. 31), Mr. A. G. More stated that I had received a specimen 
of the Greenland Falcon from Mr. Steward, of Horn Head. On the Ist 
January I obtained another from the same locality. This specimen is an 
adult female, in splendid plumage. I have since heard that a third was 
seen in the same place.—H. BrcuEr (Beechwood, Dalkey, Co. Dublin). 


Long-tailed Duck in Cumberland.—The most unusual visitor to 
Cumberland that I have come across is a fine drake of Harelda glacialis, 
which I found harbouring on Monkhill Lough, about three miles from the 
estuary of the Eden, on January 24th and several subsequent days.— 
H. A. Macpuerson (Carlisle). 


Erratum,.—lIn the paragraph on the “Curious Variety of the Guillemot ” 
(p. 71), the word ‘ average”, in line 11, should be “ avoirdupois.” 


FISHES. 


Turbot coloured on both surfaces.—I have heard, on good authority, 
of the capture in Penzance Bay of a Turbot coloured on both sides, 
and having the Turbot “knobs” on each side. The people who got it 
unfortunately sent it to market instead of forwarding it to me, and so 
I lost the opportunity of seeing it. ‘The occurrence of the “knobs” on 
the under side of a self-coloured Turbot is so unusual, if not altogether 
unique, that the mere report of it seems worth recording.—TuHomas 
Cornis (Penzance). 


116 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Spawning of Fish.—Last week I was fortunate to get hold of two 
of the Gadid@, heavy with roe. The first was Gadus pollarhius, or the 
Whiting Pollack of Couch, of about 12 tbs. weight, the roe of which was 
150z. On weighing a half grain, and counting them and computing the 
number, I found it contained 4,200,000 eggs. My next fish was the Gadus 
virens, or the Coalfish of Couch, and 21 tbs. weight, the roe being 83 oz. 
Here I again weighed and counted a half grain, and on working out the 
result I found it to contain 8,260,000 ova. There was not the least 
difficulty at getting at these results. After allowing the eggs to remain in 
boiling water a few minutes they readily separated, and a magnifying’ glass 
and needle soon told the story. From these figures I think we may 
reasonably expect that Whiting Pollacks of 20 Ibs. weight may be expected 
to give about 7,000,000 eggs, and Coalfish of 30 tbs. weight full 12,000,000 
of eggs.—Marratas Duny (Mevagissey, Cornwall, Jan. 22). 

Greater Pipe-fish in Mount’s Bay.—I received, on February 16th, 
a very good specimen of the Greater Pipe-fish, or Greater Sea-adder 
(Syngnathus acus) taken in Mount’s Bay. It was a female heavy with roe, 
but not in a fit state for preservation. I do not regard the fish as a rare 
one in our British seas, but only as one the occurrence of which usually 
escapes observation.—T. CornisH (Penzance). 


CRUSTACEA. 


Floating Crabs at Penzance.—I have recovered from a derelict water- 
logged barrel of paraffin, which drifted ashore near Newlyn West, four 
specimens of the “ Floating Crab,” Planes Linneana. ‘They were found in 
the seaweed which had attached itself to the barrel and much mixed up with 
barnacles. They were all alive when I received them, and one of them 
had lost its right claw and portions of its two foremost right legs. The 
loss of the claw was evidently recent, but the loss of the legs was not so ; 
their broken joints were blackened and shrunk. On the stump of the 
foremost of these legs there was established parasitically a barnacle, of 
course of very small size. The crab itself did not measure an inch across 
the carapace. It is a curious coincidence that in January, 1882, I made a 
similar recovery of very many specimens of this crab from a derelict 
paraffin cask picked up off Mount’s Bay. Two of the four specimens of my 
present take were males and two females, and the colours of the whole were 
various. I hope to preserve them all, but their actual physical strength is 
such that (as I observed in January, 1882) they require perfectly unusual 
treatment in pinning down. I do not think I am overstepping the fact 
when I say that a lobster of 8 lbs. weight, or a common crab of 6 lbs., 
would succumb more readily to the pinning-down process than these little, 
but very active and powerful, creatures, any one of which could easily be 
placed within the limits of one square inch.—T. Cornisu (Penzance). 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 117 


ANNELIDES. 


Phosphorescence of Syllis—During the month of December, 1883, 
immense quantities of Corallines were thrown up on the beach at Lang- 
stone Point, near Dawlish, and also near Exmouth. There were literally 
cart-loads of them, as remarked by Mr. C. W. Parker, of Warren Cottage, 
Starcross, who showed me a mass he had brought up from the beach into 
his study, and which displayed beautiful phosphorescent particles in the dark. 
The greater part of the mass consisted of Sertularia abieteria, much finer 
and larger than I ever before saw it on this coast; but several other species 
of Corallines were mixed up with it. On examination the luminous spots 
were found to be individuals of a small species of Syllis, living in trans- 
parent membranaceous tubes closely adherent to the Sertularia by their 
whole length, but some of the worms had left their habitations and were 
wandering about the Corallines. When the mass was shaken up flashes of 
light were seen in all directions, and it then resembled a handful of moss 
filled with glow-worms. The brilliant blue light was quite under the 
control of the animals whilst alive, and was only shown when they were 
disturbed or touched. ‘The light played up and down the whole length of 
the body, and if a worm was crushed on the fingers the luminous particles 
adhered to them like phosphorus. Some of the worms lived for many 
days after being brought into the house, Fresh water did not extinguish 
their light, but diluted spirits did so very quickly. — W. S. M. D’Ursan 
(Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter). 


ARCHHOLOGY. 


“The Sea-blue Bird of March.’—This passage in Tennyson’s ‘In 
Memoriam,’ &c., has long puzzled commentators, though all were agreed 
that it referred to the Kingfisher. In ‘The Academy’ for February 16th, 
p- 114, Professor Whitley Stokes has traced the phrase to a fragment of 
Aleman, the Spartan lyric poet, who flourished about the year 650 B.c., 
where he calls the halcyon dasréppupos etapos opvic, the sea-purple bird of 
Spring. The preservation of these lines of Alcman, by Antigonus of 
Carystus, is due to their embodying one of the many myths about the King- 
fisher, viz. that the males (especially called xmptros, Whence Boie’s Ceryle), 
when their parents were too old to fly, carried them about upon their wings. 
‘The epithet “ of Spring” is not quite clear, for the famous “ haleyon days,” 
when the sea was fabled to be calm for a fortnight while the Kingfishers built 
their nests, were always said by the ancients to occur in winter. Aristotle, 
the chief authority for this legend, expressly says that “birds generally pair 
in the spring and summer, except the haleyon. This bird,” he continues, 
‘hatches its young about the time of the winter solstice.” But the poet, 
though he wrote some three centuries before the philosopher, may have 
wished to correct the current improbable belief.-- Hunry T. Wuanrton. 


118 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


Liynean Society or Lonpon. 


February 7, 1884.—Sir Joun Lussock, Bart., M.P., F.R.5., President, 
in the chair. 

Mr. Henry Groves, of Florence, and Mr. F. L. Keays, of Cobham, were 
elected Fellows. 

There was exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Arthur C. Cole, a box containing 
mounted preparations, illustrative of his ‘Studies in Microscopic Science,’ 
a work devoted to Animal and Vegetable Histology, now being issued 
in parts. 

The second part of the Rev. A. E. Eaton’s monograph, ‘‘ On the Recent 
Ephemerid@, ov Mayflies,” was read in abstract. In this he takes into 
account the genera from Potamanthus (and end of group Pentagenia) to 
Callibites inclusive, the part being accompanied by over twenty plates. 

Another paper, read in abstract, was “A Catalogue of European and 
North Atlantic Crustacea,” by the Rev. A. M. Norman. In this an attempt 
has been made to gather together all the forms known and recorded of the 
above group. Notives of many of the species are only to be found in 
obscure periodicals, &c., almost in every language; consequently since the 
publication of Milne-Edwards’ ‘ Histoire Naturelle des Crustaces,’ in 1834, 
the numbers have increased nearly threefold, revision therefore becoming 
highly necessary. 

Mr. B. T. Lowne contributed an interesting memoir embodying his 
researches on the compound vision of insects. He compares the structures 
of the simple ocellus with those of the compound ocellus (common in larval 
insects), and with those of the compound eye. The compound eye, 
according to him, is composed of aggregate compound ocelli, or the latter 
in the larval insects is merely equivalent to a single segment of a compound 
eye. He refers to the development of the compound eye, and points out 
that in many larve during moulting stages the “segregate” retina is 
finally replaced by another. He describes a deep spindle-like layer in 
intimate connection with the nervous structures, and which he regards as 
playing an important part in the phenomena of compound vision, rather 
than that this is dependent solely on the number of corneal facets. 


February 21, 1884.—Sir Joun Luszock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

Mr Alfred Prentice Young, of Bombay, and Mr. D. Sullivan, of Victoria, 
were elected Fellows of the Society. 

Mr. R. Miller Christy brought before the notice of the Society a series 
of Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, &c., captured by him in Manitoba, some of 
the Humble Bees being supposed to be new to science. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 119 


A paper was afterwards read by Mr. Christy, “ On the power of pene- 
trating the Bodies of Animals possessed by the Seed of Stipa spartea.” ; 
A communication followed, from Mr. Stewart O. Ridley, “On some “ 
Structures liable to Variation in the Subfamily Astrangiacee (Madre- 
poraria),” in which he remarks that although the columella has been taken 
in many groups of Madreporaria for distinguishing genera, yet a study of 
a series of specimens of Astrangiacee (Phyllankia papuensis) shows that Z 
within a single colony we may have the papillar and the trabecular forms, | 
both to all appearance well developed, owing to the union in some ewticles ¢2/ / 
of the trabecular by a continuous lamina. Similarly, in the allied species 
P. dispersa, the coste, insisted upon in the description of the species of the 
genus by MM. Milne-Edwards and Haime, may either be present or absent 
in the same colony. Thus great care must be exercised in the employment 
of columella and coste in the specific distinction of the Astrangiacea.— 
J. Morte. 


ZOOLOGICAL Society oF Lonpon. 


February 5, 1884.—Prof. W. H. Frower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

Mr. F’. Day exhibited and made remarks on a specimen of a Dog-fish, 
of which the entire interior had been eaten out by Isopod Crustaceans of 
the genus Conilera. 

Mr. G. F. Butt exhibited two specimens of a singular variety of the 
Red Grouse, shot in Westmoreland. 

A communication was read from Mr. W. Leche, of the University of 
Stockholm, in which he gave an account of a collection of Bats from 
Australia. Two new species were described and named respectively 
Nyctinomus Petersi and N. albidus. 

Mr. Sclater read some notes on the Lesser Koodoo, Strepsiceros imberbis 
of Blyth, with a view of confirming the distinctness of this Antelope from 
its larger relative Strepsiceros kuda. 

A communication was read from Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, containing 
the description of a new species of Bush Shrike of the genus Laniarius, 
based on a specimen obtained in Ashantee by Mr. Godfrey Lagden, which 
he proposed to call L. Lagdeni, after its discoverer. 

Prof. Flower made some remarks on the chief points of interest exhibited 
by the Burmese Elephant now in the Society’s Gardens.—P. L. ScLatTger, 
Secretary. 


EnromoLogicaL Socitnty or Lonpon. 


At the Annual Meeting held January 16th, 1884, J. W. Dunning, Esq., 
M.A., F.L.S., &c., President, in the chair, an abstract of the Treasurer’s 


120 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


accounts for 1883 was read by Mr. J. Jenner Weir, one of the Auditors, 
and the Report of the Council for 1883 by the Secretary. During the year 
the Society had elected seventeen new Members and one Subscriber; it had 
lost four Members by death (Messrs. B. Cooke, W. A. Forbes, P. H. Harper, 
aud E. Sheppard), and three by resignation. To the regret of all ento- 
mologists, two names which had long graced the list of Honorary Members 
had to be erased—Professor P. C. Zeller, who was elected an Honorary 
Member as long ago as 7th May, 1849, died suddenly at his resideuce near 
Stettin on March 27th last, and Dr. John L. Leconte, elected an Honorary 
Member on April 6th, 1863, died at Philadelphia on November 15th. To 
fill the vacancies thus created, two names would be submitted at an early 
meeting. ‘The way in which the proposal was received that Prof. Westwood 
should be made Honorary President for life formed a fitting celebration 
of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Society. The ‘ Transac- 
tions’ for the year (exclusive of the ‘ Proceedings’) form a volume of 448 
pages, containing twenty-two memoirs contributed by eighteen authors ; 
they are illustrated with twenty-one plates, two of which are coloured. The 
Library had been increased during the year by the usual serials and a few 
other purchases, and by many donations from members and others; a 
special vote of thanks had been accorded to the President for his munificent 
gift of a complete set of the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ as 
far as published, to vol. xii. of the 5th series; in all ninety-two volumes. 

No Members baving been proposed other than those recommended by 
the Council, the following were declared to be the Members of Council for 
1884 :—T. R. Billups, J. W. Dunning, E. A. Fitch, F. Grut, W. F. Kirby, 
G. Lewis, R. M‘Lachlan, J. W. May, R. Meldola, F. P. Pascoe, E. Saunders, 
Sir S. S. Saunders, J. W. Slater. 

The following officers were declared to be re-elected :—President, J. W. 
Dunning, M.A., F.L.S., &e.; Treasurer, E. Saunders, F.L.S.; Secretaries, 
E A. Fitch, F.L.S., and W. F. Kirby; Librarian, F. Grut, F.L.S. 

The President then delivered an address, at the conclusion of which 
Mr. H. T. Stainton proposed a cordial vote of thanks to Mr. Dunning for 
his services as President during the year, and requested that he would 
allow his address to be printed with the ‘ Proceedings.’ The proposal was 
seconded by the Rev. H. 8. Gorham, and carried unanimously. 

Mr. R. M‘Lachlan proposed a vote of thanks to the Secretaries, 
Librarian, and Treasurer, which was seconded by Mr. J. W. Slater, and 
carried unanimously. 

Messrs. Saunders, Fitch, and Grut made some remarks in acknow- 
ledgmeut.—E. A. Firen, Hon. Secretary. 


/.D 


a eT ne ee oe oT ae 


Z-D. 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vou. VIII.} APRIL, 1884. [No. 88. 


NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1882. 


By Tuomas SourHwett, F.Z.S. 


Tur Newfoundland Seal Fishery, although vigorously prose- 
cuted for the past 120 years, has been strangely neglected by 
British vessels, and, so far as this country is concerned, is 
quite a recent industry. The season of 1876 was the first, with 
one trifling exception, in which our sealers took part in the 
annual harvest of the Labrador ice. At present several vessels 
belonging to British owners are annually present at the fishing, 
but hitherto Dundee is the only British port from which vessels 
are dispatched direct to St. John’s. They leave Dundee about 
the first week in February, and having made up their full 
complement of hands clear out from St. John’s on the 10th March. 
They are allowed to take Seals as soon after that date as they 
can come up with them. If successful in getting a cargo early, 
they land their produce at St. John’s, and make a second trip to 
the ice, or proceed to the north of Iceland to shoot Hooded Seals 
before going north to the Whale-fishery. 

In Greenland the close time terminates with the 2nd April. 
The main take of Seals is speedily over, but some of the crews 
continue to shoot old Seals, or go south to Iceland to look for 
Hooded Seals, till the 20th May, when they take their departure 
for the Whale-fishery, for which purpose they proceed to Davis 
Straits, or to the ice between Greenland and Spitzbergen. 

The Seal which forms the chief object of pursuit, both in the 
Labrador and Greenland Seas, is known by the sewlers as the 


ZOOLOGIST.— APRIL, 1884. L 


122 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Saddle-back or Harp Seal (Phoca grenlandica, Fab.); it is 
restless and gregarious in its habits, and as the breeding season 
approaches congregates on the ice off Newfoundland in count- 
less numbers. In the Greenland Seas it is also found at the 
same season in large but—owing to undue persecution—greatly 
diminished packs. This migration takes place with great regu- 
larity, and the sealers know almost to a day when the old 
Seals will take to the ice to produce their young. In the 
latter locality the young are almost all born by the 1st April, 
and on the 8rd the slaughter takes place; on the Newfound- 
land ice the young are produced some fortnight earlier; there 
are also a larger number of Hooded Seals found there than 
further north. 

Later in the season the Greenland ice is invaded by large 
numbers of Seals from the Labrador ice, on the breaking up of 
which they travel northward, still along the margin of the ice, 
resting as they go, till they reach latitude 76°; they then make 
for the south end of Spitzbergen, and even pass on to the shores 
of Novaya Zemlya. 

Between Iceland and Greenland the Hooded Seal (Cystophora 
cristata, Erxleben) is met with in considerable numbers in the 
month of June, after the Labrador ice has disappeared, and since 
1877 they have been hunted with considerable success. These 
chiefly fall to the Norwegians, though some of our ships also 
take part in their pursuit, but this locality has of late years 
offered another inducement to the whalers which I shall mention 
shortly. The sealing voyage over, most of the vessels go north 
for the whaling voyage, either to the Greenland Seas, lying 
between 70° and 80° N. latitude and 20° W. and 10° E. longitude, 
or to Davis Strait. 

The Newfoundland sealing in the season of 1882 opened 
under the most unfavourable circumstances, owing to the vast 
accumulation of ice in the Atlantic. All through the spring, and 
quite into the month of June, reports represent the Newfoundland 
Seas as bristling with huge icebergs, whilst from Cape Breton 
to 200 miles §.E. of Cape Rice stretched a tremendous pack 
of heavy ice, which the sealers on their arrival in vain tried to 
penetrate, effectually closing the port of St. John’s. On the 
2nd March five of the Dundee vessels were reported still fast 
in the ice, and they only reached St. John’s on the 9th March, 


THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1882. 123 


barely in time to make their arrangements for sailing on the 
10th, the day fixed by law for their departure. 

On the 21st May H.M.S. ‘ Teredos’ reported the ice as nearly 
solid from Cape Breton to Newfoundland ; twenty-one ships were 
still locked in the ice N.W. of Cape Race, and one large ship of 
1000 tons rested forty feet above the water, having been thus 
forced up by the pressure of the ice, and at the end of the month 
“of May there were still many ships imprisoned in the vast ice- 
field off Cape Breton. It is not surprising, therefore, that the 
Dundee vessels were much less successful in that season than in 
that of 1881, the take of Seals being only 63,204, against 139,985 
in the previous year. The ‘Arctic’ and the ‘ Thetis’ were the most 
successful, the former taking 24,668 and the latter 10,598 Seals, 
the remaining four vessels securing 27,9483 Seals between them. 
The ‘Wolf’ was also reported “full,” and the ‘Proteus’ and 
‘Walrus’ (all three belonging to British owners), the former with 
8000 and the latter with 7800 Seals. The Newfoundland voyage, 
notwithstanding the difficulties which the vessels encountered, 
may, so far as the British vessels are concerned, be said, upon 
the whole, to have been a successful one, although far short of 
the exceptional season of 1881. The ‘Thetis’ proceeded from 
St. John’s direct to the Greenland Seal fishery, and succeeded in 
shooting 3317 old Seals and eight Bottle-nose Whales, thus 
making a very successful voyage. I believe fourteen vessels 
belonging to British owners, in addition to the Dundee sealers, 
left St. John’s Harbour on the 10th March. 

The Greenland sealing voyage is a record of successive 
storms and fogs. Capt. David Gray, of the ‘Eclipse,’ has 
published extracts from his log in ‘Land and Water’ for 
December 9th, 16th and 23rd, from which it will be seen how 
perilous is the navigation of the high latitudes visited by the 
sealers in the early spring. Not only have they to contend with 
the ordinary risks of navigation, but there is the constant dread 
of being beset, and thus losing the precious days which should 
be employed in searching for the Seals, or even perhaps of being 
crushed in the pitiless ice. To all this must be added the 
hardships from cold and fatigue, and the discomforts of a ship 
constantly engaged in “‘ making off.” Surely a “full” ship is 
not too great a reward for the skill and endurance displayed by 
these bold and skilful navigators. 


124 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


But all the vessels which leave the ports of Dundee and 
Peterhead do not return successful. In the past year the ‘ Jan 
Mayen’ (Salmond) was lost, and the ‘Hope’ returned in April 
with a broken shaft; in time, however, to be fitted out once more 
for the Arctic Seas in search of the lost ‘ Hira,’ happily with the 
most complete success. More than one of the ships missed the 
Seals from being beset or other causes; the chief reason, how- 
ever, being that, from some unexplained cause, the old Seals 
took to the ice much farther north and east than they were ever 
known to have done before; in fact, far beyond the limits laid 
down in the Act of Parliament for their protection. It thus 
happens that only eight out of the thirteen Scotch vessels which 
sailed for the northern sealing voyage were successful, the total 
take being 22,142 Seals, against 23,894 in the season of 1881; 
but as the Norwegian vessels took even more Seals than our 
own, it is probable that the whole brood was destroyed, and 
that had more ships been present, it would only have resulted in 
a lower average. 

Capt. Gray tells me that the old Seal-fishing in April was a 
perfect failure, partly owing to the weather, and partly to the 
heavy ice being surrounded by thin bay-ice, which prevented the 
boats from getting near the Seals. 

The Dundee vessels, nine in number, which went on to 

- Davis Straits in search of Right Whales were rewarded with 
seventy-eight of these valuable monsters, which produced 770 
tons of oil and 582 ewts. of bone, which, with oil at £33 per ton 
and bone at £1150 per ton, would yield a return of £58,876. 

In years gone by, when the Right Whale formed almost the 
only prize which was considered worth the attention of the 
whalers, such small deer as Seals and White Whales were 
looked upon as hardly worth the time employed in their capture ; 
the ships pushed on, anxiously speculating upon the chance of 
making the passage of the middle ice in Baffin’s Bay, then so 
tedious and dangerous an undertaking, or wended their way 
north to the east coast of Greenland and the open waters of 
Spitzbergen. Since about the year 1837, however, sealing has 
been seriously prosecuted, I fear with the very serious result of 
ruining what, if judiciously worked, might long have remained a 
very lucrative business. The Whales are getting scarcer, and 
the costly nature of the outfit in the present day, renders failure 


THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF L882. 125 


a very serious matter. The result is that the whalers never lose 
a chance, and, compared with the days that are past, often 
return with a very miscellaneous cargo. 

The notable feature in the fishery of 1882 was the capture 
of a large number of Bottle-nose Whales, Hyperoodon rostratum, 
The whalers have long been in the habit of taking an occasional 
Bottle-nose, and many years ago the ‘ Chieftain,’ of Kirkcaldy, 
caught twenty-eight of them off Frobisher Strait; but it was not 
till 1877, when the ‘Jan Mayen,’ then of Peterhead, having 
missed the Seals, succeeded in taking ten Bottle-noses, that their 
pursuit attracted much attention. Since that time, however, 
they have been more sought for, and now most of the smaller 
vessels hunt for them every season, while som2 of the larger 
vessels, in the interval between the finish of the Seal-fishery and 
the commencement of the whaling, go south to the north-east 
coast of Iceland for the same purpose. In 1880 Capt. Gray, of 
the ‘ Hclipse,’ killed thirty-two of these Whales, and in 1881 
they came in for their full share of attention, 111 having been 
taken. In the past season (1882) 463 of these animals were 
secured by the Scotch vessels alone, 203 of which fell to the lot 
of our friend David Gray. 

Capt. Gray, from various causes, virtually missed the Seals 
(killing only 468), and gave the whole of his attention to the 
Bottle-noses. The first Whale was taken on April 27th, but owing 
to continuous gales it was not till May 3rd that he got seriously 
to work amongst them, the result being that by June 29th every 
tank was full of blubber, all the coals (except those necessary 
for the passage home), thrown overboard, and even the bread 
removed from its tank to a temporary locker to make room for 
the precious blubber. Thus he started for home on June 30th, 
arriving safely in port on July 5th, with literally a “full” ship. 
As the cargo was estimated to yield something like 230 tons of 
oil, and Bottle-nose oil has proved to be little if at all inferior to 
true sperm oil, being worth about £60 per ton, Capt. Gray is to 
be congratulated upon the results of his enterprise; but, I fear, 
their value having become fully known, it will in future go hard 
with the Bottle-noses. A considerable number of these Whales 
were also taken by the Norwegian fleets. 

Capt. Gray, during the season of 1882, devoted his attention 
not only to the capture of these singular creatures, but has also 


126 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


succeeded in throwing much light upon their habits and economy, 
of which absolutely nothing was previously known, and has 
settled for ever a disputed point which has long been a puzzle 
to naturalists. Hitherto the adult male of this species had never 
been described in the flesh; their properly authenticated and sexed 
skulls were therefore unknown. A form of skull has from time to 
time been met with, which by some was regarded as that of the 
adult male Hyperoodon rostratum, but Dr. J. EK. Gray thought 
otherwise, and accordingly described it as belonging to a new 
species which he named H. latifrons ; subsequently he even 
established for it a new genus, which he styled Lagenocetus. The 
skull which was known to us as that of the adult female and 
young male of H. rostratum (H. butzkopf of Gray) was remarkable 
for the great development of the maxillary bones, which form 
a crest on each side nearly as high as the occipital portion of 
the skull; but in the form known as H. latifrons these maxillary 
crests were vastly more developed, so as to exceed in height the 
hinder portion of the skull, and instead of being thin and wide 
apart, as in H. rostratum, were very much thickened and reflexed 
in front so as to present nearly a flat surface, with a very narrow 
space between them. 

These two extremes, viewed by themselves, might well have 
been ascribed to two very distinct animals, but Capt. Gray 
brought home with him a series of skulls illustrating the gradual 
development of these remarkable crests, and clearly showing that 
the form of skull ascribed by Dr. Gray to Lagenocetus latifrons 
was simply that of the adult male of Hyperoodon rostratum. 

With photographs of these skulls, Capt. Gray also very kindly 
sent me outlines of the animals to which they belonged, and so 
interesting are they that the whole series has been engraved 
to illustrate a communication since made by Capt. Gray to the 
Zoological Society of London.* For valuable notes upon the 
habits and forms of these most interesting creatures I must 
refer to that communication. 

I have elsewhere had the pleasure of recording indubitable 
evidence of the occurrence of the Atlantic Right Whale in British 


* See Proc. Zool. Soc. 1862, pp. 726—731 and Trans. Norf. and Norw. 
Nat. Soe. vol. iii. pp. 476—481. [The above notes were written in December, 
1882, and read before the Glasgow Natural History Society. | 


ee eT —— 


NOTES FROM CARLISLE. 127 


waters, for which Science is also indebted to Capt. Gray, and 
his observations on the habits and development of the Hyperoodon 
are scarcely less interesting. It is gratifying in the extreme that 
this successful commander, whilst so fully occupied with his 
many and arduous duties, still finds time and opportunity to 
study the interesting animals with which his exceptional calling 
brings him in contact. 

I have to express my thanks to him and to Mr. David Bruce, 
of Dundee, for the bulk of the information embodied in the 
foregoing remarks. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM CARLISLE. 
By tHe Rey. H. A. Macruerson, B.A. 


Tue spring of 1883 was rather uneventful in the Carlisle 
district, the least common birds obtained being the Waxwings 
already recorded (Zool. 1883, p. 299), a species of which examples 
have often been obtained in former years from the same localities. 
House Sparrows began to build on February 2nd, and I noticed 
a pair of Dippers paired on the 15th of the same month, though 
they were first observed to be building on March 26th. Great 
Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls were in pairs on the Eden 
on March 5th and 6th. Young House Sparrows flew from a nest 
on the 14th March, and Wheatears arrived on the 24th; I had 
watched a pair of Jackdaws building the previous day. 

Dippers had young ones on the Eden on April 12th, on the 
20th of which month I observed a’ single White Wagtail by the 
mill-stream in Denton Holme. Meantime the Sand Martin had 
arrived on the 8th, the Chiffchaff on the 12th, the Willow Wren 
on the 13th, House Swallow on the 16th; the Common Sand- 
piper came on the 20th, House Martin on the 21st, Corn Crake 
on the 22nd, Garden Warbler on the 27th, and on the 29th 
appeared the first male Redstart, of which my sister had seen 
an example at Bordighera on the Ist of that month. 

On May Ist the Swift and Cuckoo reached us; though I have 
known the Swift appear at Oxford on May Ist, it more generally 
arrives there on the 2nd and 3rd. On the 4th the Common 
Whitethroat appeared, and on the 6th the Blackcap and Wood 


128 THE ZOOLOGIST. — 


Wren. On the 22nd a Lesser Redpoll’s nest at Kingmoor con- 
tained four eggs; a Reed Bunting had completed her clutch two 
days earlier; on the 28th the Willow Wren and Meadow Pipit 
both had eggs. On the 18th my friend Mr. W. Duckworth—to 
whom I am much indebted, both for the loan of his notes for 
the year, which he kept simultaneously with myself, and for 
much general information as to the district—had the good fortune 
to meet with a flock of fully fifty Pied Flycatchers in the valley of 
the Lowther, whence I believe Heysham first obtained the eggs 
of this species. From their fresh and bright appearance, and 
from the fact that the sexes were mixed, they had probably only 
just arrived. Notes of former years show that they pair almost 
immediately after arrival, and commence looking over their 
breeding-holes. On this occasion, at 8.80 a.m., Mr. Duckworth 
witnessed a fierce combat between two males. The 18th is a 
late date, however, for their arrival, as Mr. Duckworth has seen 
them on the 7th of the month, and Heysham, shot a pair on the 
12th. This species, and also the Spotted Flycatcher, had fresh 
eges on June 19th, when clutches of the Common Sandpiper, 
Stock Dove, Dipper, and Grey Wagtail were hard-sat. 

Here I may mention that though the Wryneck formerly 
occurred in the district (cf. Yarrell, Brit. Birds, ii. p. 492) we 
have no records of its being noticed locally for the last twenty 
years. The last authenticated nest was obtained somewhere 
about 1863 by Mr. Fell, who remembers shooting the parent 
birds, which Mr. Heysham obtained from him with the nest. 

On June 25th Mr. Duckworth and I found young Sandpipers 
onthe Eden. One of the old birds crossed the river and perched on 
a dead branch of an ash, from fifteen to twenty feet above the 
bank; there it contentedly remained for twenty minutes, when 
we left it perching as calmly as any finch could do. , 

On July 2nd a pair of Red-backed Shrikes were seen near 
Carlisle. Though established in the Lake District, Lanius 
collurio has only once before bred near Carlisle, in the memory 
of Messrs. Duckworth and other observers. On July 4th we 
found four nests of the Lesser Redpoll in a hedge near Fling 
Moor; one which I took, with only two eggs, was largely com- 
posed of fine fir twigs. On the previous day I had examined 
a brood of young Grasshopper Warblers, easily recognised by 
their spotted tongues. This species was not so plentiful in 1888 


NOTES FROM CARLISLE. 129 


as usual, in Messrs. Duckworth’s experience, though we knew 
the whereabouts of several nests. 

August was only noticeable for a pair of Turnstones, which 
spent the last week of the month on the Eden, near Rickerby. 
A Woodcock also frequented the Cemetery late in August; two 
pairs had bred in a preserve near Cummersdale, and others at 
Netherby, as the Rey. A. Hodges kindly informed me. 

On Burgh Marsh a brace of Wigeon were shot on September 
22nd; very few Dotterel had visited it in June, and Mr. A. Smith 
has seen none on Rockliffe for several springs. Some young 
Ruffs were shot on Burgh, on passage, on Sept. 28th. On the 
25th I saw a Merlin cross the Esk, apparently on passage. 
Formerly this bird must have been very abundant, to judge from 
the number of stuffed specimens possessed by our working men 
in the parish. Hven now it breeds when permitted in the 
district. A rather dark immature female Merlin was trapped 
near Carlisle in April last; anda fine old female was shot on 
October 18th, in the same nursery gardens in which the other 
was obtained in spring. Another Merlin, also a female, was 
shot at Kirklinton on December 17th, and I observed one or two 
more during the autumn. 

On the 27th September a large bird of prey, identified by 
Mr. Smith as an Osprey, was nearly captured by a servant in a 
garden at Castletown, completely exhausted by the storm; after 
being seen by Smith and others at a close distance on the 
following Sunday, it departed in the direction of Skiddaw, pur- 
sued as far as the eye could reach by a mob of Rooks. 

On the 29th September a young Goosander was shot on the 
Eden near Rockliffe; being sent into Carlisle, it was eaten by 
a bird-loving engine-driver. As I happened to call about 
the dinner hour that day, I can bear testimony that its fishy 
flavour had not deterred the family from picking its bones bare. 

Redwings arrived on October 2nd and Fieldfares on the 3rd. 
A large number of Bernicle Geese visited Burgh on the 6th, 
when a Greenshank was shot on Rockliffe ; the first Greenshank, 
however, was shot in mid-August, as were a couple of Green 
Sandpipers. Burgh and Rockliffe have their special attractions 
for different species; Whimbrel, for instance, though abundant 
on Brough in May, seldom visit Rockliffe; the Redshank and 
Dunlin prefer Rockliffe, especially in the breeding season, though 


130 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


I saw a particularly fine clutch of Dunlin’s eggs obtained by a 
parishioner on Burgh in 1883. 

On October 13th a male Spotted Crake was shot on Rockliffe ; 
this species visits us on passage both in spring and autumn. 
Probably a few pairs occasionally remain to breed in the 
Solway marshes. House Swallows left Carlisle on October 13th, 
and so did most of the House Martins, though one straggler 
of the latter species lingered until the 22nd. Bramblings 
arrived on the 15th. On the 29th Mr. Duckworth observed 
a single Hooded Crow near Bow; this species seldom visits the 
district ; the only other bird of this kind seen in 1883 occurred 
near Eden Bridge on December 11th, but was driven away by 
the churlish Rooks. 

November, owing to its mildness, yielded nothing of interest, 
except a single Shoveller drake from Rockliffe, and a female 
Shoveller from the Solway coast. In one evening four guns 
shot seventeen Bernicle Geese on Rockliffe. A single Peregrine 
visited Burgh Marsh. 

In December a few Goldeneyes, old and young, were obtained 
by the fowlers, together with a few Goosanders and Scaup ducks. 
Two old female Scaups turned the scales at two pounds and a 
half and two pounds respectively, while a young Tufted drake 
weighed barely one pound and a half. Of waders only Knots 
and Bar-tailed Godwits, a Greenshank or two, a few Dunlins, 
Golden Plovers, Green Plovers, and Curlews came into Carlisle ; 
a few Gray Plovers had visited Rockliffe in the course of the 
season. Siskins put in their appearance on December 2nd, and 
about a fortnight later a Great Grey Shrike was shot at Kirk- 
linton, as separately reported. Though locally considered very 
rare, I have since seen two Grey Shrikes myself (in 1844), and 
I have heard of at least ten specimens shot in the district at 
different times. 

On December 22nd there was shot within our parish, and 
close to the town, a Corn Crake, which had been observed in the 
same locality for at least a month previously; notwithstanding 
the mild weather, it proved to be in poor condition, though it 
shewed no trace of any injury. 


a a 


gun tebe’ 


vee (a 4 hee k mete, = 


131 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM N.W. YORKSHIRE. 
By Joan HK. Tinker. 


Tue district in which these notes have been made may be 
roughly described as that portion of Yorkshire through which 
the upper waters of the Swale, together with its several tribu- 
taries, take their course. 

It is a wild and picturesque tract of mountainous country, 
reaching its greatest elevation in Shunner Fell, 2351 feet above 
the level of the sea, and consists for the most part of extensive 
stretches of moorland, of grassy slopes, and grey limestone 
scars, diversified by numerous deep ravines called gills, the sides 
of which often form a continuous line of lofty rocks, at whose 
base generally runs a clear stream, which every now and then 
takes a leap over some impeding rock, thus forming many small 
and beautiful waterfalls, locally called forces. 

A district of so varied a character as this naturally leads one 
to expect a rich and numerous avifauna, nor has one to look in 
vain, for in the short time during which my observations have 
been made more than a hundred different species of birds have 
rewarded my research; besides some twenty or thirty others, 
which I have marked as doubtful. 

To begin with the birds of prey. The Osprey, Pandion 
haligetus, has several times been observed on the Swale below 
Richmond ; above that place I have only one note of its occur- 
rence. About three or four years ago one was seen frequenting 
the Swale near Ellerton, and, though several attempts were 
made to shoot it, I am glad to say that it finally escaped. 
This district seems especially attractive to that rarer British 
bird of prey, the Gyrfaleon, Falco candicans, for within the past 
few years no less than four instances of its occurrence have been 
noted. In either 1879 or 1880 near the Roe Beck, in Arken- 
garth Dale, one was observed to pounce upon and carry off a 
Grouse, within gunshot of the person who witnessed the circum- 
stance. Another, an immature specimen, was shot in the early 
spring of 1877, or thereabouts, on the edge of Ellerton Moor, 
while in pursuit of a Woodcock. The other two were shot in 
some scars at the extreme end of Swaledale, almost upon the 
Westmoreland boundary. I have not seen these birds myself, 


182 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


but they were reported to me as “large white hawks spotted 
with brown,” so that I think there can be no doubt about their 
identity. There is reason for believing that the Peregrine Falcon, 
Falco peregrinus, is a regular visitor to our moors during winter, 
for at that time of year I generally have reported to me the 
occurrence of large hawks, which, from the description given, 
can only be of this species. The only time, however, on which 
it has positively occurred was during the winter of 1881-82, 
when one was shot in a field on the north side of the Swale, 
near Kisdon Force. 

The Merlin, Falco esalon, is common on the moors during 
the spring and summer months, generally arriving in March and 
leaving early in September. It breeds regularly on most of the 
moors in this district, and a spring seldom passes but a nest or 
two is discovered on our own moors in Arkengarth Dale. It is 
remarkable that each successive year sees the several pairs 
occupying the same limited district of the moor for their several 
nests, although each of the birds of the preceding year has been 
shot or otherwise destroyed. 

Kestrels, Falco tinnunculus, though not quite so numerous as 
formerly, are still found in fair numbers throughout the district, 
and breed in many of the scars. It is, however, towards the 
end of July that they are most abundant, for then both old and 
young seem to join company and come up to the moors. In 
Arkengarth Dale, for instance, at this season of the year, it is 
no uncommon sight to see eight or ten of these birds hovering 
at a time, and that, too, where a month before not one was to 
be seen. 

Sparrowhawks, Accipiter nisus, are also abundant, few planta- 
tions being without a pair. Although they are destroyed when- 
ever a chance is given, their numbers do not seem to diminish ; 
thus, notwithstanding that the keepers for the last sixteen years, 
with one exception, have destroyed one bird of a ‘pair, and 
generally both birds in Scar Wood, yet the succeeding year has 
always found a fresh pair ready to supply the old one’s place. 
The last instance of the breeding of the Common Buzzard, 
Buteo vulgaris, with us happened in the spring of 1853, when a 
pair built their nest and hatched five young ones on the Red 
Scar. Now the Buzzard is only seen at rare intervals, chiefly in 
autumn and winter. The last occurrence that I have noted was 


NOTES FROM N.W. YORKSHIRE. 1338 


in the winter of 1880-81, when one was found in a trap on Low 
Scollit in Arkengarth Dale. 

The Long-eared Owl, Asio otus, is frequently observed, and, 
as specimens have been killed in the months of April and May, 
it is almost certain that it breeds with us. Two specimens of 
the Short-eared Owl were obtained near Richmond in January, 
1854; but it is far from common, and I have never heard of its 
nesting with us, nor of its even being seen during the breeding- 
season. The Tawny Owl, Syrniwm aluco, nests in limited numbers 
throughout the district, with the exception of Arkengarth Dale, 
where it has not been known as a breeding species for many 
years past, only occurring there while on feeding expeditions to the 
moors. Some time since a pair of Barn Owls were shot in the 
trees at the back of the shooting-box at Ellerton, but they are not 
often found so far above Richmond. 

The Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor, was obtained on 
November 8th, 1865, near Whitcliffe Scar; and the Red-backed 
Shrike, Lanius collwrio, has been recorded as nesting near 
Richmond. 

Spotted Flycatchers, Muscicapa grisola, are common summer 
migrants, generally appearing in May and leaving either about 
the end of August or beginning of September. Although the 
Pied Flycatcher, Muscicapa atricapilla, is found in Wensleydale, 
I have only one note of its occurrence in this district, a male 
being shot on April 29th, 1858, near Reeth. 

The Dipper, Cinclus aquaticus, is very common, its favourite 
haunts being the rocky gills and those parts of the larger streams 
where a bank of rock rises sheer from the water. In winter and 
early spring it is generally dispersed over those parts of the 
district where there is water, and it is hard to say where one 
may not come across a pair. 

The Missel Thrush, Song Thrush, and Blackbird are numerous, 
especially the two former. The severe winters of 1879, 1880, 
and 1881 greatly thinned the numbers of all three, but Iam glad 
to say that they are now as numerous as before. Fieldfares and 
Redwings are winter visitors, but are not common in the higher 
portions of the district, being found in greater abundance as 
you approach Richmond. 

Ring Ouzels are common summer migrants, arriving towards 
the end of March, when they may be found dispersed over those 


134 : THE ZOOLOGIST. 


parts suitable to their nesting habits. They leave us about the 
beginning of October, at which time the berries of the mountain 
ash, on which at this season they chiefly feed, begin to fail. 
Redbreasts and Hedgesparrows are common and resident. A few 
pairs of Redstarts, Ruticilla phenicurus, may be seen every sum- 
mer, principally in gardens, and on the outskirts of woods. 
Wheatears and Whinchats, Pratincola rubetra, are summer visi- 
tants, and are both very common, the former being the earlier 
of the two to appear, and found in the rougher parts of the 
district ; while the latter frequents the enclosed fields and pastures. 
I have never myself observed the Stonechat, Pratincola rubicola, 
but I am told on good authority that it is common in Swaledale. 
Whitethroats, Willow Wrens, and Chiffchaffs are common sum- 
mer migrants, increasing in numbers as you approach Richmond. 
The Sedge Warbler is not very common, being most abundant near 
Richmond. The Lesser Whitethroat, Sylvia curruca, Blackeap, 
and Garden Warbler are all very rare, and none of them, so far 
as I know, have been observed in the higher parts of the district. 
The Wood Wren, Phylloscopus sibilatrix, is found sparingly in 
most parts. The Golden-crested Wren, Regulus cristatus, is com- 
mon in the woods about Marrick, Marske, and along the New 
Richmond Road. In the higher parts of the valley it is rare. 
The Wren, T'roglodytes parvulus, is common and resident. The 
same may be also said of the Great and Blue Titmouse. The 
Coal and the Marsh Titmouse are resident and generally distri- 
buted. I have never seen the Long-tailed Titmouse, Acredula 
rosea, in the higher parts of the district, but it is commonly found 
nearer Richmond. 

During the winter of 1866-67 numbers of Waxwings, Ampelis 
garrulus, were observed frequenting the district, and several 
were shot. The Pied Wagtail is common in summer, but at the 
approach of winter leaves us for the south. In mild winters, how- 
ever, | have sometimes seen one or two on the roads searching for 
food. Inthe gills and by the rivers, wherever there is any rock, 
may be found that beautiful and elegant bird the Grey Wagtail, 
Motacilla melanope. It is a partial migrant, leaving the hill 
country for the plains during the winter months, returning early 
in spring. The Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla Raii, though by 
no means so numerous as the two former, is a regular summer 
visitant, chiefly frequenting rough broken pasture land. The Tree 


NOTES FROM N.W. YORKSHIRE. 135 


Pipit, Anthus trivialis, is a common summer migrant, arriving 
about the middle of April and leaving again early in September. 
The Meadow Pipit, Anthus pratensis, is very abundant both 
on the moors and elsewhere. ‘Towards winter it congregates in 
large flocks and departs southward, returning very early in 
spring. An odd bird or two, however, may generally be observed 
all the year round. I have found its nest at the height of two 
thousand feet above ths sea. Skylarks, Alauda arvensis, are 
equally as numerous as the last-named species, but do not reach 
such a great elevation. 

In severe winters the Snow Bunting, Plectrophanes nivalis, is 
found on certain portions of the district in large flocks number- 
ing several hundreds each. In mild winters we still have them, 
but only in small parties of from twenty to thirty. Common, 
Reed, and Yellow Buntings are sparsely scattered over the more 
cultivated parts; the Yellow Bunting is more numerous near 
Richmond. 

Chaffinches, Linnets, Greenfinches, and Sparrows are common 
and resident. The Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus, is common 
near Richmond. The Brambling, Fringilla montifringilla, has 
been observed in winter, but is exceedingly rare. Goldfinches 
have been noticed near Gunnerside, but they are not common 
far above Richmond. The Twite, Linota flavirostris, and Lesser 
Redpoll, Linota rufescens, breed with us annually, the former in 
limited numbers on the moors, the latter being much the com- 
moner of the two. Bullfinches are common and resident, con- 
gregating in small parties of from three to five during winter. 

About the end of October, 1858, nine Crossbills, Lowia curvi- 
rostra, were killed near Reeth out of a flock of eleven. They had 
frequented the fir plantation in which they were killed since the 
previous February. I am also told that the Crossbill is a regular 
winter visitor to some woods near Reeth. Thirty years ago the 
Starling was almost unknown in the district ; now it is common, 
and, although it generally leaves us for the winter, still, when 
the weather is mild and open, I have noticed that a few stragglers 
remain behind; indeed, only a few weeks since I saw several 
about our church tower. In the course of an interesting note to 
‘The Field,’ of October 20th, 1888, Mr. Ford, of Caistor, 
says :—‘‘I spent nine years in the upper part of Swaledale, 
where these birds were then exceedingly rare; in fact, a friend 


136 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


of mine told me that he recollected the first pair that came into 
the Dale, and that they took up their residence in a house 
situated in the middle of Low Row. A few years after this they 
made their way to Summerside, three miles higher up the valley, 
and I happened to live in the house where the first pair built. 
However, they soon increased and found their way to Muker, 
Keld, and other places still further up the valley. A year or two 
ago I went that way on an angling excursion, and, as autumn 
was approaching, I saw them flocking in fair numbers, as in 
southern counties. But the winters there are too severe for 
them, so they all migrate south, where there is more food for 
them.” 

Six or seven years ago the Raven might still have been found 
nesting on Swaledale Head, and on July 4th, 1877, a young bird 
of the year was shot on Water Crag. Now, I am sorry to say, I 
do not think there is a single pair of these fine birds to be found 
breeding in the whole district, owing to the constant persecution 
they receive at the hands of keepers and others. There was a 
rumour that a pair nested on the crags at the head of Oxnop Gill 
in the spring of 1881, and a pair were seen flying about the 
moor near Keld the same spring, but I could get no satisfactory 
evidence of their breeding anywhere in Swaledale during that 
year. Last spring the watcher at Tanhill trapped a pair, which, 
if unmolested, would probably have built in their old haunts in 
the neighbouring district. 

Carrion Crows, though not numerous, are found scattered over 
most parts of the district. The Hooded Crow, Corvus corniz, is 
generally noticed on its migrations in spring and autumn; a 
few, however, may be seen throughout the winter on certain 
portions of the district. Rooks, though common, are not found 
in such great numbers as in some parts of the country, and the 
only rookeries in the district are those of Marske Hall, Draycott 
Hall, and Healaugh, but these are of no great extent. Jackdaws 
are very numerous, especially about the scars at Ellerton and 
Downholme. 

The Jay is seldom seen above Reeth; below Reeth it is com- 
mon in most of the woods. Magpies are common and resident. 
During winter they congregate in small parties of from three to 
five, and occasionally more. The Green Woodpecker is occa- 
sionally found in the district, but is far from common. The 


—=-_)  —_ ee 


NOTES FROM N.W. YORKSHIRE. 187 


Great and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers have been observed, but 
are very rare. 

A single specimen of the Hoopoe, Upupa epops, has occurred, 
one being shot some years since near Low Row, in Swaledale. 
The Nuthatch, Sitta cesia, is very rare; specimens, however, 
are occasionally obtained near Richmond. Cuckoos are common 
summer migrants, four or five often being seen at atime. The 
Roller, Coracias garrulus, has been obtained at Marske Hall, 
though I have no particulars as to date or manner of capture. 
The Kingfisher is rare above Richmond, and I only know of one 
occurrence. About four or five years ago one was shot on the 
Swale below Ellerton Priory. 

Swallows and Martins are common throughout the summer 
months, but have generally all left by the middle of October. 
The Sand Martin is found by the Swale wherever there are 
suitable sand-banks. In Arkengarth Dale itis unknown. Swifts 
are numerous in most parts of the district during summer. 
Nightjars are common summer visitants. 

The Ring Dove, Columba palumbus, and Stock Dove, Columba 
@nas, are common and resident. The Rock Dove, Columba livia, 
is reported as breeding in the scars near Richmond, but I think 
that this bird and the Stock Dove have been mistaken for one 
another. 

Pheasants and Black Grouse, Tetrao tetriz, are found near 
Richmond; a few of the latter, however, occur higher up the 
dales. The Red Grouse, Lagopus scoticus, is common and resi- 
dent, though, after very severe snowstorms, they often pack and ~ 
leave the moors in considerable numbers. Partridges are thinly 
scattered over the district, becoming much more numerous 
nearer Richmond. The Golden Plover, Charadrius pluvialis, is 
abundant and resident, breeding commonly on the moors. Their 
numbers, however, are largely increased during winter by fresh 
arrivals from the north. Lapwings are common, and their 
mournful cry may be heard in most parts of the district from 
March onwards. In winter they leave us for the coast. Dotterels, 
Eudromias morinellus, were not uncommon twenty years ago, but 
few have been seen of late years. 

The Green Sandpiper, Totanus ochropus, occurs now and then 
in the higher parts, chiefly in August. Common Sandpipers, 
Totanus hypoleucus, are very numerous by the streams in summer, 

ZOOLOGIST.—APRIL, 1884. M 


138 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


arriving in April and leaving again in August. <A few pairs of 
the Dunlin, Tringa alpina, are found breeding on some of the 
higher moors. They generally arrive in April and leave early 
in autumn. 

The Woodcock, Scolopax rusticula, has been known to breed 
on the Ellerton Estate, and I have no doubt but that it breeds 
here and there throughout the district. Most of those, however, 
which we have here in winter are immigrants from Scandinavia. 
The Common Snipe is abundant and resident, breeding in fair 
numbers on most marshy grounds; while the Jack Snipe is 
scarce, and only occurs as a winter visitor. 

The Curlew, Numenius arquata, breeds in abundance on all 
the high moorlands, less commonly on the lower. It retires 
from its breeding haunts early in August for the coast, where it 
remains during the winter, returning either in March or early in 
April. A specimen of the Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia, was 
shot in one of the early months of 1867 near Reeth. Herons, 
Ardea cinerea, often pay a visit to the Swale and other streams, 
and are frequently observed on the moors. Moorhens and 
Water Rails are occasionally flushed by anglers along the Swale, 
but more are found in Wensleydale than in Swaledale. The Coot 
has been seen on Moss Dam in Swaledale, and is not uncommon 
near Richmond. The Landrail is in some seasons a common 
summer migrant, whilst in others—last year, for instanee—it is 
just as scarce. 

A fine male of the Spotted Crake, Porzana maruetta, was 
‘found dead at Ellerton Priory in September, 1858. Wild Duck 
and Teal breed in limited numbers on the moors, but are more 
numerous in winter. The Shoveller, Spatula clypeata, has been 
obtained at Marske. Wigeon are found in winter, but never in 
any great abundance. The Pochard is rarely observed, and then 
only in winter. A Tufted Duck, Fuligula cristata, was seen on 
the Swale in November, 1853, and a Goldeneye, Clangula 
glaucion, was observed on the Swale near Richmond in 1855. ° 
The Goosander, Mergus merganser, has several times been shot 
near Richmond. In 1854 a specimen of the Whooper, Cygnus 
musicus, was taken near Richmond. 

Flocks of wild geese are often seen flying over the district in 
winter, but I have never been able to make out the species. The 
Common Tern occasionally visits us, generally before a severe 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 139 


storm, and the same may be said with respect to the Herring 
Gull, Larus argentatus. A pair or so of the Common Gull, 
Larus canus, generally breeds on some peat hags on Punchard 
Head, in Arkengarth Dale. 


| The last statement appears to require some confirmation. Is the writer 
quite sure that the species is Larus canus? If so, this is the only known 
breeding-place of this Gull in England. 

A communication on “ Migratory Birds on the Yorkshire Moors” has 
been received, but the note which accompanied it has been mislaid. The 
Editor will feel obliged if the writer will forward his name and address that 
the communication may appear in the next number.—ED. | 


NOTES AND QUERIES, 


The Ornithological Congress and Exhibition at Vienna.—On the 
4th April an International Ornithological Congress, the first of its kind, 
initiated by H.I. and R.H. the Crown Prince Rudolph, will be held at 
Vienna, at which various subjects of interest to sportsmen and naturalists, 
bird-fanciers, pigeon-fanciers, and poultry-breeders will be brought forward 
for consideration. Amongst the topics announced for discussion at this 
Congress, the programme specifies a project for an international law for the 
protection of birds; a consideration of the best means for securing an im- 
provement in the breeding of poultry ; and a suggestion for the establishment 
of ornithological stations throughout the globe, for the better observation 
and elucidation of the movements of migratory birds. In connection more 
or less with this Congress, an International Ornithological Exhibition will 
be open from April 4th to 14th, which will have considerable attractions 
for the general public. The exhibits will include live birds of all kinds, 
whether singly or in groups suitable for the aviary and poultry yard; 
cages, coops, drinking vessels, baths, nesting boxes, and artificial incubators; 
devices for the capture and transport of birds; ancient and modern sporting 
guns; hawks’ trappings and other articles appertaining to falconry; objects 
of scientific interest, whether artistic or industrial; books, journals, and 
pamphlets relating to Ornithology; pictures, sculpture, lithographs and 
photographs of birds or representing bird-life; stuffed birds, birds’ eggs, 
natural nests, parasites of birds, pathological preparations, instruments for 
dissecting and birdstuffing, feathers and plumassiers’ work. Special prizes 
will be given for Canaries in song, and there will be an exhibition of artificial 
incubators in operation, for the best of which special prizes will also be 
awarded. Fuller particulars may be obtained by addressing the Secretary of 
the Committee, Dr. Gustav von Hayek, 3, Marokkanergasse, Vienna. 


140 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Method of recording Observations.—By way of supplement to my 
previous remarks under this heading, I may say that if the thousands of 
records in the forty volumes of ‘The Zoologist” were indexed, working 
naturalists could make fuller use of them; but as the proposition to issue 
an Index appears to have fallen through from want of support, or from 
some other cause unknown to me, I suggested the method which I have 
already described as a means of promptly indexing all records sent by any 
correspondent from any part of the country. By the use ofa counterfoil 
or duplicate form, your county correspondents could always preserve a 
chronological record of all county occurrences in their own hands, whilst 
also making them public, and county faunas would be far more easily 
worked out by future historians, as these files could be lent or handed over 
per post by the recorders to the historian who undertakes the work. The 
popular side of the question, and the subject of your editorial note,—in which 
you object to the formality and defend the originality of observations,—can 
also quite well be retained. Let each recorder, as usual, record in his own 
words, as popularly and as amusingly, or in as full detail as he chooses,— 
the fuller the better, —but also let him use his forms, and fill in upon some 
such plan as I suggest (and which is that used by our Committee on 
Migration, or somewhat similar to it), also, in order to compress into smaller 
space, and for easier record and reference, those important points which 
should be prominent in such records. I fearlessly repeat, that had some 
such method been in use for twenty years, or a much less time, in recording 
Natural History phenomena, we should long ere this have had our present 
knowledge of migration and other points quadrupled. Our experience as a 
Migration Committee tells us this as plainly as an A BC. Notwithstanding 
the editorial note, I hope it will yet be seen and understood that uniformity 
in this rcspect need not in any way interfere with originality of observation. 
They can quite well go hand in hand, by giving the original observations 
first, and the formal record following it. Space in ‘The Zoologist’ is no 
doubt valuable, but 1 feel convinced space would not be less valuable if 
used in some such way. Perhaps the Editor could give a monthly register 
in each number of ‘ The Zoologist’ of all these occurrences, copied out from 
the recorders’ forms, in which case only a page or two need be thus occupied, 
and the original observations can remain as usual in the text, with a 
numerical reference to the Editor's register, which latter might be arranged 
chronologically for further convenience. If this were done indexing would 
be almost unnecessary, as whoever desires to write upon the birds of Great 
Britain would have only to refer iu future to the “ Zoologist Monthly 
Register,” and run his finger down the records as he reads, and note off 
under each county or district. I have no doubt some hints for the 
elaboration of some such plan can be given by some of your correspondents ; 
and I feel very sure that such would prove of real advantage and utility to 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 141 


all working naturalists who require to refer to the district faunas of Great 
Britain, without in any way interfering with observers’ original notes in the 
body of the text.—J. A. Harviz Brown (Dunipace House, Larbert, N.B.). 


MAMMALIA, 


Bi-dental Skulls of the Narwhal.— In the ‘Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society of London’ for 1871 (p. 50), Mr. Clark has enumerated 
eleven bi-dental skulls of this animal as then known to be in existence in 
various collections in Europe. Since that time I have seen a twelfth example, 
now in the Dundee Museum, which was brought from Prince Regent's 
Inlet by Capt. Gravill, of the whaler ‘Camperdown.’ In the late Inter- 
national Fisheries Exhibition most of your readers doubtless saw another 
example exhibited by Messrs. Stephen, of Dundee, which belonged to Mr. 
Daniel Bruce, of that town. It was taken in the summer of 1882, in Davis 
Straits, by Capt. J. B. Walker, then commanding the s.s. ‘ Erick.’ This 
makes a total of thirteen known bi-dental skulls. —T. SourawE tt (Norwich). 


BIRDS. 


The last Great Auk.— Under this heading (Zool. 1883, p. 470) I drew 
attention toa notice in ‘ The American Naturalist’ for 1872 (vol. vi. p. 369), 
wherein the author, Mr. Ruthven Deane, stated that he had been informed 
by Mr. A. Lechevallier, of Montreal, that a specimen of Alca impennis 
had been found dead in the vicinity of St. Augustin, on the coast of 
Labrador, in November, 1870; that this specimen, although in a bad state, 
had been preserved by Mr. Lechevallier, and sold by him to a naturalist in 
France, and realised two hundred dollars. Thinking it of much interest to 
substantiate, if possible, the alleged existence of Alea impennis at so recent 
a date as 1870, I have since made inquiries concerning it, with the following 
result :—Through the kindness of Dr. Elliott Coues, I have received two 
letters addressed by Mr. Lechevallier to Mr. Ruthven Deane, dated respect- 
ively the 4th and 17th March, 1872. These letters, although signed 
“A. Lechevallier,” appear to have been written for him by an amanuensis 
who translated them from French into very bad English. I quote from 
them so much as relates to the bird in question:—‘‘ 4th March, 1872. 
There was a mistake in the price of my Great Auk. Ihave said to Mr. 
Brewster that the skin was of 200 dols., and the egg 150 dols. Isent it in 
Europe to M. Fairmaire, naturalist to Paris, whom have sold it I think in 
Austria. It has been found dead on the coast of Labrador, and in bad 
state.” ‘17th March, 1872. According to your desire I address you in 
full the instructions which I obtained myself on the Alea impennis which 
has been found dead in November, 1870, on the coast of Labrador. I 
cannot exactly give the date, but I know that it is in November. It was 
found on the northern coast by some Indians in the vicinities of St. 


142 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Augustin or of Macatina, which are not far the one from the other. I 
cannot tell you how was the weather, but I can tell you that the storms are 
pretty rare in Labrador, above all in November. But the bad weather, I 
mean the tempests produced by the wind, are hard and violent in these 
countries, in autumn are frequent, and this bird, fight [tossed] by the waves, 
will have found the death on the rocks, and will have been drawn by the 
currents, which are terrible in these places, far from countries in which he 
ordinarily lives. I could not know [ascertain] if he had some wounds ; 
they only told me that he was very lean. It was a male, but the skin badly 
prepared was ina bad state. I never had his egg. You know that he 
nestle in Greenland in the crevices of rocks. He probably lay his eggs in 
June.” On receipt of these letters, I wrote to M. Fairmaire, of Paris, 
whom I happen to know personally, and asked him to be good enough to 
give me the history of the specimen referred to from the date of its reaching 
his hands. His reply was as follows :—“ St. Mandé (Seine), 25 Février, 
1884. Je regrette beaucoup d’avoir a vous dire que je ne sais rien du tout 
relativement a un Alca impennis capturé en 1870 par M. Lechevallier qui 
a ma connaissance n’a jamais capturé ce rare volatile [doubtless a slip of the 
pen for volaille.| L’information du Dr. Elliott Coues répose done sur une 
complete erreur, et des informations inexactes.” Should this meet the eye 
of M. Lechevallier perhaps he will be good enough to explain, for the satis- 
faction of ornithologists, the discrepancy which appears to exist between the 
statements in his own letters and in that of M. Fairmaire above quoted.— 
J. E. Harrine. 


‘The Auk: a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology.’—We cannot dis- 
miss the name ‘Auk’ from our minds without recalling the fact that, under 
this title, the members of the American Ornithologists’ Union have elected 
to carry on the journal which has hitherto been known as the ‘ Bulletin of 
the Nuttall Ornithological Club.’ The first number with this new name 
appeared in January last, and, the editors having well-nigh exacted a 
promise from critics (p 105) that no jokes should be made at their expense 
in regard to the awkwardness of the name, we will do no more than offer 
our hearty congratulations on the satisfactory establishment of the above- 
named American Union, and wish continued success to the old journal 
under the new régime. In regard to the contents of the current number, 
we may especially direct the attention of our readers to the pages on Recent 
Ornithological Literature, and to the editorial remarks (pp. 102—104) on 
Trinomial Nomenclature. 


Ornithology of Riding Mill on Tyne.—To my article under this 
heading (p. 92), originally intended for a local Society, I ought to have 
prefixed some account of the neighbourhood to which the notes refer. 
Riding Mill is in South Northumberland, fifteen miles west of Newcastle- 


a eT a 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 1438 


on-Tyne, and about 100 feet above sea-level. From the river Tyne the 
hills rise on both sides to an additional height of about 300 feet. A little 
further to the south greater altitudes are reached, some parts of Healey 
township being about 600 feet, and Minster Acres about 1000 feet above 
_ the sea. . The country is well wooded, there being some woods of 500 acres, 
and more in extent. It is also well watered; several burns run into the 
Tyne near Riding Mill, which pass through deep and in some places rocky 
gills. Towards Blanchland and Stanhope the country consists of moorland. 
The prevailing geological formation is the millstone grit. The “ woodlands” 
mentioned is a large estate near Lanchester, and in the county of Durham, 
formerly, and, possibly still, a very rich neighbourhood in uncommon birds. 
Stanhope is also in the county of Durham. The following misprints in my 
former notes may be corrected :— Page 96, line 28, for “ Stockfield” read 
“ Stocksfield,” as elsewhere; p. 99, line 10, ‘ have perceptibly decreased” 
read “have not,” &e.; same page, line 16, for “Sealey” read “ Healey”; 
p- 101, line 9, for “ Sealey” read “ Slaley..—Hrnry H. Siarer. 

[These misprints show how very desirable it is that correspondents 
should write proper names clearly and distinctly. Names which may be 
found on any good map may be generally deciphered, but names of 
unimportant localities, or of woods, shaws, gills, and so forth cannot always 
be guessed rightly by the best of printers.—Eb. | 


Spotted Redshank and Long-tailed Duck in the Moy Estuary.—On 
the 14th June last, when going to Bartragh in my punt, I heard the call 
of a Spotted Redshank, and shortly after saw it on the Scurmore shore, 
along with some Greenshanks; a boat passing it at the time scared it off 
the shore, and although I took a long shot as it flew past, it escaped 
uninjured. When down the Moyne channel in my punt, on the 31st 
December, I observed a fine male Long-tailed Duck, in company with some 
Mergansers, whose wildness prevented my taking a shot at it. On the 9th 
January, on the river near Belleck, also associating with Mergansers, I saw 
a male Long-tailed Duck, probably the same bird seen near Moyne in 
December.—Roprrt Warren (Moyview, Ballina, Co. Mayo). 


Velvet Scoter near Manchester.—Dr. Kershaw, of Middleton, near 
Manchester, wrote to me on November 22nd, “I had a little excitement 
here yesterday: I had for the past three or four days noticed four black- 
looking birds swimming on Rhodes Reservoir, so yesterday I thought 
I would go down with the big gun and see if I could get a shot. On my 
arrival I found they had all disappeared save one. At first sight it looked 
like a Cormorant, but as there was a perfect gale blowing at the time, and 
the bird kept bobbing up and down, it was difficult to say what it was. 
However, I killed it, and, behold! it proved to be a Velvet Scoter, and 
a very good one, too.”—T. H. Nexson (Redcar). 


144 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Ornithological Notes from Breconshire.— During the past winter 
Siskins, Fringilla spinus, were extremely abundant here, moving about in 
large flocks. A Great Northern Diver, Colymbus glacialis, was seen at 
Llangorse Lake, and was pursued in a boat for some hours, but I rejoice 
to say escaped. In January I observed a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Picus 
major, near Talybout, the only one seen during the winter. A female 
Scaup, Fuligula marila, was shot on the Usk, near this town, aud a drake, 
presumably its partner, was until quite recently on the Gludy Lake. 
A curions specimen of the Rook was killed near Aberystwith last autumn, 
being of a light ash-colour over the entire body, with white eyes; and, 
near the same place, a white Starling, with dark reddish brown eyes. 
I think this worth noticing, as no bird breeds truer to colour than the 
Starling, and albinos amongst them are certainly rare—at least, such is my 
experience. [Scarcely a year elapses in which two or three are not reported 
to us.—Ep.} It may interest Mr. Norgate to know that late in September, 
1882, about the 28th, I killed an adult Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus, 
near Highworth, Wilts. This bird is common here, and may at any time 
be seen on a fine summer's evening. I think they leave us early in August, 
for I have only once seen one after the middle of that month, when Grouse 
shooting some years since. I have had one occasionally brought to me 
early in August, and always as a great rarity, but never after that date. 
Those who brought them would hardly believe that the bird is a common 
summer visitant.—E. Campripce Paruirs (Brecon, S. Wales). 


Provincial Name for the Black Tern.—In his ‘“ Ornithological 
Notes from Norfolk and Suffolk” (p. 8) Mr. Gunn states that the Black 
Tern is locally called the “ Blue Daw.” ‘This I think is an error; the 
Terns were formerly all known as “ Dars,” but, so far as 1 can learn, never 
* Daws.” The Common Tern was “the Dar,” “Sea Swallow,” “ Great 
Pearl,” or ‘* Strader”; the Lesser Tern the “ Little Dar,” ‘‘ Small Pearl,” 
“ Reek,” or “ Dip-ear”; and the Black Tern the ‘* Blue Dar."—THomas 
SourHWE ut (Norwich). 


Hybrid Canary and Serin Finch.— Mr. Macpherson may be interested 
to know that a gentleman in this city has bred four mules from this cross, 
one of which is now in his possession. There were also some similar 
hybrids offered for sale in ‘The Bazaar’ a short time ago.—J. F. Masuam 
(South Park, Lincoln). 


Breeding of the Lesser Redpoll in Northamptonshire.— Looking 
over a collection of eggs the other day, I was shown a pair of Lesser 
Redpolls, taken near Rushden, two miles from here. I send this notice 
in the belief— possibly incorrect—that the breeding of this bird is 
hitherto unrecorded from this county.—H. H. Staver (Irchester Vicarage, 
Wellingborough). 


a 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 145 


Habits of Parrots.—Will any of your readers be kind enough to say 
whether they have observed Parrots to have the habit, when given a piece 
of lump sugar, of dipping it, while still held in the bill, into the water-tin 
of their cage to moisten the sugar before they begin to eat it? A Parrot 
of the Amazons group, as I believe, which has been under my observation 
for four or five years past, has hardly ever omitted this practice with his 
daily lump when he has been seen in the act of eating it. He dips it com- 
pletely into the water, moistening it effectually —CLERMonr. 


Fulmar Petrel in Somersetshire.—I have to record the occurrence of 
the Fulmar Petrel near Taunton on December 29th, 1883. It was in 
full moult, and probably just assuming fully adult plumage, as many pale 
brownish feathers were left on the upper parts, these being much worn. 
The first three primaries were also much worn; the outer webs, or what 
was left of them, were dusky, slightly marked with pale brown; the rest 
were clean-moulted, and were those of the fully adult plumage.— Crcin 
Smiry (Bishop's Lydeard, Taunton). 


Leach’s Petrel in Somersetshire.—I have lately examined a specimen 
of Leach’s Petrel, which was shot early in October last while flying up the 
Avon below the Clifton Suspension Bridge. I thought at first it might be 
Wilson’s Petrel, as the tail is not so much forked as is usual in Leach’s 
Petrel; but the measurements correspond more nearly with those of the 
latter species, and are as follows:—Bill, 0:6 in.; wing, 6:2 in.; bare 
tibia, 0'4 in.; tarsus, lin.; the interdigital membrane black.—Rocrer Forp 
(Wraxall Court, Nailsea). 

[It may be useful if we give here the comparative measurements of the 
three species of small petrel which are most likely to be met with not only 
on the coast, but occasionally blown inland during a gale. They are as 
follows :— 


Bill. Wing. Bare tibia. Tarsus. 
Storm Petrel . 0:4 in. 4:9 in. 0:4 in. 0-9 in. 
LGC | 6;6in, Oran 0-9 ,, 
WiHsOn S92 5. 0D. 3, DOs. 0:6);5 Isis 


The general colour of all is sooty black, with white upper tail-coverts. The 
first and third have the tail square; in Leach’s it is forked. Wilson’s 
Petrel may be at once distinguished from Leach’s by its square tail, greater 
length of leg, and by the interdigital membrane being yellow instead of 
black.— Ep.] 


Occurrence of the Swallow-tailed Kite in Europe.—In the collection 
of local birds in the Valletta University Museum is a specimen of the 
Swallow-tailed Kite, Elanoides furcatus. This being a New World bird I 
made special inquiries concerning it from Dr. Julia, the Professor of Natural 
History at the University, who informed me that several years back this 


146 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


bird was taken on board a ship between the Island of Pantellaria (about 
200 miles from Malta) and Malta, and that it was ascerfained that the day 
previously an American vessel had been wrecked on Pantellaria, and all 
hands drowned. This did not occur in his own experience, but he had it 
in his notes given him by his predecessor. ‘The bird is in very good 
plumage, and the points of its wings are not worn, as would be the case if 
it had been kept in close confinement. If the above is the case, and I see 
no reason to doubt it, it is interesting as an example of how birds occa- 
sionally come to be included in the European list,— E. F, Becuer (Malta). 


Hybrids between Blackbird and Thrush.—In a paper lately read 
before the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society, Mr. R. M. Christy 
commented upon such instances of hybridisation between these two species 
as had been recorded, or had come under his own observation. Among the 
cases quoted, one was given on the authority of a writer in ‘ Loudon’s 
Magazine of Natural History,’ August, 1834, who says:—“ In the garden 
of a nurseryman at Ormskirk a Throstle and a Blackbird had paired; this 
was well known to a number of individuals, myself amongst them. During 
two successive years the birds reared their broods, which were permitted to 
fly, and evinced in all respects the features of strongly marked hybrids.” 
In August, 1863, Count Salvadori communicated the following to ‘The 
Ibis’:—‘‘ In November, 1861, I purchased in Florence a living bird, which 
had the appearance of a Thrush, and in size, colour of the bill, legs, feet, 
and upper parts, was quite like a Song Thrush. The lower parts were 
almost entirely black, except the edge of each feather, which was of a light 
colour; round the neck it had a narrow ring of feathers of a yellowish white ; 
on the belly were two or three white feathers, spotted with black. I.believe 
it to be a cross of the Song Thrush and Blackbird.” Mr. Christy referred 
to another instance mentioned by Macgillivray. About the conclusion of 
the winter of 1836 a male Blackbird and female Thrush fed occasionally 
together near the house of Mr. Russell, of Moss-side. At the commence- 
ment of spring their attachment increased, and they carried on a regular 
course of flirtation, which eventually ended in matrimony, The pair built 
their nest in a bush, where it was so cunningly concealed that the young 
ones were hatched before it was discovered. In concluding, Mr. Christy 
said that though some of the birds described as hybrids might be melanisms 
of the Song Thrush or cock Blackbirds which had retained in the spring 
following their birth large patches of the brown of immaturity, yet he 
considered that there was sufficient evidence to justify the conclusion that 
cases of hybridisation did sometimes occur in nature. 


Tufted Duck in Co. Kildare.—Two days after Christmas I observed 
a pair of Tufted Ducks on the lake in Lyons demesne, County Kildare. 
The gamekeeper says he first saw them only a short time before then. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 147 


I believe they were not shot at while here, but were very shy and wild. 
They always rose from the water very soon after one came within sight 
of them, and flew with a strong and rapid flight, high in the air, to a 
more distant part of the lake. They did not associate with the Wigeon, 
Wild Duck, Coots, or Waterhens, and, unlike the Wigeon, which spend the 
day until evening, when they commence feeding, with their bills buried in 
the plumage of the back, they were always on the alert when on the water, 
with neck and head erect. They disappeared about the middle of January, 
and have not been seen since. I am not aware that the Tufted Duck has been 
recorded as met with in this county before; it does not appear to have 
been observed here of late years, although, as naturalists are scarce here, 
and perhaps those who record their observations still more so, it may be 
that this species is not in reality a very rare visitor. In the market in 
Dublin I saw three Tufted Ducks during the winter, which were said to 
have been obtained in the neighbourhood, probably on the Dublin coast.— 
J. EK. Parmer (Lyons Mills, Straffan, Co. Kildare). 


Great Grey Shrike in Devonshire.—Seeing- two specimens of this 
winter visitant recorded (pp. 68, 69) has reminded me to send you the 
record of a male specimen shot on the Kingsbridge Estuary by Mr. W. C. 
Mackie. I visited the spot on the following day, and found the remains of 
a Chaffinch, “spitted ” by the Butcher-bird on a thorn-bush, which, from 
its position, must have been impaled alive. Is Lanius excubitor considered 
graminivorous as well as carnivorous ? for I found a number of seeds in its 
stomach and gizzard. The bird is in the possession of Mr. Henry Nicholls, 
and is the only specimen that has occurred here during the long course of 
his observation in South Devon. Referring to another subject, that of 
method in recording observations suggested by Mr. Harvie Brown, I give 
his plan my unqualified approval, believing that many men who have little 
time to write out a sheet of foolscap would gladly jot down on the form 
described the information desired, and a stimulus would be given to recording 
facts bearing on Ornithology.—Epmunp A. 8. Evxior (Kingsbridge, Devon). 


Sooty Shearwater at Redcar.—On Sept. 17th last, while Mr. E. B. 
Emerson and | were out shooting about two miles off Redcar, I secured an 
example of the Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus, a bird new to the York- 
shire fauna. The sea was perfectly calm, and when we first observed it, it 
was resting on the water in company with two Razorbills, and allowed us 
to row up within easy range. I disabled it and got it into the boat, and 
proceeded to kill it by pressing it across the breast; it was possessed of 
great strength, and fought and scratched with its claws in the same way as 
a Pomatorhine Skua (see ‘ The Field,’ Dec. 20, 1879). Messrs. H. Stevenson 
‘and Howard Saunders have kindly assisted me in identifying this bird, 
which Mr. Stevenson exhibited at a weeting of the Norfolk aud Norwich 


148 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Naturalists’ Society in January last, and Mr. Saunders exhibited at a 
meeting of the Zoological Society of London on the 4th March last. The 
dimensions taken while the bird was fresh are:—Total length, 18 in. ; 
breadth across wings, 38 in.; wing, from carpal joint, 13 in.; bill, 2in.; 
tarsus, 24 in.; middle toe and claw, 24 in.—T. H. Netson (North Bond- 
gate, Bishop Auckland). 


Kestrel nesting in Holes in Trees.—On May 15th last a gamekeeper 
volunteered to show us the nest of a Kestrel in a hole at the top of an elm, 
where, he said, a pair of these birds had nested for the last three years. 
When we arrived at the spot a beautiful Kestrel flew out of the hole, and 
afforded us a good view of her. My brother then climbed the tree, which 
was a very stiff one, and found five eggs in a hole which was about a foot 
and a half down in the elm. This was a few miles out of Oxford. In May, 
1881, near Sherborne, Dorset, we found a nest of the Kestrel in a hole in 
an elm containing two eggs, which are brick-red in colour, with some dark 
blotches on them.—J. Rotteston Hare (15, Norham Road, Oxford). 

[Other instances have been recorded of Kestrels nesting in holes of trees. 
In the summer of 1876 a pair nested in the hollow of an old pollard at 
Bromley, Kent, and during the summer of 1881 Mr. J. H. Gurney saw two 
Kestrels’ nests in Surrey, both of which were in holes of trees. One was about 
two feet down in an elm, the other about a foot down in an ash.— Ep. ] 


Habits of Woodcock and Snipe.—In the 4th edition of Yarrell’s 
‘British Birds,’ part xix. p. 332, the Woodcock, Scolopaa rusticula, is 
described as regularly visiting India between October and February. This 
statement probably requires qualification, aud I should imagine that the 
bird is only met with at a considerable elevation in the hills, and then but 
occasionally. Woodcocks have been found, I believe, near Shillong, in the 
Khasi Hills, about 5000 or 6000 feet above the sea-level, these hills forming 
part of a range bounding the Brahmaputra Valley on the south as a part 
of the Himalayas does on the north. I have met with men of considerable 
shooting experience in the Outer Himalayas, near Mussoorie, and do not 
remember to have heard the Woodcock mentioned among the birds they 
had come across. ‘Towards the conclusion of the account of the Woodcock 
Yarrell records Sir F. Chantrey’s feat of killing two Woodcocks at a shot. 
A neighbour of mine matched this exploit, for some years ago he also 
killed two Woodcocks at a shot near a wood within a couple of miles of 
Myross. The birds were flying out to feed in the dusk when he got the 
chance. Have any of your readers seen Snipe feeding in the early morning 
along the margins of shallow pieces of water? In Northern India, when a 
juvenile sportsman not yet up to hitting a flying bird, I have often 
succeeded in shooting a good many by starting them from the edge of 
“jhils” (ponds or small lakes), and then carefully approaching the spots 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 149 


where I had marked them down. Out of the holes left in the mud by the 
hoofs of cattle and buffaloes I would often, after some patient scrutiny of 
the surface, note the head and eye of a Snipe, and knock it over before it 
thought of taking to its wings. This, of course, I would not do now, but 
allowance must be made for a boy at his first handling of a gun. I have 
seen at times as many as twenty or thirty together in two or three inches 
of water, busily feeding as late as 9 a.m. In fact, at a distance, I have 
imagined that they were a flock of Teal. Some of the shallow pools (called 
“tanks ” by Anglo-Indians), in which I have observed Snipe feeding, were 
close to large villages, and the surroundings of the water in places were not 
in an over cleanly state. Few of the natives had firearms, and those who 
had preferred game giving a heavier result in food and an easier mark than 
Snipe. Indeed the birds did not show much fear of the villagers.—C. 
Donovan, sun. (Myross Wood, Leap, Co. Cork). 


Birds hovering over dead Companions.—The Rev. W. Becher relates 
(p. 70) that when he shot at some Starlings and killed several, the flock 
returned and hovered over their dead companions, and he asks an explanation. 
I can only say I have myself seen the following birds do the same thing :— 
Wood Pigeons, House Pigeons (often), Starlings, Larks, Teal, Golden and 
Green Plover. Last year I saw a lot of Green Plover on one of my fields, 
and crawling down the hedge got within shot. I fired both barrels and 
killed three. The rest flew about one hundred yards and then returned 
over their dead companions. [ shot another, and they again returned, 
when I killed a fifth, after which they left. I fancy the report frightened 
them, but on seeing some of their fellows left behind, they returned, 
supposing there was no cause for alarm until finally convinced of their 
mistake —J. Wurraker (Rainworth Lodge, Notts). 


Siskin and Great Snipe in Co. Cork.—On January 8rd I shot a 
solitary Siskin, Chrysomitris spinus, Linn., near this place, and I gather 
from a friend that he has frequently seen the bird in a wood in this 
neighbourhood. ‘The same friend shot a Great Snipe, Gallinago major, 
Gmelin, towards the end of last month; and in the course of thirty years’ 
shooting experience has shot five or six in this part of the county. He 
describes them as nearly equal in size to the Golden Plover. From this 
and other peculiarities mentioned by him I conclude that these few (specially 
remarked among thousands that have fallen to his gun) must have been the 
Great Snipe. Dr. Harvey includes the Siskin in the avifauna of Cork, but 
as very rarely met with: the Great Snipe finds no place in his list.—C. 
Doyovan, sun. (Myross Wood, Leap, Co. Cork). 


Great Grey Shrike and Snow Bunting in Somersetshire.— In the 
February number of ‘The Zoologist’ (pp. 69, 73) I see notices of the 
occurrence of these birds in this county, and in your editorial note you 


150 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


remark that when I published my ‘ Birds of Somersetshire,’ in 1869, I only 
knew of two specimens of the former. I have not been able to add 
many more as having come under my notice since then. One killed near 
Stolford, on the Bristol Channel, in November, 1874, and another near 
Ilchester in December, 1882, were both duly recorded by me in ‘ The 
Zoologist,’ and in December last I had a letter from Mr. Sargent, of 
Clevedon, mentioning the occurrence of another at that place, which 
I suppose is the bird recorded by Mr. Ford. The Snow Bunting occurs 
more or less numerously along our coast in most years, but not so regularly 
or in such numbers as in the neighbouring county of Devon.—Crcin 
Smrru (Bishops Lydeard, Taunton). 


Woodcock in Captivity—On January 28th a man caught a Wood- 
cock, which on examination appeared as if it had flown against the telegraph- 
wires. Not seeming much the worse, I determined to keep it in confinement, 
and put it in a large cage with plenty of water and sods of earth. I fed it 
twice every day on worms, which I put in a box of mud. I should think 
it devoured its own weight of worms in twenty-four hours. It did not feed 
by sight, but if it touched a worm with its beak it devoured it immediately. 
It became very tame, and I allowed it to run and fly about the room; it 
always ran to the darkest place that could be found. It took suddenly ill 
and died on February 16th.—V. H. Coares (Rathmore, Dunmurry, Co. 
Antrim). 

FISHES. 


Spinous Shark on the Coast of Cornwall.—A Spinous Shark, Squalus 
spinosus, was brought in here on March 8th, which had been taken on a 
“boulter,” or long line near the Wolf. It measured five feet six inches 
over all. ‘This species is evidently a ground Shark, and having now seen 
several specimens I am prepared to say with certainty that the figure given 
by Yarrell is not correct, and must have been taken from a specimen badly 
set up, and that Iam more than ever inclined to doubt the existence of a 
Spinous Shark of the figure given by Couch, which is that of a swimming 
fish, as contrasted with a ground fish. Couch colours his figure of a roseate 
hue, whilst all the specimens that I have seen—one alive, and all the others 
within a few hours of their capture—were of a dull leaden hue above, and 
dusky white, as usual in Sharks, below. Especially noticeable was the 
large perpendicularly-oblong pea-green pupil of the eye, a feature which 
Couch has omitted to depict— Tuomas Cornisu (Penzance). 


Greater Weaver in Devon.—On visiting the Exeter Market on March 
7th to see what kinds of fish were for sale, I was surprised to see, on one of 
the stalls, between twenty and thirty Greater Weavers, Trachinus draco, L., 
from ten to twelve inches in length, which the fishwoman said came from 
Beer, Devon, and that they were the first she had ever had sent to her, 


Se ee ae 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 151 


She called them “ Devon-fish,” and seemed to think they must be valuable 
as food, as she asked three shillings for seven of them. The dorsal fins 
had not been removed, and they were in very good condition. Some had 
the blue stripes still visible, so they could not have been long out of the 
water. This fish is said to be taken singly when fishing for Mackerel and 
Gurnards ou the south coast of Devon in summer. Jt is also supposed to 
be found on sandy shores only, but there is no sand near Beer. It is 
remarkable that so many should have been taken together, and at this time 
of the year. -‘There was nothing in the stomachs of two I opened. The 
abdomiual cavity is remarkably small, being only two and a half inches 
long in a fish a foot in length W. S. M. D’Urpan (Albert Memorial 
Museum, Exeter). 


Occurrence of the Argentine near Penzance.—By the kindness of 
my friend Mr. Fortescue W. Millett, of Marazion, I have received a specimen 
of the Argentine, Scopelus Humboldtii, Cuvier. It was picked up on the 
beach between Marazion and Penzance, and precisely agrees with the 
descriptions given by Yarrell and Couch, except that I failed to detect the 
bright dots in the gill-covers noted by Couch. As it is the first specimen 
noted as taken in Cornwall, I subjoin the following measurements :—I.ength 
over all, two inches and four-sixteenths; eye to fork, one inch and ten- 
sixteenths ; greatest depth, seven-tenths of an inch. The bright dots along 
the belly are of a pale green colour.—THomas CornisH (Penzance), 


CRUSTACEA. 


Crustacea on the South Coast of Devon.—During the past autumn 
and beginning of the present winter, in conjunction with Mr. C. W. Parker, 
of Warren Cottage, Starcross, J have been investigating the marine fauna 
of the coast between Sidmouth on the east and Teignmouth on the west, 
and we have found it much more productive than we were led to anticipate. 
Mr. Parker combines a marvellous facility in detecting minute forms with 
much skill in handling a boat and dredge, and has thoroughly ransacked the 
rocks and beach near where he lives, as well as the bottom of the sea for 
several miles out. Amongst a vast quantity of specimens of all classes 
and orders we have obtained there were, besides many common forms, the 
following rarer Crustacea:— Inachus dorsettensis, not very numerous; 
dredged off Dawlish in fifteen fathoms on shelly ground. Pisa tetraodon, 
one on Langstone Rocks in August. P. gibbsii, one dredged off Dawlish. 
Hyas araneus, one very small specimen apparently of this species in a mass 
of corallines thrown up on the beach at Exmouth. AH. coarctatus, two 
dredged off Dawlish. Hurynome aspera, not very uncommon off Dawlish in 
August, the females being laden with ova. Xantho florida, in crevices of 
rocks at Langstone Point, rather small in size, and not very numerous. 


152 : THE ZOOLOGIST. 


X. rivulosa, one only. Pilumnus hirtellus, common under stones on the 
shore between tide-marks, and also dredged in fifteen to twenty fathoms. 
Pirimela denticulata occurs in one spot only near Dawlish. Portumnus 
latipes, common in shore-seines in August. Polybius henslowii, in pilchard- 
seines at Teignmouth. Portunus puber, abundant in holes in rocks, 
P. pusillus, common by dredging off Dawlish in about fifteen fathoms. 
Pinnotheres pisum ; with patience in opening large quantities of mussels 
this species can be obtained in tolerable numbers. Gonoplax angulatus, a 
few specimens by dredging. Altelecyclus septemdentatus, by dredging in 
twelve fathoms off Exmouth, but scarce. Corystes cassivelaunus, common in 
shore-seines. Pagurus prideauaii, P. cuanensis, aud P. hyndmanni, all 
taken abundantly by dredging, the latter in shells of Turritella. P. dilwynit 
is numerous in one part of the coast, about a mile and a half from shore 
on sand in shallow water, and inhabiting common shore shells, such as 
Purpura, Littorina, and Natica. Galathea squamifera, common under 
stones on the shore and by dredging. G. strigosa, on rocks at Dawlish and 
sometimes in herring-nets, but not common. Nika edulis, one at Salcombe 
Regis. Crangon fasciatus, a few specimens at Langstone Point and Daw- 
lish. Athanias nitescens, a few at Salcombe Regis. Hippolyte cranchii, 
common. Mysis vulgaris and M. flexuosa, not common. Dewamine spinosa, 
dredged off Exmouth. Melita palmata, Langstone Point. Mara grossi- 
mana, Eurystheus erythropthalmus, and Cerapus abditus, dredged off Daw- 
lish. Caprella tuberculata and Apseudes talpa, dredged off Exmouth and 
Dawlish. Anceus mazillaris, males and females, and specimens in all 
stages of development, on rocks, and adhering to small shore fishes such as 
Father-lasher, and also on Gattorugine and Paganellus, at Straight Point, 
near Exmouth and Langstone Point. The greenish blue larva is quite 
transparent, and looks like an atom of green glass. This was Montagu’'s 
“ Oniscus ceruleatus.” Bopyrus squillarum, not uncommon on Palemon 
serratus. Phryxus hyndmanni under the carapace, and P. paguri on the 
tail of, Pagurus bernhardus. Pleuroecryptes galathee, under carapace of 
Galathea squamifera. Cryptothiria pygme@a, on Pagurus. Idotea parallela, 
abundant in broken tubes of Serpula, &c., on the shore at Langstone 
Point. J. linearis, adults very abundant off Exmouth, and young on 
Zostera marina in the lake on Dawlish Warren. Cymodocea emarginata, 
Nera bidentata, Spheroma serratum, 8S. prideauxianum, Dynamene rubra, 
D. viridis, and Campecopea cranchii in empty shells of Balani on rocks. 
Peltogaster paguri, on tail of Pagurus bernhardus. P. sulcatus, on Pagurus 
cuanensis. Sacculina carcini, on tails of Carcinas manas and Portunus 
pusillus. Lernentoma lophii, on gills of Angler or Fishing Frog. 
Lepeopthirus Thompsoni, on skin of Lumpsucker; and Anchorella uncin- 
nata on gills of Wolf-fish. A number of species of Nymphonide and some 
crustaceans, one or more of which are new to the British lists, and others 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 153 


of rare occurrence, have been identified by Rev. A. M. Norman, and I leave 
it to that gentleman to make them known. We hope to obtain many good 
things during the coming season.—W. S. M. D’Ursan (Albert Memorial 
Museum, Exeter). 

ANNELIDES. 


Subcutaneous Worms in Short-eared Owl.—I send you herewith a 
portion of the neck of a Short-eared Owl, which Mr. Bartlett, taxidermist, 
Banbury, has handed to me. You will observe that the surface is infested 
with what appear to be subcutaneous worms. When extracted they are 
nearly white in colour, and Mr. Bartlett found that one measured three 
inches in length. As I do not know anything about these curious animals 
I have forwarded the neck to you as it is, in order that you may, if you 
think it worth while, make some mention of the circumstance in ‘The 
Zoologist.—Oxiver V. Apu (Great Bourton, near Banbury). 

[These parasitical worms (Filarig) appear to be not uncommon in the 
neck muscles of birds (see ‘ Zoologist,’ 1881, p. 809; 1883, pp. 382, 383), 
and in some cases attain a considerable size. Filaria attenuata, from the 
lung of the Peregrine Falcon, is as much as a foot long; I’. horrida, from 
the thoracic cavity of the American Rhea, more than four feet long! The 
specimens sent had unfortunately been kept too long dry. It would have 
been better to have placed the neck which contained them in a small phial 
of spirit.— Ep. ] 

ARCHHAOLOGY. 


Origin of the name “Lobster” applied to the Stoat.—I have heard 
it suggested that the above name is a corruption of “leapster,” and has 
reference to the leaps or bounds by which the Stoat frequently progresses. 
As this is the only explanation which I have met with, | communicate it for 
what it may be worth, in reply to the inquiry on the subject at p. 112.— 
J. H. Gurnuy (Northrepps, Norwich). 


Origin of the name “Lobster” applied to the Stoat.— In ‘The 
Zoologist’’ for March the Editor asks the origin of the word “ Lobster ” as 
applied to the Stoat. The subject received some attention last year in 
‘Science Gossip,’ from which I have taken the following notes. They were 
in reply to a query by Mr. John Hawell, Ingleby, Northallerton, in the 
April (1883) number. He says:—‘ The Stoat is in this neighbourhood 
called the ‘Clubster.’ Is this a mere local name? And why has this 
name been given to the Stoat?” (By a printer’s error the word was spelt 
Clubstei. This was corrected in a subsequent number). ‘The May number 
contains the following reply from Mr. 'T. Southwell, of Norwich ;—* In 
Norfolk the Stoat is known amongst the country people as the ‘lobster’ or 
lobstert, which is said to be derived from old Norse lopi, a lump or swelling, 
and stertr (Danish (stert, a tail. Probably Mr. Ingleby’s ‘clubster’ [the 

ZOOLOGIST.— APRIL, 1884. N 


154 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


error, clubstei, is continued] is a corruption of the same.” In ‘Science 
Gossip’ for June, 1883, W. T. Lynn, B.A., Blackheath, writes :— “ In 
Halliwell's ‘ Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words’ it is stated that 
‘ Clubster’ or ‘Clubtail’ is a north-country dialectic word for a Stoat or 
Summer Ermine (hermine d’été, as the French call the animal). The last 
syllable ‘ster’ is evidently the old word ‘start’ (in Anglo-Saxon steort), 
which still exists as part of the compound word red-start, but, as in ‘ club- 
ster,’ has been denuded, by a not uncommon process, of its final letter.” In 
‘Science Gossip ’ for July, 1885, y. A. Wheldon states that “ Stoats are still 
called ‘ clubstarts ’ amongst the country people about Scarborough and in 
other parts of Yorkshire.” Mr. Hawell, in the same number, after thanking 
the above-quoted correspondeuts, says :—‘‘ The origin of the local word is 
now clear. The early dwellers in the north, wishing to give this animal a 
name to distinguish it from the Weasel, would see in the black-tipped, com- 
paratively short, tail its most distinguishing feature, and would not un- 
naturally term it ‘clubtail.’ Halliwell is somewhat indefinite in calling 
‘clubster’a north-country word. I never heard it spoken of by this name 
in Cumberland. This name cannot, I think, be a corruption of lobster, but 
is it not just possible that the latter might be a corruption of Clubster ? 
eae Something as to the Stoat’s becoming white would be interesting. 
Some authors write as though the Stoat were never white in England, but 
only farther north.” J do not consider Mr. Hawell is correct in speaking of 
the tail-of the Stoat as ‘comparatively short”; on the contrary, it is very 
long compared with a Weasel’s tail. The name club-tail was no doubt 
suggested by the long and bushy appearance of the Stoat’s tail. I par- 
ticularly noticed this in June, 1881, when a fine Stoat ran across an open 
field from a rabbit which it had just killed. Most Stoats are stuffed with 
the black tip of the tail smoothed down. This is entirely wrong; the hairs 
should be set on end, as much like a fox’s brush as possible. In Bailey's 
‘ Dictionarium Britannicum,’ printed in 1730 (“ not only for the Information 
of the Ignorant, but the Entertainment of the Curious”), I find under Lob: 
“A large North Sea Fish, whence perhaps Lob, Lobcock (q. d. Lap-cock), a 
great, heavy, sluggish fellow.” By “ North” being in italics I conclude he 
connects the derivation of Lob with that word. May not this be a possible 
source from which Lob-tail (or Lobstart, or Lobster) has sprung? As the 
Stoat was found most abundantly in the North, and its tail was its most 
noticeable feature whilst running, the two ideas may have been blended 
together in the compound name as we now have it. What is the derivation 
of Lapland? The first part of the word may be the same as the above. If 
I am right in tracing lob back to North, it will have no connection with 
club; I however regard the words “ Clubster” and “ Lobster” as being 
practically identical with the derivation as given in ‘Science Gossip.— 
Epwarp J. Gippins (Neath, Glamorgan). 


( 155 ) 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


LinNEAN Society or Lonpon. 
_ March 6, 1884.—Sir Joun Lussocx, Bart., M.P., F.R.5., President, 
in the chair. 

Dr. Augustus B. Shepherd and Mr. James Dallas were elected Fellows, 
and Mr. William Hodgson, of Cumberland, an Associate of the Society. 

The President read a memorandum from the Foreign Office (received 
through the Science and Art Department), announcing that an International 
Ornithological Congress would be held in Vienna in the beginning of 
April next. 

There was exhibited, for Mr. T. E. Gunn, of Norwich, a variety of the 
common Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus, which had been shot last spring 
near Norwich (see Zool. 1884, p. 8). 

Prof. St. G. Mivart read a paper “ On the relations between the Instinct 
and other Vital Processes.” He contended that instinct cannot be divided 
by any hard-and-fast line from such vital processes as reflex action, pro- 
cesses of repair after injuries, and the process of development of the 
individual; and that these latter were more readily explained as activities 
especially instinctive, than that instinct could be explained by reflex action 
or by lapsed intelligence. The vital processes referred to were also shown 
to have an important bearing on the question of the origin of the species. 

Prof. T. S. Cobbold gave a verbal account of a paper received from 
Dr. P. Manson, of Hong Kong, in which the author furnished fresh evidence 
as to the réle of the Mosquito, considered as the intermediary host of Filaria 
sanguinis-hominis. Dr. Manson has verified his previous observations in 
the most complete manner, and he now recognises and describes six well- 
marked stages in the growth of the Filarie whilst they are dwelling within 
the body of the insect. The memoir was illustrated by drawings, photographs 
and specimens sent by Dr. Manson. 

At the close of the paper, Dr. T. R. Lewis spoke at considerable length, 
confirming Dr. Manson’s statements in many particulars. 


March 20, 1884.—Henry T. Srarnton, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, 
in the chair. 

The Rey. Canon James Baker, Mr. W. Brockbank, Mr. Robert Mason, 
aud Mr. Edward A. Heath were elected Fellows of the Society. 

In illustration of his paper, “‘ A Contribution to the Knowledge of the 
Genus Anaphe, Walker,” Lord Walsingham exhibited a large and remark- 
able nest of a congregating moth, a species of the genus from Natal. It 
contained a packed mass of cocoons, specimens of the larve and of the 
mature insect; there likewise was shown a living example of a dipterous 


156 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


parasite which had emerged from the moth-eggs on hatching. His lordship 
stated that the nest and contents had been forwarded to him by Col. J. H. 
Bowker, of Durban, and that the larve were found alive on its receipt in 
England in August last. The nest was placed in the insectarium of the 
Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, under the care of Mr. Thompson, who 
was so fortunate as to be able to rear some of the insects. Many of the 
larve remained within the nest, but others, in companies of twenty to 
forty, occasionally marched out, moving in closely serried rank, much after 
the manner of the larve of the procession moth (Cnethocampa). From 
December to February about 250 moths emerged, but, from the difficulty of 
obtaining their natural food, all died, though a pair bred and the eggs were 
hatched. ‘The mature insect closely resembles the Anaphe panda, Boisd., 
though of the latter it would seem there are several well-marked local 
races. The genus is found in West Africa as well as Natal; but it appears 
that in the several species the colour, size, shape, and material of the common 
nest as well as the individual silky cocoons, markedly differ. Doubtless the 
habits of these moths, when still more fully known in their native haunts, 
will yet form a most interesting chapter to the traveller. Of Anaphe four 
species have hitherto been described, viz., dA. venata, from Old Calabar ; 
A. ambigua, from Angola; A. reticulata and A. panda, from Natal. To 
these Lord Walsingham adds A. Carteri, from the Gold Coast, and 
A. infracta, from the Cameroons. 

The Secretary read a paper “On the Closure of the Cyclostomatous 
Bryozoa,” by Arthur W. Waters. While admitting that the group possesses 
few characters available for purposes of scientific determination, he never- 
theless points out that the ovicells have greater importance than has hitherto 
been accorded them; also that the connecting pores are comparable with 
the rosette plates of the Chilostomata, and that stress must be laid on the 
size of the zooecial tube, and more particularly to the position and variation 
of its closure. The author states that in the Cylostomata, which are the 
simplest of the Bryozoa, he bas now found a calcareous partition which 
closes the tubular zooecium, and thus protects the colony. Whereas in the 
Chilostomata (which are more highly differentiated, and not being tubular 
could more easily be closed up), there is the horny speculum, which is 
not a sign of death, but is movable, and protects the living polypide, and 
through it the colony.—J. Murie. 


ZooLocicaL Sociwry or Lonpon. 
February 19, 1884.—Osperr Satyrn, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, in 
the chair. 
The Secretary read a report on the additions whch had been made to 
the Society’s Menagerie during the month of January, and called special 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 157 


attention to a young female Babirussa, Babirussa alfurus, born January 
16th, of one of the females presented by Dr. F. H. Bauer, in July, 1883 ; 
and to a young example of a small species of Cormorant, apparently the 
Pygmy Cormorant, Phalacrocorax pygmeus, purchased January 31st, and 
said to have been received from Sierra Leone. 

Mr. Sclater laid on the table and made some remarks on a copy of the 
lately issued ‘“‘Guide to the Calcutta Zoological Gardens.” 

Mr. W. T. Blanford made some observations on the collection of 
drawings of Himalayan Birds lately presented to the Society's Library by 
Mr. Brian H. Hodgson. 

Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell read the second part of his contribution to the 
systematic arrangement of the Asteroidea. In the present communication 
the author treated of the species of the genus Oreaster. 

A communication was read from M. Fernand Lataste, containing the 
description of a new species of Gerbille from Arabia. This new species 
was founded on specimens living in the Society’s Gardens, which had been 
hitherto referred to Gerbillus erythrurus, Gray. M. Lataste considered the 
species to be undescribed, and proposed to call it Meriones longifrons. 

A communication was read from Mr. J. Wood-Mason, in which he gave 
the description of a new species of the Neuropterous genus Corydalis. The 
first example of this insect (a female) was captured by Lieut.-Col. H. H. 
Godwin-Austen, on the Naga Hills, N.E. frontier of India; but male 
specimens had since been obtained. The author proposed to call this 
species Corydalis asiatica. 

A communication was read from Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, on the Mollusca 
procured during the ‘ Lightning’ and ‘ Porcupine’ Expeditions 1868-70, 
forming the seventh part of his series of papers on this subject. The 
present part comprised the genera from Rissoa to Acirsa, with seventy-four 
species, of which fourteen were new to science, as was also one new genus. 


March 4, 1884.—E. W. H. Houpsworta, Esq., F.Z.S., in the chair. 

Mr. Howard Saunders exhibited and made remarks on specimens of 
two Gulls, Xema Sabini and Larus philadelphia, in the breeding-plumage, 
both killed in Scotland. Mr. Saunders also made some observations upon 
the specimen of Larus atricilla in the British Museum, said to be the one 
killed by Montagu at Winchelsea; and came to the conclusion that the bird 
in question was not Montagu’s specimen. Mr. Saunders likewise exhibited 
a specimen of Puffinus griseus, killed off the Yorkshire coast. 

A letter was read from Dr. Ch. W. Liitken, calling attention to a 
specimen of an Echidna in the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen, which 
seemed to be different from the ordinary Tachyglossus aculeatus, and which 
Dr. Liitken was of opinion might possibly be referable to the lately described 
T. Lawesi of New Guinea. 


158 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Mr. J. E. Harting exhibited and made observations on some antlers of 
Roe Deer from Dorsetshire and Scotland. 

Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant read a paper on the Fishes of the genera 
Sicydium and Lentipes (belonging to the family Gobiide), in which an 
attempt was made to arrange the species of Sicydium into smaller 
groups, the members of which were found to be allied together by con- 
venient and distinctive characters. Five new species of Sicydiuwm were 
described. 

A communication was read from Mr. F. Moore on some new Asiatic 
Diurnal Lepidoptera, chiefly from specimens in the Calcutta Museum. 

A communication was read from the Count T. Salvadori, containing 
some critical remarks on an African duck, Anas capensis, Gmelin.—P. L. 
So.ater, Secretary. 


ENTOMOLOGICAL Society oF Lonpon. 


February 6,1884.—J. W. Dunnina, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., &e., President, 
in the chair. 

The President appointed Sir Sidney S. Saunders, Mr. F. P. Pascoe, 
and Mr, R. Meldola as Vice-Presidents for the year. 

Mr. P. Crowley exhibited eggs, larval galleries, pup and imagos of 
Castnia eudesmia, Gray. The specimens had been lately received from 
Valparaiso by Mr. Watkins. The eggs greatly resembled grains of white 
wheat in size and colour; the larval galleries (so-called cocoons) appeared 
to consist of silk and sawdust, and were exceedingly tough and hard; they 
were from one foot to sixteen inches long and about four inches in cireum- 
ference ; in some instances they were very closely adherent to the spiny leaf 
of the food-plant (Pourretia coarctata); the empty pupa-case protruded from 
the side of these galleries, after the manner of a Cossus pupa, which it 
much resembled. 

Mr. H. T. Stainton called attention to the life-history of Aglossa pin- 
guinalis, Linn., as lately worked out by the late Mr. Buckler (Ent. Mo. 
Mag., xx., 193), showing that the lard- and butter-eating capabilities of the 
larva, with its special adaptation for such a mode of life, were merely a 
fable, which had been fully accepted as a fact from the days of De Geer 
and Réaumur to the present time. In answer toa question from Mr. Fitch, 
Mr. Stainton said that Mr. Buckler was likewise acquainted with the larva 
of Aglossa cuprealis, Hiibn., but how far its history had been written he 
did not know. 

The Secretary exhibited photographs of the upper- and under-side of 
the female Hypocephalus armatus, Desm., on behalf of Dr. D. Sharp, and 
read a note, 


ee 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 159 


Mr. F. P. Pascoe exhibited selections from a collection of Curculionidae 
from New Guinea, consisting of specimens collected by D’Albertis and 
others, comprising upwards of three hundred species, of which probably 
one half were undescribed. 

The President observed that, with a view to the fertilization of clover, 
the agriculturists of New Zealand have for some time been anxious to 
import humble-bees into their colony; previous experiments having failed, 
Mr. Nottidge, ot Ashford, had been endeavouring to supply the want. 
Impregnated humble-bees are often found in a state of torpor, hiding in 
holes in banks and hedgerows when the process of hedging and ditching 
was carried on in November and December. Mr. Nottidge advertised for 
specimens, offering a small sum for every living queen ; and the result was 
that he was able to dispatch to Christchurch, N. Z., a parcel of twenty 
impregnated queens on the 13th December, 1883, and a lot of sixty on the 
10th January, 1884. Each queen was packed in dry moss, and placed 
in a separate box, with a cake. of candy in case of the temperature on the 
voyage rising to such a height as to revivify them, but with instructions 
to keep them at about 40°. The humble-bees were sent in ships fitted 
with refrigerators for the carriage of meat, and it was hoped that by 
maintaining a temperature not exceeding 40° they would remain in a 
semi-torpid state until their arrival in the colony. The success of the 
experiment remains to be seen; but it will be tried on a larger scale at 
the end of the present year. 

The President said that he had just received the first part of the 
Transactions of the Huddersfield Naturalists’ Society, which contains 
“A Catalogue of the Lepidoptera found in the Huddersfield District,” by 
Messrs. Mosley and Porritt. The list includes 666 species. He made 
some remarks on the alleged scarcity or disappearance of species formerly 
common. A discussion ensued in which it was generally agreed that 
butterflies were everywhere in Britain considerably scarcer than was the 
case thirty years ago, and this quite irrespective of the influence of bad 
seasons. 

The Secretary read a report from the Committee re-appointed on the 
subject of the supposed presence of Phylloxera vastatrix on vines in the 
colony of Victoria. The Committee had carefully examined roots, and 
regretted to be obliged to report that the Phyllowera is undoubtedly present 
upou them, and in some numbers. They made various suggestions as to 
destruction of bines and roots, and treatment of ground in which infected 
vines have been grown. 

Mr. J. W. Douglas communicated a paper “ On a new species of the 
genus Orthezia” (O. menariensis), received from M. J. Lichtenstein, who 
obtained it from Montecristo, where it was found on Erica arborea. 
Drawings of the insects were exhibited. 


160 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Sir Sidney S. Saunders communicated some “Further notes on the 
Caprification of domestic Figs, with reference to Dr. Paul Mayer’s comments 
thereon.” 

Part V. of the ‘Transactions’ for 1883 (Index, &c.) was on the table. 


March 5, 1884.— Special General Meeting.— J. W. Dunxine, Esq., 
M.A., F.L.S., &e., President, in the chair. 

Pursuant to a requisition presented to the President and Council, and 
in accordance with chapter xix. of the Bye-Laws, a Special Meeting was 
convened for this day, to consider the desirability of obtaining a charter 
incorporating the Society. 

Prof. Westwood, Hon. Life-President, proposed :— 

“That it is desirable to obtain for the Society a Royal Charter of 
Incorporation.” 

Mr. Stainton seconded the proposition. 

The meeting was addressed by Mr. Verrall, Mr. M‘Lachlan, Mr. Slater, 
and the President. 

On being put to the vote, the proposition was carried nem. con. 


Ordinary Meeting.—Prof. J. O. Wesrwoop, M.A., F.L.S., &e., Hon. 
Life-President, in the chair. 

Mr. J. W. Dunning called attention to a paper entitled “ Description 
of a Pieris new to science—Pieris Spilleri, mihi,” by A.J. Spiller, published 
in ‘The Entomologist,’ vol. xvii., p.62, and spoke discouraging the hasty 
imposition of personal names. If the attempt of one entomologist by this 
means to confer houour (often undeserved) upon another might be excused, 
what could be said for the man who is not content to wait till the compli- 
ment is paid him by another, but insists upon crowning himself? ‘The 
President believed the case to be without precedent, and, as it was certainly 
a departure from good taste, he trusted Mr. Spiller would not find an 
imitator. 

Whilst on the subject of paronymic nomenclature, the President desired 
to enter a protest against such grotesque barbarisms as Huwelhydrus, 
Tyndallhydrus, Darwinhydrus, and Spencerhydrus, which met his eye on 
perusing the pages of the ‘ Zoological Record’ for 1882. Such hideous and 
unmeaning forms only tend to bring scientific nomenclature into coutempt. 

Prof. Westwood recommended a study of the principles laid down in 
Linné’s ‘ Philosophia Botanica’ and in Fabricius’ ‘ Philosophia Entomo- 
logica’ to all nomenclators. 

Mr. E. Saunders read the concluding part of his ‘‘ Synopsis of the 
British Hymenoptera Aculeata—Part Il. Apide.” Also “ Further Notes 
on the terminal segments of Aculeate Hymenoptera.”—K. A. Fircu, Hon. 
Secretary. 


4D. 


AD 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


<n! 


vou.¥111.] MAY, 1884. [No. 89. 


THE PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ENGLISH 
MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION. 


On the eve of the appearance of our last number, namely, on 
March 31st, an important meeting of naturalists was held in the 
Rooms of the Royal Society, Burlington House, with the object 
of forming a Society for the biological investigation of the 
English coast, and for the erection in a suitable locality of a 
marine laboratory and dredging station. 

The chair was taken by Professor Huxley, President of the 
Royal Society. Amongst those present were the Duke of 
Argyll, the Earl of Dalhousie, Lord Arthur Russell, Sir Lyon 
Playfair, M.P., Sir John Lubbock, M.P. (President of the 
Linnean Society), Sir Joseph Fayrer, Sir Joseph Hooker, Sir 
George Nares, the Hon. E. Marjoribanks, M.P., Professor Flowe: 
(President of the Zoological Society), Prof. Ewart, Prof. Bonney, 
Prof. Mivart, Prof. Moseley, Dr. Spencer Cobbold, Dr. Giinther, 
Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Prof. Crofton, Mr. H. C. Sorby, Dr. J. Murie, 
Dr. John Rae, Dr. J. Evans, Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Dr. P. L. 
Sclater, Dr. Dobson, Dr. A. Geikie, Dr. Herbert Carpenter, Mr. 
G. J. Romanes, Prof. Jeffrey Bell, Mr. Francis Galton, Mr. 
8. O. Ridley, Mr. J. Quelch, Mr. Edgar Smith, Mr. Frank 
Crisp, Mr. Busk, Mr. Henry Lee, Mr. Dawson Williams, Mr. J. 
A. Blake, M.P., Mr. T. F. Braby, Mr. Thistleton Dyer, Mr. 
Henry Ffennell, Mr. H. Dallinger, Mr. Saville Kent, Mr. H. C. 
Burdett, Captain Verney, R.N., and Mr. John Murray. 

Professor Huxley, after reading letters approving of the 
project from Lord Derby, the Marquis of Hamilton, Sir Thomas 

ZOOLOGIST.—MAY, 1884. (0) 


162 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Dakin, M.P., Mr. Chamberlain, M.P., Mr. R. W. Duff, M.P., and 
Dr. Dohrn, said that the object of the proposal before the meeting 
was not in his hands, but in those of Professor Lankester ; 
he expressed the desire of the Royal Society to foster an under- 
taking which promised well for the advancement of science. The 
establishment of laboratories for the study of the fauna and 
flora of the sea had taken place in most civilized countries in the 
last few years, and was, in fact, a necessary consequence of the 
great change which had come about in the aims of physiological 
science. The study of the development of animal life com- 
menced in a serious way about half a century ago, and the rami- 
fications of that inquiry, which had been extended to the mode 
of becoming of all live things by Mr. Darwin, had caused a 
complete change of the methods of biological science and of 
the way in which investigations were carried on. In order to 
understand the living being it was no longer considered enough, 
as in the days of our forefathers, to observe its outside or even 
to acquire a knowledge of its anatomy. They had now to under- 
stand its affinities, to trace its growth from the egg, and they 
were able to do this with a thoroughness and accuracy of which 
in his young days no one had the slightest anticipation. This 
was one good reason for the establishment of an institution of 
this kind from a purely scientific point of view. There was 
another, which was practical. We had great fisheries and great 
fishery interests, which were more or less regulated by legislation, 
and which were undoubtedly of very great importance to very 
large masses of the population. Hitherto, certainly up to 
within the last thirty years, such regulations had been made 
almost entirely haphazard, owing to a want of knowledge of the 
habits, mode of life, and mode of production of animals which 
were economically useful. At this present time it was within 
his knowledge that a great deal of vehement opposition to 
particular modes of fishing arose from ignorance of some of the 
primary facts concerning the mode of life of our food-fishes, and 
if they were to have better legislation than at present their 
arguments and reasonings must rest on exact and sound observa- 
tion of the mode of life, mode of development, and metamor- 
phoses of the inhabitants of the waters of our coasts. He 
wished to say with particular emphasis, lest there should be any 
misunderstanding with regard to their objects, that there was no 


AN ENGLISH MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION. 163 


possibility of any rivalry or conflict of aims between the society 
to which he had referred and another Society of which His Royal 
Highness the Prince of Wales had announced the formation at 
the Fisheries Exhibition a few days ago. That Society was in 
the ordinary sense of the word practical. It would have to do 
with the condition of fishermen, the collection of statistics and 
of facts concerning food-fishes, and so forth. He sincerely 
trusted that when established, as he hoped they would be, so far 
from one being a hindrance to the other, both Societies would 
work in concurrence to one common end. 

The Duke of Argyll then moved the following resolution :— 
“That in the opinion of this meeting there is an urgent want 
of one or more laboratories on the British coast, similar to those 
existing in France, Austria, Italy, and America, where accurate 
researches may be carried on, leading to the improvement of 
zoological and botanical science, and to an increase in our know- 
ledge as regards the food, life, conditions, and habits of British 
food-fishes and molluscs in particular, and the animal and 
vegetable resources of the seain general.” The fact of their 
being called together to forma voluntary Society to carry out 
these objects implied a discovery on the part of those who had 
taken a leading part in this matter that the work was not likely 
to be taken up by the Government. He was afraid that in this 
respect the British Government had always stood rather behind 
those of other countries, whether Monarchical or Republican. 
There were other agencies by which facts about food fishes would 
be obtained, and he instanced the researches of the President of 
the Royal Society and a valuable paper recently contributed by 
Professor Ewart upon one of the most important questions con- 
nected with food-fishes—the spawning of the Herring. Infor- 
mation so obtained showed the groundless character of the 
opposition raised by the fishermen of Loch Fyne to a mode of 
fishing which they called “‘ trawling,” which was really the use of 
the seine net. Believing that there were agencies which would 
obtain and spread information for economic purposes, he thought 
that in the main they should in promoting this Society look to 
the interest of biology as a science. 

This Resolution was seconded by Sir Lyon Playfair, who in 
the course of his remarks suggested that it was remarkable that 
a country so greatly dependent upon the sea as ours should be 


164 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


the last to establish such an institution. The need of such a 
Society as it was proposed to found had been long felt, and an 
attempt had been made to establish one in Scotland. Much as 
he should like to see a laboratory here like that of Mr. Agassiz, 
at Newport, in the United States, they must recollect that in 
order to carry out their object they had to apply to a larger 
public, who would look for certain direct benefits from such a 
laboratary as it was proposed to institute. All there knew well 
that beneficial applications of science came with the overflowing 
of the full measure of science. Speaking from observation of 
what had been done to promote the study of biology by the 
establishment of marine laboratories in the United States, where 
the Government made liberal contributions to their maintenance, 
he related some remarkable practical applications of the know- 
ledge of food fishes obtained in the course of scientific research 
in that country. Thus, the Gray Cod, which had been accus- 
tomed to leave the United States coast for the Newfoundland 
banks in summer, were, owing to the operations of the United 
States Fish Commission, now gradually accumulating through 
the summer on the United States coast, where they were called 
“commission cod.” Again, the periodical American Shad 
famines had been prevented of late by the careful observation 
of the temperature of the water in the bays at the spawning 
season, and a timely intervention to effect artificial hatching. 
While some might be induced to assist scientific investigation 
with a view to the practical application of research, those who 
would support this Society for the sake of science alone might be 
certain that discoveries which would be made, perhaps in the 
most unexpected way, would redound to the benefit of the 
human race. 

The motion was supported by Lord Dalhousie and Professor 
Flower. Lord Dalhousie explained that, as chairman of a com- 
mission appointed to inquire into certain difficulties which have 
arisen between fishermen who use lines and others who fish with 
trawls, he felt a lively interest in the practical questions con- 
nected with the habits of fish, and he was sorry to say that 
ignorance on this subject was not confined to the poor fishermen 
on our coasts. 

Dr. W. B. Carpenter then moved the following resolution :— 
“That it is desirable to found a Society, having for its object the 


AN ENGLISH MARINE BIOLOGICAL STATION. 165 


establishment and maintenance of at least one such laboratory 
at a suitable point on the coast, the resources of the laboratory, 
its boats, fishermen, working-rooms, etc., being open to the use 
of all naturalists under regulations hereafter to be determined.” 

Sir John Lubbock, in seconding the motion, said he thought 
they owed their thanks to Professor Lankester for the efforts he 
had made to found the proposed Society. The resolution, which 
‘was supported by Dr. Gunther, was passed. 

Sir Joseph Hooker then moved :—‘‘ That this meeting does 
hereby agree to constitute itself such a Society under the title of 
‘The Society for the Biological Investigation of the Coasts of 
the United Kingdom.’” 

Professor Moseley having seconded and Mr. H. C. Sorby 
supported this resolution, it was unanimously adopted. 

On the motion of Sir William Bowman, F.R.S., it was 
resolved that gentlemen whose names follow be requested to act 
as a provisional council and report to an adjourned meeting to be 
held on Friday, May 30, as to the constitution and organisation 
of the Society and other matters, and in the meantime have 
power to admit suitable persons to the membership of the Society ; 
further, that Professor Lankester be asked to act as Secretary, 
and Mr. Frank Crisp as Treasurer ad interim. Those named 
were the Duke of Argyll, the Earl of Dalhousie, Lord Arthur 
Russell, the Lord Mayor, the Prime Warden of the Fishmongers 
Company, the President of the Royal Society, the Presidents of 
the Linnean, Zoological, and Royal Microscopical Societies, Dr. 
W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., Mr. John 
Evans (Treasurer of the Royal Society), Dr. Albert Giinther, 
F.R.S., Sir Joseph Hooker, F.R.S., Prof. Michael Foster 
(Secretary of the Royal Society), Prof. Ray Lankester, F.R.S., 
Prof. M. Marshall, F.R.S., Prof. Moseley, F.R.S., Mr. John 
Murray, F.R.S.E., the Rev. Dr. Norman, Mr. George J. Romanes, 
F.R.S., Prof. Burdon Sanderson, F.R.S., Dr. P. L. Sclater, 
F.R.S., Mr. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S., Mr. F. Crisp, F.L.S., Mr. 
Thomas Christy, F.L.S., Mr. Thiselton Dyer, F.LS., Mr. Percy 
Sladen, F.L.S., Mr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S., and Mr. Charles 
Stewart, F.L.S. 

Mr. G. J. Romanes, in seconding the motion, took occasion to 
observe that in his opinion one of the most important functions 
of the Society when formed would be that of conducting 


166 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


researches upon invertebrate physiology. He was sure he would 
be but carrying with him the assent of all physiologists when he 
said that it is to the invertebrate forms of life that we must now 
look for the elucidation of many of the most fundamental pro- 
blems connected with life-processes. It is in the Invertebrata 
that we meet with life in its least compounded state, and therefore 
in the state best suited to observation and experiment directed 
towards the solution of these fundamental problems. The sea is 
the great magazine of invertebrate life, and if the rich stores of 
material therein presented have been hitherto almost entirely 
neglected by physiologists, the explanation may be found in the 
fact that physiological research can only be conducted in well- 
equipped laboratories, which have been of but comparatively 
recent institution upon the sea-coasts of Europe and America. 

Professor Ray Lankester then moved a vote of thanks to the 
President of the Royal Society for taking the chair, and said it 
had been estimated that from £6,000 to £10,000 would be 
required to start the project. He invited immediate subscrip- 
tions, payable ad interim to the Treasurer, Mr. Frank Crisp, 6, 
Old Jewry, E.C. Sir Joseph Fayrer seconded the motion, and 
the President having briefly replied, the meeting adjourned to 
May 30th. 


THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT IN FREEDOM AND CAPTIVITY. 


AN interesting paper on this subject was lately read by Mr. 
G. P. Sanderson before the Society of Arts, Sir Joseph Fayrer, 
M.D., K.C.L.8., F.R.S., in the chair. 


As superintendent of Government elephant catching opera- 
tions in Bengal for the last fifteen years,} Mr. Sanderson has 
acquired an experience which enables him to speak authoritatively 
on many moot points in the natural history of the elephant, and 
his remarks were accordingly listened to with great attention. 

He commenced by referring to the popular estimate of the 
elephant’s intelligence, which he believed to be exaggerated ; for, 
instead of being an exceptionally wise animal, its sagacity is of a 
very mediocre description. Its reasoning faculties he considered 
to be far below those of the dog, and in matters beyond the range 
of its daily experience it evinces no special discernment. 


THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT. 167 


One of the strongest features in the domesticated elephant’s 
character is its obedience, but, whilst fairly quick at compre- 
hending anything sought to be taught it, it is decidedly wanting 
in originality. In support of these views, Mr. Sanderson related 
several cases which had come under his observation in which a 
want of intelligence had been displayed. He thought, however, 
that all who had had to deal with elephants would agree that their 
good qualities could not be exaggerated, that their vices are few, 
and only occur in exceptional animals; that they are neither 
treacherous nor retentive of any injury (the story of our youth of 
the tailor and the elephant he wholly disbelieved), and that they are 
obedient, gentle, and patient beyond all other domestic animals. 

On the subject of height, Mr. Sanderson stated that much 
misapprehension exists. He had heard and read of Indian 
elephants 12 ft., 15 ft., and even 20ft. high! As a matter of fact, 
he had found that 10 ft. in males and 8 ft. 6 in. in females (vertical 
height at the shoulders measured in a horse) is very rarely 
attained, and is not exceeded by one animal in five hundred. 
Five years ago he had inserted a request for information on this 
subject in all the chief newspapers of India. Accounts of 11 ft. 
and 12ft. elephants poured in, but none stood the test of inquiry. 
To make it worth anyone’s while to establish such dimensions, 
he offered to give an order upon any gunmaker for the best 
double-barrelled rifle and all accessories to any gentleman who 
could produce evidence of an elephant even 11 ft. high. This was 
never done, and out of many thousands he had only found one 
elephant above 10 ft. This animal, belonging to the Maharajah 
of Nakim-Sirmoor in the Punjaub, measures 10 ft. 73 in. in vertical 
height at the withers, and he made a journey of one hundred 
miles in a palanquin to measure him with his own hands. 

In connection with this part of his subject, Mr. Sanderson 
remarked that twice round an elephant’s forefoot is his height, 
within an inch or two; more frequently it is exactly so. Out of 
many hundreds of elephants which he had measured, he had only 
once found the variation to be as much as five inches. In June, 
1878, he measured the since famous African elephant Jumbo, 
which was then 10 ft. 5 in. at the withers. According to Sir 
Samuel Baker, who had seen large numbers of both Asiatic and 
African elephants in their native wilds, the Africans, male and 
female, average about one foot higher than the Asiatic. 


168 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Regarding the use and power of the elephant’s trunk, Mr. 
Sanderson thought that much misapprehension also prevailed, 
this organ being chiefly used to procure food and to warn it of 
danger by the senses of smell and touch. It is a delicate and 
sensitive organ, never used for rough work, and in any dangerous 
situation the elephant at once guards it by curling it up. When 
engaged in such work as dragging timber, the rope is invariably 
taken between the teeth; they never attempt to pull a heavy 
weight with the trunk. An elephant is powerful enough to 
extricate a cannon from a difficult situation; but does so by 
pushing with the head or feet, or in harness, never by lifting or 
drawing with the trunk. 

The age to which an elephant lives is, as must ever be the 
case with denizens of the forest, uncertain. The general native 
opinion is that they attain one hundred and twenty years in 
exceptional cases (they have been known to attain that age in 
captivity), but more usually to eighty years. Mr. Sanderson 
thought it by no means improbable that in a state of nature they 
might live to one hundred and fifty, or even two hundred years. 

A remarkable fact in connection with wild elephants is the 
extreme rarity of any remains of dead ones being found in the 
jungles. In his own wanderings for several years through 
elephant jungles, he had only seen the remains of one female 
elephant, that died in giving birth to a young one, and of one 
other drowned in a mountain torrent. 

If elephants live for two hundred years the annual deaths 
from natural causes would only amount to five per thousand. 
This figure would no doubt be exceeded in reality, as elephants 
are liable to be killed by each other. Though the number that 
die annually is thus probably much less than might be supposed, 
the mystery of what becomes of the remains of those that do die 
is still entirely unexplained. 

A herd of elephants usually consists of from thirty to fifty 
individuals; but much larger numbers, even upwards of one 
hundred, are by no means uncommon. The herd is always led 
by a female, never by a male, and the necessity for this is evident, 
as the females must accommodate the length and time of their 
marches, and the localities in which they rest and feed, to the 
requirements of their young. Asa rule, only one young one is 
produced at a birth; but Mr. Sanderson had known three cases 


THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT. 169 


of elephants having two. Though a few are born at other 
seasons, the largest number make their appearance in September, 
October, and November. The elephant is full grown, but not 
fully matured, at twenty-five years of age. It does not attain 
full strength and vigour until about thirty-five years old. 

Only the male Indian elephant has tusks; the female has 
short tushes or downward prongs in the upper jaw, seldom more 
than 4 in. in length. Notwithstanding the opinion of Jerdon and 
other authorities, Mr. Sanderson is confident that elephants 
never shed their tusks.* The skull of foetal elephants disclose 
milk tusks, but these never make their appearance; they are 
absorbed, and the tusk that cuts the gum is the permanent one. 
Nor are tusks lost by accident ever renewed. The finest pair of 
tusks he ever saw came from the Garo Hills. They measured 
8 ft. 9 in. in length, and weighed 168lb. Sir Victor Brooke had 
shot an elephant in Mysore whose longest tusk measured 8 ft., 
and weighed 90 lbs. 

Mr. Sanderson considered it as satisfactorily settled that 
there is no such creature as a really white elephant, the so-called 
albinoes of the Kings of Burmah and Siam being merely elephants 
of a dirty cream colour, and, in some cases, merely elephants 
with an unusual amount of the flesh-coloured blotchings on the 
face, ears, and neck common, in some degree, to all elephants. 
He would not advert to Mr. Barnum’s so-called “ white elephant ” 
further than to say that he regarded it as the commonest of 
common elephants, not possessing a single peculiarity (compared 
with the everyday elephants of India) to justify the statements 
regarding his colour and special character which preceded, and 
even followed, his arrival in England. 

Mr. Sanderson then proceeded to explain the various native 
modes of capturing and training elephants, and gave a graphic 
description (assisted by diagrams) of the method of capture 
employed by himself for the Indian Government, namely, by 


* This statement is at variance with the opinion expressed by Mr. Corse, 
who, occupying in Tipperah a similar position to Mr. Sanderson, published 
so long ago as 1799, a valuable memoir on the Asiatic Elephant, in the 
‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for that year, founded on personal observations. 
In this memoir it is stated that although a great portion of the root of the 
milk tusk is absorbed, the remainder is shed as a dark-coloured stump. The 
process of growth is described and figured.—Ep, 


170 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


surrounding a herd (wherever found in the forest) by a large 
circle of men (370 is the usual number), and building a stockade, 
into which the herd are driven. This is known as the Govern- 
ment Kheddah plan, and is the most certain and economical 
method of taking wild elephants. By this means, as many as 118 
have been secured at one drive. — 

When a sufficient number have been taken, the hunters are 
dismissed, and all elephants under 7 ft. in height are sold to 
merchants, who follow the Kheddah parties for the purpose of 
purchasing such animals. Those above 7 ft. are retained for the 
Government service, except some males and old females, which 
are also disposed of. Not more than 30 per cent. of the elephants 
captured are young and strong females thoroughly suitable for 
Government service. Those selected are divided into gangs of 
twenties, with a proportion of tame ones in charge. These 
escort the wild ones, bring their fodder, and lead them to water 
daily. The march from the jungle commences about the end of 
February, and the elephants reach the Government depot at Dacca 
in May. They are then put into training, and by November are 
quite steady, and are drafted for military service. 

During the past five years the annual average number of 
elephants captured during the short working season from 
December to February has been 154. The greatest number in 
any single year was 252 in seven weeks in 1882, and 199 in a 
similar period in 1883. Between 1878 and 1883 no less than 
1866 wild elephants had been captured by the Dacca hunting 
establishment in a tract of country about fifty miles long by 
twenty miles broad in the Garo Hills in Assam, whilst fully as 
many more were met with en route. Mr. Sanderson concluded by 
stating that, notwithstanding these hunting operations, he con- 
sidered the elephant as in no danger of becoming extinct in 
India, for, although small portions of its haunts had been cleared 
for tea and coffee cultivation, he thought the present forest area 
of the country would practically never be reduced, for reasons 
connected with the timber supply and climate; and, so long as its 
haunts remain, the elephant would flourish under due regulations 
for its protection. 


ee a ae 


NOTES ON THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 
By W. Eacie Crarke, F.L.S., anp W. Denison Rorsuck. 


Ir is our intention to prepare from time to time—annually if 
possible—a report upon the vertebrate fauna of Yorkshire, in 
which we propose to embody not only notices of the rarer and 
more interesting occurrences in the county during the period 
covered by the scope of the report, but also such records of 
older date as may have escaped our attention during the com- 
pilation of our ‘Handbook of the Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire,’ 
together with such emendations and corrections of the statements 
contained therein as may seem to be called for. 

The present report covers the period of time which has elapsed 
since the publication of our Handbook in the autumn of 1881 
down to the end of 1883, and includes notices concerning eighty- 
seven species, of which the following nine appear to be additions 
to the Yorkshire list: —Rhinolophus hipposideros, Emberiza rustica, 
Torpedo hebetans, Raja maculata, Auxis rochei, Trachypterus 
arcticus, Regalecus grillii, Engraulis encrasicholus, and Ortha- 
goriscus truncatus. 

In addition to these there are various occurrences to record 
which are of special interest, such as those of Vespertilio Nattereri, 
V. mystacinus, and Delphinus tursio among the Mammalia; of 
Turdus varius, Cyanecula sp.?, Cypselus melba, Botaurus lenti- 
ginosus, Ardea garzetta, and the breeding in the county of 
Quergedula circia and Spatula clypeata among the Birds; and the 
occurrence of Brama Rau, Mugil septentrionalis, Regalecus Banksii, 
Ctenolabrus rupestris, Nerophis equoreus, and Atherina presbyter 
among the Fishes. 

The numerical summary of species now stands as follows, the 
British forms being also given for comparison :— 

Yorkshire. Britain. 


Mammaria.— Terrestrial ; Z : 32 45 
+ Marine . F : ; 13 26 
Birps . ; : " ‘ ‘ 2~- 807 380 
Reprites.—Terrestrial : , , 4 7 
Es Marine . ‘ : : z 2 
AMPHIBIA . s F : - A 6 ‘ 
Fisues.—Freshwater . ‘ ‘ : 32 53 
= Marine . : : ; ES 196 


172 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


A few preliminary remarks on the chief features of the 
following report will not be without interest. 

The Mammattia of Yorkshire were for the most part so well 
known at the time of publication of the Handbook that but 
little is required by way of addition or correction, except so far 
as regards the two groups—the Bats and the Cetaceans—which 
appear to be always the most imperfectly-studied groups of mam- 
mals in any district. With respect to the Bats, the result of 
Roebuck’s investigations has been that, with the assistance of 
correspondents, the geographical range of some of the forms in 
Yorkshire has been studied to some purpose. One species is 
added to the list, and two others—hitherto only recorded for the 
county on the strength of isolated occurrences—have been fully 
confirmed as inhabiting it, one of the latter indeed proving 
to be a common and widely-distributed form. There is yet 
good work to be done in this group, for Daubenton’s Bat— 
which will probably be found sooner or later—has not yet been 
detected. Yorkshire appears still to remain the northern limit of 
the range of the Noctule, for Mr. R. Morton Middleton informs us 
that its reported occurrence in South Durham was not confirmed. 

The study of the Cetaceans is much more difficult, from their 
habitat and large size; and our only hope is that a competent 
naturalist may be at hand in the event of the capture of animals 
of this order. 

Birps.—Numerically the Yorkshire avifauna remains at 307, 
the addition of the Rustic Bunting being counterbalanced by the 
subtraction of the Barbary Partridge. Should, however, specific 
rank be accorded to Pallas’s Great Grey Shrike, as is done by 
Mr. Seebohm, this form would have to rank as an addition. 

Here it will be advisable to call the pointed attention of our 
readers to the two paragraphs at the head of p. xxxvii. of the 
Introduction to our Handbook, which appear to have been 
overlooked by some of our critics, who might there have learned 
that we never allowed or recognised the claims of such dubious 
records as those of Richard’s Pipit, the Purple Martin, the Great 
Black Woodpecker, the Hairy Woodpecker, the Little Owl, the 
Acadian Owl, the Harlequin Duck, the Passenger Pigeon, the 
Virginian Colin, the Sooty Tern, and the Laughing Gull. None 
of these are included in our numerical summaries, although in the 
body of our work we felt it quite within our duty to give the 


THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF O KSHIRE. 173 


evidence of their occurrence for what our readers might consider 
it worth. 

As to Revtizes and Ampureians, there is nothing to remark, 
except that it is very desirable that naturalists should keep a 
look-out for further occurrences of the Natterjack Toad in the 
county. As to the so-called Sand Lizard, we have not yet been 
satisfied that the animal occurs so far north, the Northumbrian 
occurrence hinted at on p. xli. being a myth. 

As to the Fisuns,—the least-investigated class in our fauna,— 
we are pleased to be able not only to add seven species to the 
list, but to give a variety of further particulars and additional 
occurrences of interesting forms; and it may be as well to remark 
that to the severe storms which prevailed early in April, 1882, we 
owe several records of pelagic and abyssal forms, such as the 
Torpedo and the Deal-fish, and other rare species. No doubt, 
had naturalists been more numerous in our sea-board towns and 
villages, others would have been detected. 

The numbers which are prefixed to the names correspond to 
those used in the Handbook. 


MAMMALIA. 


1. Rhinolophus hipposideros (Bechst.); Lesser Horse-shoe Bat. 
—This species—an important addition to the Yorkshire fauna— 
is not uncommon at Eavestone, near Ripon, where it is taken by 
Messrs. James Ingleby and William Storey, from both of whom 
Roebuck has received specimens in the flesh, and one or two alive 
(Zool. 1882, p. 186; Nat. 1882, p. 166). 

12. Vespertilio Nattereri, Kuhl.; Reddish-grey Bat. — Two 
specimens were sent in the flesh to Roebuck by Mr. W. Storey, 
of Pateley Bridge, who captured one of them on the 24th of May, 
1883, in Harefield Wood, near that place, and the other in the 
same habitat a few days later. 

15. Vespertilio mystacinus, Leisl.; Whiskered Bat. — This 
species, which our work was the means of introducing to the 
Yorkshire fauna, may now be considered as a widely-distributed 
and fairly numerous form in the county. Roebuck has had speci- 
mens from Harrogate (Grange), Eavestone (Ingleby), Pateley 
Bridge (Storey), Ben Rhydding (Smethurst), &c. 

23. Martes sylvestris, Nils.; Marten.—Specimens are recorded 


174 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


as having been killed in Raydale, and in Kexby Woods, near York 
(Field, Oct. 1, 1881, p. 504). 

28. Meles taxus (Schreb.); Badger. — Stragglers continue to 
be reported from time to time, as at Yarm, Sleningford, &c. 

42. Hyperoodon rostratum (Chem.); Common Beaked Whale. 

re H. latifrons, Gray; Broad-fronted Beaked Whale.—Mr. 
Southwell informs us that H. latifrons has been proved to be the 
male of H. rostratum, thus diminishing the Yorkshire list by one 
species. 

50. Globicephalus melas (Trail); Pilot Whale.—One was cap- 
tured off Flamborough in February, 1865, and recorded as the 
*Ca’ing Whale, Globicephalus deductor” (J. Freeland Young, 
Field, Feb. 25, 1865). 

53. Delphinus tursio, Fab.; Bottle-nosed Dolphin. — One 
stranded near Goole, Oct. 4, 1881, the identification of which was 
confirmed by Mr. Thomas Southwell (Naturalist, 1881, p. 66). 


Birps. 


5. Turdus varius, Pall.; White's Thrush.—Two additional 
occurrences. Rimswell, near Withernsea, one shot during the 
first week in November, 1881, and now in the collection of Mr. 
R.T. Burnham, of Rimswell, where Clarke hasseenit. Waplington 
Manor, near Pocklington, one shot in early January, 1882 (Back- 
house, Zool. 1882, p. 74; Inchbald, Field, 1882, p. 201). 

8. Turdus torquatus, L.; Ring Ouzel.— The solitary instance 
of this species nesting near Beverley must now be considered 
doubtful. 

11. Cinelus melanogaster, C. L. Brehm.; Black-breasted Dipper. 
Mr. Seebohm having expressed a doubt as to the occurrence of this 
species or race in Britain, Clarke forwarded him the Welwick 
specimen for examination, with the result that it was considered 
an undoubted example of this form. 

17. Ruticilla titys (Scop.); Blackstart.—Mr. Bailey’s note that 
he had observed this species at Flamborough in October and 
November having been doubted in high quarters, it is interesting 
to know that Clarke shot one at Spurn in the last week of 
October, 1882, and saw another there about the same date in 
1883. It is probably a regular autumn visitant. 

18 or 19. Cyanecula ? species; Bluethroat.—Spurn Head, one 
shot in Clarke’s presence on the 11th of September, 1882, and 


THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 175 


another seen the same day. The specimen procured was an 
immature bird, in which state of plumage the two species, C. 
leucocyana and C. suecica, are indistinguishable. 

21. Daulias luscinia (L.); Nightingale. — The northern range 
of this bird has been extended as far north as Scarborough, where 
it undoubtedly bred in 1882 (W. Robinson). At Staveley, near 
Boroughbridge, two pairs nested in 1881 (Knubley), anda pair 
nested near Harrogate in 1883 (Inchbald). 

37. Acrocephalus streperus (Vieill.); Reed Warbler. Mr. 
Seebohm in his ‘British Birds’ remarks that “it seems very 
doubtful whether the Reed Warbler breeds in Great Britain 
north of the Humber.” This statement is of course quite 
erroneous, for the species is known to breed commonly in various 
localities which are not only north of the Humber, but some 
of them actually in the northern half of the county—as, for 
instance, Staveley, near Boroughbridge, and Knaresborough, in 
both of which localities it nests annually. It is also a regular 
nesting species near Leeds; and at Hornsea Mere, in the East 
Riding, it breeds in great abundance. ~This is not the only 
instance in which we have to regret the vague and sketchy manner 
in which such an important subject as the distribution of birds 
in Great Britain is treated in so valuable a work. 

71a. Lanius major, Pallas; Pallas’s Great Grey Shrike.— 
This form is allowed specific rank by Mr. Seebohm in his work 
on British Birds. From the number of Yorkshire specimens that 
have come under Clarke’s notice it is in all probability not only 
an annual winter visitant, but perhaps of much more frequent 
occurrence than is suspected. 

93. Linota linaria (L.) ; Mealy Redpoll.—The year 1881 may 
be added to the list of seasons in which this species occurred in 
large flocks in the county. 

96. Linota flavirostris (L.); Twite. — Mr. Allis’s statement 
that this bird had bred on Thorne Waste is paralleled by the 
observations of the Rev. H. H. Slater (Nat. 1882, p. 179), who 
found it nesting on Pilmoor, near Thirsk, a similar low-lying 
locality. 

107. Emberiza cirlus, L.; Cirl Bunting. — Additional occur- 
rence. Fen Bog, near Whitby, a female shot on the 28th of 
February, 1882, now in the Whitby Museum. Two others were 
seen at the same time and place (Stephenson). 


176 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


108. Emberiza hortulana, L.; Ortolan Bunting. — The speci- 
men captured off the Yorkshire coast, which served for Bewick’s 
figure, is now, according to Seebohm’s ‘ British Birds’ (vol. 11. 
p. 153), in the Newcastle Museum. 

109. Emberiza rustica, Pall.; Rustic Bunting. — An addition 
to the avifauna; an accidental visitant from North-Eastern 
Europe and Northern Asia. Easington, a female (?) shot Sep- 
tember 17th, 1881 (Clarke, Zool. 1881, p. 465; Nat. 1881, p. 57; 
Ibis, 1882, p. 181). 

133. Cypselus melba (L.); Alpine Swift. — Additional occur- 
rence. Huddersfield, a female brought in the flesh to Mr. §. L. 
Mosley on the 2nd of June, 1881, which had been found in an 
exhausted condition a day or two before (Mosley, MS.). 

139. Picus minor, L.; Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. — Mr. 
Thomas Carter, of Masham, informs us that this species occurs 
about Aysgarth, in Wensleydale, and around Masham. 

141. Jynx torquilla, L.; Wryneck. — Is an annual summer 
visitant to Walton Park, near Wakefield (H. B. Hewetson). 

143. Coracias garrulus, L.; Roller. — One was seen by Mr. 
H. T. Archer on the banks of the Wharfe, near Ilkley, about the 
end of July, 1881 (Archer, Field, Aug. 6, 1881, p. 193; and MS.) 

152. Asio accipitrinus (Pall.); Short-eared Owl.—A specimen 
shot at Spurn by Clarke in October, 1879, is in the arctic form of 
plumage described by Mr. Seebohm (British Birds, i. 172). 

Falco sparverius, L.; American Kestrel.—In ‘ The Zoologist’ 
for 1883, p. 126, Mr. James Backhouse, jun., records an occur- 
rence of this species near Helmsley in May, 1882. We have 
very carefully investigated the evidence, and regret that we are 
unable to accept the bird as a member of the Yorkshire fauna, as 
certain features in the case are, in our opinion, fatal to its claim 
to be considered British. 

186. Pandion halietus (L.); Osprey.—During the autumns of 
1882 and 1883 this species appears to have been much more 
frequently observed than it has of late years, when indeed it was 
comparatively almost unknown. 

187. Phalacrocorax carbo (L.); Cormorant.—This bird ceased 
to breed at Huntcliffe (not Arncliffe,as stated in the Handbook) 
near Saltburn some years ago; but now breeds in the cliffs near 
and at Kettleness (T. H. Nelson, MS.). 

190. Ardea cinerea, L.; Heron.—Mr. 1. B. Hewetson informs 


THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 177 


us that there is a heronry at Nostell Priory, the seat of Mr. Row- 
land Winn; and Mr. Backhouse, jun., of one numbering about 
fifty nests at Moreby Park, near York. 

193. Ardea garzetta, L.; Little Egret.— Additional occurrence. 
Aike [incorrectly spelt Ake] Carr, near Beverley, one obtained 
about 1840 (Ruskin, ‘The Eagle’s Nest,’ p. 170). 

196. Ardetita minuta (L.); Little Bittern. — Additional occur- 
rence. Goole, a young male obtained September 23rd, 1881, now 
in the possession of W. E. Clarke (Bunker, Nat. 1881, p. 66). 

199. Botaurus lentiginosus (Mont.); American Bittern. — 
Additional occurrence. Harsley Castle, Welbury, near North- 
allerton, one shot by the Hon. W. Dawnay, October 27th, 1882, 
which was examined by Mr. John Harrison. 

206. Anser segetum (Gm.); Bean Goose. — Mr. Boyes is of 
opinion that the immense flocks noted as formerly visiting the 
Wolds were not of this species, but were composed of Pink-footed 
Geese. Our authority for the statement was Mr. Arthur Strick- 
land, as quoted by Allis in his ‘Report on Yorkshire Birds,’ 
read before the British Association in 1844. 

219. Anas boschas, L.; Mallard.— Mr. Boyes informs us that 
the decoy at Meaux, in Holderness, the site of which is still to be 
seen, was about a quarter or half an acre in extent, with four pipes. 

220. Chaulelasmus streperus, L.; Gadwall.—A pair, male and 
female, were shot on the River Hull, near Beverley, in the middle 
of May, 1882 (Dobrée, Nat. 1882, vii. 185). 

221. Spatula clypeata (L.) ; Shoveller.— This species bred in 
1880 on Thorne Waste, a nest with four eggs being taken by the 
late Mr. Wm. Talbot, of Wakefield, and others. About the year 
1866 it bred near Masham ; and in 1882 a pair again appeared at 
the same place, but, being disturbed, did not remain (T. Carter). 

222. Querquedula crecca (L.); Teal.—Breeds not uncommonly 
on Thorne Waste (Clarke) ; and in the season of 1883 a pair bred 
on the moors near Masham (T. Carter). 

228. Querquedula circia (L.); Garganey. — Beverley, a nest 
with nine eggs found by Mr. J. C. Swailes, who almost trod on the 
sitting female on the 2lst of May, 1882 (Boyes, MS.); the first 
instance of its being known to breed in the county. 

224. Dajila acuta (L.); Pintail. — Two pairs remained on a 
small pond on a warren at Kilnsea, in Holderness, until late 
in April,1881 (P. W. Lawton). 

ZOOLOGIST.—MAY, 1884. Pp 


178 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


229. Fuligula cristata (Leach); Tufted Duck. — Seen at 
Hornsea Mere on the 12th of June, 1883, by Mr. J. C. Swailes. 
Sir Wm. Milner (Zool. 1854, p. 4441) also observed it there in 
summer, and it doubtless breeds there. 

246. Columba livia, Bonuat.; Rock Dove.—The statement in 
the ‘Yorkshire Vertebrata’ that this species is reported to breed 
in inland localities has been criticised by some correspondents ; 
but Clarke’s request for specimens has never been complied with. 

247. Columba enas, L.; Stock Dove. — Regarding the spread 
of this species, Clarke contributed some Yorkshire notes to Mr. 
Harvie Brown’s valuable paper, read before the Royal Physical 
Society of Edinburgh on the 2lst of February, 1883, “On the 
Stock Dove (Columba enas), with Remarks upon its Extension of 
Range in Great Britain.” From this we quote Clarke’s con- 
cluding remarks, which appear as a footnote :—“ Since the above 
was penned I have instituted further inquiries into the range and 
spread of the Stock Dove in Yorkshire, with the chief result that 
I am informed, on the reliable authority of Mr. Boyes, that 
warreners now alive remember this bird being numerous on the 
Wolds sixty years ago, when it was their perquisite. Thus it is a 
most interesting fact that at a period when the Stock Dove was 
almost, if not quite, unknown elsewhere in the county, it was 
common on the vast Wolds of the East Riding. I am inclined to 
think that Yorkshire and other neighbouring counties have been 
peopled with Stock Doves from this source; for with the gradual 
enclosure and cultivation of these great warrens we find a simul- 
taneous and equally gradual spread of this species has taken 
place.” 

252. Caccabis rufa (L.); Red-legged Partridge.— Mr. C. Ful- 
lerton. Smith (‘ Field,’ Feb. 10, 1883, p. 184) gives notes on the 
introduction of this species into Yorkshire. At Hornby Castle 
they were turned down in 1846-7, but afterwards shot off. The 
same thing took place at Swinton, near Masham. At Ingleby, in 
the North Riding, some twenty years ago, about fifty brace were 
turned down by Lord de L’Isle, and now, on the neighbouring 
manors of Ormsby and Deighton, a few brace ure shot every 
season. This information is interesting, and supplies material 
upon the introduction of this species into the county which we 
were unable to obtain in 1881. 

253. Caccabis petrosa (Gm,); Barbary Partridge.—Mr, Boyes 


THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 179 


informs us that the Beverley specimen was an escape; he had an 
opportunity of examining the bird, and found it was pinioned. 
This species must therefore be eliminated from the county list. 

264. Porzana bailloni (Vieill.) ; Baillon’s Crake.—The Goole 
specimen proved on examination to be an immature example of 
C. maruetta, the Spotted Crake (Clarke). Additional occurrence: 
Holmpton, in Holderness, one shot in 1880, now in the collection 
of the Rev. H. H. Slater (Slater, MS.). 

272. Otis tarda, L.; Great Bustard.—Additional information 
has been obtained on the former occurrence of this fine bird, 
which it is proposed to reserve for a future article on this species 
in Yorkshire. We may remark that, in his continuation of 
Yarrell’s ‘British Birds,’ Mr. Saunders has reproduced the old 
mis-statement as to Hawold being in Lincolnshire, whereas, as we 
have already indicated, it is in Yorkshire. 

275. Cidicnemus crepitans, Gm.; Stone Curlew.—A pair of 
this species, which is now becoming very rare on the southern 
Wolds, bred near Market Weighton in 1881. 

299. Tringa minuta, Leisler; Little Stint.— 

302. Tringa subarquata (Giild.); Curlew Sandpiper.—Both 
species were particularly numerous on the coast in late August 
and early September, 1881; and in the early autumn of 1880 the 
Little Stint was again numerous (Clarke). 

310. Totanus macularius (L.); Spotted Sandpiper. — The 
specimen recorded from the Tees proved to be a Green Sand- 
piper (J. H. Gurney, jun., ‘ Rambles of a Naturalist,’ p. 255). 

811. Totanus glareola (L.); Wood Sandpiper. — Additional 
occurrences: Coatham Marsh, adult shot, August 6th, 1881 (T. 
H. Nelson, Zool. 1882, p. 91). Beverley, one shot in the spring 
of 1882, in the collection of Mr. F. Boyes (Boyes, MS.). Brid- 
lington Quay, one shot, mid-August, 1883 (Clarke). Easington, 
Holderness, one shot, early autumn, 1883 (Clarke). 

314. Totanus calidris (L.); Redshank.— Bred on Skipwith 
Riccall Common in 1882, and at Masham in 1883. 

316. Totanus fuscus (L.); Spotted Redshank. — Additional 
occurrence: Teesmouth, an adult shot on September 15th, 1881 
(Nelson, Zool. 1882, p. 98). 

323. Numenius arquata (L.); Curlew.—Breeds commonly on 
Thorne Waste, a vast tract of heather-land on the Lincolnshire 
border of the county, and very little above sea-level. 


180 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


326. Sterna dougalli, Mont.; Roseate Tern.—Mr. T. H. Nelson 
informs us that the five recorded for Tees Bay by “ Argus” were 
Common Terns, and not this species. 

332. Sterna fuliginosa, Gm.; Sooty Tern. — As suspected 
(Handbook, p. xxxvii), this specimen has proved to be a Black 
Tern. 

342. Larus ridibundus, L.; Brown-headed Gull.—A few pairs 
bred in 1881 and 1882 in a marshy field by the River Aire, just 
outside the Leeds borough boundary, and in 1883 they bred in 
some numbers on Strensall Common, but their eggs, about forty 
in number, were taken. ‘The discussion in various numbers of 
‘The Field’ for February and March, 1884, has added nothing 
to the information concerning Yorkshire which was in our 
possession at the time of framing our original account. 

352. Larus leucopterus, Faber; Iceland Gull. — Additional 
occurrences ; Spurn, a mature female and a bird of the year shot 
December, 1882, now in Clarke’s possession. 

359. Procellaria leucorrhoa, Vieill.; Leach’s Petrel.—Additional 
occurrences: Riplingham, near Beverley, one in December, 1881 
(Dobrée, Nat. 1882, p. 100). One obtained near Whitby, in the 
possession of Mr. C. Bagnall (Stephenson). 

362. Pufinus griseus (Gm.); Sooty Shearwater.—At the time 
of publishing the ‘Handbook’ we were unable to discriminute 
between the recorded occurrences of P. griseus and P. major. We 
can now record the following occurrences of this species: one shot 
at Whitby in September, 1870, now in the Museum (Stephenson). 
One shot in Bridlington Bay, 1872, by Mr. Elton, is referred to 
this species (Macpherson, Zool. 1883, p. 121). Clarke examined 
a fine pair in September last, which had been shot at Flam- 
borough. One shot at Redcar, Sept. 17, 1883 (T. H. Nelson, 
Zool. 1884, p. 147), but not, as the recorder supposes, an additionn 
to the fauna of the county. 


FIsHEs. 


5. Lamna cornubica (Gm.); Porbeagle.—In August, 1883, 
four were captured alive in Bridlington Bay, one of which, 
examined by Clarke, was eight feet long. 

6. Alopecias vulpes (Gm.); Fox Shark, Thresher. — One cap) 
tured on September 19th, 1883, at Hornsea, eleven feet in length 
(Dobrée, Naturalist, 1883, 1x. 69). 


THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 181 


13. Lemargus borealis (Scoresby); Greenland Shark.— Whitby, 
one caught by Thomas Langley, and brought into the port, Feb. 
7th, 1882 (T. Stephenson, MS.). 

16. Torpedo hebetans, Lowe; Cramp-ray, Torpedo.— Additional 
to the Yorkshire fauna. LEasington, one captured on the 14th of 
April, 1882 (Clarke, Zool. 1882, p. 193). Bridlington, one 
washed ashore and captured alive in the spring of 1883 (Thomas 
Boynton MS8.). 

18. Raja maculata, L.; Homelyn Ray. — Additional to the 
fauna. Mr. Winson, the coxswain of the Spurn lifeboat, who is a 
practical fisherman and a careful observer, on being shown the 
plate of this species in Couch’s ‘British Fishes, recognised 
it as one which he has caught commonly at “ California,” a 
fishing-ground ten miles off the coast between Flamborough and 
Withernsea. 

20. Raja circularis, Couch; Sandy Ray.—The Cuckoo Ray 
(Raja miraletus) of Couch, which is a variety of this species, has 
been observed by Mr. Winson as taken in “ California.” 

82. Labrax lupus (Lacép.); Basse.—A specimen of this fish, 
weighing eleven pounds, which was caught at Whitby on the 22nd 
November, 1883, is noteworthy on account of the date. It con- 
tained a quantity of spawn (T. Stephenson, MS.). 

58. Zeus faber, L.; Doree, John Doree.—At Bridlington this 
appears to be a not uncommon fish, occurring regularly every 
summer. 

61. Brama Rau, Bl.; Ray’s Sea-bream.—On Whitby Sands 
a very fine specimen was found alive on November 2nd, 1882. 
It measured 24 in. in length, 19} in. in girth, and weighed 
six pounds. It is now in the Whitby Museum (‘Thomas Stephen- 
son, MS.). 

62. Lampris luna (Gm.); Opah, King-fish.— Spurn; one 
occurred a few years ago (Clarke, MS.). 

70. Auxis Roche (Risso); Plain Bonito.—An addition to the 
fauna. Off Whitby, two occurrences in 1882. The first specimen 
was captured on September 9th; it measured 2 ft. 4 in. in length, 
and is now in the Museum. The second, which was 2 ft. in 
length and 6% lbs. in weight, was captured on the 18th of the 
same month (Thomas Stephenson, MS.). 

85. Agonus cataphractus (L.) ; Pogge, Armed Bullhead.— When 
we wrote in the Handbook of these being taken in lobster-pots 


182 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


at Spurn we were under a misapprehension ; they are taken within 
the Humber estuary by means of the seine-net, which is used for 
the purpose of obtaining bait for the lobster-pots. 

106. Atherina presbyter, Cuv.; Atherine, or Sand-smelt.—Ad- 
ditional evidence of the occurrence of this fish is to be found in 
a note in ‘Science Gossip’ for 1866, p. 254, wherein Commander 
Knocker, R.N., states that he had obtained many specimens, 
especially out of a dam erected for the new pier-works, at Brid- 
lington. 

111. Mugil septentrionalis, Giinth.; Lesser Grey Mullet.—We 
are able to confirm, on unexceptionable authority, the occurrence 
of this fish. Specimens taken by Clarke at Spurn Point, just 
within the estuary of the Humber, on May 31st, 1882, submitted 
to Dr. Giinther, were pronounced by him to be unquestionably of 
this species. 

115. Gasterosteus pungitius, L.; Ten-spined Stickleback.— 
Occurs at Hobmoor and Bootham Stray, near York (KE. J. 
Gibbins, MS.). 

121. Trachypterus arcticus (Briinn.); Deal-fish, Vaagmaer.— 
An addition to the list. Flamborough, one was captured alive in 
perfect condition on the rocks near the Head, on the 17th April, 
1882 (Boynton, Field, April 22nd, 1882, p. 535; Naturalist,1882, 
vii. 185). 

122. Regalecus banksii (C. & V.); Banks’ Oar-fish.—Bridling- 
ton Quay, one washed ashore on the 7th of April, 1882. It 
measured 19 ft. in length, and 21 in. in depth, and thus appears 
to be the largest specimen on record (Boynton MS.; Dobrée, 
Naturalist, 1882, vii. 185). 

125. Regalecus grillit (Linds.); Sild-Kung.—The specimen, 
which in our Handbook is recorded under R. banksii as taken 
at Staithes in January, 1880, is considered by Dr. Day, in his 
‘Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland,’ as being probably—from 
the dimensions given—referable to this form, which, however, he 
regards as merely a variety of R. banksii. 

127. Ctenolabrus rupestris (L.); Jago’s Goldsinny.—Whitby, 
March 8th, 1883, a large number, variously estimated at from 
40 to 100 in number, were washed ashore. One brought alive to 
Mr. Thomas Stephenson was compared by him with Dr. Day’s 
plate, and the description of it, which he communicated to us, 
affords no reason to doubt the accuracy of his diagnosis. 


THE VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF YORKSHIRE. 183 


184, Leuciscus erythrophthalmus (L.); Rudd.—Mry. Clifton R. 
Garwood, of Acomb, near York (writing in ‘ The Field,’ June 9th, 
1883, p. 765) noted having seen the Azurine or Blue Roach (a 
variety of the Rudd) in the River Ouse, amongst a shoal of Roach, 
Bleak, and Dace. 

201. Salmo fario, L.; “var. g, Swaledale Trout” of Dr. Day. 
—Under this name Dr. Day (Fishes of Great Britain and Ire- 
land, ii. 100) describes and figures a variety which is com- 
paratively rather broad, and in colour the most beautifully tinted 
form he has seen. The specimens were sent to him by Mr. 
George Brook, jun., by whom they were taken in the Oxnop Beck, 
Upper Swaledale. 

223. Engraulis encrasicholus (L.); Anchovy.—An addition to 
the list; previously overlooked by us. Bridlington, two specimens 
caught on the 17th October, 1866 (H. H. Knocker, Science 
Gossip, November, 1866, p. 254). 

236. Nerophis equoreus (L.); Aiquoreal Pipe-fish.— Whitby, 
one washed up in March, 1883, which had forty-four rays in the 
dorsal fin, and measured 154 in. in length (Stephenson, MS.). 

241. Balistes capriscus, Gm.; File-fish— Dr. Day, at p. 269 
of his work, cites, from The Zoologist for 1868, p. 1027, a 
record of the occurrence of this species at Flamborough. Of this 
record we were fully cognisant at the time of writing the Hand- 
book, the result of our enquiries being that—as Mr. Bailey assured 
us—the specimen was an Opah or King-fish. 

243. Orthagoriscus mola (L.); Short Sun-fish.— Bridlington, 
five in August, 1866, mostly of small size (H. H. Knocker, Science 
Gossip, 1866, p. 254). Bridlington, one which weighed nearly 
250 lbs. was shot on the 16th of August, 1882 (Bridlington Quay 
Gazette, August 19th, 1882). 

244. Orthagoriscus truncatus (Retz.); Oblong Sun-fish.—Ad- 
ditional to the fauna. Mr. Stephenson has sent us an extract 
from the ‘ Whitby Repository’ for December, 1867, recording the 
capture of an “ Orthagoriscus oblongus, Oblong Sunfish,” at 
Whitby in the November of that year, which measured 5 ft. across 
the fins and 5 ft. from head to tail. It was sold to Mr. Grier for 
the Museum at Huddersfield. 

In conclusion we have to acknowledge our indebtedness to 
numerous correspondents whose notes are acknowledged in the 
text, and it is our duty to record our special obligation to Mr. 


184 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Thomas Stephenson, of Whitby, for the number and value of the 
notes he has sent us from time to time; we have also to thank 
Mr. George Roberts for drawing our attention to a few published 
records which had escaped our attention, and Messrs. George 
Brook, jun., Thomas Carter, and E. J. Gibbins for their response 
to our note inviting co-operation. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE 
IN THE AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1883. 


By Joun CorDEaux. 


From an ornithological point the autumn and winter of 
1883 has been the least eventful and interesting of any I have 
experienced during a residence of thirty years on the east coast. 
There has been an almost entire absence of such species as may 
be designated rare and occasional visitants, and even our more 
common and regular visitors, both land and shore birds, have 
been singularly scarce. ‘To an unprecedentedly mild winter, 
without any prolonged frosts or snow storms, we may probably 
look for an explanation of this deficiency. 

To the wildfowl shooters along the coast the season has also 
been a most unproductive one, the absence of Ducks, Plover, and 
Snipe affording them but little opportunity of exercising their 
vocation, the result being also all along apparent in the scanty 
show in the game shops, almost conclusively supplied from 
foreign sources. 

On September 14th a Honey Buzzard was captured at 1 a.m. 
against the lantern of the Spurn lighthouse, and another was shot 
on the 17th near Kilnsea. There appears to have been a con- 
siderable immigration of the larger Falconide, with many other 
species, on September 21st; and the same rush of birds was 
observed at Heligoland. 

On October 21st I shot a female Long-tailed Duck from a 
flooded meadow near Kilnsea. I got a long shot at the bird as 
it drove in overhead, just at sundown, and evidently wounded it, 
as it did not rise again after pitching. I had a long cold walk to 
recover my spoil, the duck diving with extraordinary rapidity ; 
notwithstanding a wounded wing its course in the clear water 
could be very clearly seen, and I was reluctant to fire again for 


NOTES FROM NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE. 185 


fear of injuring the specimen. The gizzard was quite crammed 
with small red worms and many minute stones. This, excepting 
a Black Redstart, seen by Mr. Wm. Eagle Clarke, was the only 
rarity we obtained at Spurn in the autumn. On the 24th I 
found the remains of a young Cuckoo, killed some time pre- 
viously, against the telegram wire which extends for several 
miles along the sand-hills to the Point, against which fatal thread 
many a rare immigrant has dashed in the night migration. 

An interesting capture for Lincolnshire was that of the 
Roller, shot on October 27th, at Muckton, near Louth. I saw 
this bird shortly after at Mr. Kew’s, the birdstuffer’s, and con- 
jecture from the generally dingy appearance of the plumage that 
it was a bird of the year. 

The first flight of Woodcocks arrived at Spurn on the night of 
October 21st; the great flight on the night of the 28th. Both 
these flights correlate with their passage across Heligoland. On 
the east coast sportsmen hold that it is a south-east wind which 
brings large grey or light coloured cocks, a north wind bringing 
small red-coloured birds. All our Woodcock shooters on the east 
coast—I mean those who have any experience in this matter— 
recognise the difference between the two, the former doubtless 
coming from more southern localities than the little red 
Scandinavian bird. 

The past autumn was singularly deficient in rare and 
interesting visitants. Mr. Philip Lawton, of Easington, had 
three Wood Sandpipers brought to him about the middle of 
September, and Mr. Clarke received one, shot on the south-sand 
Bridlington, about the middle of August. These were 
immature birds. 

During the first week in December great flights of Snow 
Buntings arrived in the east coast marshes with north winds and 
snow-squalls, and for some days the accumulated flocks quite 
crowded the stubbles. Hundreds and thousands rose on being 
disturbed, and with much twittering flitted heedlessly past the 
intruder, settling again immediately. I found it almost impossible 
to keep them on the wing. The proportion of old to young was 
about one in forty. 

Pied Wagtails and Stonechats have remained with us all 
through the winter, and I have seldom visited my sheep folded 
on turnips without seeing either one or the other. The Stone- 


186 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


chat almost invariably perched on the top of a net stake, looking 
not unlike a young Redbreast. 

On March Ist Yellowhammers were migrating northward, and 
for some hours I noticed them swarming on the shrubs in the 
garden and neighbouring hedgerows. 


REMARKS ON THE FUNDAMENTAL DISTRIBUTION OF 
COLOUR IN A LIVING ECHENKEIS. 


By Lron VAILLAnt.* 


Tue fishes of the genus Echeneis, the best known of which, 
E. remora, has long attracted the attention of naturalists, and 
even of unscientific persons, by the singular modification of its 
first dorsal fin transformed into a sucking disc upon the head, do 
not seem to have given rise to any observations regarding their 
coloration. 

If we refer to descriptions in different treatises on ichthyology 
we find that the species are generally described as being of a 
sombre tint, more or less brown, uniform; some have paler 
longitudinal lines which may be regarded as being connected 
with a particular pattern, but not depending upon what may be 
termed the fundamental distribution of colour. These are facts 
which may be verified by an examination of specimens preserved 
in collections. 

Guichenot, who seems to have observed one species in a 
fresh state on the coast of Algeria, says, “Its colour is of a deep 
bluish, shading towards black on the back.” 

Having had an opportunity this year, during the cruise of the 
‘Talisman’ on the West Coast of Africa, of examining one of 
these fishes which was captured with a Shark of the genus 
Carcharias to which it was adhering, I was struck with the dis- 
position of its colour, the more interesting on account of its 
connection with its peculiar habits. 

Whilst with fishes the dorsal surface is always more brightly 
coloured than the ventral, which is white, with the Hcheneis, 


* Translated from the ‘‘ Bulletin de la Societe Philomathique de Paris,” 
1884, pp. 5, 6. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 187 


which forms the subject of this note, it was precisely the 
reverse, the belly and sides being of a bluish black, iridescent, 
whilst the back, especially between the cephalic disc and the 
dorsal fin, was silvery white. 

Moreover, on examining the fish, one was at first sight 
tempted to assume just the contrary of what was the fact, 
mistaking the upper for the under surface and vice versd. 

The illusion was all the greater when, on being placed in a 
bowl of sea-water, it at once attached itself to the bottom, thus 
presenting to the observer its dark ventral surface. Moreover 
the eyes are directed towards the latter surface, being flanked by 
the upper portion of the head; and the mouth, the upper part of 
which projects beyond the lower, reminds one that in a great many 
fishes, on the contrary, the upper jaw is the shorter of the two. 

This disposition of colour, the reverse of which is usually the 
case, evidently results from the fact that the Hcheneis being 
attached by its cephalic disc either to another fish or to some 
submerged object, its dorsal surface is in contact with this 
support, and consequently protected from the light which on the 
other hand strikes the ventral and lateral surfaces. 

It is, in fact, comparable with the distribution of colour in the 
Pleuronectide which have the upper side variously coloured, 
while the under side is pale. 


NOTES AND QUERIES, 


Proposed Supplement to Thompson’s ‘Natural History of Ireland.’ 
—A want has long been felt of some compendium of Irish Natural History 
more recent than the well-known work of Thompson, now about thirty 
years old. This want has been strongly expressed by many modern writers 
on Irish Zoology, who complain that no work is now available which 
contains the additions which have accumulated since the time of Thompson. 
During late years the fauna of Great Britain has been laboriously in- 
vestigated, while that of Ireland has been comparatively neglected. It is 
now our object to collect and publish as much new information as can be 
obtained, especially that relating to the Mammalia, Birds, and Fishes of 
Ireland; and Mr. A. G. More, Curator of the Natural History Museum, 
Kildare Street, Dublin, has consented to act as Editor. The students of 
Natural History throughout Ireland are invited to join in supplying to 


188 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Mr. More such notes as they can, both from their own personal observations, 
or from any other reliable sources. It is proposed to commence with the 
Birds, and to note, under the head of each species, whether it is numerous 
or rare, increasing or decreasing, local or generally distributed ; whether it 
breeds in the country, or formerly did so; whether it is a regular summer 
or winter visitant, or straggler of rare occurrence. In the case of a rare 
bird, the date and all particulars of its capture are requested. The skin, 
however roughly preserved, should be retained as a means of identification, 
and the name of the collector or collection where the specimen is to be 
seen should be given; for, above all, it will be necessary that every species 
should be identified beyond a doubt. In drawing up a local list, no species 
should if possible be omitted, as the range in Ireland of some birds is not 
yet well ascertained, but contributors not prepared to enumerate every 
species may still supply useful information concerning some. The names 
of all those who contribute information will in every case be acknowledged. 
Tt is requested that all communications be addressed to A. G. More, Esq., 
F.L.S., Museum of Science and Art, Kildare Street, Dublin.—Signed, 
R. M. Barrineton (Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow), A. G. Mong, J. D. OG1LBy 
(Altnachree, Strabane, Co. Tyrone), R. J. Ussaur (Cappagh, Lismore, Co. 
Waterford), Ropert WarrEN (Moyview, Ballina, Co. Mayo). 


The Ornithological Congress at Vienna.—This International Con- 
gress, to which we referred in our last number (p. 139), was duly inaugurated 
by the Crown Prince, Rudolph, who made an opening speech, in which he 
dwelt upon the great importance of those studies in Natural History which 
characterise the present century, an observation doubtless intended as a 
reply to the attack on modern science recently made in the Austrian 
Parliament by the clerical Deputy Greuter. The Congress was attended by 
ornithologists from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Holland, 
Sweden, and Russia, and even from Siam and Japan; but, strange to say, 
there were no delegates from England. Considering the leading part taken 
by our countrymen in ornithological science, by whom, it may be said, all 
the best monographs of the day have been written, and the leading 
ornithological journal founded, it is a little remarkable that no steps were 
taken to ensure the attendance of some representative or representatives 
from this country. It seems to us that the occasion demanded it, and 
delegates from the British Museum, the Zoological Society of London, and 
the British Ornithologists’ Union might easily have been nominated to 
represent these several institutions, and to take part in the deliberations 
of the Congress on matters of interest to ornithologists all the world over. 
We have yet to receive a report of the proceedings. 


British Animals at the British Museum.—Te arrangement of the 
British collection at the new Natural History Museum has been com- 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 189 


menced, and a large number of time-honoured specimens are being either 
dismounted or removed from the galleries. Many of the most important 
specimens are from the old Montagu collection, and are therefore nearly 
100 years old. Never having been properly preserved, and having been 
mounted with all the bones in them, these historical specimens have for 
some time been gradually decaying, and very few of them are now fit for 
exhibition. It is needless to add that, under the care of the officer in charge 
of the ornithological department at South Kensington, every reverence will 
be shown for these ancient and valuable relics, and an effort will now be 
made to replace them in the exhibition rooms by a more complete series of 
British Birds than the Museum has yet shown to the public. Especial 
pains is being taken to illustrate the various plumages of each species, the 
seasonal changes, &e. All this will, of course, be a work of time, and our 
object in mentioning the fact is to ask the assistance of naturalists oll over 
England to help in the formation of the new zoological collection. It is 
only by the co-operation of his brother ornithologists that Mr. Bowdler 
Sharpe can hope to succeed in his aim, which is to render the collection of 
British Birds in the Natural History Museum the best in the land, and 
worthy of the nation to which it belongs. 


MAMMALIA. 


Polecat in Devonshire.—Under this heading you were good enough 
to insert (Zool. 1883, p. 25) a note which I sent you. Since then I have 
received information on the subject from several readers of ‘ The Zoologist ’ 
and others, and it may be worth while to put on record their evidence, as 
showing the gradual extinction of the Polecat in this county. Mr. Gateombe 
very kindly allowed me to search through the lists of animals stuffed by 
the late Mr. Bolitho, a well-known birdstuffer of Plymouth, of which he 
had become possessed. I found ten instances in which Bolitho had received 
Polecats, or “ Fitches,” as he generally termed them, between 1843 and 
1859, the last being on September 17th of the latter year. Mr. Gatcombe 
tells me he has seen one at a birdstuffer’s since Bolitha’s death, which 
occurred in 1883, and he has just informed me that one was caught in a 
trap set for rabbits near Plymouth at the end of last March. He thinks it 
a female, as it is rather small in size. It seems hardly likely that it was 
an escaped brown Ferret, though it is somewhat light in colour, but it is 
impossible to distinguish between the two animals. Mr. Daniel Radford, 
of Lydford Bridge, tells me that one was killed there about seven years ago, 
and when I was at that beautiful locality in July last, I saw one nailed up 
on the wall of the gamekeeper’s dog-kennel, which had been killed in the 
previous April. Of course I secured the head, and it has been well 
macerated and made into a good skull. These recent occurrences satis- 
factorily prove that the Polecat is hardly yet extinct in the western portion 


190 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


of Devon. Mr. R.P. Nicholls says he has not had one sent to him during 
the eighteen years he has been at Kingsbridge. Mr. Henry Balfour kindly 
wrote to inform me that a man who had been master gunner at Dartmouth 
Castle, had more than once seen Polecats in the neighbourhood west of the 
Dart Estuary—I suppose within the last few years. Mr. T. Jacobs, of 
Newton Abbot, says that the last specimen he received to mount was from 
the neighbourhood of Moreton, on the borders of Dartmoor, but he had not 
had any for the last ten years. Coming nearer Exeter, I find that the last 
date at which I saw one alive was on August 30th, 1852, near Topsham. 
J. Truscott says the last he knows of was killed on Lady Rolle’s property near 
Woodbury, and I saw the skull of one nailed to a tree near the gamekeeper’s 
cottage at Woodbury Castle, in the spring of 1882. The animal must have 
been dead a good many years, as the skull was quite clean and white. I offered 
a reward for a specimen, but as none has been sent me I suppose this 
animal is extinct in that part of the county. Mr. C. D. Heathcote, of 
Raleigh, near Bideford, tells me that one was killed at Northam, in that 
parish, about 1853, but he has not heard of any occurrence since then. It 
seems only too probable that in North and East, and perhaps in South 
Devon, the Polecat is now extinct, but that a very few still linger in 
the extreme western portion of the county.—W. 8. M. D’Ursan (Albert 
Memorial Museum, Exeter). 

Nest of the Harvest Mouse.—During the autumn of 1883, especially 
harvest time, several nests of the Harvest Mouse, Mus messorius, were 
taken by myself, mostly from barley-fields, being placed upon the laid barley. 
Almost all contained young ones, numbering from six to eight, and it was 
surprising to see how eight fair-sized mice could possibly live in a nest 
hardly as large as an orange. I took them the first time last year, and 
was surprised to find them in such numbers.—E. Cuartes Moor (Great 
Bealings, Woodbridge, Suffolk). 


BIRDS. 

Migratory Birds on the Yorkshire Moors.—The Chiffchaff was first 
heard last year on April 2nd, and left us about Sept. 1st. The Wheatear 
was very abundant on the edges of the moors, and was reported to me on 
April 1st. At the same time the Stonechat, Saxicola rubicola, appeared 
on the lower parts of the moors, where the furze and brambles abound. 
These signs of awakening spring induced me to take a walk across the 
moors to “ Bill’s-o'-Jacks,” so well known to all lovers of nature in this part 
of Yorkshire, and I was well repaid. On April 14th I set out on my stroll, 
and in a garden close to the moors I noticed the Common Whitethroat 
performing its peculiar undulating flight to and from a small currant tree 
in search of insects. The Blackcap is rather scarce hereabouts, and the 
only one I saw last summer flew out of a cottager’s garden as I passed along 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 191 


the road. During a severe storm, and whilst shooting Grouse on the 
Marsden Moors last August, I observed an Oystercatcher. I imitated its 
call until it came within shot, when I fired at and killed it. I have never 
before noticed an Oystercatcher so far inland. I saw a pair of Ring Ouzels 
on the 25th September last, feeding on mountain ash berries, on the skirts 
of Clues Moor, near Huddersfield. I suspect they breed in the neigh- 
bourhood occasionally, as they do on the Malvern Hills. I shot a hen. bird 
near the same spot last April, and found that the crop was well filled with 
ivy-berries, and the ovary contained eggs in an early stage of development. 
Crossbills appeared about the 10th October. On the 20th of that month 
I observed several in some fir trees adjacent to Blackmoor Foot Reservoir, 
feeding on the fir-cones. Their appearance here is rarely noted. About 
the same time several Hawfinches were observed feeding on hawthorn 
berries in the orchard at the back of my house. The Brambling, or 
Mountain Finch (Fringilla montifringilla, Linn.), is one of the latest 
migratory visitors to the moors; I noticed them on November 20th in 
beech trees surrounding the beautifully situated residence of Mr. Joseph 
Crowther, Marsden; and on the same day I flushed a Water Rail, Rallus 
aquaticus, which I shot. On October 10th I flushed and shot at a Great 
Snipe on the Blackmoor Foot Moors. It has been observed several times 
in the neighbourhood.—Isaac Harpine (Lenthwaite, near Huddersfield). 


Great Grey Shrike in Suffolk —On February 29th, while walking 
home from Woodbridge, about 4 p.m., I noticed a peculiar looking bird 
fly with something in its bill, and perch upon the tallest bough of an oak. 
Carefully walking up to the bird, which allowed me to get close to it, I saw 
it was a female Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor, a rare bird in this 
locality, and was delighted to get such a good view of it. It took no notice 
of me, and, wishing to see it on the wing, I was actually compelled to 
throw stones at it E. C. Moor (Great Bealings, Woodbridge, Suffolk). 


Early nesting of the Common Heron.—Last year I paid a visit to 
a heronry on the 28rd March, and although it was bitterly cold just then, 
the winter had been very open and mild. Most of the nests contained 
young ones, but I succeeded in getting a clutch of four eggs, considerably 
incubated. This year I again visited the heronry, but a month earlier, 
viz., on the 23rd February. Five nests were examined, with the following 
yesults:—one contained four eggs: another four fresh eggs, slightly in- 
cubated; whilst three contained young ones apparently only a day or two old, 
whose eyes were, however, partially open, showing the lemon-yellow irides. 
In this case the eggs must have been laid in January; but I can hardly 
suppose that when, as often happens at this time of year, the streams and 
ponds are frozen over, they would breed so early. The popular belief was 
current in the neighbourhood that the old birds hang their legs over the sides 
of the nests—an uncomfortable proceeding, I should imagine, as the nests 


192 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


are over two feet in diameter. One man, who had every opportunity of 
seeing for himself, gravely assured me that the birds made holes in the 
bottoms of the nests through which they put their legs!—J. Youne 
(64, Hereford Road, Bayswater). 


Lesser Spotted Woodpecker near Stockbridge.—On April 2nd I had 
brought to me, by a keeper, a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, which he 
had shot. I have not heard of one in this neighbourhood before, though 
some eggs were obtained about three years ago about five miles from here.— 
Joun H. Wittmore (Stockbridge, Hants). 


Red-throated Pipit at Brighton.—-On the 13th March a Red-throated 
Pipit, Anthus cervinus, was brought to Mr. Swaysland, the well-known 
naturalist, with a Stonechat and a Meadow Pipit, by a Brighton bird-netter. 
I saw it the following morning in the flesh; its tail and wings were perfectly 
uninjured, and it evidently had not been dead many hours. The whole of 
the breast in this interesting Pipit is richly suffused with bright rufous, 
and some of this colour extends to the belly, and even to the eyebrows. 
Mr. Swaysland pointed out that its legs, compared with the Meadow Pipit’s 
(also in the flesh) were darker. This is a character that would be sure to 
disappear very rapidly, and I fear the beautiful tints on the breast, if not 
kept from the light, will fade also. As some doubt may well be expressed 
about what has long been one of the most doubtful birds in the British 
list, I am glad to be able to add that its identity has been confirmed by 
Mr. R. B. Sharpe, by whom it was exhibited at the last meeting of the 
Zoological Society.—J. H. Gurney, sun. (Nutwood, Reigate). 


Notes on the Ornithology of Northamptonshire—The Buzzard, 
Buteo vulgaris, hinted at in my last communication to ‘The Zoologist,’ 
bearing date November 15th, 1883, was seen during the subsequent fortnight 
by several persons, and, as far as I know, escaped slaughter in this neigh- 
bourhood. The Hon. Thomas W. Fitzwilliam informed me by letter that 
whilst out with his hounds near Barnwell, Nov. 16th, he sprang two birds 
from a piece of new-sown wheat which he felt convinced were Solitary 
Snipes, Scolopaw major. Mr. Fitzwilliam writes, “I never saw any Snipe 
half as big before, and as I have done a good deal of Snipe-shooting I am 
sure that I am not mistaken.” This is a late appearance of this species, 
which is very uncommon with us. A Short-eared Owl, Stria brachyotus, 
was shot near Thrapston, Dec. Ist. I only record this as the first reported 
to me this autumn, and very unusually late, as we generally meet with this 
Owl in the third or fourth week of October. A Green Sandpiper, Totanus 
ochropus, was shot at a pond near Clapton, Dec. 6th. We have met with 
this species in this neighbourhood in every month of the year except June, 
but never in any numbers, except occasionally in August and September. 
A Common Gull, Larus canus, in immature plumage, was shot on the 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 193 


river near Thrapston, Dec. 7th, and a Dunlin, Tringa alpina, in the same 
neighbourhood, on the following day. It may seem absurd to record the 
occurrence of such common birds as these, but we would beg those whe 
are of that opinion to bear in mind that we are treating of the Ornithology 
of an inland and comparatively small district, and the two last-mentioned 
species, though neither of them very rare therein, are of some local interest. 
On Dec. 12th, George Trowbridge, gamekeeper to Mr. Freeman, of Clapton, 
heard strange cries proceeding from high in air overhead, and on looking 
up saw a large “ hawk” (probably a Peregrine) with a large bird shrieking 
and struggling in its talons; the said hawk was out of shot, but on shouts 
and demonstrations from the person above uamed let go its quarry, which 
was pursued and eventually shot by Trowbridge, and proved to be a very 
fine specimen of the Oystercatcher, Hematopus ostralegus, an exceedingly 
uncommon bird in this neighbourhood in our experience. The above 
particulars were communicated to me by the Rev. E. P. Williams Freeman, 
Rector of Clapton, who was also kind enough to present this Oystercatcher 
to the writer. From the last-mentioned date till now I have been kept 
entirely to the house by an attack of illness, so that my subsequent notes 
are mainly from the observations of friends and neighbours. Dr. Tomlinson, 
of Oundle, reported to me in December that on one of his journeys from 
that town to visit me, he had seen on the roadside, not far from Barnwell, 
a Blackbird, Turdus merula, “ of the colour of a sandy cat.” He has often 
since noticed it about the same spot ; its existence seems to be well known 
to some of our gamekeepers, one of whom, on being asked about the bird 
by my son, took him to the place and found it at once by the roadside. 
My son, who had a close view of the bird, describes it as being of the colour 
of an Australian sovereign ; his sight of it took place on Saturday, April 5th, 
1884. I received for identification, Jan. 29th, 1884, a young specimen of 
the Common Puffin, Fratercula arctica, from the Rev. G. Nicholson, of 
Northampton, who informed me that it was brought to him alive on the 
morning of Dec. 17th, 1883, having been caught by a cottager at Thornby, 
near Naseby, struggling at his door during a severe storm on the evening 
of Dec. 12th. This bird was erroneously recorded in the ‘Journal of the 
Northamptonshire Natural History Society,’ and (we believe) in one or more 
of our county newspapers, as a Little Auk, Mergulus alle. A good specimen 
of the Bittern, Botaurus stellaris, was shot on our river near Ashton on 
Jan. 26th, and presented to me in the flesh, by Mr. Samuel Deacon, of 
_ Polebrook, on the 30th. Heard of nest of Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus, 
containing eggs, for the first time this year, March 18th. A Tawny Owl, 
Strix aluco, sitting upon four eggs, allowed the tree in which her nest was 
situated, unknown to the woodmen, to be felled to the ground without 
moving; she was taken uninjured, and brought to me, with the only 
unbroken egg, March 26th. First Wheatear, Sawicola enanthe, of season, 
ZOOLOGIST.—MAY, 1884. Q 


194 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


reported by Mr. Hunt, March 22nd.  Chiffchaff, Phyllopneuste minor, 
March 27th. Fieldfares, Turdus pilaris, and Redwings, T’. iliacus, travelling 
northwards in considerable numbers, April 2nd. First Redstart, Ruticilla 
phenicura, of season, reported April 2nd. A nest of Wild Duck, Anas 
boschas, was found by my son on a broken-topped elm tree at about sixteen 
feet from the ground, April 5th. First Wryneck, Jyna torquilla, of season, 
reported April 7th. A few Woodcocks, Scolopax rusticula, still linger about 
our woods, and are to be seen “ glading” at dusk, April LOth. First Ring 
Ouzel, Turdus torquatus, of season, reported by Mr. Hunt, April 11th. 
First Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, of season, reported April 11th. First 
Swallows, Hirundo rustica, of season, reported April 12th. First reports 
of Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla, and Willow Wren, Phyllopneuste trochilus, 
this season, April 13th. First report of Sand Martin, Cotyle riparia, this 
season, April 16th. Another nest of Wild Duck, Anas boschas, found 
yesterday in our park in an elm tree, about fourteen feet from the ground.— 
Litrorp (Lilford Hall, Oundle, April 25, 1884). 

Uncommon Birds in Hertfordshire—During the past year (1883) 
the following uncommon birds have come under my notice as having 
occurred in this county, a more extended notice of which I have prepared 
for ‘The Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society ’:— 
A pair of Twites, Linota flavirostris, were caught in bird-nets, during the 
month of December, near the village of Albury, at the foot of the Chilterns, 
and were exhibited for some time at Mr. Banfield’s, bird dealer, Hemel 
Hempstead. A Hoopoe, Upupa epops, in fine plumage, was shot near 
Digswell, in the parish of Welwyn, in May, by Samuel Gooch, one of the 
keepers on the Brocket Hall estate, and is still in his possession. The 
Hoopoe is an irregular spring and autumn migrant. Several specimens 
have at different times been taken in Hertfordshire, but always at con- 
siderable intervals. A “ Ringtail,” or female Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus, 
was observed by Mr. Marlborough R. Pryor, at Weston Manor, near 
Stevenage, on the 28th October, and on one or two subsequent occasions. 
When only seen upon the wing it is very difficult to distinguish a female 
Hen Harrier from the female of Montagu’s Harrier. Mr. Pryor had a 
good opportunity of observing the bird in question, and is well acquainted 
with both species. Both from its general appearance and from the period 
of the year at which it was seen he believed it was a Hen Harrier, and as ~ 
such I accept it. A White Stork, Ciconia alba, was shot somewhere about 
the end of July, while resting on the top of a house near Holfield: it was 
unmistakably identified. On the 28th and 29th of August two large flocks 
of Dotterel, Hudromias morinellus, were reported by Mr. Percy F. Fordham 
as having been observed at Royston Heath, and on September 24th a single 
specimen, believed to be a bird of the year, was shot in turnips near Weston 
Manor, Stevenage, by Mr. Marlborough R. Pryor. The Dotterel is a spring 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 195 


and autumn migrant. In olden times it was frequently the quarry of 
- falconers, and it is stated that the 10th May was specially devoted to that 
sport, and was known on the borders of Hertford and Cambridgeshire as 
“ Dotterel’s day” (Hone’s ‘ Everyday Book,’ 1826, p.645). It is interesting 
to notice that Dotterel are still observed in the same district in which 
they are reported to have been abundant during the reign of James I.— 
J. Lirritezoy (Hunton Bridge, Herts). 

[We have no doubt that the White Stork above referred to was one of a 
pair which belonged to Mr. H. D. Astley, of Chequers Court, Tring, and 
which made their escape. The owner advertised his loss in ‘ The Field,’ and 
through the medium of that journal ascertained that one of the pair had 
been shot in Kent (Field, Nov. 18, 1882). He has since obtained another 
pair, concerning which he has just published the following letter in ‘The 
Standard’ of April 22nd :— May I fill up a little of your valuable space 
in order to make a request—namely, that should any one see a pair of 
White Storks, Ciconia alba, either on private or public land, they will kindly 
do their best to protect them, and keep them from being shot at or otherwise 
molested? My reason for writing this is because a pair of these birds owned 
by me, which I had allowed full liberty in the hopes of their remaining to 
rear their young, have flown beyond their boundaries, and having lost their 
way are now wandering at large, if not already destroyed. They are quite 
tame, and 1 cannot think that they intended migrating; for not only are 
they in full moult, but they showed no signs of restlessness, and were seen 
lingering all day in a field about two miles off.” In a later letter the same 
gentleman says :—‘ Since writing you about a pair of White Storks, I have 
heard that one has been shot, and the other wounded.” It is quite possible, 
therefore, that we may hear of their being reported as notable additions to 
the avifauna of Hertfordshire. Verbum sap.—Ep.] 


Grey Wagtail nesting in East Devon.—In May, 1880, we found a 
nest of the Grey Wagtail, Motacilla melanope, at Honiton, Devon. The 
nest was placed about six feet from the ground, in a hole in the stone-work 
of an old bridge which crosses the river Otter. It contained two eggs of 
the Grey Wagtail and one of the Cuckoo. My share of the spoil included 
the two Grey Wagtail’s eggs, which I now possess, and my friend had the 
egg of the Cuckoo, which I am afraid was shortly afterwards broken.— 
J. R. Harve (15, Norham Road, Oxford). 


Abnormal Eggs of Blackbird.—Last year a Blackbird here laid blue 
eggs, without a single spot, the blue being almost exactly the depth of a 
Hedgesparrow’s egg. This year she has built within a few yards of the 
same spot; all her eggs are again clear blue, without a spot. When she 
had laid three eggs I took one to keep as a curiosity. I then found she 
had the additional peculiarity that she sat on only the remaining two, and 


196 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


has continued to do so for over a fortnight. Is not the blue colour rare ?— 
J. H. Buxton (Hunsdon Bury, Ware). . 


Notes from N.W. Yorkshire.—When I stated (p. 139) that the Common 
Gull, Larus canus, breeds on Punchard Head, in Arkengarth Dale, I was cer- 
tainly under the impression that it did so; but on making further enquiries 
I find that I had entirely misunderstood my informant, who tells me that it is 
many years since any gulls bred there, owing to their nests being destroyed 
and the birds shot. He is unable to recollect the colour of their plumage, 
but most probably they were a small colony of the Black-headed Gull, Larus 
ridibundus. The Common Gull, L. canus, is, however, an occasional visitor, 
and I have myself several times observed it on the moors during the months 
of May and June.—J. E. Tixxier (Chetham’s Hospital, Manchester). 


FISHES. 


Greater Forkbeard in Devon.— Passing by a fishmonger’s shop in 
Exeter on the 19th March last, amongst a lot of small Whitings, only 
seven or eight inches in length, I espied a specimen of the Greater Fork- 
beard, Phycis blennioides, Briinn., 8°75 inches in length. The proprietor 
of the shop obligingly made me a present of the specimen, and informed 
me that it was taken near the shore in Torbay, not far from Brixham. 
Bellamy, in his useful little work called ‘ The Housekeeper’s Guide to the 
Fish-market,’ published at Plymouth in 1843, speaks of this fish as “ not 
uncommon.” ‘There is a specimen in the British Museum collected at 
Plymouth by Lieut. H. F. Spence, R.N. Mr. Gatcombe met with it once 
at Seaton. It, however, appears to be a rare species on the South Devon 
coast.—W. 8S. M. D’Ursan (Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter). 

{In ‘The Field’ of April 5th a correspondent reports the capture of a 
fish of this species in the Firth of Forth on March 28th, and states that it 
is almost unknown in Scottish waters.—Ep. | 


ARCHZ OLOGY. 


Origin of the name “ Oystercatcher.”—The name “ Oystercatcher” 
seems to have been unknown to English writers on Ornithology till Catesby, 
in 1731, made use of it (Nat. Hist. Carolina, i. p. 85), and so far as I can 
make out it was not until 1776, when Pennant brought out the so-called 
4th edition of his ‘ British Zoology,’ that this name replaced the customary 
“ Sea-Pie.” Yet Ido not profess to declare that the name “ Oystercatcher” 
was a colonial invention. It may have been one of the many English 
phrases that were common enough at home, but yet did not, as it were, 
come to the surface until after crossing the Atlantic; and one reason 
for thinking this possible is that it has its equivalents in the Frisian 
Oestervisscher, the German Austermann, and so forth. But, on the other 
hand, I have no evidence to show how old these names really are; and they 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. Ee 


might turn out to be renderings from the English. The French Huttricr 
certainly looks as if it were taken from Catesby, who wrote in French as 
well as in English— Atrrep Newton (Magdalene College, Cambridge). 

[We should be glad if any other correspondent can throw further light 
on this subject, and explain the derivation of the provincial name “ Olive,” 
which is applied to the Oystercatcher by Albin, and is still in use on the 
coast of Sussex.— Ep. ] 


“The Sea-blue Bird of March.”—In Mr. H. T. Wharton’s note upon 
this subject (p. 117) it would appear that the poet or commentator has rather 
missed the meaning of “ halcyon days.” It is quite true that the weather, 
and consequently the sea, is perfectly calm during the early winter in the 
Grecian Archipelago; I have known it particularly so for several years 
about Christmas, at which time we have often had brilliant sunshine and 
blooming roses. I have also noticed at this time that Kingfishers seemed 
unusually abundant; in fact, I think that this bird is observed more 
frequently flitting about the shallow seas and lagoons during a continuance 
of fine weather than at any other period. I have always understood the 
term “halcyon days” to mean brilliant weather, when the Kingfisher is 
likely to be more frequently observed on the move. The term alcyon or 
haleyon—i. e. the Kingfisher—has been supposed by most Hellenists to 
have some reference to as, the sea. Mr. Wharton, in the lately published 
‘Ibis List of British Birds,’ says (p. 81), “ Etymology unknown; often 
written halcyon, because of the fancied derivation from &as, the sea.” 
With all deference to Mr. Wharton, I would suggest that what he terms 
the fancied derivation may be the real one, and that it may be derived from 
ars, the sea, and xtvavos or xvdveog = dark blue, that is to say, something 
a dark blue sea colour, almost synonymous with the “ Sea-blue Bird.” 
If this be granted, “ halcyon days” will have no reference to the Kingfisher, 
but will mean simply days when the sea is “deeply, darkly, beautifully 
blue,” which, of course, could not happen, save in sunny weather, when the 
sea reflects the glowing sky —MonvacurE Brownz (Leicester). 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, 


Linnean Society or Lonpon. 


April 3, 1884.—Sir Joun Lusgocs, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

, Mr. R. Morton Middleton exhibited a Jackdaw, with so much white on 
the scapulars and secondaries as to cause a considerable resemblance to a 
Magpie. This bird had been seen and observed for some time at Castle 
Eden, Durham, prior to its dying from an injury. 


198 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Prof. P. M. Duncan gave an abstract of a revision of the families and 
genera of the Sclerodermic Zoantharia (excepting the Madreporia Rugosa). 
He stated that no systematic work having been written on the Madre- 
poraria since that of MM. Milne-Edwards and Jules Haime (1857—60), 
and a great number of genera having been since described, a necessity had 
arisen for a revision of the classification This necessity was the more 
apparent in consequence of the morphological work of Dana, L. Agassiz, 
Verrill, and H. N. Moseley. The old sections of the Zooantherian suborder 
required modifications and additions. The sections Aporosa and Perforata 
would remain, shorn of some genera, the old family Fungide becoming a 
section with three families, two of which are transitional between those just 
mentioned. The section Tabulata disappears, some genera being placed 
in the Aporosa, and others relegated to the Hydrozoa, according to Moseley. 
The Tubulosa cease to be Madreporian. Hence the sections treated are 
Madreporaria aporosa, M. fungida, and M. perforata. The nature of the 
hard and soft parts of these forms is considered in relation to classification, 
and an appeal is made to naturalists to agree to the abolition of many 
genera, the author having sacrificed many of his own founding. The 
criticism of the 467 genera permits 336 to be good, and as a moderate 
number (thirty-six) of subgenera are allowed to continue, the diminution is 
altogether about 100. The genera are grouped in alliances, and the plan 
seems to be useful. The object of the classification proposed is to simplify, 
many old and artificial divisions being dispensed with. 

A paper was read by Mr. Francis J. Briant, “On the Anatomy and 
Functions of the Tongue of the Honey Bee (worker).” The author, atter 
referring to the structure of the more conspicuous parts of the endoskeleton 
and relations of the tongue thereto, treats specially of the manner in which 
the bee takes up the honey by its tongue. It appears that upon the nature 
and function of the organ in question authorities are by no means agreed. 
Kirby and Spence, supported by Huxley, and partly by Newport, aver 
that the bee laps up its food, while Hermann Miller and others rather 
attribute the action as due to the terminal whorl of hairs to which the 
honey adheres, and therefrom is withdrawn upwards. ‘The author of the 
paper, from experiment and otherwise, is inclined to the view that the 
honey is drawn into the mouth through the tongue by means of a com- 
plicated pumping action of the organ itself, aided by the closely contiguous 
parts. 


April 17, 1884.—Atrrep W. Bennett, M.A., in the chair. 

Mr. Robert Lloyd Patterson, of Belfast, and Mr. Benjamin Lomax, of 
Brighton, were elected Fellows. 

The only zoological paper read was by Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, namely, 
his ninth contribution to the Ornithology of New Guinea, in which he 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 199 


described several new birds obtained by Mr. A. Goldie from the Astrolabe 
Mountains.—J. Muri. 


Zoonogican Socirry or Lonpon. 


March 18, 1884.—Prof. W. H. Frowrer, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in 
the chair. 

The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the 
Society’s Menagerie during the month of February, and called special 
attention to a young specimen of the Red-eared Monkey, Cercopithecus 
erythrotis ; a fine example of Martin’s Monkey, C. Martini; and an example 
of a rare Ichneumon from Ceylon, Maccarthy’s Ichneumon, Herpestes 
Maccarthia, all new to the collection. 

Mr. Tegetmeier exhibited specimens showing a variation in the colour 
of the feet of the Pink-footed Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus. 

A communication was read from Sir Richard Owen on the extinct birds 
of the genus Dinornis, forming the twenty-fifth of his series of memoirs 
on this subject. The present paper gave a description of the sternum of 
Dinornis elephantopus. 

Mr. J. B. Sutton read an account of the results of his investigations of 
the more important diseases which affect the carnivorous animals living in 
the Society's Gardens. 

Mr. J. W. Clark exhibited and read an account of three skulls of a 
Sea-Lion from the east coast of Australia. The laryest, that of an adult 
male, had been exhibited, together with the stuffed skin, at the Fisheries 
Exhibition last year, where it had been named Arctocephalus cinereus, Gray. 
The object of the paper was to trace the history of the species, for which 
the name Otaria cinerea had been suggested by Péron in 1816, and to show, 
by comparison with the type skull at Paris, that these specimens had been 
rightly referred to it. 

A communication was read from the Rev. O. P. Cambridge, in which 
he gave descriptions of two new genera of Spiders, proposed to be called 
Forbesia and Regillus. 


April 1, 1884.— Prof. W. H. Frowsr, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in 
the chair. 

Prof. Flower exhibited and made remarks on a series of skulls of the 
Bottle-nosed Whale, Hypervodon rostratus, illustrating the various stages 
presented by this animal as regards the conformation of its skull in the 
different ages of both sexes. Prof. Flower also exhibited, on behalf of 
Messrs. Langton and Bicknell, a specimen of spermaceti obtained from the 
head of the Hyperoodon. 

Mr. Sclater exhibited and made remarks on specimens of the eggs of 


200 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


two species of Testudinata, Testudo elephantopus and Chelys matamata, 
recently laid by animals living in the Society’s Gardens. 

Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe exhibited and made remarks on a Red-throated 
Pipit, Anthus cervinus, caught near Brighton in March last. Mr. Sharpe 
exhibited at the same time an example of the Water Pipit, Anthus spinoletta, 
captured at Lancing, in Sussex, in March, 1877. 

Prof. E. Ray Lankester exhibited and made remarks on a large living 
Scorpion, Buphus cyaneus, from Ceylon. 

A communication was read from Prof. T. Jeffrey Parker, being the first 
of a series of studies in New Zealand Ichthyology. The present paper 
gave a description of the skeleton of Regalecus argenteus. The species was 
founded on a specimen cast ashore at Moeraki, Otago, in June, 1883. 

A communication was read from Viscount Powerscourt, containing 
an account of the origin and progress of the herd of Japanese Deer at 
Powerscourt. 

A communication was read from Mr. G. A. Boulenger, giving the 
diagnoses of some new Reptiles and Batrachians from the Solomon Islands, 
collected and presented to the British Museum by Mr. H. B. Guppy, of 
H.M.S. ‘ Lark.’ 

A communication was read from Mr. C. O. Waterhouse, containing an 
account of the Coleopterous Insects collected by Mr. H. O. Forbes in the 
Timor-Laut Islands. 

Mr. F. D. Godman read a paper containing an account of the Lepidoptera 
collected by the late Mr. W. A. Forbes on the banks of the Lower Niger, 
the Rhopalocera being described by Messrs. F. D. Godman and O. Salvin, 
and the Heterocera by Mr. H. Druce. The species of Butterflies were fifty 
in number, and comprised representatives of all the families of Rhopalocera 
hitherto known from Tropical Africa, except the Hrycinide, a group but» 
feebly developed in this region. 

Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe read the description of three rare species of 
Flycatchers, viz., Alseonax minima, Lioptilus abyssinicus, and L. galinieri. 
Mr. Sharpe also described an apparently new species of Nuthatch, dis- 
covered by Mr. John Whitehead in the mountains of Corsica, and proposed 
to be called Sitta Whiteheadi. 

Mr. G. E. Dobson read a paper on the myology and visceral anatomy 
of Capromys melanurus, of which rare mammal specimens had been lately 
obtained for him by Mr. F. W. Ramsden, H.M.’s Consul at St. Jago de 
Cuba. The well-known division of the hepatic lopes into minute lobules 
in C. pilorides from the same island was shown not to exist in C. melanurus, 
which otherwise closely resembled the former species, and this character 
could therefore no longer be considered a generic one.— P. L. ScuaTEr, 
Secretary. 


Z-D: 


Le, 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vot. VIII.) JUNE, 1884. [No. 90. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS ON ORNITHOLOGY. 


By tHe Late Epwarp Buiyru. 


[A critic, who has been a diligent student of Blyth’s volu- 
minous contributions to zoological literature, has described him 
as “one of the greatest zoologists who has lived since the time 
of Cuvier.” 

Certainly, if we pass over his knowledge of anatomy, which 
was not profound, it must be admitted that the fund of general 
knowledge which he possessed on the habits, classification, and 
geographical distribution of the Vertebrata (chiefly perhaps the 
Mammalia and Aves) was very remarkable. It appeared all the 
more so from his wonderfully retentive memory, which enabled him 
without hesitation, in reply to enquiries, to give valuable informa- 
tion on the subject under discussion either from his own obser- 
vation, or from what he had read and remembered. Some idea 
of the extent and variety of the knowledge which he possessed 
may be formed by perusing the list of his published papers given 
by Mr. Grote in the excellent memoir which precedes Blyth’s post- 
humous Catalogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma (1875). 

In this list are not to be found the three papers which we 
have now the pleasure of bringing to the notice of our readers. 
It is a little curious that they have not already been made public ; 
for they were separately printed in pamphlet form by the author 
for private distribution, and to elicit friendly criticism and help 
in the preparation of a general work on the birds of India. 

On a printed slip attached to one of these essays, that on the 
Certhuide or Creepers, we find the author’s views thus expressed :— 

ZOOLOGIST.— JUNE, 1884. : R 


202 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


“PLAN or AN InDIAN OrniTHOLOGY: To include descriptions 
of the species of all India, from the Himalaya southward; also 
those of Ceylon, Sinde, Assam, and the eastern coast of the Bay 
of Bengal to the Straits of Malacca; with those inhabiting the 
islands of the Bay, and the Maldives and Lacadives if practicable.” 

Then follows, in brackets and italics, the statement :— 
“Printed for private circulation, and to elicit further information 
on the groups treated of.” 

From the printed colophon we learn that these three papers, 
which treat of the Certhiide, Capitonide, and Cypselide 
respectively, were printed in Calcutta in 1848, and they would 
appear to have been written in continuation of a series under the 
slightly different heading ‘‘ Drafts for a Fauna Indica,” of which 
the first number on the Columbide was published in the ‘ Journal 
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal’ in 1845 (vol. xiv., part ii., p. 
845), and has been noticed by Mr. Grote in his list of Blyth’s 
papers above referred to. It seems most likely that the series 
was discontinued when Blyth found that his friend Jerdon was 
engaged upon just such a work as he himself was contemplating, 
and he generously communicated to Jerdon much valuable infor- 
mation which subsequently appeared in ‘ The Birds of India.’ 

Although the three papers now before us were written so many 
years ago, it will be no injustice to the author's fame to publish 
them now. Blyth’s views as an ornithologist have generally been 
found, when impartially tested by his fellow workers, to be so 
sound, that everything which came from his pen seems worth 
preserving. Weare the more disposed to lay them before our 
readers since the paper on the Cyps¢lide appears to have escaped 
the notice of Mr. Sclater, who published an excellent monograph 
of this family of birds in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological 
Society’ for 1865 (p. 598), and in the bibliographical introduction 
to Messrs. Marshall’s ‘ Monograph of the Capitonide ’ (1870-71) 
no mention is made of Blyth’s essay on the Barbets now before 
us. We propose therefore to print these three papers seriatim 
in successive numbers of “The Zoologist,” and will commence 
with that on the Creepers. ] 


I. Fam. Cerruup2. 
These are birds which creep upon the bark of trees, or some 
of them upon rocks, or even rugged ground; having the toes 
three before and one behind (unlike the Woodpeckers), the outer 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 203 


toe being connected basally to the middle one as far as the first 
joint. The bill varies much in shape, according to the mode in 
which the food is chiefly obtained; but the tongue does not aid 
in procuring it, being of the common structure, thin, horny, and 
_inextensible; the tip of the upper mandible rarely shows so much 
as a trace of emargination. They feed both on insects and 
oleaginous seeds, more or less of one or the other; and the 
stomach is a tolerably muscular gizzard. All the genera have a 
well-defined geographical distribution. 

The Certhiide may be, first, most conveniently divided into 
those having a short, even, flexible tail, which is not employed in 
supporting the body (as the flexible tail of the Wryneck some- 
times is); and those having a cuneated tail with stiffened points, 
as in the Woodpeckers. 


A. With short, even, unpointed tails. 
Subfam. Sirrrinaz (Nuthatches). 


A group of small birds, from the size of a Lark downward to 
that of a Wren ; with wings reaching nearly or quite to the end 
of the short tail; a moderately long, awl-shaped beak of con- 
siderable strength ; and strong feet, having the hind toe especially 
much elongated, and the claws of all the toes stout, compressed, 
and equally curved. They traverse the bark of trees in every 
direction, up or down a perpendicular bole, or on the lower surface 
of a horizontal bough; and the bill is either straight or inclines 
to be a little recurved, being adapted either for striking with much 
force, or for raising and detaching scales of bark to get at the 
insects which lurk beneath. 

Two genera are recognised—Sitta, with stout subcylindrical 
bill, straight or with but a very slight tendency to recurve, and 
wings not reaching to the end of the tail, which is peculiar to 
the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, being in India 
confined to the hills,—and Sitttella, with weaker and much com- 
pressed bill, distinctly recurved, and having an emarginated tip to 
the upper mandible, and the wings reaching quite to the end of 
the tail, which is peculiar to Australia:* the former, however, 
comprises Dendrophila, a subgenus of more tropical abode, 


* With the Acanthisitte of New Zealand I am unacquainted; but Sylvia 
citrina and S. longipes, Lath., are here placed, which are not described to have 
stiffened tails, and the name would seem therefore to refer to the form of the 
beak. 


204 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


inhabiting the hill regions of India, Burmah, and the Malay 
countries, which has merely a smaller and less compressed bill 
than the true Sitte.* 

Genus Sirta, Linn. 

Bill subcylindrical, a little compressed and at base depressed, 
more or less stout and elongated, generally about the length of 
the head, straight, pointed, with the lower mandible sometimes 
tending a little upward towards its extremity; nareal orifices 
roundish, pierced in the base of the nasal membrane. Wings 
capable of steady and sustained flight (not unlike that of the 
Sturnide@), having the first quill short, the third, fourth, fifth, and 
sometimes sixth, longest and subequal, and the second about 
equalling the seventh. Feet having the middle and hind toes of 
equal length, and the inner shorter than the outer; the tarse not 
equalling in length the hind toe with its claw. Plumage dense 
and of rather open texture in most species, the plumelets of the 
feathers unadhering; and the colours are generally grey above, 
with a black cap or only sincipital streak, and more or less rufous 
below, with white spots on the tail and its under-coverts. 

These are robust little birds, endowed with much energy. 
The British species commonly alights high upon the bole of a 
tree, not unfrequently uttering a loud, piercing, and several times 
repeated chirp. It is seen chiefly in pairs, whereas the Dendro- 
phile are commonly observed in small parties, and the Sittelle 
sometimes in more numerous assemblages. Yet I have observed 
it to be rather social than otherwise, at least during the winter, 
at which season I have remarked one calling for more than an 
hour to its companion that had been shot; but in the pairing 
season they become pugnacious, and I have then seen them fight 
desperately on the wing. Among the remarkable habits of this 
bird is that of firmly fixing a nut or beech-mast in some con- 
venient crevice, and then, holding on with its strong feet and 
swinging its body as upon a pivot, it will pierce the envelope with 
sharply repeated blows of its bill; and as the common English 
Thrush (7. musicus) is observed to return often to the same 
pebble in a garden walk, against which to break its snails, whose 


* There are some §. American birds which nearly approximate the 
Sitting, even in colour; but these have lengthened tarsi, a short hind toe, 
graduated tail, and a curved tip to the upper mandible, seeming altogether 
to indicate different (and it would appear Myiotherine) affinities. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 205 


shells soon accumulate around, so the Nuthatch has been observed 
to resort habitually to the same suitable crevice in a tree.* It 
has also the hoarding instinct, like the Paride, Corvide, &c., as has 
been observed of it both wild and in captivity; and for a nesting- 
place it selects a hole in a tree, the entrance of which, if too 
large, it contracts with mason-work of clay. Eggs six or seven, 
white, rufous-speckled; and the bird, when disturbed sitting, 
makes a formidable sounding hissing noise at the intruder.t 
Such are no doubt the habits of most of the other species; but 
S. syriaca is remarkable for frequenting rocks only, and never 
trees.{ Inclimbing, these birds make much use of the real heel 
as a support. They roost with the head downward. Four species 
have been discovered in N. America, and three in Europe, all 
different from those of India. _ 

S. Formosa, Blyth, J. A. S. xu. 938, 1007.—This species is 
unique among the Nuthatches for its size and beauty. Colour 
black above, spotted with ultramarine on the crown and back ; 
the wing-coverts and tertiaries broadly tipped and margined 
partially with white; fore part of the wing, scapularies, rump, 
and upper tail-coverts bright lavender-blue; rectrices, great alars 
and their coverts margined with the same, extending nearly over 
the middle pair of rectrices; outermost pair of rectrices broadly, 


ee ——————————E—————— 

* In confinement, according to Bechstein, turned loose in a room, its 
manner of breaking the husks of the hemp-seed and oats which are given it 
for food is curious and remarkable. Taking as many as it can in the beak, 
and ranging them in order along the cracks in the floor, so disposing them 
that they may be broken with facility, it then proceeds to despatch them one 
after another with the greatest ease and agility. The common British Nut- 
hatch is a remarkably bold and active bird, in the wild state more fearless 
than familiar, and even if shot at and missed appears in general not in the 
least disconcerted, or perhaps merely flies chirruping to the next tree, and 
resumes its occupation as before. It displays the same fearlessness when 
captured and placed in a cage, losing no time in fruitless and sullen vexation, 
but—regardless of being looked at—eats voraciously of whatever food is 
supplied, and then proceeds deliberately to destroy its prison, piercing the 
woodwork, and effecting its deliverance from a stout cage of the ordinary 
make in a wonderfully short space of time. One caught in a common brick 
trap, such as boys set in England, was found to have fairly ground its bill 
to about two-thirds of the proper length in its persevering efforts to escape, 

+ The Sittelle, it is remarkable, nidificate in the fork of a tree. 

t Sitta syriaca (or a species allied in habit) is common in Afghanistan, 
and thence would extend westward to the S.E, of urope. Vide J. A. S, 
xvi. 782, 


206 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


and the rest narrowly, tipped with white on their inner web; 
under parts bright ferruginous, paler on the throat and also fore- 
head, whence passing backward as a supercilium. Wing 4 in., 
bill to gape lin. Inhabits Sikim. 

S. CINNAMOVENTRIS,* Blyth, J. A. S. xi. 459.—Resembles 8S. 
cesia, Michahelles (i. e., the British Nuthatcht), only that the 
under parts of the male, except the white chin and sides of the 
throat, are of the same deep maronne colour as are the flanks 
only of S. c@sia, the lower tail-coverts being similarly mottled 
with white. In the female the under parts are of a much weaker 
and more dingy maronne. Wing 24 in.; bill to gapel in. Hab. 
S. E. Himalaya. 

S. cASTANEOVENTRIS, Franklin, P. Z. §.,1831, p. 121; J.&S., 
Ill. Orn., 1st series, pl. 165.—Similar to the last but smaller, the 
bill much narrower and more slender, and the general colouring 
more vivid. Wing 2% in; bill to gape in. Hab. Himalaya, 
and hilly regions of India generally. Mr. Jerdon has shot it at 
Goomsoor, in high forest jungle, and has seen specimens shot at 
the top of the Gazalhatti Pass, in Mysore. Capt. Tickell obtained 
it at Chyebassa, and I have seen it in collections from Rajmahl 
in Bengal, and from Darjeeling. 

S. umMALAYANA, Jardine and Selby, Ill. Orn., 1st series, pl. 
164; S. nipalensis, Hodgson, J. A. S. v. 779.—A small species, 
with remarkably short bill, tapering evenly from the base as 
viewed from above. Colour nearly as in S. c@sia, but the vent 
and under tail-coverts of the same unspotted rufous as the flanks, 
which are paler than in S. cesia, and the middle pair of reetrices 
are white at base, except along the exterior border. Wing 2% 
in.; bill to gape 11-16th in. Hab. S. E. Himalaya. 

5. — —? Size about that of S. cesia, with long and 
slender bill, a black cap, white throat and breast, and dark 
chestnut belly. Hab. Interior of N.W. Himalaya. 


Subgenus DENpDRopHILA, Swainson. 
Merely differs in having a shorter and more feeble bill than in 


* Contracted from cinnamomeoventris. 

+ The Scandinavian S. ewropea, L., is the species termed asiatica by 
Temminck, and wralensis by Lichtenstein. It differs only from S. cesia in 
having the throat, breast, and abdomen pure white. Some zoologists would, 
however, consider S. ewropea, 8. cesia, and S. cinnamoventris as but local 
varieties of a single species, 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 207 


the true Sitte, and delicate silky plumage. It is barely separable. 
The Indian species is, however, more social in its habits than the 
typical Nuthatches, frequenting the under surface of boughs in 
small parties, and raising scales of bark in the same manner as 
its congeners, to get at the insects beneath, but never (so far as has 
been observed) striking or tapping with the bill. The more 
tropical habitat is also worthy of notice, though confined to the 
hill forests; and the Indian species extending its range to those 
of the Himalaya. 

D. rrontauis; Sitta frontalis, Horsfield, Linn. Tr. xiii. 162 ; 
figured in Swainson’s Zool. IIl., 1st series, pl. 2; S. velata, Tem- 
minck ; S. corallina, Hodgson, J. A. 8. v. 779. Fine blue above, 
with a broad velvety-black forehead ; lower parts delicate lilac- 
brown, passing to white on the throat; bill coral-orange. Wing 
27 in.; bill to gape § in. Inhabits the hilly regions of India 
generally, Burmah, and the Malay countries. According to 
Capt. Tickell, “it flies and climbs upon the underwood with great 
rapidity, and is found in the thickest parts of sal jungle.” Mr, 
Hodgson describes it from the central and northern regions of 
Nepal; and Mr. Jerdon informs us that “it is found in great 
abundance in the dense woods of the Nilgiris. I have seen it, 
though rarely,” he adds, “below the ghats, also in thick forest 
jungle. It hunts, in general, in small parties of five or six; is 
very active and restless, creeping round the horizontal branches 
chiefly, and seeming to prefer the under surface of the boughs, 
and also running downwards. It feeds on various small insects, 
which it picks off the bark, but does not tap like the common 
Nuthatch.” Mr. Swainson figures it from Ceylon, where also it 
is common. It likewise abounds in Assam, Sylhet, Arracan, the 
Tenasserim provinces, and Malayan Peninsula. Sir St. Raffles 
observed it in Sumatra; and Dr. Horsfield in Java. 

A second species is mentioned by Mr. Swainson by the name 
D. flavipes, probably from the Malayan Archipelago. 


Subfam. ————? 

A mere group of convenience, provisionally adopted until the 
affinities of the genera have been more critically determined. It 
consists of species which combine the feebler frame, and bill and 
feet of the Tree-creepers with the soft tail of the Nuthatches. 
Such is the Australian genus Climacteris, the habits of which are 
quite those of the northern Tree-creepers, except that they come 


208 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


much upon the ground among fallen leaves, and upon prostrate 
trunks; but in climbing they can only ascend like the Tree- 
creepers, except sometimes by afew hops backward and obliquely 
downward, as is also the case with the Certhie. The two follow- 
ing genera may be included :— 


Genus TrcHoproma, Illiger (Rock-creeper). 


Bill longer than the head, slender, nearly straight, but 
incurved a little at the acute tips; the terminal half compressed, 
and the basal gradually widening to the gape; culmen distinct 
throughout. Nareal orifices sublinear, pierced in the fore part of 
the nasal membrane. Wings long and large, reaching nearly to 
the tip of the short tail; the first primary half the length of the 
second, which equals the ninth; and the fourth, fifth, and sixth 
being subequal and longest. Outer tail-feathers a little shorter 
than the rest. Tarsi slender, about the length of the middle toe 
with its claw; the toes also slender and rather long, with com- 
pressed tapering claws but slightly curved, that of the hind toe 
as long as the digit. Plumage dense and puffy; the great alars 
remarkably broad, whence its mode of flight as below noted. 

But one species is known, which has much the aspect of a 
feeble Nuthatch, with long and slender bill and large wings. It 
inhabits mountain precipices, creeping about upon rocks and old 
buildings, in the crevices of which it breeds. Mr. Vigne remarks 
it to “ display the delicate scarlet patch upon its wings, as it flits 
over the perpendicular rocks, with the movements of a butterfly 
rather than of a bird.” These rock-frequenting habits are no 
disproof of its affinity for the forest Creepers, since the Sitta 
syriaca (a typically formed Nuthatch) frequents the same haunts, 
unlike the rest of its genus. 

T. muraria; Certhia muraria, L.; T. phenicoptera, Tem. ; 
T. europea, Stephens.—Delicate pale ash-grey above, the crown 
often brownish; throat and breast white, or whitish; abdomen 
dark fuliginous-ashy; anterior two-thirds of the wings crimson, 
as are also the axillaries; rest of the wing and tail black, the 
great alars and middle rectrices tipped with ashy; the outermost 
rectrices broadly tipped with white, successively decreasing on the 
others ; and the outer primaries marked on their inner webs with 
two white bars, the basal continued over a greater number of 
feathers in the female, in which these additional spots are 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 209 


ferruginous ; lower tail-coverts white-tipped. Wing 4 in. or less; 
bill to gape 1} in. Inhabits the Himalayan rocks, and those of 
W. Asia and 8S. Europe, especially in Sardinia and Spain. It is 
common in Afghanistan. 


Genus Sanpornis, G. R. Gray.* 


Bill long, curved throughout its length, broad and sub- 
depressed at base, and much compressed beyond the nostrils ; 
nareal orifices broad, pierced in the fore part of the nasal 
membrane. Wings reaching to the end of the short tail, pointed, 
having the first primary very short, and the second nearly as long 
as the third and fourth, which are equal and longest. Tarsi 
shorter than the middle toe; the toes long, especially the hinder, 
and the claws are moderately curved and tapering, that of the 
hind toe being elongated. The foot is described to resemble 
that of Rimator. 

S. spronotus ; Certhia spilonota, Franklin, P. Z. S., 1831, 
p- 121.—“‘ Above fuscous-grey, white-spotted, with narrow white 
streaks on the head; throat and abdomen whitish, the latter 
barred with dusky; tail banded white and fuscous. Length 53 
in.” Inhabits Behar, and probably the hill regions of Central 
India generally. (Non vidi). 


B. With cuneated tails, having stiffened points (as in the 
Woodpeckers). 


The Certhiide of this division are numerous in the forests of 
S. America, where they vary greatly in size and in form of bill, 
but have generally a short hind toe, and strong curved claws of 
about equal size on all the toes. The bill is sometimes very 
strong and recurved, as particularly in Xenops,—Nuthatch-like in 
Dendrodromus, Gould,—very long, stout, compressed, and more 
or less incurved, in forms of Dendrocolaptes ; and in others again 
short and resembling that of Synallazis, which genus and its 
modifications constitute an allied subfamily, near which would 
appear to range the true Certhie. Not any of these birds are 
known to descend a perpendicular surface, in the manner of the 
Nuthatches. The last three subgroups indicated should perhaps 
form the 

Subfam. CeRTHINE. 


Of feeble structure ; the tail cuneated, with pointed feathers, 


* Ann, Mag. N, H, 1847. p. 352, 


210 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


but weakly if at all spinous at tip; claws but moderately curved, 
that of the hind toe more or less elongated. 


Genus Cerruta, L. (‘Tree-creeper). 


Size small; bill about the length of the head, slender, com- 
pressed, moderately incurved, the tip of the upper mandible 
unemarginated. Toes and claws long; the latter extremely com- 
pressed and tapering, that of the hind toe especially elongated. 
Tail cuneated, not very stiff, with protruding but scarcely spinous 
tips, and in certain species rather long; wings of mean length, 
feeble, with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries subequal, 
and the first nearly half the length of the second. Plumage of 
open texture, and speckled brown above, more or less deeply 
tinged with rufous on the rump, and plain (or at least streakless) 
below. Sexes alike. 

This genus inhabits the temperate and even moderately cold 
regions of the northern hemisphere, but has nowhere been 
observed so numerous in species as in the Himalaya, where at 
least three species occur, though in separate regions. The only 
others known are C. familiaris of Europe and N. Asia, and C. 
americana and C. albifrons of N. America—the former of these 
hardly differing from C. familiaris. The bill of these little birds 
is compressed and sickle-shaped, adapted for insertion into 
chinks and crevices; and their wings are suited only for short 
flights from one forest tree to another—the bird commonly alight- 
ing on the trunk near the ground, and then spirally ascending, or 
generally keeping to the opposite side of the bole to that at which 
a spectator may be placed. Not unfrequently it will flutter down 
to re-alight upon and again ascend the same tree; but if attempt- 
ing to descend otherwise than by flight, it never does so in the 
manner of the Nuthatches, head foremost, but by a few hops 
obliquely backward (as before stated of the Australian genus 
Climacteris). The British species builds a warm feather-lined 
nest in some convenient niche outside the trunk or large branch 
of a tree, or against an old mossy paling ; laying numerous trans- 
lucent white eggs with rufous specks; and it often repeats a faint 
chirp, like that of a Regulus, and in spring utters a short weak 
song. Its retiring habits, however, cause it to be much less 
observed than from its commonness would otherwise be the case. 

C. nimaLayana, Vigors, P. Z. 8., 1881, p. 174; C. asiatica, 


THE BIRDS OF PEMBROKESHIRE. 211 


Swainson, 23 Cent. B.—Size of the European C. familiaris, with 
the bill rather longer. Upper parts less rufescent, and more tinged 
with dusky on the crown and back than in that species; the rump 
less tinged with ferruginous; and the tail throughout strongly 
and conspicuously barred with numerous dusky cross lines. 
Under parts subdued white, purer on the throat. Wing 13 in.; 
_ bill to gape $ in. Common in the Deyra Doon. 

C. NIPALENSIS, Hodgson, MS.; C. himalayana apud nos, 
J. A. S. xiv. 581; C. spilonota, &e., of Gray’s Catalogue of Mr. 
Hodgson’s specimens presented to the British Museum.—Larger 
than C. familiaris, with a much longer tail; the upper parts more 
rufescent, having the colours also more defined; lower back, 
rump, and upper tail-coverts deep reddish ferruginous ; tail not 
banded ; under parts white, a little tinged with ferruginous; the 
flanks and lower tail-coverts ferruginous, less deep than that of 
the rump. Wing 23 in., tail 34, bill to gape 2 in. Common in 
Nepal. 

C. piscotor, Blyth, J. A. S. xiv. 580.—Nearly allied to C. 
nipalensis, but the entire under parts dingy brown, paler on the 
abdomen; and no ferruginous on the flanks, but only on the 
lower tail-coverts ; rump and upper tail-coverts ferruginous, but 
this colour does not pass on the back as in C. nipalensis. Both 
have sometimes a strongly rufescent tinge on the tail. 
Admeasurements the same. Common in Sikim. 


THE BIRDS OF PEMBROKESHIRE.* 
By tHe Rey. Murray A. Maraew, M.A., F.L.S. 


PEMBROKESHIRE, with its extended littoral and its numerous 
bays and tidal inlets, all facing the W. and 8.W., would appear to 
offer an attractive resting-place to the crowds of migrating birds 
which, at the autumn and spring migrations, must be passing its 
coasts. In this respect its situation is very similar to that of 
Devonshire and Cornwall—two counties which are singularly 
rich in their lists of rare birds, especially North American species. 
Aud, no doubt, careful observation would detect equally rare 
stragglers on these coasts. Ever since the commencement of 
the present century the Devon and Cornish shores have been 


* A paper read at a meeting of the Pembrokeshire Naturalists’ Field Club, 
13th March, 1884, 


212 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


closely watched. Col. Montagu, at Kingsbridge ; Mr. Gatcombe, 
at Plymouth; Mr. E. H. Rodd, at Penzance, and other orni- 
thologists, might be named who have recorded every rare bird 
which has been obtained in their respective counties. Pembroke- 
shire, probably, has not possessed such devoted students of bird- 
life; and its towns may also have been without a resident 
bird-stuffer to whom any singular bird might be brought for 
preservation. It must be said that these local bird-stuffers’ 
shops are very useful in helping towards a knowledge of the birds 
which occur in a district. Where they do not exist many a scarce 
bird is obtained and thrown away, and no record of it is kept. 

The scanty list of Pembrokeshire birds must be attributed to 
the absence of observers at the favourable situations, and of 
bird-stuffers’ shops in the county towns. My own observations 
have been entirely confined to the northern portions of the county, 
and, compared with other parts of the United Kingdom, the 
Pembrokeshire avifauna appears to me to be deficient in several 
resident and many migrating species. The bare and bleak 
character of that part of the district which stretches for miles to 
the W. and 8. of St. David’s, and the absence of trees, may 
account for many birds being missing from the list of residents ; 
and its being out of the track of migration may be the cause 
why so many of the summer migrants fail to reach us. The 
Nuthatch, and the Greater and Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers, 
may naturally be absentees from a sparsely-timbered country, 
and to the same cause may perhaps be assigned the non-appear- 
ance of the Wryneck, the Long-eared Owl, and the Stock Dove. 

Of the smaller summer visitants there are many for which 
I have searched in vain, which might have been well expected 
here. I may instance the Wood Wren, so common in the 
summer in the woodland districts which skirt the Forest of 
Exmoor in Somersetshire; and the Black Redstart, a regular 
autumnal visitant to the seaboard of Devon and Cornwall. 

The British Association for the Advancement of Science, at its 
meeting at York in 1881, appointed a committee of ornithologists 
of repute to obtain from the keepers of the various light-houses 
and light-ships around the coast some record of the migrations 
of birds as observed by them. Lists were accordingly issued to 
all the stations, and particular attention was requested to the 
state of the weather and to the direction of the flight of the 


THE BIRDS OF PEMBROKESHIRE. 213 


passing birds. Many lists have, in consequence, been received 
each season since then from the east and west coasts of England 
and Scotland, and from the coasts of Wales and Ireland, and 
these, although not so numerous or so perfect as they might be 
made, have afforded very interesting details respecting the 
wonderful passage of migratory birds across this kingdom. It is 
easy to understand the difficulties there must be in the way of 
rendering these valuable sources of observation yield their full 
amount of information. One of them has been referred to by 
the keeper of the lighthouse at Milford, who states that he can- 
not put down all the birds he sees through ignorance of their 
names, and suggests that pictures of the birds should be supplied. 
Some of the lighthouses are rarely visited by birds, being 
apparently out of the path of passing migrants, or else situated 
at some little distance from the coast. The phenomenon of 
migration is witnessed to the fullest extent along the eastern 
shores of England and Scotland, against which the great wave of 
migratory birds is chiefly launched when the migratory impulse 
at the end of summer and beginning of autumn affects the 
millions of birds which have nested in the north of Europe, and 
impels them to make their great annual movement towards their 
winter abodes. Their course then is from E. to W., or from 
S.E. to N.W., and the second week of October is the period 
when the greatest multitudes are passing over. ‘The extraordinary 
concourse of birds which on dark and foggy nights at that season 
in the autumn besets the lighthouses on the E. coast cannot fail 
to arrest the wonder of the least observant, and for this reason 
the lists from the E. coast are fuller and are sent in from more 
stations than on the W. coast. The great migratory flocks 
expend themselves to a large extent in the woods and fields of 
the English counties, and those which still continue their flight 
on their way to their quarters in Ireland or Brittany, or still 
further south, are only portions of the great army which invaded 
our eastern shores. The lesser numbers rob from the pheno- 
menon something of its wonder, and thus many of the keepers 
of lighthouses on the W. coasts do not think it worth their while 
to report the comparatively few birds which throng their lanterns, 
while some declare (which is, no doubt, the fact) that their lights 
are altogether unvisited, being out of the course of the birds. 
But this last cannot be the reason for the absence of reports 


214 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


from such stations as the South Bishop, the Smalls, and Caldy— 
lists from which would be of deep interest in ascertaining the 
distribution of migratory birds in this county. The Tuskar 
rock, on the coast of Wexford, seven miles from the shore, is the 
nearest point on the Irish coast to Pembrokeshire from which 
there are any returns, and the birds there observed must, we 
presume, have made their flight either directly over this county 
or along its coasts. Numbers of birds are reported as striking 
against the lantern at the Tuskar, and eighteen species are named. 
It would seem that there is hardly a bird that can be mentioned 
which does not migrate. ‘The smallest and the feeblest, such as 
Golderests, Wrens, and Chiffchaffs, are those which trust them- 
selves to the dangers of a passage across the stormy seas in the 
greatest numbers. ‘The passage of birds over great distances of 
water is supposed to indicate a period of time when the seas 
which they now cross over did not exist. <A very slight elevation 
of the surface of the ground would cause the shallow German 
Ocean and the English Channel to disappear, and the British 
Isles would again be what they were once—the western edge of 
the continent of Europe. It is well known that birds inhabiting 
islands surrounded by very deep water do not leave them, although 
the mainland may be comparatively near. The present migrations 
of birds to and across this country date from a time when, in 
search of a warmer temperature, they made their flight entirely 
over land. The tiny gold-crest leaves the fir-woods of the North 
of Europe in the autumn in millions, and about the same time 
as the Short-eared Owl and the Woodcock, its invariable and 
strange compagnons de voyage, is found arriving on our eastern 
coast. ‘The unparalleled numbers which came to this country in 
the autumn of 1882 was the most noticeable feature in the 
migrations of birds during that year. Ona fine and clear night 
the flocks of birds keep wide of the lighthouses, but if it is rough 
and foggy they dash themselves against the light, and their dead 
bodies are to be gathered next morning in the lantern gallery or 
on the ground at the base of the lighthouse. Thus we read of 
small birds being picked up at one lighthouse in wheelbarrows, 
and being distributed over the land as manure; of 200 Chiff- 
chaffs, one of the very smallest of our summer birds, striking 
against the lantern at another place, and of 196 being picked up 
dead; of over 1000 birds of various kinds being found dead 


THE BIRDS OF PEMBROKESHIRE. 215 


after a single night at another place; of Blackbirds, Thrushes, 
and Larks striking all night against the Tuskar, “ many of each 
killed ;” on another night of “ Starlings and Larks striking for 
one hour, fifteen Larks and twelve Starlings killed ;”’ on another 
night forty Starlings were killed; and there are many such 
entries. The birds pass over all day and all night. Some species 
prefer to make their journeys by night, others only by day. The 
Swallow chooses the daytime. One warm and genial morning in 
mid April I was standing on my vicarage lawn in Somersetshire, 
when a little flock of Swallows suddenly appeared overhead. 
They descended with joyful twitterings, and, after swooping round 
me as if to give me a greeting, they settled on the housetop, and 
at once commenced in an eager bustling way to inspect the 
familiar chimneys. I have no doubt that I then witnessed the 
arrival of the contingent which belonged to my own premises. 

The destruction of birds at the migration time must be very 
great. Besides those which beat themselves to death against the 
lanterns of the lighthouses—treacherous decoys in the darkness 
of stormy nights—thousands must often drop into the sea and 
perish when they become exhausted through meeting with adverse 
winds and rough weather at the period of their passage. 
Captains of ships have reported the sea as covered for miles with 
their bodies; and I have myself frequently seen thousands of 
dead Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kittiwakes strewing the shore 
of the Devonshire coast after a severe autumnal gale. The 
migratory impulse thus lures myriads of birds to their destruc- 
tion ; and it is a curious fact that the largest and earliest flocks 
consist entirely of young birds. They have never before made 
the perilous journey ; they know nothing of the country to which 
their instinct urges them to fly ; and yet they are constrained to 
make the rash venture by an inward overpowering feeling called 
by naturalists “the hereditary instinct,” and without guidance or 
direction, save that of the Divine Providence without whose 
ordering a single Sparrow does not strike the ground, they 
embark and trust themselves to the darkness of the night and 
the wild October skies. In the report from the E. coast of 
England for 1881 it is stated that ‘‘ snow-buntings have been con- 
siderably in excess of anything known for many years, the pro- 
portion of old birds not more than one in a hundred.” 

The recently formed Ornithologists Union in America has 


216 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


taken up the migrations of birds on the American Continent as 
its first study, has mapped out its vast territories into districts, 
has invited observations from everyone interested in natural 
history, and is prepared to most carefully tabulate and compare 
all results which may be thus obtained. 

It may be said that the students of bird-life of the present 
day are fully awake both to the interest of these vast seasonal 
bird shiftings and to the unsolved problems which as yet lie 
behind them. If on a map of the globe lines could be drawn 
accurately setting down the forward and backward movements of 
birds, we should not only be astonished at the greatness of the 
phenomenon, but we should be possessed of clues which might 
disclose to us important secrets concerned with the physical 
geography of the earth in past ages. 

There can be little doubt that the primary cause of bird 
migrations is temperature. We well know that the isothermal 
lines have been over and again deflected; and it is at present a 
problem whether the movements of birds indicate the lines of 
ancient temperatures, or have been changed in direction as the 
temperatures of the countries frequented by them have been 
modified. 

On their return journey in the spring many birds appear to 
take a different route to the one they had observed in the autumn. 
The Knot and the Bar-tailed Godwit, which in the autumn may 
be found in large numbers upon the ooze and sandflats along the 
coast, are rarely seen on their passage back in the spring ; whereas 
the Whimbrel, so common along the shore in April and May on 
its way back to the north, is equally rare in the autumn—proving 
that these birds have one route for their spring migration and 
another for their autumnal journey. But the avifauna of a dis- 
trict becomes varied through other causes than migration. 
Pembrokeshire used to be in a special degree the winter abode of 
the Snipe, the Woodcock, and the Wild Duck. Drainage and 
improved cultivation; the wanton destruction of the birds at 
their northern breeding-stations ; the efficiency of modern sport- 
ing guns and ammunition, with the increased numbers of sports- 
men, have all conspired to reduce these birds to a tithe of their 
former numbers; but while these have decreased, many other 
species have found the county yearly becoming more adapted to 
their requirements, and have proportionately multiplied. Of 


THE BIRDS OF PEMBROKESHIRE. 217 


these I may instance the Partridge, the Pheasant, and the Starling. 
This last bird now visits us in the autumn in numbers which 
would be portentous were it in any sense a mischievous species. 
On the contrary, the benefit it confers upon the pastures must be 
immense in its destruction of millions of grubs preying upon the 
roots of the grass. Half a century ago the Starling was almost 
unknown in the West of England. A few small flocks were 
occasionally noticed in the autumn, and were looked upon as the 
precursors of a severe winter ; but it was so rare a bird that even 
Col. Montagu had never seen a young one in its nestling plumage, 
and actually described the first which was sent to him as an 
unknown Thrush, calling it “the Solitary Thrush” (Twurdus 
solitarius). Since that time the Starling has regularly established 
itself in Devonshire and Cornwall, and will, no doubt, before 
long add itself to the birds which are to be found all through the 
year in this county. Indeed, Mr. Propert informs me that a few 
nests have already been met with at St. David’s. 

Besides the regular seasonal migrations of birds, small local 
shiftings are continually occurring, due to the changes of weather. 
Snipe-shooters are familiar with the advice given by old sports- 
men to go after the birds whenever there is a change in the 
direction of the wind. For many years in succession I used to 
wander with my gun over Dartmoor Forest. One day perhaps I 
would walk for hours without obtaining a shot; while on the 
next, going over precisely the same beat, the birds would be so 
numerous that my supply of cartridges would be soon exhausted, 
the change being due to some sudden alteration in the weather. 
A severe and continued frost sends numbers of birds to seek for 
food on the sea-shore. A heavy fall of snow comes upon our 
feathered friends as a great calamity, and the small birds which 
feed upon seeds and grain are then in a sorry plight. One severe 
winter which I spent upon Lundy Island was made memorable by 
the immense flocks of Sky Larks which arrived there during the 
snow. All through the day they kept coming over from the 
mainland in countless hosts, and soon were so thickly dispersed 
everywhere upon the ground that it was impossible to fire at a 
Snipe or a Woodcock without killing or wounding some of these 
unfortunates. In such weather Sky Larks will also collect in 
gardens to feed upon anything green they may discover, and it is 
curious then to watch them. Six or eight may be seen at work 

ZOOLOGIST.—JUNE, 1884. s 


218 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


upon a single plant, and whatever it may be—winter kale, savoy, 
broccoli, or what not—in a very short space nothing will be left 
but the mere skeletons and ribs of the leaves, all the soft green 
flesh having been entirely eaten off by the starving little 
marauders. 

Tf on the mainland the avifauna of this county, in comparison 
with some others, may be somewhat scanty, the difference is more 
than compensated by the interesting species frequenting the 
islands studding its coasts. Onthese the Buzzard, the Peregrine 
Falcon, the Raven, and the Chough are to be found nesting; and 
in the summer time countless hosts of sea-fowl, including the 
Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Kittiwake, Herring, and Lesser 
Black-backed Gulls, Gannet, and the Green and Common 
Cormorants. Skomer possesses the distinction of being, perhaps, 
the island all round the British coasts most frequented by the 
Manx Shearwater. It also affords a home to the Common ‘Tern 
and Stormy Petrel. Grasholme alone is occupied by the Gannets. 
All the islands are tenanted by the Chough, which, together with 
the Common Buzzard, has also several nesting-stations on the 
cliffs of the mainland. Such birds as the Chough, Raven, 
Gannet, and Manx Shearwater are sufficient to give an indi- 
viduality to the bird records of the county, and to make it as 
interesting to the naturalist as any other in Great Britain. 

I have prepared lists of birds which as yet I have been unable 
to detect in the northern portion of the county. (1) Among 
residents I find there are absent: Long-eared Owl, Tree Sparrow, 
Hawfinch, Cirl Bunting, Dartford Warbler (this species surely 
ought to be met with in a county so abounding in furze, and so 
similar in many respects to Cornwall, where, in the neighbour- 
hood of Truro, it is not uncommon), Wood Lark,* Nuthatch, 
Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and 
Stock Dove. (2, Among spring migrants I have not yet seen the 
Ring Ouzel, Pied Flycatcher, Nightingale, Wood Wren, Garden 
Warbler, Reed Warbler, Redstart, Ray’s Wagtail, White Wagtail, 
Wryneck, and Turtle Dove. The Blackcap is very rare. Of 
the small soft-billed birds the Chiffchaff is by far the most 


* I may observe that the first autumn I was at Stone Hall (1880) 
Wood Larks were common there, and that I have never seen any since; I 
thus conclude that these were only birds on passage, and that this district is 
out of their usual line. 


THE BIRDS OF PEMBROKESHIRE. 219 


numerous species, being in the proportion of at least twenty to 
one to the Willow Warbler. And (3) among the autumn migrants 
I have been unable to detect the Siskin, Brambling, Twite, Black 
Redstart, Fire-crest, Royston Crow, Solitary Snipe, Norfolk 
Plover, and Green Sandpiper. It is to be noticed that each of 
these three lists is somewhat a lengthy one. I have no doubt 
that several of the birds I have here set down as absent from the 
northern division of the county have been observed as regularly 
occurring in the southern division, which is of a softer character, 
and better wooded than our northern “ mountain” country. At 
the beginning of February last Mr. W. Summers, of Heathfield, 
sent me a Goosander which he had shot upon one of the ponds 
there. This was shortly after one of the severe gales which were 
so frequent this last winter, and stress of weather had evidently 
driven it so far inland. It was a female, and, in spite of being 
greatly infested by a large parasite, was in good condition. 

Since the foregoing remarks were written, the Editor of the 
Zoologist has directed my attention to “A list of birds 
observed in Pembrokeshire,” by Mr. Thomas Dix, printed 
in ‘The Zoologist’ for 1866, which I had overlooked. On 
turning to it I find that he paid but a short visit to the 
8.E. corner of the county not far from Carmarthen, and his list 
does not include many species (84). Some of his observations 
are borne out by my own experience, but he has made one or two 
mistakes. He was able to include some species which are not 
found in this mountainous region, such as Wood Wren, Wood 
Lark, and Wryneck—I am rather doubtful about the last. He 
States that the Garden Warbler is about as numerous as the 
Blackcap. I think he is in error here. I have never been able 
to detect the Garden Warbler in the extreme West of England. 
I never saw it in Devon or Cornwell, and it was extremely rare 
even in the neighbourhood of Taunton. In alist of the birds in 
the Tenby Museum, said to have been obtained in the county, 
this Warbler is mentioned, but on going to look for it, I could 
not discover it in the collection, and the bird the Curator pointed 
out to me as the Garden Warbler was undoubtedly a young 
Willow Wren! Mr. Dix is wrong in stating that the Black 
Grouse occurs in Pembrokeshire. It certainly does not, and I 
have never seen any part of the county which looked as if Black 
Game might occur there. Myr. Dix’s words, however, are, ‘I 


220 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


have not seen this bird, but I am told that a few are to be found 
near Fishguard.” Mr. Dix admits (tom. cit. p. 140) that his 
observations were confined to a rather limited district, and that 


many other species, particularly among sea birds, might be added 
to his list. 


ON THE EXISTENCE OF TWO SPECIES OF AQUATIC 
FROGS IN NORTH GERMANY. 


By G. A. BouLencEr. 


A sprctgs so widely distributed as Rana esculenta has naturally 
given rise to the establishment of many so-called distinct “races” 
or “ species,” but they have been founded on vague and trivial 
characters, such as size, colour, roughness of the skin, &e. Of 
late years the great variability of this species has caused all these 
so-called forms to be thrown together, with the exception of the 
oriental Rana marmorata, Hallow., which is regarded by Camerano, 
Lataste, and myself as a distinctly recognizable form, whether 
termed “‘ species,” “ subspecies,” or “ variety.” Quite recently 
Camerano, in a valuable paper on the variations of £&. esculenta 
in the Mediterranean district,* has shown that distinct forms or 
varieties, restricted to certain countries, may be grouped under 
two principal headings :—(L), those distinguished by a much de- 
veloped inner metatarsal tubercle; (2), those with a very feeble 
inner metatarsal tubercle. The first group includes three varieties: 
(1), viridis, Résel, the typical form figured by Résel, generally dis- 
tributed in Central and Northern Europe, and found also in Italy ; 
(2), lessone, Cam., of Italy; (3), cachinnans, Pall., of E. Europe 
and the borders of the Black Sea. The second group comprises two 
varieties: (1), bedriage, Cam., from Damascus; (2), latastit, Cam., 
of N.B. Africa and Portugal. I need not enter now into the dis- 
cussion of these races, as I reserve the subject for a future com- 
munication. J will only add that, simultaneously with Camerano, 
I drew attention} to the variation of that same character of the 
metatarsal tubercle, remarking that it corresponds pretty nearly 
with the habitat; but the material then at hand did not permit 
me to insist upon that subject. My attention has been drawn to 


* Comptes Rendus de l’Assoc. Franc. x. (Congrés d’Alger.), p.680. 
{+ Cat. Batr. Ecaud. Brit. Mus., pp. 9, 38. 


he I 


AQUATIC FROGS IN NORTH GERMANY. 221 


the forms of North Germany by recent remarks of Pfliiger.* 
He observes that two distinct varieties occur near Berlin, the 
typical form, and a larger one which he designates as the 
“ Seefrosch,” from its inhabiting the lake-like expansions of the 
River Spree. A fisherman named Noack, who for years has been 
supplying physiological institutes with these large frogs, con- 
siders the two as distinct species, because he can unmistakably 
distinguish them at first glance, and because they breed at 
different times of the year. The “Seefrosch”’ ig an earlier 
breeder, having finished breeding at the end of May, at which time 
the other kind commences. Pfliiger, who has obtained the larger 
frog from Noack, regards them as distinct races, but does not 
give any definite distinctive characters. Having myself applied 
this spring to Noack, I have received from him 126 specimens, 
which at first sight I separated into two distinguishable forms. 
On closer examination I find that they are really distinct, and 
that the new kind belongs to Group 2 of Camerano, whereas 
the typical form of Résel has a strong metatarsal tubercle. I 
find, moreover, other characters, which require careful working 
out; for the present I will restrict myself to a comparative 
diagnosis of the two subspecies which, notwithstanding its brevity, 
will permit easy identification :— 

1. Rana esculenta, typica—Inner metatarsal tubercle com- 
pressed, large, resembling that of R. arvalis ; its length is four to 
five millim., in specimens in which the inner toe, measured from 
the metatarsal tubercle, averages nine to eleven millim. The black 
marbling of the flanks, and of the hinder side of the thighs, 
encloses more or less of bright yellow. 

2. Rana fortis.—Inner metatarsal tubercle small, elongate, 
feebly prominent; its length is two to four millim., in specimens 
in which the inner toe measures nine to twelve millim. No yellow 
on the flanks or thighs. 

I may add that in general coloration specimens of each sub- 
species vary more from one another than from the allied form ; 
fi. fortis is more constant in its coloration. The whole 
physiognomy is different, so that, in spite of the great variation 
of colour, persons unacquainted with Batrachological studies, and 
ignorant of the characters on which the distinction of the two 


—) 


* Arch, fiir Physiol, xxix., p. 48, and xxxii., p- 522, 


222 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


forms is based, nevertheless identify them with accuracy. I have 
no doubt that occasionally late breeders of one form may inter- 
breed with early breeders of the other, and thus give rise to 
hybrids which would show intermediate characters ; but this must 
be quite exceptional, and I may confidently affirm that among the 
126 specimens which I have examined (forty-one typical R. 
esculenta and eighty-five RA. fortis) not one has struck me as con- 
stituting a link between the two forms. 

So long as the races of Rana esculenta were believed to occur 
in different districts, the importance to be attached to them was 
lessened, since all species which have a wide geographical range 
exhibit such differences, which may be ascribed to climate or other 
causes. But now that two quite distinct races are shown to live 
in the same locality, prevented from interbreeding by the difference 
in the time of spawning, the question assumes a very different 
aspect, and it seems that the subject deserves full attention. I 
would therefore beg my colleagues in various countries, where 
numbers of aquatic frogs fall daily under the scalpel of anato- 
mists and physiologists, to observe whether any varieties of the 
kind here mentioned occur. I myself propose to devote much 
attention to the subject, and am anxiously collecting material for 
the elucidation of the geographical range of the races of Rana 
esculenta. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


Sir Edwin Landseer’s Red-deer.—As a rule, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, every recognised masterpiece of art has risen rapidly in price until it 
has finally passed out of the region of traffic and become literally priceless. 
One such masterpiece has lately changed owners for a sum which may well 
be termed enormous. Sir Edwin Landseer’s famous painting in oil, “ The 
Monarch of the Glen,” exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1851, and since 
made universally known by Thomas Landseer’s engraving of it, was 
bequeathed by Lord Londesborough, father of the present peer, to Lady 
Otho Fitzgerald, and on the 10th May last was put up for sale by auction, 
by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Wood. The nation had once a chance of 
obtaining this fine picture for an almost nominal sum, inasmuch as Sir Edwin 
offered it to the Commissioner who supervised the artistic decorations of 
the Houses of Parliament for £300; but the offer was declined, and the 
picture was subsequently purchased by Lord Londesborough for 800 guineas, 


a eS ey ae 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 223 


We are given to understand that at the recent sale by auction the Trustees 
of the National Gallery were prepared to go as high as 3000 guineas to 
obtain the work. The bidding commenced at £2000, and the picture was 
eventually knocked down to Mr. Henry Eaton, M.P. for Coventry, for 
£6510! Inasmuch as this gentleman's Landseer collection is in the very 
first rank, most people will rejoice to see it thus enriched. A gallery of 
pictures by Landseer represents a great chapter in English art; for Sir 
Edwin was perhaps the most typical painter of his period, and one of the 
least likely to decline in the estimation of his countrymen. 

Bewick’s Engravings of Animals.—By order of the executor of the 
last surviving daughter of Thomas Bewick, the engraved wood-blocks of his 
‘ History of British Birds,’ ‘ History of Quadrupeds,’ ‘ Asop’s Fables,’ &c., 
were sold on the 6th May last by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Wood, and 
fetched £2350. 

The Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.—At the last meeting of the 
Commiitee of this Institution Mr. W. S. M. D’Urban, who has filled the 
offices of Secretary and Curator from the first foundation of the Museum, 
felt obliged to tender his resignation. Mr. D’Urban’s second son has been 
advised to proceed to California for the benefit of his health, and his parents 
have decided to accompany him. It would be impossible to exaggerate the 
services which have been rendered by Mr. D’'Urban to the promotion of 
science and art in this neighbourhood, or the loss which the city will sustain 
by his removal. Many of our readers will remember his active and judicious 
work in the establishment and maintenance of the Exeter Naturalists’ Club, 
To his remarkable ability and untiring energy are mainly due the excellent 
condition and classification of the collections contained in the Museum. It 
would be difficult to find any similar institution so well cared for. The 
Committee are anxious to take some course that may prevent the severance 
of Mr. D’Urban’s connexion with the Museum, and it has been decided to 
urge him to withdraw his resignation and to take leave of absence for a 
period of two years, if necessary, allowing his duties to be discharged by 
a substitute. We are sure that Mr. D’Urban’s friends will rejoice if this 
plan can be adopted. 

The Davis Lectures, 1884.— The Davis Lectures upon zoological 
subjects will be given in the Lecture Room in the Zoological Society's 
Gardens, Regent's Park, on Thursdays at 5 p.m., commencing June 5th, 
as follows:—June 5th, “Man, zoologically considered,” by Prof. Flower, 
LL.D., F.R.S.; June 12th, “ Hands and Feet,” by Prof. Mivart, F.R.S. ; 
June 19th, “Instinct,” by G. J. Romanes, LL.D., F.R.S.; June 26th, 
“Hedgehogs, Moles, and Shrews,” by Prof. Parker, F.R.S.: July 8rd, 
“ Dogs, Ancient and Modern,” by J. E. Harting, F.L.S.: July 10th, “ Birds 
Nests,” by Henry Seebohm, F.L.S.; and July 17th, « Reptiles,” by P. L, 
Sclater, F.R.S, 


224 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


A Carnivorous Plant preying on Vertebrata.—An interesting dis- 
covery has been made during the last week by Mr. G. E. Simms, son of a 
well-known tradesman of Oxford. It is that the bladder-traps of Utri- 
cularia vulgaris ave capable of catching newly-hatched fish and killing them. 
Mr. Simms brought to me for examination a specimen of Utricularia in a 
glass vessel, in which were numerous young Roach newly hatched from 
amass of spawn lying at the bottom. Numbers of these young fish were 
seen dead, held fast in the jaws of the bladder-traps of the plant. I had 
never seen Utricularia before, and am indebted to my colleague Prof. 
Burdon Sanderson for the identification of the plant and a reference to 
Cohn’s researches on it. Mr. Simms supplied me with a fresh specimen 
of Utricularia in a‘vessel with fresh young fish and spawn, and in about 
six hours more than a dozen of the fish were found entrapped. Most are 
caught by the head, and when this is the case the head is usually pushed 
as far into the bladder as possible till the snout touches its hinder wall. 
The two dark black eyes of the fish then show out conspicuously through 
the wall of the bladder. Rarely a specimen is seen caught by the tip of the 
snout. By no meaus a few of the fish are, hawever, captured by the tail, 
which is swallowed, so to speak, to a greater or less distance, and I have 
one specimen in which the fish is caught by the yelk-sac. Three or four 
instances were observed in which a fish had its head swallowed by one 
bladder-trap, and its tail by another adjacent one, the body of the fish 
forming a connecting bar between the two bladders. I have not been able 
to see a fish in the actual process of being trapped, nor to find one recently 
caught, and showing by motion of the fore part of its body signs of life. All 
those trapped were found already dead, but I have had no opportunity of 
prolonged observation, and it will be remembered that Mr. Darwin, in his 
account of the trapping of Crustacea, worms, &e., by Utricularia, states 
that he was not able to observe the actual occurrence of the trapping of an 
animal, although Mrs. Treat, of New Jersey, often did so. I think it 
probable that the fact described by Mr. Darwin, and which is easily verified, 
that the longer of the two pairs of projections composing the quadrified 
processes by which the bladders of Utricularia are lined “ project obliquely 
inwards and towards the posterior end of the bladder,” has something to do 
with the mechanism by which the small fish become so deeply swallowed, so 
to speak. The oblique processes, set all towards the hinder end of the bladder, 
look as if they must act together with the spring valves of the mouth of the 
bladder in utilising each fresh struggle of the captive for the purpose of 
pushing it further and further inwards. On cutting open longitudinally 
some of the bladders containing the heads and foreparts of the bodies of 
fish, and examining their contents, I found the tissues of the fish in a more 
or less slimy deliquescent condition, no doubt from decomposition, for 
Mr. Darwin failed to detect any digestive process in Utricularia. The 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 225 


quadrifid processes were bathed in the slimy semi-fluid animal substance, 
and the processes themselves appeared to contain abundance of fine granular 
matter, possibly the result of absorption, but the large quantity of sur- 
rounding animal matter preseut rendered the observation uncertain. The 
usual swarms of Infusoria were present in the decomposing matter. Speci- 
mens of the Utricularia with the little fish fast in the bladder-trap, and 
their heads or tails hanging out, can be well preserved in spirits, and show 
the conditions well, notwithstanding that the plant becomes colourless, and 
there is no longer the marked contrast between the glistening white dead 
fish and the green bladders, which in the fresh condition renders the com- 
bination of the trap and prey conspicuous. Mr. Simms, by whose per- 
mission I write this, intends shortly to publish an account of his observations 
himself. Ihave advised him to endeavour to prepare spirit specimens of 
Utricularia plants with numerous trapped fish in situ for sale to those 
interested in the matter who may care to apply for them. His address is 
37, Broad Street, Oxford. —H. N. Mosetny.— Nature,’ May 22nd. 


MAMMALIA. 


Capture of a White Whale on the Coast of Caithness.—It will be 
recollected that in June, 1879, a specimen of the Beluga, or White Whale, 
Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas), was captured at Little Ferry, near Dunrobin, 
Sutherlandshire, where it was found at ebb tide close to the salmon nets, 
caught in a singular manner by the tail between two short posts to which 
a stay-rope of the stake-net was fastened. This specimen has been described 
by Prof. Flower, in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1879 
(p. 667), where an illustration is given of the animal in the position in which 
it was found lying. Quite recently, namely, on the 80th April last, another 
specimen of this cetacean, so rarely observed in the British seas, was taken 
in the salmon-nets at Dunheath, Caithness, and towed ashore, where it lay 
for some time exhibiting considerable activity. It was forwarded to Prof. 
Struthers, Aberdeen University, and deposited for examination in one of 
the courtyards of the University. It was pure white throughout, and being 
quite fresh presented a beautiful appearance. It proved to be a female, 
length about twelve feet six inches, which was the length of the specimen 
previously captured at Dunrobin. The pectoral fin was very broad and 
short, length sixteen inches, breadth ten inches. The tail-fin, deeply notched, 
measured thirty-two inches from tip to tip. There was no fin on the back, 
but a low ridge two or three feet long about the middle of the back. The teeth 
were nine in number on each side of the upper and lower jaw. The blow- 
hole was eighteen inches from the snout, measured round the very projecting 
forehead. The minute rudimentary ear-passage was found six inches behind 
the eye Photographic views of the Whale as it lay in the College-yard have 
been taken by Mr. Wilson, photographer, Aberdeen, and after Professors 


226 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Struthers and Nicholson have concluded their examination the skeleton and 
other parts will, it is understood, be preserved in Aberdeen University.— 
J. KE. Hartine. 


Albino Field Mouse.—On March 28th I was given an albino Long- 
tailed Field Mouse, Mus sylvaticus, L., which had been found dead that 
day in the garden of Dropmore Vicarage, near here. It was a true albino, 
the eyes being pink; there was the slightest possible tinge of colour on 
part of the back and flanks. It was a female, and its unusual colour had— 
from the look of the teats—proved no obstacle to its finding a mate, and 
becoming the mother of a family.—Atrrep H. Cocks (Gt. Marlow, Bucks). 


BIRDS. 


The British Ornithologists’ Union.—The annual meeting of this 
Society, so well known throughout the ornithological world by the publica- 
tion of its quarterly journal, ‘ The Ibis,’ was held in London on May 2\Ist, 
when the yearly accounts were audited, new members balloted for, and other 
matters of administration disposed of. In the regretted absence, through 
illness, of the President, Lord Lilford, the chair was taken by Mr. P. L. 
Sclater. ‘The last published list of Members showed that the Society num- 
bered 131 Ordinary Members, eight Honorary, and twenty Foreign Mem- 
bers. Fifteen new Members were balloted for and elected, amongst whom 
were the following well-known naturalists :—Major E. A. Butler, Capt. C. T. 
Bingham, Messrs. W. R. Davison, H. O. Forbes, R. Lloyd Patterson, 
I, E. Beddard, and Abel Chapman. Mr. Bowdler Sharpe took the oppor- 
tunity of exhibiting a specimen of a Nuthatch new to Europe, which had 
been procured in Corsica by Mr. Whitehead, and which it was proposed to 
name after the discoverer. The unexpected occurrence of this distinct 
species in an island supposed to have been so well explored created, as 
might be supposed, some surprise. Its nearest ally appears to be Sitta 
Kruepperi of Asia Minor. After the business part of the proceedings had 
terminated the Members present dined together at “The Grosvenor” 
Restaurant, in Bond Street, and passed an agreeable evening in ornitho- 
logical gossip. 


Wingless Birds.—On April 19th an interesting lecture on this subject 
was delivered to the members of the Essex Naturalists’ Field Club in the 
Lecture Room at the new Natural History Museum, South Kensington, by 
Dr. H. Woodward, F.R.S., Keeper of the Department of Geology and 
Paleontology. After some introductory remarks on the distinguishing 
characters of the class Aves, and on the modifications of structure which 
have suggested the primary divisions of the Saurure, Ratite, and Carinata, 
Dr. Woodward, taking each of these divisions in turn, gave an account of 
some of the more remarkable forms.iu each, at the same time exhibiting 


a a ee 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 227 


specimens or diagrams of the most typical. His remarks on the Arche- 
opteryx (of which he produced one of the only two specimens known to 
exist), on the Hesperornis (that gigantic wingless diving bird with teeth in 
grooves in the lower mandible), the [chthyornis (of powerful flight, with well- 
developed keel to the sternum and teeth in sockets in the mandible), the 
fish-eating Aryilornis and Odontopteryx (both with serrated bill, from the 
London Clay), and other equally singular forms, were listened to with great 
interest. In dealing with the Ratite,‘or keel-less birds incapable of flight, 
he gave a brief description of Apteryx, Casuarius, Dromeus, Rhea, and 
Struthio, pointing out their distinguishing characters, and indicating on the 
map their distribution in different geographical regions. Passing on then 
to the extinct wingless birds of Mauritius and Rodriguez, he described the 
Dodo and Solitaire, explained the probable causes of their extinction, 
and quoted Mr. Whitmee’s account of the curious change of habit in the 
Didunculus, or Little Dodo, still existing in Samoa, and which, from being 
a dweller on the ground, had come to live almost entirely in trees, thus 
escaping the attacks of ground vermin, and thereby increasing its chances 
of survival. After pointing out that certain flightless birds had nevertheless 
a well-developed keel to the sternum for the attachment of the pectoral 
muscles to move the forearm in swimming, he exhibited specimens of the 
Great Auk and King Penguin, with an entire skeleton of the former now 
extinct bird, from Funk Island, Newfoundland. At the conclusion of the 
lecture the auditors were accompanied through the paleontological and 
ornithological galleries by Dr. Woodward and Mr. Sharpe, who pointed out 
to them en route various specimens of interest which aptly illustrated the 
lessons which had been just previously imparted. 


Abnormal Eggs of Blackbird.—In the May number of ‘ The Zoologist 
(p. 195) you published my account of a Blackbird’s nest which contained 
only light blue spotless eggs both last year and this. Her nest of this year 
was taken, but she has now built again within a few yards. All her four 
eggs are again light blue, and without a spot on any one of them.—J. H. 
Buxton (Hunsdon Bury, Ware). 


. Habits of Parrots.—An Indian Ring-necked Parrakeet, Palaornis 
torquatus, which I had for some years, used often, like Lord Clermont’s 
Parrot (p. 145) to dip his lumps of sugar into his drinking water to soften 
them. I have no doubt it is quite a common thing for Parrots to do. The 
bird to which I refer was a most entertaining one. He used to fly about 
our grounds all day long, and no weather, however wet or cold, would induce 
him to remain quietly in his cage. At dusk he would appear at one of the 
kitchen windows and tap until he was admitted, and would then fly straight 
to his cage, and always appeared to be very glad to find himself there again. 
But when the next morning came he would be restless and noisy until the 


228 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


doors were opened and he could fly forth again in search of his friends. 
For a long time the postman was chief favourite, and Polly would fly down 
the avenue to mect him, returning to the house on the postman’s cap. 
Polly next conceived a very warm attachment for one of the farm servants, 
a milkmaid, and would search the farm until he found her, and would be 
then happy for the day, accompanying her to the fields for the cows, 
attending the milking operations, &c., and always returned to his cage 
before dark. One day when the hounds met here, Polly was greatly pleased 
and excited by the scene. He flew just in front of the hounds while they 
were drawing the covers, chattering all the words he knew, and whistling 
his one tune, ‘‘God save the Queen,” in a very ridiculous manner. We had 
a tame Jay about the house, and this bird in a very short time learned all 
Polly’s words and cries, which he pronounced in Polly’s own way, much to 
that bird’s astonishment and disgust. It is well known what clever mimics 
Jays are. They sometimes deceive me by the way they copy the Brown 
Owls—not their loud hoot, but their soft mating call. Polly was very 
curious when strangers came, generally alighting on their hats or bonnets, 
and owing to this we lost him, as one day he descended on some passer by, 
who appropriated him and carried him off_—Murray A. Maruew (Stone 
Hall, Pembrokeshire). 


Varieties near Carlisle.—An old male Chaffinch, of a general canary- 
yellow colour, was shot at Rickerby Park on October 11th, 1888, and was 
brought to me in the flesh through the kind offices of Mr. W. Duckworth. 
The crown is sprinkled with a few black feathers, and one or two of the 
quill-feathers are also black. The throat is pale pink. The general tint of 
pale yellow becomes intensified into orange upon the back. I may also 
mention that a male Blackbird, prettily mottled with white, was shot near 
Carlisle about the same time; and that a pied Hedge Warbler, two really 
white Sparrows, and a pied male Chaffinch are all to be found in their haunts 
near Carlisle at the present time.—H. A. Macruerson (Carlisle). 


Scarcity of Fieldfares and Redwings during the past Winter.— 
Although during the past winter I was constantly in different parts of 
Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, Wilts, Berks, and Kent, I never saw a 
single specimen of the Fieldfare or Redwing. Starlings, on the contrary, 
were unusually numerous; I never remember to have met with such large 
flocks. I took the opportunity of procuring some, and verifying by 
dissection the fact that the hen birds have a pale orange rim round the 
outer edge of the iris, whereby it can be readily distinguished at all seasons 
and in all plumages from the male bird, whose iris is dark hazel.—J. Youne 
(64, Hereford Road, Bayswater). 


Snipe perching.—Apropos of Mr. Nelson's note (p. 28), I venture to 
send you the following extract from my note-book:—On June 25th, 1880, 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 229 


being on the river near Wroxham Church, Norfolk, I saw a Snipe sitting 

on the top of a dead tree, about fifteen feet from the ground. On my 
return journey I saw another near the same spot, sitting upon a gate-post. 
Being in a light canoe, I approached within five or six yards of him before 
he took flight. Again on March 31st, 1883, I saw two Snipe perching, 
this time on the top of a live alder tree not far above the railway bridge at 
Wroxham. When I disturbed them they flew a short distance to another 
tree and perched again. On being put up a second time, however, they 
flew round in circles wheeling and “drumming."— Henry Rogers 
Harpenden). 


Great Grey Shrike in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire.— Hearing 
that a strange bird with a grey back and black and white wings had been 
captured at the village of Middleton-Cheney, Northamptonshire, I walked 
over one afternoon, and after some search found it. It was, as I expected, 
an example of the Great Grey Shrike, and an adult bird, the back being of 
a fine pearl-grey and the lower parts entirely unmarked. Its owner, a boy, 
caught it in his bat-fowling clap-nets in a thorn-hedge about five weeks 
before I saw it—i.e., about the end of December or beginning of January. 
A few days previously I examined a second example, which was shot near 
Croughton, Northamptonshire, on January 19th. This proved to be a male, 
and is immature; upper parts dull grey; breast dusky, with numerous 
crescentic markings. This bird appears to be intermediate between the 
Kuropean Lanius excubitor and L. major, the secondaries having only a 
very little white at their bases, and the closed wing showing only one white 
spot; this is also the case with the other specimen, but as it had been 
placed by the village stuffer in the usual small box case I was unable to 
examine it thoroughly. Besides these, a birdstuffer, who knows the bird 
well, tells me he saw one by the canal near Bodicote about the 10th of 
February last—Oxiver V. Apxin (Great Bourton, near Banbury). 


Curious nesting-place of the Great Tit.—In the beginning of June, 
1888, we found a nest of the Great Tit quite a foot below the ground 
amongst the roots of a huge elm tree in Nuneham Park, Oxon. It 
contained five fully fledged young birds.—J. R. Harve (15, Norham Road, 
Oxford). 


Wild Duck laying in a Rook’s Nest.—Six Wild Ducks’ eggs, perfectly 
fresh, were taken, on March 26th, out of a Rooks’ nest, between three and 
four miles from here. The nest was surrounded by other Rooks’ nests, one 
_ being within a yard of it. The rookery was not far from the river Test, 
the tree (a horse-chesnut, in which the nest chosen by the Wild Duck was) 
being about twenty-five yards from the river, and the nest about thirty feet 
from the ground. The bird was on the nest. ‘The trees in which the 
rookery was built were chiefly elms, there being only two or three horse- 


230 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


chesnuts. I am aware that Wild Ducks occasionally nest in trees; but 
I do not recollect to have read of an instance where the nest chosen was in 
the midst of a rookery, and I thought you would probably consider it of 
sufficient interest to chronicle. Stanley mentions an instance of a Wild 
Duck using a Rooks’ nest, at Madeley, in Staffordshire, but does not 
note the position of the nest—Joun H. WiLLMore (Queenwood College, 
near Stockbridge, Hants). 


Wild Duck laying in Rook’s Nest.—With reference to Mr. Willmore’s 
note, I have met with several instances in Lincolnshire of Wild Ducks 
nesting at a considerable height above the ground. Once in an oak in a 
plantation in the old nest of a Carrion Crow; in ivy on a ruined wall; and 
on the top of a straw-sack. Once also on the roof of an old bean-stack in 
the marshes. I have known a Wild Duck to nest on the ground amongst 
brambles and rough grass in the centre of a plantation a mile or more from 
pond or running stream.—Joun Corpravx (Great Cotes, Ulceby). 


Variety of the Sky Lark—My neighbour's keeper brought me a 
variety of this bird in which the first seven flight-feathers on the right 
wing and the coverts above them are pure white, and on the left there are 
five white flight-feathers, with a few above them the same colour; the rest 
of the plumage normal.—J. Wu1rakEr (Rainworth Lodge, Mansfield). 


Abnormally coloured Sky Lark.—On the 31st March last, on visiting 
the Valletta market, I noticed in one of the stalls, amongst a number of 
Larks, one (Alauda arvensis) the under parts of which were a brilliant 
yellow, with the usual markings. I made a skin of it. Twelve hours after 
I had put it up as a skin, this yellow colour had faded very much, and when 
I looked at it again, about a month after, it appeared quite gone, leaving 
the usual yellowish white coloration. I have noticed this plumage before. 
The bird was a male.—E. F. Becuer (Malta). 


The American Kestrel in Yorkshire.—lIn your last issue Mr. W. E. 
Clarke, in his supplementary notes on the Yorkshire Fauna, says (p. 176), 
that he cannot accept this bird as a member of the Yorkshire Fauna. In 
justice therefore to myself and to those who have so kindly aided me in 
investigating the matter, I must state that I have gained additional strong 
evidence in its favour, which is wholly disinterested and independent of 
either the person by whom the bird was skinned or the stuffer who 
eventually sold it to me.—J. Backnousy, sun. 


Early nesting of the Goldcrest.—On the 22nd March last we found 
a nest of the Goldcrest near Oxford. It was just finished, and I think 
would have had eggs in two days time. ‘The nest was only four feet nine 
inches from the ground, while I have found them at an elevation of twenty- 
five feet.—J. R. Earxe (15, Norham Road, Oxford). 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 231 


Wood Pigeon cooing at Night.—On April 9th I heard a Wood 
Pigeon cooing in our wood between 10 and 11 o'clock at night. It was 
calm and mild, and the moon was almost full. The note was loud and 
unmistakable. ‘The cooing was continued at intervals when I was in the 
wood, and had not ceased when I left it. Has anyone yet attempted a list 
of such British birds as are occasionally heard at night ?—Ricuarp M. 
Barrineton (Fassaroe, Bray). 

{Numerous notices of birds which sing at night might be referred to. 
See White’s ‘ Selborne,’ to begin with (Letter I. to Danes Barrington), and 
footnote to the passage in my edition of that work, p. 189; ‘Our Summer 
Migrants,’ p. 87; and various notes on the subject scattered throughout 
former volumes of ‘ The Zoologist.’—Ep. ] 


Siskin and Snow Bunting in North Devon.—On March 6th I saw 
a Siskin in beautiful plumage. This is the first time I have seen or heard 
of this bird in this district, my acquaintance with which dates from 1879. 
On the 7th a Snow Bunting was picked up on Northam Burrows and 
brought to me. Its plumage tallied exactly with Yarrell’s description of the 
bird as it appears on its first arrival at the beginning of winter. We have: 
one other specimen in our Museum, which we procured from Mr. Rowe, the 
birdstuffer of Barnstaple—Herrsert A. Evans (United Service College, 
Westward Ho). 


Variety of the Yellowhammer.—At p. 114 I noted a very singular 
variety of the Yellowhammer, with whisker-like marks of rufous, and a 
tinge of the same colour over the eye. Mr. F. Bond's collection of varieties 
contains one exactly like it, taken at Brighton in the spring of 1869. 
There is not the slightest deviation from the usual colouring in any other 
part of the plumage in either of these birds. Both are males.—-J. H. 
Gurney, sun. (Hill House, Northrepps, Norwich). 


The Avi-Fauna of Spitzbergen.—Looking through the back volumes 
of ‘The Zoologist,’ a few weeks ago, for something else, I met with a 
paper on the fauna of Spitzbergen, by the Rev. A. E. Eaton, M.A., &e., in 
the volumes for 1873 and 1874, which I had overlooked when writing my 
notes on Spitzbergen, published in ‘ The Zoologist’ for 1882 and 18838, and 
it may perhaps be worth calling attention to his observations on the following 
species of birds :— : 

“Lesser Redpoll, Linota linaria” (S.S. 8805).—This should be doubt- 
less the Mealy Redpoll, L. linaria, Linn., as a specimen brought home has 
been so identified by Prof. Newton (Yarrell, 4th edit. ii. 144), besides the 
fact of this species having a more northerly range than the Lesser Redpoll, 
L. rufescens, Vieillot. On May 27th a male Redpoll alighted on the ship, 
in lat. 75° 13’ N., long. 2° 30’ W. (8.8. 3763 and 3806). A Redpoll was 
seen in Wiide Bay on the “ 6th Sunday after Trinity”; later oue was heard 


232 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


singing, which was shot, and placed in Mr. Katon’s hands (p. 3807). 
‘“‘ Apparently Redpolls are not uncommon in that part of Wiide Bay. Our 
men saw five or six on the uplands in the same neighbourhood. They also 
found a nest,” which was probably of this species. 

Ringed Plover, Agialitis hiaticula, L.—* Lieut. Chermside saw a 
Ringed Plover in Wiide Bay, which attempted to entice him away by 
shamming lameness, as if its nest was close at hand” (3809). 

Pomatorhine Skua, Stercorarius pomatorhinus, Temm.—Six obtained in 
Hinlopen Straits in August. Numerous off Low Land (south coast of 
North-East Land). A few seen at Hope Island in September. 

Buffon’s Skua, S. longicaudus, Vieillot.—Seen at Wiide Bay; Diana 
Island, entrance to East Fjord; and in various localities between the main- 
land of Spitzbergen and North-East Land. Several examples were shot. 

Bernicle Goose, Anser leucopsis, Bechst—A party seen, out of which 
seven were obtained, on the hills opposite Diana Island, on July 22nd 
(p. 8815).—AtrrepD Heneace Cocks (Great Marlow, Bucks). 


Song of the Tree Sparrow.—The other day, when standing by the 
pond-side here, 1 heard a song which I never remember to have heard 
before; it came from a small bird on the top of a tall larch. I could not 
quite make out the bird amongst the thick branches, so I shot it, and was 
surprised to find it was a Tree Sparrow. The notes were very sweet, and 
six or seven in number, which when gone through were repeated, something 
like a Bullfinch, but softer and much more sweet—a song of some pre- 
tensions, and exceedingly pleasant to the ear—J. WuitakeEr (Rainworth 
Lodge, Mansfield). 


Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail in Confinement. — The following 
account of forty-eight hours’ acquaintance with Motacilla flava may 
perhaps be interesting as showing an extraordinary degree of tameness. 
At this time of the year (end of April and beginning of May) M. flava is 
caught at Malta in considerable numbers and sold alive to act as fly-catchers. 
Their wings are clipped, and they are allowed to run about in the kitchens 
and houses in order to keep down the supply of flies; they are never fed, 
but live by their own exertions. One morning I noticed one in our mess- 
kitchen which had onlybeen obtained four days back from the bird-catcher. 
This bird I took to my own room (this was at 9 a.m. on the 19th April), 
To catch it we chased it up and down the kitchen sufficient to frighten any 
ordinary bird almost to death, but wheu I released it from my hand in my 
room it simply ruffled its feathers and ran about as if nothing had happened, 
I caught a few flies and tried to induce it to eat from my fingers, but it 
would not do so, but took them readily from the ground about an inch 
rom my hand. I will now quote from my uotes :—‘** Now, 2 p.m., it will 
eat out of my hand. When I come into the room, after a short absence, it 
runs to meet me, apparently expecting ready-cauglit flies. During the 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 233 


afternoon I had to skin some birds; the Wagtail flew (its wings were so cut 
that it could fly a little) on to my table whilst I was at work. Steeple- 
chasing over the varied and numerous impediments in hot pursuit of flies, 
attracted by the carcases of the birds I was operating on, it got a little tow 
entangled in its claws, so I had to hunt it down in order to catch it. After 
an operation of about two minutes’ duration I released it. It simply preened 
its feathers, and then chirped about meas usual. Wherever [ move the 
bird follows close at my heels. This is not a mark of any particular attach- 
ment, as it is a peculiarity of Wagtails to follow persons in this way. When 
I went into my bed-room it refused to be driven back; I think this was 
because it had there seen me catch the flies I had given it. I offered it 
some small bits of raw liver, but it would not look at them; shortly after- 
wards, however, I found it pulling away at a piece which had stuck to an 
envelope and dropped on the floor. I saw it could not very well manage it, 
so went to get it from him to cut into small pieces, but it had evidently 
tasted, and had taken to it so kindly that I could not get it away from him, 
and in the end he swallowed it. Iwas very much struck that he did not 
attempt to use one of his feet as an aid—had he done so it would have been 
of great assistance. This I remarked on several occasions. My servant tells 
me that when he was on detachment at an outlying fort they got twelve of 
these birds, which quite rid them, comparatively speaking, of those pests, 
mosquitoes. 20th.—I thought I had lost my Wagtail yesterday evening, 
as it had disappeared, and in spite of a hunt I could find it nowhere. When 
I got up, at about half-past five, and moved about, making considerable 
noise over the manufacture of a cup of tea, he did not appear; but about 
half-past six, as I was reading in bed, I was pleasantly surprised by seeing 
him hop on to my bed. He took considerable interest in my tubbing 
operations, perching himself on the edge of my bath. He drank at some 
small pools on the stone floor which had splashed from my bath. He seemed 
to prefer this to some water I poured out for him in a saucer; he took a sip 
or two and stood in it, but returned to his splashes, nor did he seem inclined 
to bathe. I gave him some ants, which he seemed to enjoy very much, but 
small pieces of raw liver seem to delight him most; after getting a bit he 
bothers me to give him more; he is on my hands, book, and everywhere, as 
I write—quite irrepressible—I can hardly drive him away. I took him 
into the ante-room, about thirty yards off, to reach which one must pass out 
of doors. He followed me like a dog, but occasionally some flies tried his 
allegiance. I was supplied, however, with some small pieces of raw liver to 
offer him when he lagged behind too much. The Wagtails in the kitchen, 
which were only brought in yesterday, are running about to-day quite tame. 
21st.—I and the Wagtail both got up this morning at our usual hour—I at 
5.80, he at 6.30 a.m. As I was reading in bed I heard him in the next 
room, so I called to him, when he at once came on to my bed, hopping 
about my head, arms, and books. When he left my bed to wander elsewhere 
ZOOLOGIST.—JUNE, 1884. T 


234 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


I could always call him to me again. At breakfast he was all about my 
breakfast things, catching flies. He had a heavy fall, missing his footing 
on one occasion as he flew from a chest of drawers to my table. This 
I think caused his death, as immediately afterwards I left the room, and 
when I returned, in about ten minutes, I found him huddled up in a corner, 
and one leg almost useless. He shortly afterwards died—the end of most 
pets—an untimely death.” The above, as I have said, is from my notes, 
and may appear to enter rather too much into minutie, but I wish to show 
that a bird within six days of being in a wild state, without any special 
endeavours to tame it, arrived at an almost perfect state of confidence in 
man. I do not regard it as showing any particular affection for myself 
individually, for it was just as confiding to any friend who came to see me. 
I do not know whether all wagtails have this tendency to domesticity, as 
my experience is limited to M. flava and M. alba. It was a pretty sight to 
note his several attitudes when crouching watching a fly in his neighbour- 
hood. He never would even look at a fly on the wall which was out of his 
reach. I think this was because he knew that his clipped wings prevented 
hinn being successful, and it was no use troubling about it. In a wild state 
these birds will allow anyone to approach very near to them. They thus 
fall very easy victims to the birdeatcher.—E. F. Becuer (Malta). 


FISHES. 


Cyclopterus lumpus at Penzance.—For the first time within my 
experience, which now covers thirty-four years of actual observation, I have 
obtained a male specimen of the Lumpsucker, or Lump-fish, Cyclopterus 
lumpus. I have had many specimens of the female or “ Blue” Lumpsucker, 
but this is the first male or “‘ Red” Lumpsucker which I have ever seen. 
It was captured at the Scilly Islands on April 27th, and kindly sent to me 
by the Lord Proprietor, Mr. J. A. Dorrien Smith. T need not deseribe it, 
because it quite agrees with.the descriptions given by Yarrell and Couch, 
except that the brilliant scarlet colour which suggested the name of the Red 
Lump-fish is in this specimen confined to the region below the lateral line. 
Above that line it is blue, as in the female.—THomas Cornisu (Penzance). 


Large Surmullet in Mount’s Bay,—On May 6th I received from 
William Allen, a fisherman, of Prussia Cove, in Mount’s Bay, the largest 
Surmullet, Mullus surmuletus, yet recorded. It measured seventeen inches 
in length over all, and from eye to fork one foot and half an inch, and 
turned the scale at forty-two ounces. I recorded a Surmullet of thirty-six 
ounces and a half in ‘The Zoologist’ for October, 1875, and another of 
sixteen inches and seven-eighths in length, weighing thirty-eight ounces 
and a half, in November of the same year. I then mentioned that this 
latter specimen was the largest for size recorded, but not the heaviest, 
Couch having weighed one at forty ounces. It will be seen that my present 
specimen tops my largest in size and Couch’s in weight.—'l’. CornisH, 


“sa 


( 285 ) 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


Linnean Socisty or Lonpon. 

May 1, 1884.—Prof. P. Martin Duncan, F.R.S., V-P., in the chair. 

Messrs. William Denison Roebuck and Fred. Newton Williams were 
elected ordinary Fellows of the Society. Prof. Ernst Haeckel, of Jena, 
Prof. Alex. Kowalevsky, of Odessa, and Prof. O. Schwendener, of Berlin, 
were likewise balloted for and elected Foreign Members of the Society. 

Mr. 8. O. Ridley exhibited drawings of the spiculation of some Sponges 
collected and forwarded by Dr. Wm. Chas. Ondaatje, of Ceylon, sections of 
which had been shown and commented upon at a previous meeting of the 
Society. Mr. Ridley also exhibited coloured sketches from nature of 
Ceylonese Actiniide, made under the superintendence of Dr. Ondaatje. 
Prof. Jeffrey Bell afterwards pointed out the chief characteristics of a set 
of drawings of Comatulids, taken from the living objects as obtained by 
Dr. Ondaatje from the seas of Ceylon, the entire series giving promise of 
useful scientific work in progress on the Ceylonese coasts. 

Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe read a paper “On a Collection of Birds from 
the Bahr el Ghazal province and the Nyam-Nyam country in Equatorial 
Africa.” For the opportunity of examining and describing this interesting 
collection he expressed his indebtedness to Herr Bohndorff, who had just 
returned from a long residence in these regions. The author noted, with 
expressions of surprise, the presence of many species in Bohndorff’s 
collection of birds hitherto believed by ornithologists to be peculiar to West 
Africa, referring in the case in question to those species which had been 
shot in the Nyam-Nyam country. On the other hand, he adverted to those 
species from the Bahr-Gazelle tributaries and adjoining nilotic district as 
well-known inhabitants of North-Eastern Africa and the Senegambian area. 
From this he inferred that Herr Bohndorff had crossed the boundary line 
of two faunas, and that the animals of the Nyam-Nyam region assimilate to 
those of the Gaboon territory and Congo, rather than to those of the Lado 
district or of Kordofan. This change in the fauna is attributed by Herr 
Bohndorff to the difference in the nature of the country ; swamp and low- 
lying grassy plains on the east being replaced by forest-land on the west. 
Mr. Sharpe, following the classification adopted by Hartlaub in his record of 
Emir Bey’s collections from Equatorial Africa, gave descriptions of new 
species and remarks on little-known birds. Amongst new forms are Cra- 
teropus Bohndorffi, Sigmodus mentalis, Ceuthmochares intermedius, Pionias 
erassus, Syrniwn Bohndorffi, and others of considerable significance in 
relation to faunal distribution. 

The interest of this communication was heightened by remarks from 
Herr Bohndorff himself, and the presence of his servant Yuma, a veritable 
Nyam-Nyam boy, whom he had brought with him. An interesting 
discussion followed. 


236 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Mr. R. A. Rolfe communicated a paper “On the Flora of the Philip- 
pines, with reference to its probable derivation.” In this he criticised 
Mr. Wallace’s opinion on the fauna, differing from him in the belief that 
the recent flora of the islands indicate that they are truly insular in the 
essentials of their present Natural History, and have been largely dependent 
on voleanic origin, rather than that their flora and fauna are alone the result 
of an early separation from the Asiatic continent with total submergence 
for au indefinite period. 

Mr. George Brook read a “ Preliminary account of the development of 
the Weever Fish, Trachinus vipera.” After mentioning that the eggs 
had been laid in his aquarium at Huddersfield, where this fish had been 
kept alive for more than two years, he drew attention to the fact of 
there being a vitelline membrane present in the eggs of this fish as well as 
in those of the Herring; in contradistinction, therefore, to what is stated to 
be the case in osseous fishes generally. He also particularly referred to the 
persistent nature of the segmentation cavity, which is pushed round the 
yoll-sac concurrent with the development of the embryo from the blastoderm, 
and that it does not entirely disappear until the yolk is absorbed. The 
circulatory system, according to Mr. Brook’s researches, is very late in 
developing, no blood-vessels appearing until several days after hatching. In 
illustration of his paper, he exhibited under the microscope preparations 
showing the segmentation stage, the embryonic shield and commencement 
of keel, the early embryo third day before closure of the blastopore, and 
fourth-day blastopore, with Kupffer’s vescicle, also at the eighth day, and 
the newly-hatched embryo. 

The Chairman haying put to the meeting the election of Auditors, the 
following were appointed :—for the Fellows, Dr. J. Millar and Mr. J. Jenner 
Weir, and for the Council, Mr. T. Christy and Mr. H. T. Stainton.— 
J. Murig. 


ZootoaicaL Society or Lonpon. 

Mag 6, 1884.—Prof. W. H. Frower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in 
the chair. 

The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the 
Society’s Menagerie during the month of April, and called special attention 
to two Nepalese Hornbills, Aceros nipalensis ; a Gigantic Salamander, Mega- 
lobatrachus maximus; three examples of the Lesser Bird of Paradise; a 
fine Mediterranean Seal; and other rare acquisitions. 

Prof. Bell exhibited some specimens of Estheria melitensis, sent from 
Malta by Capt. Becher, R.A., and stated that, in answer to his inquiries, 
that gentleman had confirmed the fact of the males appearing to equal in 
number the females, as had been stated by previous observers of the members 
of the genus. 

Mr. G. A. Boulenger read a paper on the Reptiles and Batrachians of 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 237 


the Solomon Islands, principally based upon two collections forwarded to 
the British Museum from that locality by Mr. H. B. Guppy, R.N. 

Lieut.-Col. Godwin-Austen exhibited an old Indian drawing representing 
a Tiger-hunt; and called attention to the colour of one of the Elephants 
engaged, which was of a creamy white. 

Prof. Flower described the state of dentition of a young Capybara, 
Hydrocherus capybara, born in the Society’s Gardens, which had died 
when eight days old. All the teeth of the permanent series were present 
and in use. 

_ Prof. F'. Jeffrey Bell read a paper on Amphicyclus, a new genus of 
Dendroclinotous Holothurians, and on its bearing on the classification of 
the suborder. 

A communication was read from Mr. Edgar A. Smith, containing a 
report on the Land and Freshwater Mollusca which had been collected 
during the voyage of H.M.S. ‘Challenger’ from December, 1872, to May 
1876. The collection contained examples of 152 species, some of which 
were of interest and several new to science. 

A communication was read from Count Berlepsch and M. Taczanowski, 
containing an account of a second collection of birds made in Western 
Ecuador by Messrs. Stolzmann and Siemiradzki. There were stated to be 
examples of 177 species in this collection, which had been made at various 
localities on the western slope of the Cordilleras above Guayaquil. The 
following species were described as new:—Henicorhina hilaris, Chloro- 
spingus ochraceus, and Spermophila pauper. A new genus, Pecilotriccus, 
was proposed for Todirostrum ruficeps of Kaup. 

A paper by Messrs. Godman and Salvin was read, which contained a list 
of the Rhopalocera obtained by Mr. G. French Angas during a recent visit 
to the island of Dominica. The number of species in this collection was 
twenty-seven, among them being a species of Nymphaline apparently new; 
this the authors proposed to describe as Cymatogramma dominicana. 

Mr. Herbert Druce read a paper describing the Heterocera collected by 
Mr. Angas on the same island. 


May 20, 1884.—Sir Josspu Fayrer, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the 
chair. 

Mr. W. T. Blanford exhibited and made remarks on a series of horns 
of the Wild Sheep of the Pamir, Ovis polit, Blyth, which had been obtained 
by the Hon. Charles A. Ellis from the Pamir district during his recent 
journey to Yarkand. 

Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe exhibited and made remarks on a second 
specimen of the new European Nuthatch, Sitta Whiteheadi, recently 
discovered by Mr. Whitehead in Corsica. 

Dr. J. G. Garson exhibited and made remarks upon a Specimen of 
the Northern Stone Crab, Lithodes maia. 


238 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Mr. Frank E. Beddard read the first of a series of papers on the Isopoda 
collected during the voyage of H.M.S. ‘ Challenger.’ The present com- 
munication treated of the genus Serolis, sixteen species of which were 
represented in the specimens obtained during the Expedition. Of these 
nine were described as new. The author also gave a short account of the 
geographical distribution of the genus, and pointed out some of its peculiar 
structural points. 

Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys read the eighth part of his papers on the Mollusca 
of the ‘ Lightning’ and ‘ Porcupine’ Expeditions. It included the families 
Aclide, Pyramidellide and Eulimida, with seventy-five species. Two genera 
and twenty-three species were described by the author as new to science. 

Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell read the fourth of his series of papers on the 
Holothurians. The present communication gave an account of the struc- 
tural characters of the Cotton-Spinner, Holothuria nigra, and especially of 
its Cuvierian organs. : 

Mr. F. Day read a paper on races and hybrids among the Salmonida, 
in continuation of a former communication made to the Society, and con- 
tinuing an account of the experiments made by Sir James Gibson-Maitland 
in the hybridization of Salmonide in the ponds of Howietown. 

A communication was read from Mr. R. Collett, containing the descrip- 
tion of some apparently new Marsupials obtained by Dr. Limholtz in 
Northern Queensland. These were described as Phalangista Archeri, 
P. herbertensis, P. lemuroides, and Dendrolagus Limholtzi.—P. L. SctatEr, 
Secretary. 


Enromo.ocicaL Society or Lonpon. 


April 2, 1884.—J. W Duwnnine, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., &c., President, 
in the chair. 

Edward Pyemont Collet, Esq. (76, Islip Road, Kentish Town, N.W.), 
Stanley Edwards, Esq. (Kidbrook Lodge, Blackheath, S.E.), F. Lovell 
Keays, Esq., F'.L.S, (Fairmile Court, Cobham, Surrey), Edmund Shuttle- 
worth, Esq. (8, Winckley Square, Preston), and John A. Finzi, Esq., 
formerly a Subscriber, were balloted for and elected Members of the Society. 

The President read a letter received from Mr. A. J. Spiller. 

Mr. T. R. Billups exhibited specimens of Sigalphus obscurellus, Ns., 
and Diospilus oleraceus, Hal., bred from the cabbage-stem galls of Ceutho- 
rhynchus sulcicollis. Mr. Billups believed that the former species emerged 
from the galls, whilst the latter species emerged from the earth-cocoons 
made by the weevil larve. Specimens of C. sulcicollis, Gyll., its cocoons, 
and gall were also exhibited. 

Mr. J. Jenner Weir remarked that he had found it impossible to grow 
any of the cabbage-tribe in his garden, owing to the amount of “ club” 
resulting from the attacks of this weevil; the only remedy he had found to 
be at all efficient was the free use of gas-lime. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 239 


Mr. Billups also exhibited three specimens of Dimeris mira, Ruthe, 
captured at Headley Lane last January; and two specimens of Ceroptres 
arator, Hart., bred from the galls of Cynips Kollari. Also a long series of 
the very local Philonthus thermarum, Aube, taken from a cucumber-frame 
on the West Ham marshes. 

Mr. H. Bedford Pim remarked that he had captured twenty specimens 
of P. thermarum in a hotbed at Dulwich last year. 

Sir Sidney S. Saunders read a paper, “On the Pediculus melitte of 
Kirby, and its affinities with reference to the larva of Meloé.” This was 
illustrated by the exhibition of many microscopic preparations of the speci- 
mens referred to in the memoir, and by an exhibition of many thousand 
specimens of the yellow larvae of Meloé. 

Mr. H. J. Elwes read a paper, ‘On the Genus Parnassius,” especially 
referring to the remarkable form and development of the anal pouch in the 
females us a specific character, to the geographical distribution of the 
species of the genus; and made some remarks on their life-history. 
Edwards’ and Burmeister’s writings on the genus were referred to, and 
Mr. Elwes commented on the remarkable fact that almost every systematic 
writer except Boisduval had entirely overlooked the presence of the anal 
pouch. Mr. Elwes illustrated his remarks by numerous diagrams, and by 
the exhibition of specimens of every known species and form occurring in 
the genus. A discussion followed, in which Messrs. Dunning, Fitch, Weir, 
Kirby, Pascoe, and Slater took part. 

Mr. EK. Meyrick read a further paper on the classification of the 
Australian Pyralidina, treating of the families Musotimide, Botydide, and 
Scopariide. He remarked that only forty per cent. of the Botydide were 
endemic, whereas the general average in all other groups, except the 
Butterflies, was about ninety per cent. 

Lord Walsingham communicated a paper on “North American Tor- 
tricide.” 


May 7, 1884.—J. W. Dunninea, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., &c., President, in 
the chair. 

The President feelingly alluded to the loss the Society had sustained 
since their last meeting through the death of their Vice-President, Sir 
Sidney Saunders, who was then present and read a paper to the Society. 
He made some remarks on Sir Sidney’s life and works, and said it was the 
second time it had fallen to his lot to announce the death of a Vice-President 
in harness ;_ now it was “one of the oldest and worthiest of our colleagues, 
and one who with a genuine love of Science combined with it the courtesy 
and kindness of a gentleman.” 

W. H. Patton, Esq. (Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.A.), and William 
White, Esq. (Morden House, 55, Highbury Hill, N.) were balloted for and 
elected Members of the Society. 


240 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Mr. W. F. Kirby exhibited a remarkably small and dark variety of 
Samia Cecropia, Linn., bred by M. Alfred Wailly. 

Mr. C. O. Waterhouse exhibited an Aphis from apple, and a large 
Aphidius bred therefrom, the cocoon of the parasite being formed underneath 
the body of the Aphis. Also, on behalf of the Rev. F. A. Walker, three 
dragonflies, captured in the island of Rhoda, opposite Cairo. Mr. M‘Lachlan 
identificd these as a male Crocothemis erythrea, Brullé, and a pair of 
Trithemis rubrinervis, Selys. 

Mr. T. R. Billups exhibited upwards of sixty specimens of Hemiptera, 
captured at Headley Lane on January 14th last. The collection included 
the following species: —Metacanthus punctipes, Germ., Tropistethus holo- 
sericeus, Hahn, Peritrochus puncticeps, Thoms., Drymus sylvaticus, Fabr., 
Stygnocoris sabulosus, Schill., Cymus claviculus, Fall., C. glandicolor, Hahn, 
Monanthia costata, Fabr., M. cardui, Linn., Acalypta parvula, Fall. 
Piezostethus cursitans, Fall., and Anthocoris sarothamni, D. & 8. 

The Secretary, on behalf of Mr. Samuel Stevens, exhibited specimens 
of Andrena fulva, Schr., and read a note referring to their destructive 
habits to a garden-lawn at Upper Norwood, “by burrowing in the grass 
and throwing up small mounds of mould ali over the lawn.” Mr, M‘Lach- 
lan and Mr. Waterhouse said they had been consulted as to means of 
remedying similar evils caused by this bee, and Mr. Waterhouse further 
remarked that it was particularly abundant this spring in his own garden 
at Wandsworth. 

Mr. A. S. Olliff exhibited a new species of Helota, an Eastern Asian 
genus, collected in Angola by Dr. Welwitsch; he proposed to describe it 
under the name Helota africana. Mr. Olliff said that Lord Walsingham 
had pointed out to him a similar and equally unexpected case of geographical 
distribution in the genus Deuterocopus of Zeller, belonging to the Ptero- 
phorida, which up to this time had only been known from Java, and of which 
he has lately received an undescribed species from Bathurst, West Africa. 

Mr. E. A. Fitch exhibited specimens of Isosoma orchidearum, Westw., 
bred from insect-affected shoots of Cattleya Triana, sent to him by Mr. 
R. P. Percival, of Southport. The affected shoots were exhibited, also 
specimens of swollen rootlets which bore evidence of insect attack, but from 
which at present nothing had been bred. Mr. Fitch remarked that he still 
believed the Jsosoma to be parasitic on some other insect, which was the 
destructive species—probably some dipteron, because the seven specimens 
of the Isosoma bred had emerged from one small hole in a shoot (exhibited). 

Mr. A. G. Butler communicated a note, by Mr. A. R. Grote, on the 
North American genus Hemileuca. 

Mr. A. G. Butler communicated a paper, “ On the Lepidopterous genus 
Cocytia,” remarking on the two already known species (C. Durvillei, Boisd., 
and C. chlorosoma, Butl.), and describing a new species (C. Veitchii) some- 
what intermediate in character between them.—E. A. Fircu, Hon. See. 


Z-D: 


: 


Z-D. 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vot. VIII.) J ULY,. 1884. [No. 91. 


ON THE APPLICATION OF TRINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE 
TO ZOOLOGY.* 


By Dr. Ewvxiior Cougs. 


I HAvE no formal paper to present on the subject of the 
Application of Trinomial Nomenclature to Zoology ; but speaking 
off-hand, I wish to offer a few remarks upon a subject at the 
present time attracting much attention—upon a matter which has 
come up within the last few years, and which bids fair to effect a 
very decided change in our system of naming objects in biology. 
In former years I have not thought it necessary to bring the 
matter to the notice of the National Academy of Sciences, 
because it had not then assumed a status or position which 
appeared to warrant such a course. Now, however, it seems pro- 
bable that a decided innovation upon a system of nomenclature 
which has been in vogue for a century and a quarter is likely to 
be made, at least in one department of zoology. The question 
is, therefore, whether that innovation is desirable or not—whether 
the change is to be accepted or rejected; and, if accepted, how 
far it is likely to be applicable to other departments of zoology, 
as well as to ornithology. 

As is well known to you all, since Linneus established a 
binomial system of nomenclature in which each organism should 
be known by two terms, generic and specific—since 1758, when 
that system was first consistently and systematically applied to 
zoology, there has been until the last few years no formal or 


* Address to the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, April, 1884, 
ZOOLOGIST.— JULY, 1884. U 


242 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


decided change in that Linnean method ; it has become ingrained 
in the study of biology, and is, in a sense, supposed to be essential 
to a methodic system of zoology. But it will be remembered 
that in the long period which has ensued since the time of which 
I speak, the idea of what constitutes a species in zoology, and, I 
may add, in botany, has radically and entirely changed. It seems 
probable, therefore, that a system of nomenclature perfectly 
adequate and applicable to a former status of zoological thought, 
may become, in the course of time, inapplicable to the later stage 
of science. And such appears to be the case. In former years 
a species was supposed to be a more or less a distinct creation. It 
was, moreover, supposed to be possible to say of a given organism 
whether it was or was not specifically distinct from another given 
organism. At the present day, largely through the influence of 
the Darwinian Theory of Evolution, which has become estab- 
lished within the last quarter of a century, we know that one 
animal may not be specifically distinct from another, and yet be 
sufficiently different to require recognition in some manner, which 
a system of nomenclature, to be valid and adequate, must provide — 
for. The question is, therefore, how shall we recognize it ? 
That is a subject which has long occupied the attention of 
zoologists, and they have been working up to the present state of 
trinomialism by virtue of what may be termed subterfuges. That 
is to say, a given organism not sufficiently distinct from another 
to receive a specific name, has been called a “ variety,” a “ sub- 
species,” a “ con-species,” a ‘‘ geographical race,” or a “ climatic 
variation.” Various terms of this sort have gradually crept into 
the nomenclature of zoology to indicate the still imperfectly 
differentiated, still incompletely segregated forms, but always 
with the intervention of some sign or other, as the sign “ var.,” 
or with the letters of the alphabet, “a,” “b,” “‘c,” or with the 
abbreviation “‘subsp.,” ete., intervening between the binomial 
name of the creature and the varietal designation which follows ; 
as T'urdus migratorius for the Robin, Turdus migratorius var. 
propinquus for its Western variety, and so on, whatever the given 
case may be. 

This has long seemed to me an entirely unnecessary, super- 
fluous, somewhat awkward and cumbersome method of dealing 
with the nomenclatural technique of our science, and it has 
recently come to pass that this needlessly intervening term or 


TRINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE IN ZOOLOGY. 243 


sign has been entirely done away with by the leading ornithologists 
of this country. The latest lists of our birds discard it altogether, 
and present a decided and radical innovation upon any binomial 
nomenclature, by employing the three terms consecutively with- 
out the intervention of any sign whatever, as, T'wrdus migratorius 
propinquus. This method, moveover, as used by competent 
ornithologists, has a meaning and significance of its own. It is 
not simply a question of recognizing any variation, any 
abnormality, any sport, as I may call it, any variety in the old 
sense of the word; for we proceed upon a perfectly definite, well- 
understood and recognized principle of variation, viz., variation 
according to conditions of physical environment, using this term 
in the largest sense, to cover all those exterior influences which 
exert a modifying influence upon animal organisms. 

From our study of North American birds, which are perhaps 
better known than the same number of birds of any other portion 
of the world, we have so exactly traced their geographical 
variations that we are enabled in some cases to positively foretell 
what will be the characteristics of a given bird in a given 
geographical area. In one case at least, within my knowledge, 
before any specimens were received, a given set of sub-specific 
characters were hypothetically assigned to a bird (Junco connecteus 
Coues) from a particular region; and, upon receipt of specimens, 
the hypothetical characters of the presumed sub-species were 
confirmed. 

Here is the definite principle and rule of action in the appli- 
cation of such trinomials. That the third term of the technical 
name is given to climatic or geographical races varying according 
to known conditions, as latitude, elevation, temperature, moisture 
and conditions of all sorts. The practice, therefore, has a logical 
basis, a consistent possibility of strict scientific application. It 
appears to me to be a simple, natural and easy way of disposing 
of a large number of intermediate forms which have not become 
specifically distinct from their respective nearest allies. It is 
quite true that the recognition of this result of climatic conditions 
is largely a matter of tact and judgment, and that it is not always 
possible to say whether a given organism is or is not “ specifically ” 
distinct from another. 

There is in this use of trinomials, as you perceive, a principle 
of practical application entirely different from the more 


244 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


arbitrary naming of varieties, such as sports and abnormalities. 
And the question is, what status is this principle likely to obtain 
in biology ? The status that trinomialism has already acquired 
in ornithology is this: that it is likely in the near future to receive 
the sanction of the entire body of the American Ornithologists’ 
Union, and is already in use by ornithologists almost without 
exception in this country. Likewise, in Europe, the trinomial 
system is beginning to be employed in the very stronghold of 
British conservatism in the British Ornithologists’ Union—one 
of the leading ornithologists in that country having recently 
published some monographs of birds, in which that system is 
applied. Trinomialism is known as the “ American school” of 
ornithology, and the central idea is the ‘“ American idea” of 
ornithology. It is in general use in this country. 

Under these circumstances, speaking as one who is largely 
responsible for the growth and spread of trinomial nomenclature, 
I have no hesitation in laying the matter before the Academy, for 
an expression of the views of members present, as to its applica- 
bility to other branches of biology, and to inquire whether it 
seems likely to become a permanent feature of biological science. 


In the discussion which followed upon this communication, 
Dr. Theo. Gill said that the question so well discussed by Dr. 
Coues was one of terminology, but not only one of terminology. 
It was well known to all how much these terminological appliances 
had accelerated and facilitated research. The views expressed 
were almost a necessary result of profound study of our bird 
fauna, and the logical application of the doctrine of evolution. 

In a time when belief in the creation of animals was practically 
universal, the name given to any species indicated the condition 
of things under which an animal was supposed to have come into 
existence. Had the animals of this country alone been studied, 
we would ultimately have been led to believe in the doctrine of 
evolution. No one could take up the study of the birds or other 
animals of this country without seeing that between certain 
extremes, the differences are so radical that differentiation into 
species would be necessary. Such had been the history of 
ornithology. In early times we knew simply the birds of the 
Eastern slope. Then we named them as species with limited 
range of variation. Later, numbers of forms were obtained in 


TRINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE IN ZOOLOGY. 245 


the West, and these forms, although somewhat alike, were also 
differentiated as species, distinct from those found in the East, 
and were so named. But still later, large collections were 
gradually amassed from the intervening regions of the great 
interior, and these were elaborately studied (in collections some- 
times of hundreds), and many were the Eastern and Western 
so-called species thereby connected. But then it became evident 
that something more should be done than merely lock together 
into one heterogeneous fold forms so different. Then it was that 
this trinomial system came into use as a very convenient tool for 
the distinction of the various intermediate forms. Ultimately a 
philosophy became the result of study and practice, so that now 
we can at once, by the inspection of a catalogue, approximately 
ascertain whether the forms are radically distinct, what variation 
exists between the extremes of form, and by the trinomial 
names, whether a given species is variable and whether it is 
manifest under a number of modifications. 

In this trinomial system we have an example of a scheme by 
which we can become cognizant of the amount, to a certain 
extent, of variation ina given group. By this convenient means 
we are also enabled to differentiate the characters, and to give at 
once to the mind of the reader or student some idea of the range 
of characters that may be deemed to prevail in a certain group. 

Turning to Dr. Coues’s request for information with regard 
to other groups, Dr. Gill said that it was true that we have in 
other groups a similar applicability of these principles. A 
number of examples are afforded in the case of the fishes, insects, 
and mollusks, where the naturalist is compelled to degrade some 
forms and admit them as simple variations and sub-species. This 
scheme would also come in as aconvenient tool for the differentia- 
tion of recent from fossil forms, there being a number of extinct 
forms very much like those now existing, which are regarded by 
some as conspecific and by others as different, receiving different 
names. 

Prof. Wm. H. Brewer remarked that, as a matter of con- 
venience, this was about the only way that we could scientifically 
describe many varieties of cultivated plants and breeds of 
domesticated animals, which differ from one another much as 
species do, the differences, however, being less constant. Already 
some agricultural writers, who have knowledge of natural history. 


246 THE ZOOLOGIST 


are beginning to adopt this method in the description of cultivated 
plants, both useful and ornamental. 

Dr. Gill said in regard to this question: ‘‘We have had a 
condition of things which must appeal to the sense of the 
ludicrous. In former times there was an undivided belief in 
creation, and yet we had before us our domesticated animals and 
cultivated vegetables, exhibiting these excessive variations—so 
great, that if seen in nature, they would be differentiated not only 
into species, but different genera. Take the dog. We were told 
the dog was a species—by some said to be created for the use of 
man. What is the dog? It is not a species in any sense of the 
word; it is simply a conjugation of forms, derivatives from a 
number of wild species. The dog is not a species; it is the 
result under cultivation and domestication of the off-spring of 
half a dozen different species. It is a composite which itself 
shows the processes of development in a marked degree, so that 
we have in what is popularly known as the dog, a combination of 
species and even genera.” 

Dr. Coues said it gave him great pleasure to note the extent 
of the indorsement given to this system ; but that he had expected 
that some one would have put forward the objections which might 
be raised. As none appeared to be forthcoming, he would venture 
to state some of them himself. The purpose of the trinomial 
system, he remarked, is an obvious one, yet that system is so 
sharp a tool that without great care in handling, one is apt 
to cut his fingers with it. Itis of such pliability and elasticity, 
and lends itself so readily to little things, that in naming forms 
one is tempted to push discriminations beyond reasonable and 
due bounds. It gives one an opportunity—even a temptation— 
to enter into faunal catalogues and lists of animals an almost 
indefinite number of very slightly differentiated forms in any 
department of zoology—forms which perhaps only the eye trained 
in that special line is able to satisfactorily discriminate. We 
therefore have in our lists a number of so-called geographic and 
climatic races which no one but their discoverer or describer is 
able to recognize or appreciate. This is the real difficulty—the 
real objection to the system—its abuse in the hands of immature 
specialists. Dr. Coues said, with some emphasis, that since he 
had ventured to bring the matter to the attention of the Academy, 
he would not conclude without adding the word of caution, that 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 247 


the trinomial system must not be pushed too far; otherwise, 
almost immediately, our catalogues would be insufferably over- 
burdened with nominal sub-species, too slightly differentiated to 
require any formal recognition by name. 


Note.—In the business meeting of the Academy, which ensued 
after the public session, Dr. Coues introduced a resolution, which 
was referred to the Council, that a committee of five be appointed 
to investigate the subject of zoological nomenclature, with 
reference to the establishment of a more uniform system. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS ON ORNITHOLOGY. 
By THE LATE Epwarp Biytu. 


No. 2.—Fam. Carrronipm. The Barbets. 


THE second group of Zygodactyli without ceca consists of 
true perching birds which never climb, and have ten tail-feathers 
only. They are frugivorous, and especially baccivorous, and the 
American Toucans alone manifest a considerable predatory pro- 
pensity ; while some at least of the Musophagide subsist partly 
on insects.* Like the Picide, they deposit their eggs in the holes 
of trees, but not of their own forming; and normally produce 
four (the larger Toucans but two) white eggs, which seems to be 
the full complement laid by any of the group. The very peculiar 
African genus Colius alone differs in nidificating in dense thorny 
bushes, where several nests are built together, to the number of 
five or six. All are peculiar to warm climates, and foreign to 
Europe and N. America, as also (like the Picide) to Australia; 
but a few species occur in the temperate sub-Himalayan region, 
and others (chiefly Colies) in the Cape colony. With again the 
exception of the remarkable genus Colius, all the species would 
appear to be essentially (and even exclusively) of arboreal habit. 
Few are unadorned with bright colours, and these exceptions are 
comprised in the African genera Chizheris and Colius among the 


* Vide Dr. A. Smith’s account of Chizheris concolor (Zoology of S. 
Africa). Col. Sykes also states of Bucco indicus, “ Fruit and insects found 
in the stomach.” Judging from our own experience, however, the Asiatic 
Barbets would appear to subsist exclusively on fruit; but of a Cape species, 
we have been assured by Dr. A, Smith, “that it feeds upon insects, and seems 
partial to ants,” 


248 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Musophagide, and the Malayan genus Calorhamphus among the 
Bucconide. 

The anatomy of all is very similar. Like the Woodpeckers, 
they have a very low sternal ridge, and the breast-bone is doubly 
emarginated posteriorly ; the coracoids are unusually long; the 
furcula feeble, and commonly imperfect; its lateral halves (or 
the two clavicles) not being completely joined in the Musophagide 
(at least in Twracus), and in the Toucans (Rhamphastos) and 
Barbets (Bucco) being more or less short and separated by a con- 
siderable interval.* Altogether, the sternal apparatus with its 
appendages much resembles that of the Picide, but in the 
Touracos deviates somewhat from the rest, and is remarkably 
small in proportion to the general size of the bird. The bill, 
of enormous dimensions in the larger Toucans among the 
Rhamphastide, is moderately large in most of the Bucconide, and 
preserves the tendency to inflation in the genus Musophaga among 
the Musophagide. ‘The tongue, which in the Toucans is long 
and slender, and barbed laterally like a feather, exhibits a similar 
structure less developed in the larger Barbets,} and shows a trace 
of the same conformation in certain Touracos.t The gullet is 
wide and even ; the muscular coat of the stomach little developed ; 
the intestine short and wide, about the length of the bird from 
tip of bill to vent in Rhamphastos, 14 that length in Bucco, and 
about twice in T'uracus. The Bucconide and Rhamphastide have 
no gall-bladder; and the liver consists of two unequal lobes—the 
left, on which side the stomach lies, but half covering it, while 
the right lobe reaches as far as the stomach does; the 
Musophagide, on the contrary, have a well developed gall-bladder. 
Of the three distinct families here indicated, the Musophagide 
are wholly peculiar to Africa, and the Rhamphastide to S. 
America; the Bucconide (which are most closely allied to the 
Rhamphastide in internal structure) inhabit, in different genera, 
S. E. Asia, Africa, and S. America. With these alone we have 
now to deal. 


* M. L’Herminier figures the sternum of Pteroglossus, however, with an 
entire furcula, or probably the clavicles were incompletely joined as in 
Turacus. 

+ This structure is well shown in B. asiaticus, while scarcely a trace of 
it is observable in the small B. indicus. I find that individuals vary in this 
respect. 

t Vide P. Z. S. 1884, p. 3, 1880, p. 33. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 249 


Fam. Bucconip (Barbets). 


These derive their common name from the conspicuous tufts 
of bristles surrounding the beak in most of the species, con- 
sisting of a series above each nostril, a tuft at each angle of the 
gape, and another growing from the chin. In certain of the 
Asiatic Barbets (as especially Bucco trimaculatus) these vibrissze 
are much longer than the bill itself, but terminate in fine hair- 
like extremities ; others want them altogether (as Calorhamphus) ; 
while in the American and some African forms they are little 
developed, but in typical Lemodon—the most characteristic 
African genus—they are of moderate length, much flattened, 
and form quite a dense beard under the chin and at the lateral 
base of the lower mandible, reflected so as to cover half of the 
under surface of the beak. The bill is usually as long as or 
longer than the head, robust, conical, more or less compressed, 
moderately arcuate in some, with one or more strong lateral 
teeth in certain African genera; in the Asiatic smooth, the 
tomiz of the upper mandible overlapping more or less, so as to 
produce a scissor-like cutting instrument, to a greater or less 
extent. In these, too, the corneous portion of the upper mandible 
is continued backward to the gape, and thickened towards the 
gape. The gape or swallow of all is very wide. Nostrils basal 
and exposed, forming roundish or oval apertures, placed in a 
groove at the side of the ridge of the upper mandible.* The 
feet are truly zygodactyle, and resemble those of the Toucans, 
being used for perching only, and for hopping from twig to twig; 
these birds never climbing, like the Woodpeckers. The wings 
have commonly the first, second, and sometimes third quills short, 
and the next three or four subequal, being of moderate length ; 
and the flight is sufficiently facile and rapid, though only for short 
distances from tree to tree. 

The Indian Barbets appear to be exclusively baccivorous; 
and when sated with food they commonly ascend to the 
higher branches of a tree, and repeat their monotonous 
call-notes, sometimes two or three answering to each other. 


* In the Rhamphastide the nostrils open backward, high upon the fore- 
head, and posteriorly to the corneous sheath of the bill; while in the 
Musophagide, except in the singular genus Colius, they are placed remark- 
ably forward. 


250 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


They are by no means the dull, stupid, gluttonous birds 
they have been represented, but are as lively and active as 
most others, though little seen on the wing, while their green 
colour occasions them to be not much observed among the foliage. 
When feeding they are silent; but may be observed in numbers 
on a spreading bar tree (Ficus indicus) when the diminutive figs 
are ripe, together with Coéls (Hudynamys orientalis), Hurrials 
(T'reron), Orioles, and other kinds of birds which resort to the 
same diet. In no respect, however, are they gregarious in the 
least degree.* The size of the Bucconide varies from that of a 
Jay down to that of a Sparrow; and that they nestle in holes of 
trees, as commonly described, we have at least this evidence, that 
we have seen three unfledged young of B. asiaticus taken out of 
a hole in a mango tree ;t but we have not been able to obtain the 
eggs. In confinement we have kept them (Bucco asiaticus and B. 
indicus) long on plaintains, but they much prefer berries which 
they can swallow entire, and smear the plumage of the head much 
when obliged to feed on plaintains; nevertheless they continued 
in health, and would often utter their loud notes. They never 
descended to the ground except to drink, or when food was lying 
there and none elsewhere. The sexes of all appear to be similar. 


* Of one or more Cape species, Dr. A. Smith informed us:—* Flight 
straight; the wings moved rather rapidly and to a considerable extent. 


Some of them whistle when perched, and utter a hoarse scream when 
surprised. Generally several individuals are found in the same locality, but 
not associated; when disturbed they never fly together, but each takes a 
different course.” This is pretty much as in the Asiatic species. 

+ We are therefore satisfied that Capt. Tickell described the nest and eggs 
of some other bird as those of B. asiaticws, in J. A. S. xvii. 298. Dr. A, 
Smith, in his obliging communication (1837), remarks of the Cape species 
before referred to, ‘‘ They nestle in holes of decayed trees and ascend (?) to 
them; but I have never seen them feeding in holes.” Does he mean that 
they run up the trunk? The word ascend is not legible with certainty in 
his MS.; but in Mr. Swainson’s ‘Classification of Birds,’ ii. 186, we read 
that ‘‘Mr. Burchell was the first naturalist who discovered the affinity” 
(N.B. Similarity of habit does not, of necessity, imply affinity) ‘‘of these 
birds to the Woodpeckers, having repeatedly heard their loud tapping in the 
forests of 5. Africa, and witnessed their dexterity in climbing trees.” We 
doubt that the Asiatic Barbets either climb or tap. Mr. Jerdon remarks of 
B. asiaticus, ‘This bird does not climb like a Woodpecker, and I never 
heard any tapping from the trees it frequents ;” and of B. indicus, “‘ Though 
I never detected this Barbet tapping like the Woodpeckers, I have once or 
twice had good reason for supposing that it does so occasionally.” Query. 


— 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 251 


Genus Bucco, L.* 


Bill large, conical, wide at base, more or less compressed for 
about the terminal half, the tomize smooth, and base of the upper 
mandible continued backward to the gape; culmen obtusely 
rounded; and the tips of both mandibles generally of equal 
length, the vibrisse surrounding the bill well developed. ‘These 
birds are peculiar to §. E. Asia and its islands, where very 
numerous species exist, from the size of a Jay downward, all of 
which are bright green, varied chiefly about the head and neck 
with every brilliant colour, though a few have these parts dull 
whitish, more or less lineated with dusky. Their other characters 
have been already stated. 

B. eranpis, Gmelin; Gould’s ‘Century,’ pl. 46.—Length 
about 1 ft.; of wing 53 in., and tail 4 in.; bill to forehead 13 in., 
or nearly so. Colour of the back, scapularies, secondary wing- 
coverts, and breast, brown; head and neck dusky indigo-blue, 
divided from the brown of the back by a narrow yellowish white 
half-collar; hinder half of the wings, rump, and tail, green; the 
primaries and their coverts bluish externally; and the lower tail- 
coverts crimson; flanks brown, the feathers margined laterally 
with yellowish white, imparting a streaked appearance; the middle 
of the belly dull bluish. Bill yellowish white, with dusky tip, in 
the dry specimen. Young very similar, but the colours less 
defined apart, and the nuchal half-collar and lateral margins of 
the feathers of the flanks are more of a golden hue; the size also 
is smaller, the bill less developed, and the feathers are of more 
open texture (as usual in young birds). The name was founded 
on Buffon’s description of le Grand Barbu (Ois. vii. 106), which, 
though received from China, appears to be identical with the 
common Himalayan bird described above; although the play of 
colours on the head and back which he notices is not very per- 
ceptible. Eastward, we have seen it from Cherra Punji (N. of 
Sylhet), but not hitherto from Assam, though doubtless inhabiting 
the mountain ranges of that province; and it does not appear to 


* Mr. G. R. Gray has changed this name to Megalaima, reserving the 
name Bucco for a genus of Tamatiide, a species of which he considers to 
be the first or typical Bucco of Linneus; but the name isso well established 
for the present group, that we consider the alteration unadvisable. Indeed, 
the name Bucco would seem rather to indicate the Asiatic Barbets. 


252 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


exist in those of Arracan and thence southward. Capt. Hutton, 
writing from Masuri, informs us that—‘‘It is found both in the 
Doon and in the hills; it is common here all the year through, 
but very numerous in winter. They feed,” he adds, ‘‘on fruits 
and berries, and will sit for hours together on some tall tree, 
uttering a monotonous hoo-hoohoo without intermission. In 
flying they make great exertions, as if they were fearful of falling 
to the ground.” ‘The American Toucans are said to fly with 
much exertion; but we have not remarked this of the species of 
Bucco which have fallen under our observation. 

B. wineatus, Vieillot (apud Dict. Class.); B. corvinus, 
Temminck, p.c. 522 (apud Horsfield, P. Z. 8. 1839, p. 165). 
Pho-goung, Arracan.—Length about 10} in. ;* of wing about 5 
in.; and tail 33 in.; bill to forehead 1}in. Colour vivid green 
above; the head, neck, and under parts whitish, with brown 
lateral borders to the feathers more or less developed on different 
parts; on the crown the brown predominates towards the fore- 
head, becoming more distinctly lineated with whitish on the 
occiput and nape, these whitish streaks continuing more or less 
on the green of the back; throat streakless, whitish, and the 
feathers of the lower parts but narrowly margined laterally with 
brown; belly, flanks, and lower tail-coverts green, the tail more 
tinged with yellow, and the green more or less extended forward 
in different specimens. Bill reddish-white (in preserved skins), 
and the legs pale. This bird is exceedingly common in Nepal, 
Assam, Sylhet, Tipperah, Arracan, and the ‘l'enasserim Provinces ; 
and is reported by M. Vieillot from Sumatra, though it was not 
met with in that island by Sir Stamford Raffles. Of many dozens 
of skins examined, we have seen none that could be confounded 
with the next species; and make no doubt that this, rather than 
B. caniceps, was the bird we formerly received from Mymunseng 
in Upper Bengal, where likewise it is abundant. 

B. canicers, Franklin, P. Z.§. 1831, p. 121; B. lineatus, apud 
TVickell, J. A. S. ii. 579; P. zeylanicus (?), Linn.t—Size and pro- 


* Capt. Hutton gives 11} in. as the total length of a Doon specimen, we 
presume when recent. 

+ Bura Bussunta of India, apud Franklin, which simply means ‘ Great 
Barbet.’ Col. Sykes remarks—‘ Scarcely distinguishable from Bucco 
corvinus and B. javanicus.” It is undoubtedly allied to the former ; but if 
the latter mean B. javansis, Horsfield (v. katoreas, Tem.), the close affinity, 
according to the description of B. javansis, is not apparent. 


ee 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 253 


portions of the last, or a trifle smaller. Length of a fine recent 
specimen 103 in., by 16 in. in expanse; wing 44 in.; tail 3} in. 
Colour of bill reddish; the iris brown; feet light yellowish 
brown; bare skin around the eye dull orange. General colour of 
B. lineatus, but the brown much predominating over the whitish 
on the head, neck, and under parts; the throat, more especially, 
being always dusky-brown instead of whitish ; the pale streaks to 
the feathers of those parts are much more reduced and narrow 
than in B. lineatus ; and they are commonly more continued, 
though gradually diminishing, upon the green of the back; while 
each wing-covert and tertiary (in the unworn plumage) has a 
whitish speck at tip, which is never seen in B. lineatus ; the fore 
neck and breast are almost uniform brown, instead of whitish, 
lineated with narrow brown lateral streaks to each feather. Such 
is the common species of Central India, found northward in the 
Deyra Doon, where it occurs together with B. lineatus. In Lower 
Bengal, properly so called, it is not met with; but immediately 
to the westward of the alluvial soil of the Ganges, it abounds (as 
in the Mednapur jungles). Its voice is a loud rolling or thrilling 
note, continued for some time, when it breaks into the abrupt 
kuruwik, kuruwik, kuruwik, also repeated for a long while 
together, of B. asiaticus, the note of which species differs only in 
not being preceded by the introductory roll. Specimens from 
Ceylon are invariably smaller, having the wing commonly 42 in., 
and the throat and under parts are generally of a darker colour. 
A Nilgiri specimen, the only one we have seen from S. India, is 
of intermediate size, the wing measuring 43 in.; the brown of 
the nape passes on to the back and even the scapularies; and 
there do not appear to have been any pale specks tipping the 
wing-coverts ; but the skin is not in good order, and its feathers 
are old and worn.* Whether the Ceylon bird here noticed is 
really that figured and described in Brown’s ‘Zoology,’ as the 
*Yellow-cheeked Barbet,’ remains to be ascertained. M. Drapiez, 
describing, we presume, from Levaillant’s figure (Ois. Par., pl. 
88 , gives 7 in. 3 1. (French) as the length, with beak and naked 
skin surrounding the eyes red, from Ceylon. This is both too 
small for the bird before us, the length of which is about 93 in. 


* Of those of the Dukhun, Col. Sykes gives the total length as 8 7-10ths 
in., inclusive of tail of 2 7-10ths in. ‘The bird,” he remarks, “is con- 
sequently smaller than Major Franklin’s, who gives 10 in. as the length.” 


254 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


(English), and too large for Brown’s description, where the figure 
is stated to be somewhat more than two-thirds of the size of the 
living bird, which accordingly should be under 6 in. in length, or 
still smaller than the next species. The colouring (as described, 
not as figured) agrees sufficiently with that of B. caniceps, even 
to the whitish specks tipping the wing-coverts. 

Mr. Jerdon, in his original catalogue, confounding this species 
with the next, describes it as “‘ found throughout” (the peninsula 
of) ‘‘ India, only in the higher jungles, being therefore of course 
most abundant on the west coast, where it is found from the level 
of the sea to the top of the Nilgiris, where it is more abundant 
than in any other locality I lave visited. There is a very 
remarkable variation in the size of this species, the largest 
specimens” (B. caniceps) “being found on the Nilgiris, and 
degenerating in size” (v.e., B. viridis making its appearance) “as 
you approach the coast. From Mr. Elliot’s notes,” he continues, 
“T extract the following interesting observations :—‘ Seldom seen 
on the wing, but single birds. heard on almost every tree, uttering 
their peculiar note, which resembles the native (Canarese) name, 
being a continued kéoturr, kéturr, or k’turr. They continue to 
call for some minutes ata time, and are heard throughout the 
day. On each side of the throat is a naked spot with skin 
wrinkled, which is probably contracted and expanded when the 
bird is calling.’ One was shot picking at the flowers of a small 
tree.” The length of wing of the large specimens Mr. Jerdon 
gives as 4} in. only; and, as native names, he mentions 
Kootoomra, Hind., of some shikaris, Kootoorga, Mahr., and 
Kootur Kakee, Can.,—all derived from the call.* 

More recently, in distinguishing the two species, Mr. Jerdon 
writes, ‘This large Bucco is found in all the jungles of” 
(peninsular) ‘‘ India, as well on the east as on the west coast. I 
have specimens from Malabar, and the eastern ghats, and have 
seen others from Goomsoor, and Bengal” (Mednapur district).t 
‘he wing he here describes as 5 in. long, perhaps from a northern 
specimen. It measures somuch ina Deyra Doon example before 
us, but rarely (we suspect) exceeds 4% in.; while in the Ceylon 
bird (as we have said) it is generally but 4} in. Capt. Hutton 
gives 11 in. as the total length of a Doon specimen; and of this 


* Madr. Journ. xi. 217. + Ibid. xii. 140. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 255 


and the preceding species he remarks, “ The iris is white. 
Neither of them inhabits the hills.” 

B. viriwis, Linn.—Again similar, but much smaller, not 
exceeding 7} or 7% in. long, the wing 4 in., and tail 23 in.; bill 
to forehead 7 in. Colour similar, but the brown of the head and 
nape scarcely lineated; that of the under parts pale, becoming 
whitish on the throat. There are no pale specks on the wing- 
coverts, nor traces of pale streaks on the green of the back. 
“The true B. viridis,’ remarks Mr. Jerdon, ‘as I find on reference 
to the figure in Temminck’s pl. col. pl. 870, is the bird found on 
the Nilgiris, and occasionally in other parts of the Malabar coast.” 
It is peculiar to the Indian peninsula. 

B. curysopocoy, Tem. (p. c. 285).—Length 11 in. -and 
upwards; the wing 5 in., and tail 33 in.; bill to forehead 2 in. 
Colour green, more yellowish beneath, and the nuchal and dorsal 
feathers margined with brighter green ; forehead, supercilia, ear- 
coverts, and throat, greyish-brown; a large vivid yellow 
moustache ; feathers immediately above the nostrils crimson; 
crown and occiput dusky, with crimson tips to the feathers, 
margined with bright blue; the crimson predominating in the 
middle, and the blue on the sides of the occiput ; a slight blue 
gorget, margining the greyish-brown of the throat: tail bluish 
underneath (as usual in the genus); the terminal half of the 
primaries edged with pale buff. Bill black, and the feet appear 
to have been plumbeous. Young similar, with feathers of much 
looser texture, and the colours, excepting the green, much less 
brilliant. Inhabits the Malayan peninsula and Sumatra. 

B. versicotor, Raffles (Tem. p. c. 309). Takoor, Mal. ; 
Takoo, Sumatran (generic).—Length about 10 in.; the wing 44 
to 43 in.; and tail 3 in.; bill to forehead 1d4in. Colour ereen, 
more yellowish beneath, the nuchal and dorsal feathers margined 
with brighter green ; forehead, crown, and occiput, crimson; also 
a spot below the eye, and another on each side of the base of the 
fore-neck ; supercilia, chin and throat, and base of the moustache, 
brilliant blue; the remaining larger portion of the moustache 
bright orange-yellow; the lores and ear-coverts black; beak 
black, the vibrissee reaching beyond its tip. Young similar, but 
with the colours much less bright, and the forehead greenish. 
Inhabits the Malayan peninsula and Sumatra, being particularly 
abundant. 


256 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


B. quapricotor, Eyton, P. Z. 8. 1839, p. 105.—Length about 
84 in.; of wing 3% to 4 in.; and tail 23 in.; bill to forehead 13 
in. Colour green, yellower beneath, the nuchal and dorsal 
feathers margined with brighter green; forehead bright orange- 
yellow, and a tinge of this colour at the base of the moustaches ; 
crown, chin and throat, and a spot on each side of the base of 
the fore-neck, also another at the base of each nostril, crimson ; 
a spot below the eye, and gorget margining the crimson throat, 
verditer-blue ; terminal portion of the primaries margined with 
pale buff; the bill black. Inhabits the Malayan peninsula. 

B. armiuaris, Temminck (p. c. 89, f. 1).—Length about 7} 
in.; the wing 33 in.; and tail 24 in.; bill to forehead 1 in. 
Colour green, yellower below; the forehead and supercilia bright 
orange-yellow ; crown, chin and throat, verditer-blue ; a spot on 
each side of the base of the fore-neck, and a half-collar on the 
nape, crimson. Bill and loral feathers black. The young, as 
described by Stephens, have all the plumage green or greenish, 
shaded with bluish, and marked on the tip of the feathers of the 
upper parts with bright green lunules; the yellow on the head 
and collar expands as the individual advances in age.”* Inhabits 
the Malayan peninsula, and Java (?). Specimens of this and of 
the three preceding species, also of B. trimaculatus, are common 
in the Malacca collections ; those of B. versicolor and B. trimacu- 
latus, however, being much more numerous. 

B. astaricus; Trogon asiaticus, Shaw; Capito cyanocollis, 
Vieillot; B. cyanops, Cuy.; B. ceruleus, Dumeril. Burra 
Bussunt-bairi, Bengal ; Koop-kha-loung, Arracan.—Length about 
94 in., by 133 in. in expanse ; wing 4 to 4} in.; tail 3 in.; bill to 
forehead 1 in. Colour green above, with a slight ruddy tinge on 
the back ; yellower below ; forehead, occiput, and a spot on either 
side of the base of the fore-neck, crimson; band across the 
crown, continued backward as an upper supercilium, black; 
cheeks, ear-coverts, moustache, throat and front of the neck, 
including a narrow lower supercilium, verditer-blue. Bill black 
above, the sides of the basal half (and often the whole base) of 
the upper mandible, and the lower mandible except at tip, pale 


* Stephens, probably describing from Temminck’s plate cited above, 
mentions a golden-yellow half-collar on the breast, which we have never 
seen among numerous Malacca specimens examined. He gives Java as the 
habitat ; and erroneously refers to this species the B. flavifrons, Cuv. 


* 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 257 


greenish yellow. Irides reddish hazel; nude orbital skin tinged 
with orange; the lids with a circlet of orange wart-like papille, 
forming the orbits; legs greenish ashy. Young similar, but the 
colours of the head and neck less vivid, the red being mixed with 
green, and the dusky transverse coronal band with blue. 
Exceedingly common in Lower Bengal, and northward to the 
sub-Himalayan region; likewise abundant in Assam, Sylhet, 
Tipperah ; becoming rare in Arracan. Capt. Hutton notices this 
species and B. indicus as being common in the Deyra Doon, 
neither of them occurring ever in the hills. Its voice has been 
mentioned under the notice of B. caniceps. 

B. rrankuinu, Blyth, J. A. S. xi. 167.—Length about 8 in.; 
of wing 84 to 4 in.; and tail 2} in.; bill to forehead % to 1 inch. 
Colour green, much yellower below; the shoulders of the wings, 
and margins of the primaries, blue; forehead and occiput 
crimson ; the crown and throat orange-yellow, often tinged with 
crimson on the crown and at the corners of the gape, lores and 
sincipita black ; ear-coverts, and continued round in a half circle 
below the orange throat, a sort of whity-brown. Bill black. 
Young similar, but the colours of the head and throat are less 
brilliant. Common in the 8.E. Himalaya, as in Nepal and 
Sikim ; also at Cherra Punji, and doubtless therefore inhabiting 
the mountain ranges of Assam. 

B. isvicus, L.; B. philippensis, Gm.; B. flavicollis, Vieillot ; 
B. rubricollis, Cuv.; B. luteus, Lesson, albino variety (Jerdon). 
Chota Bussunt-bairi, Beng.; Kut-Khora, H., also Tambayut, i.e. 
‘ Coppersmith,’ which name it receives also from some European 
residents (Jerdon); Chanda, Sumatra; Hngku, Java.—Length 
62 in., by 11 in.; wing 3 to 3} in.; tail 14 in.; bill to forehead 
$in. Colour green above, with a slight ruddy tinge, the feathers 
more or less margined with yellowish; below yellowish white, 
streaked with green; the whitish predominating on the middle of 
the belly; broad frontal space, and a wide gorget, crimson ; 
throat, and above and below the eye, sulphur-yellow; below the 
crimson gorget is a narrow crescent of golden-yellow; band 
across the crown, continued round to the yellow throat, and 
including the moustaches, black; a bluish tinge on the occiput 
and sides of the neck, and on the margins of the great alars and 
tail. Bill black. Ivrides dark hazel; nude orbital skin dull 
crimson. Feet pale crimson, or coral-red, with contrasting black 

ZOOLOGIST.—JULY, 1884, x 


258 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


claws. Young much duller in colour, with no trace of crimson 
or black on the plumage, but yellow above and below the eye and 
on the throat. This small Barbet is the commonest of the Indian 
species, and appears to have a more extensive distribution than 
any other of the genus. We have seen it from Tipperah, 
Chittagong, from Ramree (Arracan), and it abounds in the 
Tenasserim provinces, occurring likewise in the Malayan 
peninsula, about the latitude of Penang, but we have not seen it 
from Malacea. It inhabits Sumatra and Java, and the description 
of B. philippensis, from the Phillippine Islands, accords, except 
that the black band on the crown and sides of the neck is not 
mentioned. We have not remarked it from Assam; nor in 
Himalayan collections. In Lower Bengal it is extremely common, 
and appears to be equally so in the Indian peninsula. Mr. 
Jerdon writes of it:—‘‘ The Copper-smith is extremely common 
in all parts of the country, wherever there is a sufficiency of 
trees, inhabiting open spaces in the jungles (never in the denser 
portions), groves, avenues, and gardens; being very familiar, 
approaching close to houses and sometimes perching on the 
house-top. When not employed in feeding, it generally perches 
itself on the very top of a tree, and gives utterance to its 
monotonous call of ‘took, took, took’ (as represented by Sykes), 
nodding its head at each call, first to one side and then to the 
other.” Such are its habits, as familiarly observed in Bengal: 
but its sonorous and repeated “hugh” is often uttered as it hops 
from twig to twig, regardless of observation, its throat puffing out 
at each repetition of the sound. 

B. MALABARICUS, nobis, J. A. 8. xvi. 465; described and 
erroneously referred to B. barbiculus, Cuv., ibid. xv. 13.—‘* Length 
5 in.” (probably more in the recent specimen); “ of wing 34 in., 
and tail 13 in. ; billto forehead 2 in. General colour deep green ; 
the forehead, around the eyes, and the throat, crimson, the last 
margined with yellow; occiput and cheeks pale blue.” From the 
Malabar jungles. 

B. RuBRIcAPILLUS, Gmelin, founded on pl. xiv. of Brown’s 
‘Zoology. —Length about 6 in ; of wing 3 in., and tail 14 in.; 
bill to forehead $in. Colour green above, much paler, with a 
slight bluish tinge below, and a more conspicuous tinge of blue 
on the sides of the neck; broad frontal space, and also a slight 
gorget, crimson; throat, and above and below the eye, deep 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 259 


orange-yellow; and a crescent of the same below the little more 
than indicated crimson gorget. The under parts of this and of 
the last species are streakless. Common in Ceylon, where it 
appears to replace B. indicus. Though Brown's figure, from 
which the descriptions of this bird have been taken, is very 
faulty, and the said descriptions of it are therefore erroneous, it 
is clear upon comparison of that figure with specimens that the 
Cinghalese species here described was intended to be represented. 

B. ruavirrons, Cuv. (Levaillant, Ois. Par. pl. 55).—“‘ Length 
6 in. (French).—Upper parts green, with the edges of the feathers 
yellowish; lower parts pale green; breast scale-like (maillée) ; 
forehead of a beautiful golden yellow; a spot of this colour at 
the base of the beak; around the eye, and the chin, blue, as are 
also the tail-feathers underneath.” Inhabits Ceylon, and is 
stated to be-nearly allied to B. australis, Horsfield (v. gularis, 
Temminck). Non vidi. 

B. rrimacunatus, Gray; B. australis apud Raffles (nec 
Horsfield) ; B. cyanotis, Blyth, J. A. S. xvi. 465 (Arracan variety). 
Toupak, Malacca ; Uget-pa-din, Arracan.—Length about 63 in., 
of wing 3 in. to 34 in., and tail 28 to 23 in.; bill to forehead 
¢in.; the rictal bristles reaching } in. beyond its tip. Colour 
deep green above, more yellowish below, tinged with blue on the 
tail and edges of the wings; throat bright light verditer; the 
sides of the forehead, and posterior half of the crown, verditer 
blue-grey ; anterior half of the crown, ear-coverts, feathers at 
base of lower mandible, and slight gorget (more or less defined), 
black ; three large crimson spots on the sides of the face, one 
behind the eye and above the ear-coverts, a second below the 
lores and in front of the ear-coverts, and a third below the ear- 
coverts. Bill black. Young wholly green, paler below, with 
merely a bluish tinge on the throat; the base of the lower 
mandible white in dry specimens. Extremely common in the 
Malayan peninsula, and in Sumatra; from the ‘lenasserim pro- 
vinces we have not seen it; but in Arracan it is abundantly 
represented by a race (B. cyanotis, Bl.), having the crimson spots 
much weaker, and the ear-coverts and feathers anterior to the 
sincipital crimson spot (which are black in the Malayan race) of 
the same verditer hue as the throat. We have seen but one 
Malacca specimen in which the ear-coverts were not black ; 
and in this they were green, with but a slight admixture of 


260 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


verditer, while the crimson spots were as deep-coloured as 
usual. 


Genus CaLORHAMPHUs, Lesson. 


Differs from Bucco in having no vivid colours, nor vibrissz 
surrounding the bill; the upper mandible of which is somewhat 
acutely carinated above, having the ridge continued backward to 
the forehead, and of an arcuated form, its extremity curving over 
that of the lower mandible; sides of the bill smooth and flat, 
continued backward to the angles of the gape. Wings having 
the third, fourth, and fifth primaries subequal, the second shorter, 
and the first but half the length of the third. Rest as in Bucco 
(so far at least as external characters are concerned). But one 
species is known. 

C. taTHami; Bucco Lathami, Gmelin; C. sanguinolentus, 
Lesson ; Micropogon fuliginosus, Temminck; Megalorhynchus 
spinosus, Eyton. Unkat Besea, Penang; Ampis, Sumatra. 
Length about 7 in., of wing 82 in., and tail 2 in.; bill to forehead 
1 in.—Colour deep brown above, with slight greenish margins to 
the feathers of the back and the upper tail-coverts; stems of 
the coronal feathers thickened and prolonged into soft spines ; 
below somewhat glistening yellowish white, passing to ruddy- 
brown on the throat. Bill blackish in the presumed males, 
carneous in the presumed females; legs coral-red. Young 
similar, but with a smaller bill, and the greenish edges to the 
feathers more developed and showing on the under parts. 
Common in the Malayan peninsula and in Sumatra. We know 
nothing of its habits. 


Note.—Besides the six species of Bucco here noticed ‘as 
inhabiting the Malayan peninsula, there are several others in the 
neighbouring islands of Sumatra and Java, certain of which may 
yet be discovered in the peninsula, especially in the more elevated 
forests of the interior. Such are B. javensis, Horsf. (v. kotoreas, 
Tem.); B. mystacophanes, Tem.; B. fuscicapillus, Drapiez; B. 
tristis, Drapiez; B. Rafjlesii, Lesson; B. corti, Tem.; B. roseus, 
Cuvy. (v. roseicollis, Horsf.) ; B. australis, Horsf. (v. gularis, Tem.), 
and probably others with whose names we are unacquainted, if 
some of those mentioned be not doubles emplois. In the Ten- 
asserim Provinces, Dr. Helfer states the existence of five species,* 


* J. A. 5S. vii. 862, 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 261 


of which we have seen two only, B. lineatus and B. indicus, both 
of which are common. In Arracan, the latter seems to be con- 
fined to the vicinity of the coast; but the former abounds, also 
the cyanotis variety of B. trimaculatus, and B. asiaticus first 
makes its appearance in that direction. B. lineatus continues 
abundant in Sylhet, Assam, Nepal, and, we believe, Upper Bengal ; 
this and B. asiaticus being the only Barbets we have hitherto 
seen from Assam. In the Himalaya, B. grandis and DB. 
Franklinii are true hill species, both of which occur at Cherra 
Punji N. of Sylhet, whence there can be little doubt of their also 
inhabiting the hill ranges of Assam. In Nepal the assemblage 
consists of B. grandis, lineatus, asiaticus, and Franklini, with 
probably indicus accompanying asiaticus in the valley and parts of 
the Terai region. In the delta of the Ganges we have only 
asiaticus and indicus ; but immediately to the westward caniceps 
replaces asiaticus, as it does lineatus more to the north; and this 
last species inhabits the whole peninsula of India, being repre- 
sented by a rather smaller race in Ceylon, and perhaps another in 
the Nilgiris. A still smaller race, but otherwise nearly similar, 
the B. viridis, is peculiar to 8. and W. (?) India; while B. 
caniceps inhabits so high as the Deyra Doon; and perhaps the 
true B. zeylanicus will be found to constitute another allied 
species in Ceylon. In that island we find that B. indicus (so 
generally spread over India) is replaced by B. rubricapillus ; and 
in the Malabar jungles there is B. malabaricus, which chiefly (or 
only ?) differs from B. rubricapillus in having the throat and 
above and below the eyes crimson like the forehead, instead of 
orange-yellow. Another small species, the B. flavifrons assigned 
to Ceylon, which we have not seen, completes the series as at 
present known; and we have information of a handsomely 
coloured Barbet in the interior of Ceylon (which is perhaps the 
flavifrons, additional to B. caniceps, var., and B. rubricapillus. 
That island contains therefore at least three species of the genus ; 
and perhaps a fourth in B. zeylanicus, unless this name be 
ascertained to refer of necessity to B. caniceps, var.; and 
excepting the latter it will be remarked that the Ceylon species 
differ decidedly from those of the mainland of India. Of the 
Barbets of the N.W. provinces, we have no satisfactory infor- 
mation ; but expect no additional species in that direction, where 
the genus attains the N.W. limits of its geographical range. 


262 THE ZOOLOGIS‘. 


PS.—We have been assured, on good authority, that B. 
asiaticus has beeu seen to climb, in the manner of a Woodpecker, 
to its nest hole; and this is probably the amount of its scansorial 
propensity. 


Note.—Since the accompanying sketch of the Indian Barbets 
was printed off, Capt. Tickell has obligingly favoured us with a 
transcription of Mr. G. R. Gray’s article on the group, published 
in his ‘ Illustrated Genera of Birds.’ He includes it (like most 
of his predecessors) among the Picide, as a distinct subfamily ; 
whereas it has a much better claim to be thus included as a sub- 
ordinate division of Rhamphastide ; and of his genus Megalaima 
(our Bucco), he enumerates twenty-nine species, to which B. 
malabaricus has to be added. We may subtract, however, his M. 
lutea, referred by Mr. Jerdon to B. indicus as an albino variety ; 
and M. maculata (Trogon maculatus, Gm.), founded on Brown’s 
figure of “the Spotted Curucui,” which is decidedly intended to 
represent a variety of our Chrysococcys smaragdinus (J. A. S. xv. 
53). B. Lathami, Gm., is likewise included, and with propriety ; 
while our Caloramphus Lathami he gives as Megalorhynchus 
Hayii (Gray), with the synonyms we have cited excepting Bucco 
Lathami. There are also certain African species included, which 
we hesitate to adopt as members of this generic division. The 
following reductions and rectifications of synonyms of species 
described or referred to in the accompanying paper may be 
accepted on his authority. 

B. viens, Boddaért ; B. grandis, Gmelin. 

B. versicotor, Raffles; B. Rafjilesii, Lesson. (There can be 
little doubt of this identification, though the forehead of B. 
fiagjlesii is said to be black, meaning probably the extreme base 
only of the forehead). 

b. rumiprrensis, Brisson; B. Jlavigula, Boddaért ; B. indicus, 
Latham, &e. 

B. ruavirrons, Cuv.; B. aurifrons, Temminck. 

B. rrimacuiatus, Gray; B. frontalis, Tem.; B. Duvaucelii, 
Lesson. 

B. oorti, Muller; B. Henrici, Temminck. 

B. rosEus, Cuv.; Capito rosaceicollis, Vieillot; B. barbiculus, 
Cuy.; B. roseicollis, Vigors. 

And a B, mauaccensis, Hartlaub (Rev. Zool., &c., 1842, p. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 263 


387), is given, which has probably to be added to the species 
inhabiting the Malayan peninsula ; while B. fuscicapillus and B. 
tristis, Drapiez (Dict. Class. d’Hist. Nat.), are omitted. Mr. Gray 
brings all the toothed species of Africa under his genus Lemodon 
(Pogonias, Illiger), even such as L. leucomelas (Boddaért, v. B. 
niger, Gmelin, Pogonias Stephensii, Leach, and B. rubrifrons, 
Stephens), which has the beak comparatively small and the 
Vibrisse but slight, although among the generic characters of 
Lemodon he states —“ the base of both mandibles furnished with 
long bristles.” Other African species are referred by him to the 
American genus Capito, Vieillot. Altogether he gives ten species 
of Lemodon, twenty-nine of Megalema (Bucco), fifteen of Capito, 
and one respectively of Psilopogon and Megalorhynchus, making 
a total of fifty-six as the approximate estimate of the number of 
species of Bucconide at present known. 

Of the habits of Lemodon, Mr. Gray writes :—‘‘ These species 
inhabit the forests of Africa, where they are usually observed in 
pairs, living on insects and fruits. They select a hole of a rotten 
tree, in which the female deposits her eggs on the bare wood. 
On quitting the nest the young form a small band with the 
parents, and all live together in perfect harmony until they in 
their turn separate into couples. These birds are so devoid of 
fear that it is easy to find their nest, it being only necessary to 
follow the little band towards the evening to the hole where they 
reside, and to which they always retire to pass the night.” This 
is quoted to invite a closer observation of the habits of the Indian 
species, which, though not gregarious, very probably retire to 
their holes to roost. Mr. Gray adds, ‘‘ They sometimes take 
possession of one of the cells of the large” (compound) “nests 
of certain Weaver-birds,’ in a compartment of which M. 
Levaillant states that he once found an aged Barbet in a helpless 
condition, which must long have received its food from others. 

Further, Mr. Gray remarks, of the species of Megalaima (our 
Bucco) :—‘‘ They have been observed climbing round and picking 
holes in a horizontal rotten branch, precisely in the manner of 
the Woodpeckers, though they do not employ their tail for support 
while thus occupied. In the interior of the hole is built their 
nest ” (or are the eggs laid on the bare fragments of rotten wood ?). 
Attention is invited to these particulars. 

According to Capt. ‘lickell, B. virens (v. grandis) “swarms at 


264 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Darjiling, and its monotonous péé6-pé6-pé6—from morning to night 
is heard until the rains are over (early in October), and the young 
birds are seen wandering about on the roadside. A Bengalee 
name for B. asiaticus is Suttéra, imitative of its loud note.” 

For ‘‘the Rhamphastide,” in note [p. 249], read “ Rham- 
phastos.” In the allied genus Pteroglossus the nostrils are placed 
more as in the Barbets, but not in a groove; except in the sub- 
group Aulacorhynchus, wherein this groove extends very far along 
the upper mandible. 


Just as the above was going to press, we have been fortunate 
in procuring a living specimen of Bucco philippensis, caged and 
sufficiently reconciled to confinement, which has afforded the 
means of the following observations :— 

1. Having tied together a few of the primaries of each wing 
to prevent its flying, the bird was placed on the trunk of a tree, 
and at its base where the principal root-branches begin to spread ; 
but it manifested no disposition whatever to climb or ascend (as 
a Wryneck does under similar circumstances). On the ground it 
hops with facility enough, though not with the easy successive 
hops of a Sparrow, being essentially a percher. 

2. When it was tolerably hungry, we tried it with various 
kinds of insects, but the first which attracted its attention were 
some small soft maggots, some of which it picked up and 
scattered, but did not swallow one. Afterwards it seized some 
grasshoppers and large spiders, which it held and squeezed or 
munched for an inordinately long time within the particularly 
firm grip of its mandibles, and then rejected, taking up another 
which it had perhaps thus squeezed and mashed before. Mr, 
Broderip’s Toucan, it will be remembered, treated an unfortunate 
Goldfinch in the same manner ; but at sight of fruit, the Barbet 
at once left his insect victims, none of which he swallowed, 
though certainly in want of food when these were supplied 
him. 


( 265 ) 


ON THE ORIGIN OF THE EDIBLE FROG IN ENGLAND. 
By G. A. BouLencEr. 


WE need go no farther back than 1844 for the first certain 
record of the occurrence of this frog in England. Mr. F. Bond, 
in ‘The Zoologist’ for 1844 (p. 293), mentions the discovery of 
Rana esculenta by Mr. C. Thurnall, of Duxford, in Foulmire Fen, 
Cambridgeshire, in September, 1843. At the meeting of July 9th, 
1844, Yarrell exhibited specimens on behalf of Mr. Bond, which 
were presented to the British Museum ; others were presented by 
Mr. Bond to the Zoological Society, subsequently transferred to 
the British Museum; others again were deposited at the same 
time in the Museum of the University of Cambridge. It is 
fortunate that several specimens of the Edible Frog as originally 
discovered in Foulmire should have been preserved, for a few 
years later the fen was drained, and these frogs appear to have 
entirely disappeared from Cambridgeshire. 

Although, as just stated, the first certain reference to the 
Edible Frog in England is dated 1844, two old authors give the 
animal as British—Pennant (‘ British Zoology,’ iii. p. 18, 1776), 
without reference to any locality, and Shaw (‘ General Zoology,’ 
lil. p. 103, 1802) as “rare in England.” And Pennant has a note 
on the Common Frog (p. 11), which, it would seem, applies only 
to the Edible Frog :—‘*‘ The croaking of frogs is well known, and 
from that in fenny countries they are distinguished by ludicrous 
titles; thus they are styled ‘ Dutch Nightingales’ and ‘ Boston 
Waits.’”’ 

It is also important to learn from Bell, in the second edition 
of his ‘British Reptiles,’ and in a letter published in ‘The 
Zoologist’ for 1859 (p. 6565), that his father, who was a native 
of Cambridgeshire, had described to him, as long as he could 
recollect, the peculiarly loud and somewhat musical sound uttered 
by the frogs of Whaddon and Foulmire, which procured for them 
the name of ‘‘Whaddon Organs.” These references, however, to 
voice only appear to me to be quite insufficient to prove the 
ancient existence of the Edible Frog in England, for it must be 
borne in mind that the Natterjack Toad, Bufo calamita, which no 
doubt inhabited the same fens, produces a very loud croak from 
the holes and fissures in the clay in which it remains concealed 


266 THE ZOOLOGist. 


in the daytime, and may equally have merited the appellation 
of “‘ Dutch Nightingale,” or ‘‘ Whaddon Organ.” 

Returning to the subject, we next have in ‘ The Zoologist’ for 
1844 a tolerably good figure (p. 467), an additional note by 
Mr. F. Bond (p. 677), in which he states that the frog is very 
abundant in Foulmire Fen, and a note by Bell (p. 727) giving 
some of the characters distinguishing the new frog from the 
common species. ; 

In 1847 (Zool. p. 1821) we have a communication by J. 
Wolley, questioning whether the Edible Frog is a true native of 
Britain, and learn that Foulmire Fen is drained, and the frogs 
have dispersed (or become extinct). Remarking on the occur- 
rence at the same place oi the Edible Snail, Helix pomatia, he 
adds :—‘‘ They are, if I mistake not, believed by conchologists to 
have been originally introduced from the Continent, perhaps by 
Roman monks; may not the frogs have been introduced to eat 
with them by the same Italians ?” 

The second edition of Bell’s ‘British Reptiles’ (1849) adds 
nothing to our knowledge, except that he published the above- 
mentioned remarks of his father on the ‘‘Whaddon Organs”; 
and a figure taken from British specimens is given. 

The question remained undealt with till 1859, when Prof. 
A. Newton wrote an article in ‘The Zoologist’ (p. 6538), relating 
his discovery in 1853 of the Edible Frog in Norfolk, between 
Thetford and Scoulton, and published the following important 
letter from Mr. George Berney :—‘“I went to Paris in 1837; 
some letters which I wrote from that place, and which now lie 
before me, fix the date with certainty: I brought home 200 


Edible Frogs and a great quantity of spawn. These were 


deposited in the ditches in the meadows at Morton, in some 
ponds at Hockering, and some were placed in the fens at 
Foulden, near Stoke Ferry. They did not like the meadows, 
and left them for ponds. I found some in a pond at the top of 
Honingham Heights, near the old telegraph. I have measured 
the distance on a map, three chains to an inch, this morning, 
and find it to be, in a straight line, 1$ mile and 40 yards. .... 
In 1841 I imported another lot from Brussels. In 1842 I brought 
over from St. Omer 1300 in large hampers... . . . These were dis- 
persed about in the above-mentioned places, and many hundreds 
were put into the fens at Foulden and in the neighbourhood.” 


Ta eee 


ORIGIN OF THE EDIBLE FROG IN ENGLAND. 267 


Prof. Newton adds (I. ¢ ) that he regards the specimens found 
by him in 1858, and which were deposited in the Norwich 
Museum, as the descendants of Mr. Berney’s importations. 

In the succeeding number of ‘The Zoologist’ (p. 6565) we 
find a reply from Bell that the fact of the Esculent Frog being 
indigenous to this country appears to him to rest on irrefragable 
testimony. And, in favour of this view, he adduces the opinion 
of his father, ‘‘formed nearly a century ago,” regarding the 
‘“ Whaddon Organs,” to which we have already referred. 

In the same volume of ‘The Zoologist’ (p. 6606) John Wolley 
contributes an interesting article, entitled ‘“‘Is the Edible Frog 
a true Native of Britain?” in which, after discussing the in- 
formation which up to that date had been obtained, he inclines 
to the opinion that the species has been introduced, considering 
the reasons given by Bell inadequate to prove that it is 
indigenous. 

The last important note is by Prof. Newton, who relates 
(‘ Zoologist,’ 1877, p. 61) that, being in company with Lord Wal- 
singham at a small station on the Thetford and Walton Railway, 
he found a colony of Edible Frogs, one specimen from which was 
captured and presented to the Norwich Museum. He adds :— 
“On reference to my former note it will be seen that this species 
has thus made good its existence in Norfolk for at least thirty- 
four years, and I cannot doubt that the last colony I found is 
one of the results of Mr. Berney’s original importations, as that 
gentleman has informed me that he has not introduced any 
more in the meanwhile, and I know of no one who is likely to 
have done so. From Lord Walsingham I have since learnt that 
he has ascertained that the species is pretty generally diffused 
in a south-westerly direction from the place where we found it, 
and therefore its naturalisation in the country seems to be 
accomplished.” 

Thus it appears that three opinions have been expressed 
regarding the British Rana esculenta:—(1) That it is indigenous. 
(2) That it was perhaps introduced by Italians. (3) That the Nor- 
_ folk specimens, and perhaps also the Cambridge ones, were intro- 

duced by Mr. Berney from Belgium and the North of France. 

The first-named opinion has no evidence to support it: the 
references of Fleming as well as of Bell’s father, even if really 
applying to this frog (which must always remain doubtful), would 


268 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


only prove that it has existed in England for the last 150 years; 
nothing more. :, 

Wolley’s opinion that it may have been introduced by Italians 
as a delicacy (as is said to have been the case with the Edible 
Snail) was a mere suggestion ; still, as we shall see further on, it 
is one which agrees with the facts I have now to bring to light. 

As to the third opinion, I may observe in the first place that, 
as regards the colony at Foulmire Fen, it is hardly admissible 
that a few hundred specimens having been turned out in widely 
separated spots in Norfolk in 1837, and 1840, so many should 
have migrated to a fen on the southern border of Cambridgeshire 
to such an extent as to be found there in great abundance in 
1848. But there is another much more important argument 
against this view, which brings me to the object of this commu- 
nication. 

The Edible Frog is a widely distributed form, and like all 
such forms shows a great amount of variation, so that it is 
possible to define several local races, or subspecies. One of the 
safest characters for the division of R. esculenta into minor 
groups is afforded by the relative development of the inner meta- 
tarsal tubercle. As I have observed in a previous communication 
in this Journal (p. 220), the typical R. esculenta as commonly 
occurring in Central Europe has this tubercle compressed, large, 
measuring 4 to 5 mm. in specimens in which the inner toe, 
measured from the tubercle, averages 9 to 11 mm. On 
examining the six specimens from Foulmire Fen in the British 
Museum, I was much surprised to find that they do not agree 
with the typical Rf. esculenta, but differ in having the metatarsal 
tubercle much larger still, shovel-shaped, with almost cutting 
edge; in the largest specimens the inner toe measures only 
7 or 73 mm., and the tubercle gives 4 or 4 mm. They therefore 
cannot be ranked with the true R. esculenta, but belong to the 
Italian form named by Camerano Rana esculenta lessone. Having 
received, through the kindness of my friend Dr. Camerano, type- 
specimens of the latter form from Piedmont, I have convinced 
myself that there cannot be the slightest doubt that the British 
Edible Frog belongs to the Italian form. Having informed Prof. 
Newton of my discovery, he courteously enabled me to examine 
two specimens from Foulmire, preserved in the Museum of the 
University of Cambridge, and these also proved to be &. lessone. 


ORIGIN OF THE EDIBLE FROG IN ENGLAND. 269 


Although convinced that the Cambridgeshire specimens are 
of Italian, and probably relatively ancient origin, still I had no 
doubt that the specimens found in Norfolk by Prof. Newton in 
1853 and 1877 would prove to be referable to the true Rana 
esculenta, in consequence of the importations by Mr. Berney. 
Wishing to verify this supposition, I applied to Mr. Gurney, who 
was kind enough to obtain from the authorities of the Norwich 
Museum the loan of specimens for my examination. I received 
two adult specimens, presented by Prof. Newton (the ones alluded 
to in his communication in 1859), which I was rather disappointed 
to find had been stuffed, and a young one in spirits, presented by 
Lord Walsingham (Zool. 1877). My astonishment was great to 
find that these, also, are of the form lessone. 

It is clear to me, therefore, that all the specimens the capture 
of which has hitherto been recorded, whether from Cambridge- 
shire or Norfolk, are not the descendants of those introduced by 
Mr. Berney, but are of Italian origin. By whom and when they 
were introduced in this country I cannot venture to suggest. 

I append the following measurements, in millimetres, of all 
the British specimens which I have examined, and of Italian, 
French, and Belgian specimens. 


From snout Inner meta- Inner 


Riana esculenta, var. lessone. tovent. tarsaltubele. toe, 
3g. Foulmire Fen. F. Bond. Brit. Mus. . 53 4 i 
ey ra ” ” 99 uJ 51 a5 6 
an ” ” ” OY 4:5 75 
we ” ” ” 60 4 7 
juv. ” ” ” 31 2 35 
juv. s a se Bore 2 3:5 
ewe », Cambridge Mus. 56 4-5 7 
2 . ” ” ” . 61 4°5 (5) 
ee ore sed A.Newton. NorwichMus. 65 4 7 
g e bi] ” ” = 70 4°5 7:5 
juv. Stow Bedon. Walsingham. _,, ood 2 3°5 
S.Novara, Piedmont. Camerano. Brit.Mus. . 48 3°5 6 
2 ”? 9 99 e 72 5 9 
Tiana esculenta, typica. 
a. Paris. : Brit.Mus. . 68 4 9°5 
9. a ‘5 5 teh 4 10 
f°) Brussels. BrusselsMus. 82 4 10 


If the French and Belgian imported frogs have survived there 
will be no difficulty in distinguishing them from their relatives, 
and I hope that we may hear of the capture of specimens for 
comparison. 


270 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


The proposed new Biological Station.—A meeting of the Marine 
Biological Association of the United Kingdom was held at Burlington 
House on June 17th, to elect a President and Officers, and frame Bye-Laws. 
This Society has been founded “for the purpose of establishing and main- 
taining laboratories on the coast of the United Kingdom, where accurate 
researches may be carried on leading to the improvement of zoological and 
botanical science, and to an increase of our knowledge as regards the food, 
life-conditions, and habits of British food-fishes and mollusks.” Sub- 
scriptions and donations have at present been received amounting to about 
£1500; the sum required by the Association for the purpose of building 
and equipping its first laboratory is estimated at £10,000. At the 
meeting lately held a code of Bye-Laws was drawn up, and the following 
noblemen and gentlemen were elected to serve as President, Vice- 
Presidents, Council, Hon. Treasurer, and Hon. Secretary, namely :— 
President, Prof. Huxley; Vice-Presidents, the Duke of Argyll, K.G., the 
Duke of Sutherland, K.T., the Earl of Dalhousie, K.T., Lord Walsingham, 
Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., Mr. Edward Birkbeck, M.P., Mr. George 
Busk, F.R.S., Dr. W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S., Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., 
Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S.; Council, Prof. Moseley, F.R.S., Mr. W. S. 
Caine, M.P., Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer, F.R.S., Prof. Jeffrey Bell, F.Z.S., 
Dr. John Evans, Treasurer R.S., Prof. Herdman, Mr. E. W. H. Holdsworth, 
Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., Prof. McIntosh, Prof. Milnes Marshall, Sir Phillip 
C. Owen, K.C.M.G., C.B., Mr. G. J. Romanes, F.R.S., Mr. P. L. Sclater, 
F.R.S., Mr. Adam Sedgwick; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Frank Crisp, V.-P. 
Linn. Soc., 6, Old Jewry, E.C.; Hon. Secretary, Prof. E. Ray Lankester, 
F.R.S., 11, Wellington Mansions, North Bank, N.W., to whom all com- 
munications may be addressed. 


An Austrian Game Bag.— An official report, published by the 
Administration of Woods and Forests, states that there were killed last 
season in Austria proper, as distinguished from Hungary, 6550 Stags, 
2244 Hinds, 44,485 Roebuck, 6116 Chamois, 2372 Wild Boar, 1,025,808 
Hares, 9103 Woodhens (Black Grouse), 4075 Bartavelles (Red-legged 
Partridges), 89,209 Pheasants, 789,883 Partridges, 80,032 Quails, 23,683 
Woodcock, 17,065 Snipe, 760 Wild Geese, and 43,908 Wild Duck. ‘The 
return also includes 26 Bears (fifteen killed in Gallicia, six in the Tyrol, 
three in Bukovina, and two in Carniola), 123 Wolves, 52 Lynxes, 21,462 
Foxes, 702 Martens, 15,577 Polecats, 764 Otters, 2447 Badgers, 486 
Eagles, and 91,132 Hawks and other birds of prey. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 271 


MAMMALIA. 


Badger and Polecat in Leicestershire.—A few days ago (June 14th), 
as a farm servant was going to his work early in the morning, he saw a 
Badger lying asleep in the bottom of a dry ditch, and having cleverly placed 
the prongs of a pitchfork, which he was carrying in his hand, across the 
Badger’s neck, he pinned him to the ground; he then tied his legs together 
with a piece of cord, and carried him home in triumph. The mere capture 
of a Badger in Leicestershire is by no means an unusual occurrence, for 
they are very abundant in this neighbourhood. The present case is only 
worth recording from the peculiar manner in which it was effected. I have 
seen many which have either been shot or taken alive, some of them very 
large specimens; one which was shot a few years ago by a person in this 
village weighed 24 tbs. With reference to the distribution of the Mammalia 
in England this note may be of some use; and, for the same reason, I may 
also mention that the Polecat is far from uncommon, though perhaps not so 
plentiful as the Badger—A. Mavraews (Gumley, Market Harborough). 


An amber-coloured Mole.—During the first week of June I received 
from a mole-catcher in an adjoining parish an amber-coloured variety of the 
Common Mole. He has met with several of this variety in the course of 
his trapping.—A. Marruews (Gumley, Market Harborough). 


BIRDS. 


Note on a Gyr Falcon obtained in Sussex in 1851.—In ‘The 
Zoologist’ for 1851 (p. 8233) Mr. Ellman recorded the occurrence, 
in January of that year, of a Gyr Falcon at Mayfield, in Sussex. This 
specimen subsequently passed into the fine collection of Mr. Borrer, of 
Cowfold, where I had recently the pleasure of examining it, and of identi- 
fying it as a genuine example of Hierofalco gyrfalco, not “ immature,” as 
stated by Mr. Ellman, but in fully adult plumage, and in excellent 
preservation. The very great rarity of British specimens of this falcon 
induces me to record my opinion that this example is referable to H. gyr- 
falco, and not, as catalogued in Mr. Harting’s ‘ Handbook of British Birds,’ 
to H. islandicus. Mr. Borrer informs me that this falcon was shot in the 
act of devouring a Pigeon on the top of a wheat-stack.—J. H. Gurney 
(Northrepps, Norwich). 

{This same specimen is noticed in Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds’ (4th ed., 
vol i., p. 49) as an Iceland Falcon, doubtless on the authority of Mr. Borrer 
himself, who furnished the information to the other work quoted.—Ep.] 


Falco or Hierofalco.—The Committee of the B. 0. U., appointed to 
draw up the ‘Ibis List of British Birds’ separate the great northern 
Falcons from the true Falcons, considering them generically distinct. 
T have been somewhat puzzled to distinguish characters sufficiently well 


272 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


defined to justify the separation, and take advantage of the suggestions 
offered in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Preface to the vol. for 1882, hoping that 
some correspondent will enlighten me.—Asrur. 


Stock Dove in Perthshire.—A male Stock Dove, Columba @nas, was 
shot in this neighbourhood (Stanley) on 17th May last, and forwarded to 
me. ‘This species is very rare in Perthshire, only half-a-dozen other 
examples having been seen or obtained. Mr. Brooke found a pair 
breeding in the vicinity of Dunkeld in the summer of 1878. Col. 
Drummond-Hay saw a pair in the Carse of Gowrie some few years ago, 
and two examples were obtained in the south-eastern part of the county, 
as recorded in ‘The Ibis’ (July, 1878)—Tusomas Marsuatr (Stanley, 
Perthshire). 


Red-throated Pipit in Kent.—Having read Mr. J. H. Gurney’s note 
(p. 192), on the occurrence of the Red-throated Pipit, Anthus cervinus, at 
Brighton, I have pleasure in sending you word of another specimen 
answering the description, which I obtained here in the month of April, 
1880. I shot the bird myself, one fine day, while feeding and singing 
along the fresh turned-up furrows behind my plough, and not identifying 
it, sent it to Dover to be preserved for a bright example of the Meadow 
Pipit—Watrter Prentis (Rainham). 

(At our request, Mr. Prentis very kindly forwarded the bird for 
inspection. Mr. Sharpe has examined it and compared it with specimens 
in the British Museum, and pronounces it to be undoubtedly an example 
of Anthus cervinus.—Eb.] 


Yellow Wagtail in Confinement.—Apropos of Capt. Beecher’s remarks 
on this subject (p. 232), I may state that a beautiful cock Yellow Wagtail, 
Budytes Raitt, tended with great care by a lady residing near Norwich, and 
fed on flies, has lived in good health through the winter, in spite of many 
prophecies that the attempt would be a failure—J. H. Gurney, jun. 
(Northrepps, Norwich). 

Sabine’s Snipe near Waterford.—Through the kindness of Col. 
Sturt, I have recently had an opportunity of examining a specimen of the 
so-called Sabine’s Snipe, which was shot near Waterford, on Noy. 25th, 1883. 
This specimen presents a somewhat unusual appearance, and is remarkable 
for its pale tone of coloration, intermediate between that of the Common Snipe 
and the examples of Sabine’s Snipe usually obtained, which strengthens the 
opinion now generally held by ornithologists, that the latter form is merely 
a melanism of the former.—J. E. Harrine. 


Birds of South Wales.—In reference to Mr. Mathew’s paper on the 
birds of Pembrokeshire (p. 211), the following notes, taken during a short 
stay I made in Gower, on the Glamorganshire coast, may perhaps be 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 273 


interesting. The Peregrine Falcon nests in the cliffs; the Chough and 
Raven were nesting on Worm’s Head. Amongst more common birds the 
Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Skua, Cormorant, Puffin, Razor- 
bill, Guillemot and Kittiwake were observed ; Oystercatchers were extremely 
numerous. Several species of Plovers, Sandpipers, and other wading 
birds were noted, besides the Spotted Crake and the Whimbrel; Gannets 
occasionally seen. Inland have been shot the Long-eared Owl, and some 
few years ago a Bittern, on Sir H. Vivian's estate. There is a man who 
lives by the Head, a great bird-lover; but unfortunately he lacks sufficient 
book-learning to be able to take valuable observations.—'T. N. Posrie- 
THWAITE (Hallthwaite, Millom, Cumberland.) 


Abnormal Eggs of Ring Ouzel. — Observing Mr. Buxton’s note 
p- 227) on abnormal eggs of the Blackbird, I may state that I have a clutch 
of Ring Ouzel’s eggs (Turdus torquatus), which have an uniform blue colour, 
with dark spots, closely assimilating to normal eggs of the Song Thrush.— 
J. A. Harvis-Brown (Dunipace, Larbert, N.B.). 


Correction of Error.—Please make the following corrections in my 
note, “Abnormally coloured Sky Lark” (p..280):—For Sky Lark read 
Wood Lark, Alauda arborea, and tor “I have seen this plumage before,” 
read “I have not seen this plumage before.”"—E. F. Becuzr (Southwell, 
Notts). 

FISHES. 

Basking Shark on the Cornish Coast.—I have to record the capture 
of a Basking Shark, Selachus maximus. I have seen many at sea whilst 
on boating excursions, and have passed close to them without alarming 
them, but these have always been much too large for me to have attempted 
their capture. This is the first specimen which I have seen on shore; it 
is a small one, measuring only 9 ft. 4 in. over all, from the tip of the snout 
to the extreme end of the upper lobe of the caudal fin, measured in a 
straight line; from the eye to the fork of the caudal fin it measured 6 ft. 9 in. 
Comparing it with the illustrations given by Yarrell and Couch, it is quite 
certain that Yarrell’s figure misrepresents the fish, and that Couch does not 
give a sufficiently rapid slope in the rear of the dorsal fin, and does give a 
very exaggerated figure of the circular punctures around the snout. They 
are more numerous and much smaller than his illustration shows them to 
be; and when I first saw the specimen—about twenty-four hours after its 
capture—there ran through them from the snout, radiating backwards, five 
thin white lines, which had disappeared before I saw the specimen again, about 
twenty-four hours afterwards. This specimen was a female. It was captured 
in a very peculiar way: the S.S. ‘Lady of the Isles’ was on her voyage 
from St. Mary’s (Islands of Scilly) to Penzance, on June 12th, and when 
about midchannel she ran down something which proved to be this fish. 

ZOOLOGIST.—JULY, 1884. Y 


Q74 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


It was apparently stunned by the collision. A boat was lowered, and the 
fish was secured. It turned out to be gorged to repletion with Hake and 
Mackerel, and it naturally occurs to me that this species of fish may have 
a habit of gorging itself, which induces its habit of lazily floating on the 
surface of the sea until its digestive organs have done their work and 
restored its energies. The descriptions of the fish given by Yarrell and 
Couch are in the main correct. I may add that the teeth of this specimen 
were conical and recurved, about half an inch long in the longest, separated 
from each other, having no serration on their edges, and being in a double 
row throughout the jaws, except that in the immediate front of the lower 
jaw they lay in three rows: but as this was a small specimen, and therefore 
probably immature, I attribute nothing distinctive to this note of the 
dentition. I could not find that the teeth were (as is usual in the other 
members of the Shark family) in any degree retractile. This fish is 
clearly distinguishable from the Basking Shark of Pennant, of which I have 


a specimen, and which I have already described in these pages.—THomas 
Cornisu (Penzance). 

Greater Forked-beard on the Banffshire Coast.—A very good and 
entire specimen of this fish, Phycis furcatus, was taken at Banff by a 
trawler during the last week in May. It is said to be a scarce species 
generally in Britain, and would seem to be remarkably so with us, to judge 
from the fact that this is only the third specimen, so far as I am aware, 
which has been captured in the Moray Firth during the last sixty years or 
thereabouts. The fishermen did not know what it was, and had it not 
been for the long slender filaments depending from the breast—erroneously 
called fins—which attracted their attention, it would in all probability have 
been passed over as a Common Hake.—-THomas Epwarp (Banff). 


MOLLUSCA. 


Lutraria oblonga in Jersey.—During a recent visit to Jersey I was 
favoured with an extra good spring tide, which enabled me to walk over 
part of the sea-bed three miles from high-water mark. Amongst many rare 
Mollusca I obtained a number of living specimens of Lutraria oblonga and 
L. elyptica; their burrows were revealed by a small key-hole-like hole in 
the sand banks, from which was ejected, on alarm, a small jet of water. 
By rapidly probing up the wet sand, the animal was invariably found from 
six to nine inches below the surface.— Epwarp Loyerr (Addiscombe, 
Croydon). 

CRUSTACEA. 

Large Crayfish.—-During’ a recent visit to Jersey I made a journey to 
Sark, and saw there the finest specimen of Palinurus quadricornis I have 
ever seen. The dimensions were as follows:—Total length, from tip of 
antenne to tip of tail, 4ft. lin.; greatest girth, 1ft. 4in.; spread of tail, 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 275 


114in. The weight I could not obtain. I was anxious to procure it as a 
specimen, but it was in the hands of a Frenchman, whose sole idea was to 
cook it. It was absolutely perfect, and ofa rich deep colour.—EpwarpD 
Lovett (Addiscombe, Croydon). 


ARCH#HZ OLOGY. 

Mementoes of Hawking and Hunting in the Last Century.—On 
the 11th June last, Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods sold, at their 
auction rooms, King Street, St. James’s, several picces of silver plate 
presented to Col. Thornton, of Falconer’s Hall and Thornville Royal, York- 
shire, a noted sportsman, who flourished at the end of the last and beginning 
of the present century. This plate, the property of Major Thornton Wode- 
house, R.A., was sold by auction, at so much per ounce, as follows :—A 
silver-gilt tea urn, formed as a globe, surmounted by a group of a hawk and 
dead hare, with this inscription—“ Col. Thornton, proposer and manager of 
the Confederate Hawks, is requested to receive this piece of plate from 
George, Earl of Orford, together with the united thanks of the members of 
the Falconer’s Club, as a testimony of their esteem and just sense of his 
assiduity, and of the unparalleled excellence to which in the course of nine 
years’ management he has brought them. When unable to attend them 
any longer, hé-made them a present to the Earl of Orford.—Barton Mills, 
June 28, 1781.” Then follow the names of the members of the F'alconers? 
Club; 136 oz. at 15s., £112. A silver-gilt epergne, with oval open-work 
basket on chased stand, with four fluted dishes, inscribed, ‘ Col. Thornton 
received this piece of plate of Sir Harry Featherstone and Sir John 
Ramsden, Baronets, as 4 compromise to a bet made in honour of a 
Hambleton fox. Col. Thornton, by his original bet, engaged for 300 gs. 
P.P. (play or pay) to find a fox at Hunts Whint, or in the Easingwold 
country, that after Christmas, 1779, should run twenty miles. The day to 
be fixed and the morning approved by Col. Thornton, and to be determined 
by Sir J. Ramsden and Sir H. Featherstone or the company up.” On the 
bottom was this certificate :—‘*‘ We, the undermentioned, do declare that 
on a day appointed for the decision of the bet made by Col. Thoruton with 
Sir J. Ramsden and Sir H. Featherstone, that a fox broke off in view 
of the hounds and company, which fox was killed after a continued burst, 
there not being one check, by the different watches, for two hours and 
thirty-eight minutes, and we, being the only gentlemen up, do believe that 
the said fox ran at least twenty-eight miles. Col. 'T., being a party 
concerned, gave no vote.—Lascelles Lascelles, Henry Hutchinson, Val. 
Kitchinman, W. Dawson, Randolph Marriott. N.B.—There were only 
eight horsemen out of seventy up.” 108 oz. at 29s. per ounce, £156 12s. 
A two-handled cup and cover, won by Mrs. Thornton, inscribed, “ Col. 
Thornton's Louisa, by Pegasus and Nell (dam of Will Devil), rode by Mrs, 


276 THE ZOOLOGISY. 


A. Thornton, 9st, beat Mr. Bloomfield’s Sister to Allegrante, rode 
by the noted F. Buckle, 12st., two miles over York [Race-course], for 
1000 gs. This gold [silver-gilt] cup and two hogsheads of Cote Rotie, 
August, 1804, 96 oz. at 17s. 6d., £81.” In addition to these trophies were 
a two-handled cup and cover, presented to Col. Thornton by the York 
Regiment, 1795, which fetched £96: and two Louis XVI. soup tureens, 
put of the same presentation, £900., the prices realised being regarded 
as very good. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


LINNEAN Society oF LONDON. 


June 5, 1884.—Wintiam Carrutarrs, Esq., F.R.S., Vice-President, 
in the chair. 

Messrs. J. Starkie Gardner, F.G.S., and John H. Leech were duly 
elected Fellows of the Society. 

Prof. J. Martin Duncan read a paper on a new genus of recent Fungida, 
allied to the fossil form Micrabacia, the genus being based on a specimen 
of coral obtained from shallow water in the Korean Sea. 

A communication was made by Mr. Arthur R. Hunt, “On the influence 
of Wave Currents on the Fauna inhabiting Shallow Seas.” The author 
refers to various physical data, among others quoting Prof. Stokes and 
Mr. J. Stevenson ; the latter stating that a current of 0-681 of a mile per 
hour will carry forwards fine gravel, and that 1°3638 roll along pebbles an 
inch in diameter. From this and other facts Mr. Hunt argues that wave- 
currents do materially influence the marine fauna inhabiting shallow water, 
not only those of the tidal strand but likewise those inhabiting the deeper 
sea-bottom. He adduces instances of animals living among or on rocks, 
and of those frequenting sand or other deposit, enumerating species of 
Starfish, Mollusks, Shrimps, Crabs, and Fish. He says that even the Flat- 
fishes (Pleuronectid@) seem to have changed their original forms and habits 
for the purpose of being able to live in shallow waters agitated by waves. 
Referring more particularly to species of Cardium, he endeavours to show 
how under the influence of wave-currents the variation of species may be 
promoted, and even their local extinction brought about. 

A paper was read “ On the Longicorn Beetles of Japan,” by Mr. H. W. 
Bates. In a former paper (in 1873) on the same subject the author treated 
of 107 species, but now adds many new genera and 129 more species, or a 
total of 236 specific forms as at present known to belong to the Japanese 
fauna. This great accession is due to the later collections of Mr. George 
Lewis, who made a second visit to the islands in 1880-81. Mr. Bates, 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. Q77 


reasoning from his fresh material, is inclined to modify his previously 
stated views as to the predominance of a supposed tropical element in the 
Longicorn group in question, the relative number of absolutely new genera 
now turning the scale in favour of Palearctic or Nearctic affinities. 

The last zoological communication taken was ‘‘ On three new species of 
Metacrinus,” by P. Herbert Carpenter, with a note on a new Myzostoma 
by Prof. von Graff. Mr. Carpenter describes Metacrinus rotundus from 
Japan, dredged there by Dr. Doderlein, of Strasburg, and M. superbus and 
M. Stewarti, two remarkable forms obtained by the Telegraph Company on 
picking up a cable near Singapore. The Myzostoma cirripedium was formed 
on the Japan Crinoid.—J. Murtr. 


ZooLoeicaL Socimry or Lonpon. 


June 3, 1884.—Prof. A. Newron, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. 

The Secretary read a report on the additions that had been made to the 
Society's Menagerie during the month of May, and called special attention 
to a Tree Porcupine, purchased May Ist, probably referable to Sphingurus 
spinosus, which was new to the Society’s collection; to four Soft-billed 
Ducks, Hymenolemus malacorhynchus, received May 17th from the Aceli- 
matization Society of Canterbury, New Zealand; and to two pairs of 
Francolins of different species, obtained by Mr. E Lort Phillips on the 
Somali coast, and presented by him May 23rd. 

A letter was read from Mr. Albert A. C. Le Souef, of the Zoological 
Gardens, Melbourne, giving an account of the unusual occurrence of two 
young ones being produced from one egg laid by a Black-necked Swan. The 
writer described the appearance of these cygnets, which were much smaller 
than a companion bird of the same age. 

Mr. F’. EK. Beddard read a paper upon the visceral anatomy of Hapalemur 
griseus, and called attention to the various points of difference between this 
species and Hapalemur simus. 

Mr. A. D. Bartlett read a paper on some singular hybrids of Bovine 
animals bred in the Society’s Gardens. 

Mr. G. EK. Dobson read a paper on the unimportance of the presence or 
absence of the hallux as a generic character in Mammalia, as evidenced by 
the gradual disappearance of this digit within the limits of a single genus 
(Talpa). 

A communication was read from Mr. H. W. Bates, containing a list of 
the Coleoptera of the families Carabide and Scarabaide collected by the 
late Mr. W. A. Forbes on the Lower Niger. Of these three appeared to be 
previously undescribed. 

Dr. Carl Lumholtz read a paper containing notes upon some mammals 
which he had recently discovered in Queensland.—P. L. ScrarEr, Secretary. 


278 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 


The Birds of South Africa. By E. L. Layarp, F.Z.S., &c. 
A New Edition, thoroughly revised and augmented, by 
R. B. Saarre, F.L.S., F.Z.S. Royal 8vo, Part VI. 
London: Quarritch. 1884. 


Wirs the issue of his sixth and last part, Mr. Sharpe has at 
length completed this important work, the former parts of which 
have already been noticed (Zool. 1877, p. 350). 

So “thoroughly” has Mr. Layard’s book been “revised and 
augmented,” that in lieu of the post-octavo volume of 382 pages, 
which appeared (without illustrations) in 1867, we have nowa 
handsome royal octavo of 855 pages, embellished with twelve 
coloured plates of some of the rarer or more remarkable species. 

This notable expansion of the original work is due, partly to 
the fact that during the past fifteen years considerable collections 
have been formed in South Africa, and many important papers 
published on the ornithology of this subregion, and partly to 
Mr. Sharpe’s enlargement of the area, beyond the geographical 
limits originally assigned by Mr. Layard, to the Zambesi on the 
east coast, and to the Quanza on the west coast, which has of course 
resulted in a large increase in the number of birds to be described. 

The geographical distribution of South African birds appears 
to have been made a feature of the present edition; and in some 
instances, as with the Woodpeckers, Grass Warblers, Wheatears, 
and Larks, Mr. Sharpe has given a complete revision of the 
families and supplied new descriptions. In most cases, how- 
ever, as he tells us in his Preface, he has retained Mr. Layard’s 
original descriptions, “inasmuch as they were compiled by a first- 
rate field-ornithologist for the benefit of field-ornithologists, and 
because they proved eminently successful in the first edition.” 

Mr. Sharpe is certainly to be congratulated upon having now 
brought to completion a work which at once takes rank as the 
text-book for the region, or rather subregion, of which it treats. 

The total number of species now included as occurring 
within the limits of South Africa, as defined by Mr. Sharpe, is 
812, and the following synopsis will give an idea of the families 
which are characteristic of this subregion :— 


NOTICES 


Order AccIPITRES. 
Diurnes — Eagles, Hawks, &e. 
Nocturnes—Owls ie weve 


Order Picari2Z. 


OF NEW BOOKS. 


Caprimulgide — Goatsuckers ... 10 
Cypselidee—-Swifts ... - 12 
Coraciidee—Rollers ... 5 
Trogonide—Trogons i! 


Alcedinide — Kingfishers 13 
Bucerotide—Hornbills .. 8 
Upupidee—H oopoes 4 
Musophagidee — Plantain- eaters 5 
Coliidee—Colies - 4 
Cuculidee-—Cuckoos EG 
Indicatoride— Honey Guides... 5 
Capitonidee—Barbets 19 
Jyngidee—Wrynecks 1 
Order Psrrraci. 
Psittacidsee—Parrots 7 
Order PAssEREs. 
Turdide—Thrushes and Chats 55 
Pycnonotidee—Bulbuls 11 
Timeliidee ; eae . 46 
eee niide—-Sunbinis Heed ey ed 
Meliphagide—Honey-eaters ... 5 
Paridee—Tits ... Wee cen 6 
Certhiidaee— Creepers Foyilh 
Muscicapidee— F lycatchers aol 
Hirundinide—Swallows ... = Bal 
Laniidee—Shrikes 28 
Campephagidee— Caterpillar 
catchers wie 
Prinopide pis ee 
Dicruride—Drongo Shrikes 2 
Oriolidee— Orioles 3 eas 
Corvide—Crows mL 
Sturnidee—Starlings ae lis 
Ploceidze—W eaver-birds . 61 
Fringillidae—F inches ma liz) 
Emberizidee— Buntings ... Lala 
Alaudidee—Larks 25 
Motacillidee —Wastails & ‘Pipits 20 
Order CoLUMBz. 
Columbidee—Pigeons and Doves 19 


Order GALLINe. 


279 


Phasianide—G uinea-fowl 4 
Perdicide—Francolin and Quail 19 
Turnicide, Hemipodes 2 
Order GERANOMORPHS. 
Rallidee—Rails celia 
Heliornithide ... 1 
Gruides— Cranes Aan 
Otidide—Bustards ... peel 
Order Limicoua. 
(Hidicnemidz —Thick-knees 3 
Parridee—Jacanas ee a) 
Glareolidzee—Pratincoles ... 2 
Charadriidee—Plovers 24 
Scolopacidee—Snipes and Sand- 
pipers a al 
Dromadide— Bea 1 
Order GAVLa. 
Laride—Gulls and Terns 18 
Order HEeRopIongs. 
Ardeidee—Herons & Bitterns... 18 
Balenicepitidaee—Boatbill l 
Ciconiidee—Storks ... 8 
Plataleidee—Spoonbills and Ibis 5 
Pheenicopteride—Flamingoes... 2 
Order ANSERES. 
Anatide—Ducks and Geese ... 16 
Procellariide—Petrels & Shear- 
waters ... «19 
Order STEGANOPODES. 
Pheetonide—Frigate-bird 1 
Pelecanidze—Gannets Sop 
Phalacrocoracidee —Cormorants 5 
Plotidee— Darters 1 
Order Pycopoprs. 
Podicipitide—Grebes_ ... 3 
Order ImpENNus. 
Speniscidee—Penguins 2 


Subclass Ratrraz. 
Struthionide—Ostrich 


280 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


A List of the Diurnal Birds of Prey, with references and anno- 
tations; also a Record of Specimens preserved in the Norfolk 
and Norwich Museum. By Jonny Henry Gurney. 8vo. 
London: Van Voorst. 1884. 


Mr. J. H. Gurney has just published a list of the Diurnal 
Birds of Prey, which will form a most useful work of reference 
for the student of this group, on which Mr. Gurney is so great 
an authority. For several years past he has been publishing in 
the pages of ‘The Ibis,’ an elaborate critique of Mr. Bowdler 
Sharpe’s Accipitrine volume of the British Museum Catalogue 
of Birds, to which series the present list was intended as an 
index. Mr. Gurney has, however, given his work a wider scope, 
to the great benefit of Science; for besides supplying an index 
to ‘The Ibis’ papers, he has added useful references to standard 
works, and has noted the number of examples in the Norwich 
Museum. Knowing how much the splendid series of Accipitres 
in this museum is indebted for its formation to the individual 
energy and liberality of Mr. Gurney himself, who has rendered 
this collection celebrated throughout the world, one only regrets 
that an exact list, with localities and dates of the specimens, has 
not been given, for it is well known that the utmost care has 
been bestowed on their selection. Possibly, with the ground- 
work supplied by the present list, Mr. Gurney may feel enabled 
to complete his ‘ Catalogue of Raptores in the Norwich Museum,’ 
an undertaking which we can assure him will be well appreciated 
by ornithologists. 

We cannot attempt to follow Mr. Gurney in his classification 
of the Accipitres, nor are we able to recognize all the genera 
which he admits, since many of them appear to be founded on 
peculiarities of coloration and not of structure. These are 
matters of opinion, however, and do not affect the value of 
Mr. Gurney’s work. In a series of Appendices will be found 
some short essays on certain vexed questions, and every one who 
studies this volume as it deserves to be studied will find it a 
most useful handbook to the Accipitres, containing the latest 
information on the order in a desirably small compass. 


FF. by 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vou. VITI.] AUGUST, 1884. [No. 92. 


HANDS AND FEET:* 


By Proressor St. Grorae Mivart, F.R.S. 


A man is proverbially wanting in wit who cannot tell ‘‘a hand 
from a foot.” Yet I would wager that not a few persons would be 
very much puzzled if they were suddenly called upon to say why 
they distinguish between “hands” and “feet,” and what they 
really mean by those two monosyllables. 

Each of the two words is used in more than one sense. We 
have most of us heard the expressions ‘‘a hand of pork;” “a 
hand at cards’’; ‘‘the foot of a wine-glass”’; ‘‘the foot of a moun- 
tain.” The words are used in various analytical meanings, but 
the foundation of the analogy les in the human hand and the 
human foot. With these, then, we must begin. 

But every object whatever may be considered in a variety of 
different ways, according as we direct our minds along one or 
another line of thought. As, for example, a photograph of the 
Queen may be regarded as to its degree of likeness to Her 
Majesty, as a good or bad photograph technically, as a sign of 
royalty, as a material substance, as an object of a certain price, 
and in fifty other ways. 

Every such object, however, as a man’s hand or foot, has to 
be regarded from two special points of view, and such is the case 
with every organ of every living creature, whether animal or 
plant. Every such object has to be considered (1) as to its form 


* An abstract of one of the ‘‘ Davis Lectures,” delivered at the Zoological 
Gardens, June 12th, 1884. 
ZOOLOGIST.— AUGUST, 1884. Zz 


282 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


and structure, and (2) as to what it does; that is to say, it 
has to be regarded (1) anatomically and (2) physiologically. 
Anatomy concerns form and structure only, and has nothing to 
do with the uses or abuses to which organs or their parts may 
be put; it has nothing to do with activity, and its objects are by 
it regarded statically. Physiology concerns the action of objects 
only, though to know this presupposes a certain knowledge of 
their structure; it has in itself, however, nothing to do with form 
and structure, and its objects are by it regarded dynamically. 

The word ‘‘hand” and the word “‘ foot”’ as ordinarily used have 
each a certain compound reference both to form and employment 
—i.e., both to Anatomy and Physiology. It will be necessary then 
to try and disentangle this involution of meanings in order to com- 
prehend what the two words ‘‘ hand” and ‘‘foot” really mean. 

We will first consider some of the main characters of, and 
differences between, the human hand and foot considered ana- 
tomically, 2. e., according to their form and structure; in other 
words, their morphology. The hand consists (1) of the wrist, 
(2) of the fleshy or middle part of the hand, and (3) of the thumb 
and four fingers, spoken of anatomically as “digits.” At the end 
of each digit is a nail, which covers the outer or dorsal surface 
of the digit. Of the digits the third is the longest, and then 
comes either the second or the fourth. 

When we examine the bones, which constitute the firm sup- 
port of the softer structures which are wrapped round them, 
and with them form the hand, we see that the first two con- 
stituent parts of the hand are much more distinct than they 
seem to be when the hand is viewed externally. For the wrist 
is formed of a small number (eight) of irregularly shaped short 
bones grouped together in two series or rows, one row of four 
being towards the arm, the second row being next the bones of 
the middle part of the hand. These small bones, which together 
form the wrist, are called ‘carpal bones,” and the whole skeleton 
of the wrist is called the ‘‘ carpus.” The bones of the fleshy or 
middle part of the hand are five long bones, each attached to the 
carpus and one end, and destined to support a digit at the other. 
Each of these five bones is called a ‘‘ metacarpal bone,’ and the 
five metacarpal bones are spoken of together as the ‘ meta- 
carpus.” The metacarpal bone which supports the thumb, or, 
as it is technically termed, the “ pollex,” is fitted on to its 


HANDS AND FEET. 2838 


supporting carpal bone as a man rides on a saddle, each of the 
three adjoining surfaces being inversely concave in one direction 
and convex in the other. This metacarpal bone is so placed as 
to stand out and diverge at a marked angle from the other four 
metacarpals. The bones which support the digits are called 
phalanges, and there are three such to each digit, except the 
thumb (pollex), which has but two. These bones are coated 
with membranes, and wrapped round more or less by muscles 
and tendons. The muscles are the organs which move the bones 
as so many levers over one another, and they do so by means of 
tough cords or tendons which pass from the muscles to be 
inserted into the bones which are to be thus moved. 

The human foot, like the human hand, consists of three 
parts :—(1) the ankle (corresponding with the wrist); (2) the 
fleshy or middle part of the foot (corresponding with that of the 
hand); and (8) the toes or five digits of the foot. At the end 
of each digit is a nail, which covers the upper or dorsal 
surface of the digit. Of the toes, the first or second is the 
longest, whence they decrease in length to the little toe. 

When we examine the bones of the foot, we find (just as in 
the hand) that the first two constituent parts of the foot are 
more distinct than they seem to be when the foot is viewed 
externally. For the ankle (like the wrist) is formed of a small 
number (seven) of irregularly shaped small bones grouped 
together, interposed between the bones of the leg and those of 
the middle part of the foot. Of these seven bones, one (the 
astragalus) directly articulates with the leg bone; another, ‘‘the 
heel bone,” is called the “os calcis” ; and a third, to which for 
a reason (hereafter apparent) I would direct attention, is 
named the ‘“‘naviculare.” It is quite a short bone (broader than 
long), and none of the bones of the ankle are long bones. Each 
is called a ‘‘ tarsal bone,” and the whole skeleton of the ankle is 
called the “‘ tarsus.” 

The bones of the fleshy or middle part of the hand are five 
long bones, each attached to the tarsus at one end, and destined 
to support a digit at the other. Hach of these five bones is 
called a ‘“‘ metatarsal bone,” and the five metatarsal bones are 
spoken of together as the “‘ metatarsus.” 

The metatarsal bone which supports the great toe, or, as it is 
technically termed, the “‘hallux,” is fitted on to its supporting 


284 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


metatarsal bone very differently from what we find to be the case 
with the metacarpal of the pollex. Here there are not two 
saddle-shaped surfaces applied one to the other. The first and 
four succeeding metatarsals do not diverge, as do the first and 
four succeeding metacarpals. The bones of the digits or 
‘phalanges ”’ of the foot are three to each digit, except the great 
toe (or hallux), which, like the thumb (or pollex) has but two. 

The muscles which bend or flex the toes are not only such as 
those which bend or flex the fingers, but there is in addition a 
long muscle placed on the outer side of the leg, the strong tendon 
of which crosses the sole (or plantar surface) of the foot obliquely 
to be implanted into the metatarsal of the hallux. There is 
nothing corresponding with this in the hand. This long muscle 
is called the “‘ peroneus longus.” 

Let us now glance at the physiology of the hand and foot. 
The hand is essentially a grasping organ, and the idea of ‘‘ pre- 
hension”’ is connected by the term ‘‘ hand””—as we may see by 
considering such words as ‘‘ handling” and ‘“ manipulation” ; 
and therewith is associated the idea of a certain amount of skill, 
as evidenced by the epithet ‘‘ handy.” 

The perfection of the human hand as an instrument is a 
trite subject for remark, and its powers are mainly due to the 
perfection with which the thumb, or pollex, can be opposed to all 
and to each one of the other manual digits. Were the thumb 
shorter than it is, the perfection of the hand as an instrument 
would be thereby very greatly diminished. Nevertheless the 
hand does occasionally serve in locomotion, as in climbing and 
swimming, but such employment for it is altogether exceptional 
and secondary. 

The foot is, on the contrary, essentially an organ of loco- 
motion and support, as we may see by such terms as “footing” 
and the “feet” of a stool. In the use of the foot the great toe, 
or hallux, is not opposed to the other digits, nor can it grasp at 
all, as does the thumb. Nevertheless it is of the greatest utility, 
serving, as the great toe does, as the fulcrum in walking. It is 
made so to serve by the action of the ‘‘ peroneus longus” muscle, 
which (owing to the disposition of its strong tendon before 
described) tends to pull up the foot upon the great toe, and so 
pressing the great toe upon the ground. Nevertheless the foot 
does occasionally and exceptionally serve as a grasping organ, as 


HANDS AND FEET. 285 


in some deformed people and certain savage tribes. In these, 
however, the great toe is not opposed to the other digits as the 
thumb is, though it has greater mobility and power of divari- 
cation—a thing which may be remarked in infants generally. 

When we glance at the actions of other animals, we see that 
very different parts may be used for prehension, locomotion, and 
support from those which are applied to these purposes in our- 
selves. Thus all birds grasp with their beaks and feet, and not 
with the parts which correspond with our arms and hands, such 
parts in them being exclusively devoted to aérial locomotion. 
Again, Spider Monkeys not only can support themselves by their 
tails,—which grasp strongly enough to bear the weight of the 
whole body,—but will take hold of some desired object with the 
tail and then carry it to the hand or mouth. Mr. Bartlett has 
observed them to succeed in thus obtaining an object otherwise 
out of their reach; he has also observed the Flying Fox 
(Pteropus) take hold of food with its lower extremity, or foot, 
and eat from it. 

The lips of the Horse and the tongue of the Giraffe are 
prehensile organs, but especially prehensile is that curious 
enormous prolongation of nose and upper lip together which 
constitutes the “‘ trunk” of the Elephant. This wonderful organ 
has in the Indian Elephant a little finger-like process at its 
extremity, and it is an amazingly delicate organ for what may 
by analogy be well called manipulation. With these various 
hand-like uses for parts which are altogether different anatomi- 
cally from our hands, we may contrast the assignment in other 
animals of parts which do anatomically answer to our hands, to 
the functions of locomotion and support exclusively. Such is 
the case as regards the anterior extremities (anatomically hands) 
of horses, oxen, sheep, pigs, hippopotami, rhinoceroses, ele- 
phants, &c. It is owing in fact to this exclusively locomotive 
use of them that such parts are commonly spoken of by us as 
the ‘‘ fore feet’ of horses, oxen, &e. 

Thus disputes are inevitable (and great disputes have in fact 
arisen) as to what parts in non-human animals should be called 
“hands” and what “feet.” For example:—Seeing that the 
lower extremities of apes, lemurs, and opossums have a great 
toe which is almost or quite as opposable to the other pedal 
digits as is our thumb to our fingers, their extremities have very 


286 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


often been called hands, and apes and lemurs have been placed 
in an order named Quadrumana, or four-handed. But, as we 
shall shortly see, there are apes the anterior extremities of which 
(anatomically answering to our hands) have no opposable thumbs, 
and cannot with physiological propriety be called hands. The 
only satisfactory way out of the difficulty is to take anatomy 
exclusively as our guide, and to consider every extremity scien- 
tifically a “hand” which takes the place in the body of our 
hand, and to call every inferior or posterior (according to the pos- 
ture of the body) extremity a “foot.” It is the more reasonable 
so to do in Zoology as zoological classification is a morphological 
classification, and reposes on the number and form of parts of 
the body, and not at all on their use and employment. When 
for any reason we wish to refer to such use, there will be no 
difficulty in occasionally speaking of a ‘‘ hand devoted to loco- 
motion” or of a “ prehensile foot,” as the case may be. 

It will, I think, be a matter of interest if I briefly refer 
to some of what seem to me to be the most curious modi- 
fications in different animals of those parts which correspond 
with our own “hands” and “feet.” In so doing, however, I 
shall avoid all reference to animals formed on a radically different 
type from that of the human body. The so-called ‘“ feet” of 
snails or cockles have no relation to our own any more than 
have the legs of flies and spiders to our own legs. I shall but 
refer to animals which have, as we have, a skull and backbone, 
two pairs—rarely one pair—of limbs, and which breathe in air. 
Thus I exclude from our consideration even fishes, and I do so 
because their fins have such a vague and remote resemblance to 
the extremities of the higher animals. Not but what the fins of 
fishes and the relations they bear to our limbs are matters full 
of interest and instruction. So much so, indeed, that they 
deserve a lecture to themselves, but space will not allow of 
my treating of that matter now. I have then a few words 
to say about the hands and feet of certain beasts, birds, 
and reptiles, and I will begin with those creatures which are 
naturally the most interesting to us, as being the most like us— 
I mean the Apes, and their allies the Lemurs. 

Apes are divisible into two groups—(1) those of the Old World 
and (2) those of America. The former more closely resemble 
us, and their hands are for the most part roughly like ours in 


HANDS AND FEET. 287 


structure and function; though none have so well-developed a 
thumb, and none can point with the index-finger. In certain 
Apes of Asia (Semnopitheci) the thumb is very small, and in 
closely allied African forms (Colobi) it is wanting altogether, 
being merely represented by a bony rudiment beneath the skin. 
The very same defect is found in certain American Monkeys 
(Ateles); but others have a thumb fairly long; in none, however, 
is it opposable as in man and the monkeys of the Old World, but 
is rather like a fifth finger, bending round nearly in the same 
plane as the other fingers, as may any day be seen by anyone 
who will give a nut to one of them in our Monkey-house. 
In all Apes the nails are much as in man, except in the 
Marmozets, where they take the form of long pointed and curved 
claws. As to their feet, the Apes of both worlds agree in having 
a great toe (or hallux) set out at an angle with the other toes, 
and thoroughly opposable. It no longer, as in man, serves as a 
fulcrum in walking, but is a most powerful grasping organ, being 
strongly drawn against the other toes by the action of the 
“‘peroneus longus” muscle. The hallux is never wanting, as is 
the pollex, but it may be very small, as in the Marmozets and 
Orang. It may be nailless, as in the Orang, or support the 
only flat nail, as in the Marmozets. In Apes, which climb so 
much, the hands are largely locomotive, and they may act as the 
lower ends of a pair of crutches, as in the anthropoid Apes which 
rest their knuckles on the ground in walking. Nevertheless the 
feet are the main locomotive and the hands the main prehensile 
organs, and thus physiologically as well as anatomically Apes 
may be said to have “‘ two hands and a pair of feet.” 

The Lemurs and their allies (representatives of which groups 
may be found in the Monkey-house) have a certain superficial 
resemblance to Apes, but show one or two odd peculiarities in 
their extremities. Both pollex and hallux are well developed; 
but the index of the hand tends to be small, and may even, as in 
the Potto, be represented only by a minute rudiment. It isa 
three-fingered lemuroid. The Aye-Aye (Chiromys) has the 
middle finger much lengthened and extremely attenuated, the 
utility of which condition is problematical. The foot, in the 
Lemur, has always a sharp claw on the second digit, but in 
certain genera (Galago and Chirogaleus, and especially Tarsius) 
the foot is formed in a way found in no other beast whatsoever, 


288 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Instead of the tarsus consisting as in all other beasts, and in 
man of short bones only, the tarsal bones—the os calcis and 
naviculare—are so much elongated as to merit the name of long 
bones, and to add another segment to the limb. 

Passing now to other orders of beasts, we meet with curious 
modifications of fingers and toes, according to the uses to which 
they are applied. In the most carnivorous of carnivorous 
animals—cats, lions, and tigers—not only are the nails in the 
form of exceedingly strong and curved sharp claws, but their 
sharpness is maintained by the arrangement of the two last 
phalanges of each digit. The joint between them is so formed 
that the last readily rolls back on the last but one, and is 
habitually retained in that rolled-back condition by an elastic 
ligament. Claws thus conditioned are said to be retractile. 

The hand of the Bat is a very noteworthy organ. A Bat has 
a thumb and four fingers. - The thumb diverges widely from the 
fingers, and is free, terminating in a strong hooked claw. The 
four fingers are exceedingly long and slender, and also bound 
together by a large membrane or web, which passes from the 
little finger to the sides of the body. It is this extensive mem- 
brane thus supported by delicate digits, like the rods of an 
umbrella, which constitutes the Bat’s wing. The Bat’s feet, on 
the contrary, serve little for locomotion, but the curved claws of 
the five moderate digits act as hooks, by which the body is 
habitually suspended, head downwards. 

In the Mole’s hand we find the very opposite condition to 
that of the hand of the Bat. All its component bones, instead 
of being long and slender, are extremely short and thick, for the 
Mole has to dig out the earth with extraordinary force and 
rapidity, the little animal proceeding on its subterranean course 
at such a rate, that it may be said almost to fly through the 
earth, instead of, as the Bat, through the air. 

Progression through the water is generally accomplished in 
another manner, namely, by lateral strokes of the hinder part of 
the body. Everybody knows that in most fishes the body ends 
in a fin, which broadens out at the end of the tail from above 
downwards. 

The Seal has but a very short tail, without any terminal 
expansion. The feet, however, are so conditioned as to act in 
the same way as would a vertically-expanded tail. The soles of 


HANDS AND FEET. 289 


the feet are applied together, and the digits, which are webbed, 
more or less divaricated. In order to fit them for their purpose 
their proportions are very different from those of any foot which I 
have yet described. It is the first and fifth digits (the great and 
little toes of our feet) which are the largest and longest, while 
the middle toe is considerably the shortest. The hand is fitted 
to act as another kind of fin by a different modification. In it, 
it is the pollex which is the largest and longest, and thence the 
digits regularly decrease in size to the fifth, which answers to 
our little finger. 

In Porpoises and Dolphins there are no feet at all, and an 
expansion of skin and fat only answers the swimming purpose of 
the feet of the Seal. The hand is made still more completely into 
a mere fin than is the hand of the Dolphin, its digits being all 
bound together in a tough and continuous investment ; whereas, 
however, in the Seals the number of the phalanges, so constant 
hitherto, remains the same as in man; in the Dolphins they are 
augmented, those of the index finger being as many as ten or 
even fourteen in number. 

A yery curious modification of both hands and feet is met 
with in the Sloths. The digits are reduced in number to three, 
or even to two, and are singularly rigid, being bound together by 
membrane and skin down to the enormously long, strong, and 
hooked claws. The arrangement of the parts is such that when 
at rest they are bent over, as our hands are when our fingers are 
flexed. - In the Sloths it requires a positive effort to open, and, 
as it were, unhook them; and this condition is one of the greatest 
utility to these animals, for Sloths pass their lives suspended 
from the branches of trees, on the leaves of which they feed. 
Moreover, they not only range about and feed in this position,— 
hanging back downwards—but may also sleep in the same 
posture. There is, however, no fear of their falling; if shot at 
and killed, they will still hang till they rot without falling, on 
account of this permanently flexed condition of their hook-like 
extremities. 

In creatures which are not so very remotely allied to the 
Sloths—I mean the Ant-eaters and Armadillos—very great 
inequality may be found in the size of the different digits. In 
the Great Ant-eater, which uses the claws of its powerful fore 
limbs to tear down the nests of Termites, the creature walks 


290 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


partly on the sides of its hands and partly on a pad-like cushion 
in their palms. In the Aye-Aye we find the middle digit to be 
exceptionally slender ; in the Great Ant-eater it is most excep- 
tionally thick and strong. 

Australia is the great home of those pouched beasts, called 
Marsupials, one genus of which, however, inhabits America, and 
in ancient times was found in Europe. 

The American forms (Didelphus), and certain Australian 
forms also (Dasyurus, Phascogale, and Myrmecobius), have the 
four outer digits of proportions similar to those of the majority 
of clawed, or unguiculate, beasts. Other Australian forms, as 
the Phalangers (Phalangista), the native Bear * (Phascolarctus), 
the Wombat (Phascolomys), and others, have the second and 
third digits very singularly reduced in size. 

This disproportion is still more marked in the Kangaroos 
(Macropus). In that animal each foot has but two large and 
conspicuous toes, the inner one of which is much the larger, and 
bears a very long and strong claw, a formidable defensive 
weapon when the creature stands at bay. On the inner side of 
this is what appears to be one very minute toe, but it is furnished 
with two small claws. An examination of the bones of the foot 
shows us, however, that it really consists of two very slender 
toes united together in a common fold of skin. These very 
minute toes are the same as the less reduced ones in the 
marsupials before mentioned, and correspond with our own 
second and third toes, there being no representative of our great 
toe. 

In a small and very singular kind of Bandicoot (Cheropus) 
the fifth toe is also extremely reduced in size, so that the animal 
is supported and progresses on one toe only, namely, that which 
corresponds with our fourth toe. The hand of this animal is 
also greatly reduced in the number of its parts, though there it 
is supported not on one but on two digits, which correspond with 
the second and third digits of the human hand. 

The Elephant has extremities each provided with five short 
digits enclosed in a plump fleshy mass, with the nails apparent, 


* In the hand of this animal the pollex and index are slightly opposable 
to the other three digits: in the foot a nailless hallux is opposable to the 
other four digits, 


HANDS AND FEET. 291 


and surrounding a dense cushion on which the limb and super- 
incumbent weight of the body reposes. 

In the Pig we have an animal each extremity of which is 
furnished with but four digits, both the pollex and the hallux 
being absent. These four digits are arranged in two pairs both 
on the hand and on the foot, there being a large strong pair of 
digits in the middle, on which the animal walks, with a small 
digit placed external to and behind each of the two large ones. 
The nails are represented by strong horny structures which 
encase and enclose the terminal phalanx. Such a massive 
sheathing nail is called a “hoof.” The digits on which a Pig 
walks correspond with our third and fourth fingers and our third 
and fourth toes. 

In ruminating animals, such as oxen, sheep and deer, the 
number of digits is reduced to two, which are the same two as 
as those which support the Pig in locomotion ; whereas in the 
Pig, however, each of the metacarpals and metatarsals remains 
distinct. In ruminants the third and fourth metacarpals and 
the third and fourth metatarsals unite together to form one 
single bone called a ‘“‘ cannon bone.” 

In a small animal called the Jerboa (Dipus), which has no re- 
lation to cattle, but is allied to the rats, a still further coalescence 
of metatarsals takes place. This little animal has three toes 
(the second, third, and fourth) to each foot, and these three 
digits are supported by a long single metatarsal bone which really 
consists of the second, third, and fourth metatarsal bones united 
into one. 

In the Rhinoceros there are also three digits to each extremity, 
but the metacarpals and metatarsals remain distinct. 

In the Horse we meet with the extreme of reduction in regard 
to the number of digits, but with a great development of them in 
size. The popular notion is, or at all events was, that the foot 
of a Horse was an undivided one, that it answered to that of the 
Ox “‘uncleft.” Ifso, the metacarpal and metatarsal bones, each 
of which is manifestly single, must be a ‘‘cannon” bone, and 
made up of more than one such bone forced, as it were, together. 
Such, however, is not the case; each foot of a Horse consists of 
but a single digit only, answering respectively to our middle 
finger and our middle toe, the enormously enlarged nail of such 
finger, or toe, having become the Horse’s hoof. The Horse 


292 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


therefore walks on the nails of four digits, one to each extremity, 
and cattle, such as oxen and sheep, walk on the nails of eight 
digits, two to each extremity. Such animals are said to be 
Unguligrade. 

When we pass from Mammals to Birds we meet with a 
sreat change of structure. Not only is the structure of both 
the ‘“‘hand” and the ‘foot’ very different from anything 
in beasts, but the difference between the ‘‘hand” and the 
bird’s “foot” in all birds is much greater than we find to 
exist in almost any beast. The ‘‘hand” of the bird is in all 
cases exclusively a locomotive organ, one for flight in the air, 
except in such a bird as the Penguin, where it is for flight in the 
water. The hand serves this locomotive purpose exclusively as 
being a support for certain feathers, and consists at the most 
of but three rudimentary, very short, fingers (the pollex, second 
and third), the metacarpals of which have united together to 
form a single bone. Thus the bony framework of the wing of 
the bird is widely different from that of the wing of the Bat. 
The carpus also is very small, and represented only by two 
small bones, the other part having coalesced with the complex 
metacarpal structure. 

When we proceed to consider the bird’s foot, we find it also a 
locomotive organ, but occasionally, as in the Parrots, serving as 
a prehensile organ, analogically—i.e., according to functions— 
something of a hand. The foot of the bird has always as many 
as three digits, except in the Ostrich, where it has but two. It 
has never more than four digits, that answering to one’s little 
toe being invariably absent. Generally the hallux is turned 
backwards and the other three forwards, but occasionally, as in 
the Swifts, all four may be turned forwards. Sometimes, as 
in the Parrots and Trogons, they may be arranged in one of two 
groups, two of the digits being opposed to two others. Thus the 
hallux and fourth may be opposed to the second and third, as in 
the Parrots; or the hallux and second to the third and fourth, 
as in the Trogons. As in mammals, so in birds, the hallux has: 
but two phalanges, and the second digit but three. Except ina 
few birds (e.g., the Swifts and Goatsuckers), however, the third 
digit has four phalanges, and the fourth has five. It is by this 
we know that the two toes of the Ostrich consist of the fourth 
and fifth digits. 


HANDS AND FEET. 293 


The metatarsals of the foot are yet more consolidated than are 
the metacarpals of the hand; they form a sort of “cannon 
bone,” like those of the Jerboa before described. Moreover, not 
only do they unite together, but with part of the tarsus also, the 
rest of the tarsus being similarly united to the lower end of the 
leg-bone. Thus in birds the foot does not move on the leg, as 
in us and in beasts, but one part of the foot moves on another, 
the joint between the foot and the leg being constructed in the 
middle of the tarsus. 

In Reptiles the hand has generally five long movable 
digits, but they may be enclosed in a sort of fin, as in the Turtle ; 
or greatly shortened, like those of the thick stumpy hand of the 
Tortoise. The phalanges of the five digits are generally 2, 3, 4, 
4, 3, or 2, 8, 4, 5,3 in number. In the foot their number is like 
that of birds, 2, 8, 4, 5, and the fifth digit (always absent in 
birds) has in Lizards four phalanges. Rarely, as in the 
Chameleons, the digits of both hand and foot are arranged in 
two bundles, opposed the one bundle to the other. Thus in 
the hand, the first, second, and third digits are opposed to the 
fourth and fifth, and in the foot the first and second digits are 
opposed to the third, fourth, and fifth. 

In certain extinct reptiles—Pterodactyles—the hands were 
to a certain extent modified, like those of existing Bats, to sup- 
port a flying membrane or wing. In these reptiles, however, 
instead of all the digits, except the pollex, being elongated, it 
was only the outermost one which was so. In other extinct 
reptiles, namely, Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri, we have evidence 
of certain conditions of limb which are full of interest. The 
resemblance between our arm and leg and hand and foot are 
almost as manifest as their differences. The number of primary 
divisions of each, and the numerical difference of the phalanges 
of the innermost digits and of the other digits in each case, has 
been already mentioned. In many animals the difference be- 
tween the hand and the foot is greater than in ourselves, but in 
others it is much less. In none is it so little as in Ichthyosauri 
and Plesiosawri, where the leg and foot is the perfect repetition 
behind of the arm and hand in front. 

In the Ichthyosaurus the number of phalanges is greatly 
increased, but that we have met with already in Cetaceans, which 
seem to have been anticipated in the deep by their reptilian 


294 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


precursors, the huge Ichthyosauri. In the latter, however, and in 
these only of all air-breathing back-boned animals, there are 
indications that the number of the digits exceeded five. 

As to the lowest air-breathers referred to—the Frogs, Toads, 
and Efts—I will but refer to the foot of the Frog, in which we 
meet with a condition reminding us in a distant way of 
those very different animals, the Lemurs. In the Frog two 
of the tarsal bones are elongated, so as to merit the name 
of ‘‘long bones,” and to form a separate segment of the hind 
limbs. 

To return to the question of the resemblance between “the 
hands” and ‘‘the feet’ in the same individual. There are 
certain very curious facts which point to some deep and hidden 
cause of this resemblance of a more profound nature than any 
similarity of use and employment. Thus, birds present us with 
examples of the greatest divergence between ‘‘ hands” and 
“feet,” and yet, at the same time, they sometimes singularly 
illustrate the hidden affinity between these two parts. Thus 
certain breeds of fowls and pigeons develop what are technically 
called ‘‘ boots” on the feet; that is to say, their feet put forth long 
feathers resembling those of the wing, and they grow from the 
very parts of the foot which correspond, serially, with the long- 
feather bearing parts of the hand. 

There are many curious cases of diseased conditions in man 
which illustrate and display this hidden affinity. Thus Sir 
James Paget has recorded cases in which psoriasis has similarly 
affected the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet in one 
individual, and the backs of the hands and the backs of the feet 
simultaneously in another individual. Analogous observations 
have been made by Dr. William Budd and others. 

Again, those curious cases of congenital malformations called 
‘“‘ monstrosities” also seem to illustrate this curious tendency to 
develop serial similarity. Professor Burt Wilder, of the United 
States, has noted many instances in which similar deformities 
have co-existed in the little fingers and in the little toes, or in the 
thumbs and the great toes; and M. Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire 
has recorded various cases in which similar defects of develop- 
ment have co-existed in the hands and feet of the same in- 
dividual. 

Such phenomena point to some very recondite and deeply 


THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1883. 295 


interesting problems, which have their philosophical as well as 
their physical side. Into any consideration of philosophical 
problems, however, I cannot here enter. 


NOTES ON THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1883. 


By Tuomas SourHuwetu, F.Z.S. 


Tuer beautiful models and graphic sketches of the stirring 
events which characterise the pursuit of the young Seals on 
the Labrador ice, exhibited last summer at the Inter- 
national Fisheries Exhibition in South Kensington, conveyed 
a much more accurate impression of the mode of procedure 
followed in this exciting occupation than any written description, 
however elaborate; and from the constant interest displayed by 
the crowds who attentively inspected the models and drawings it 
is probable that many of the visitors left the building much 
enlightened with regard to an industry of which previously they 
had known next to nothing. But, however bad a time of it the 
poor Seals might seem to be having in the groups depicted, all 
seemed to be going merrily enough with the sealers, such little 
events as an immersion in the icy sea, or a fight with some hard- 
headed old “‘ dog” only lending diversity to the scene. 

There is, however, another side to the picture which no pencil 
could depict nor model adequately convey. Fast in the pitiless 
ice which tightens round her lies the good ship, her timbers 
groaning with the strain as though the vessel were instinct with 
life and feeling, the thick ice—crumpled by the pressure like 
sheets of paper, and its broken edges rafting one upon the other 
till there seems no escape from its overwhelming rush—every 
moment threatening to close over the shivering vessel and add 
one more to the list of the missing. All this time the crew, 
in spite of the darkness, cold, and blinding drift, are working 
steadily at their posts striving to relieve the ship, or preparing 
for a hasty flight to the ice should the worst happen; yet so 
capricious is the weather and the motion of the ice that a change 
may come at any moment, and the vessel be relieved from her 
perilous position. Or it may be that the majority of the crew 
are away on the ice; a gale comes on, and the heavy fall of snow 


296 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


obliterates their tracks and hides all the surroundings by which 
they could guide their course to the distant vessel; those on 
board adopt every means to indicate the direction in which the 
lost ones should bend their steps; but in the snow-laden and 
foggy atmosphere the fog-horn and beacon-light are alike useless, 
aud when the dawn comes and a search-party is sent out great 
is the suffering which they are called upon to witness—frost-bite, 
madness, or even death. Add to this all the privation, hard work, 
and liability to accident, and the sealeris surely entitled to all 
his hard-earned gains. 

Although not so disastrous a season as that of 1882, the 
weather during the fishing in 1883 was quite sufficiently severe, 
and sometimes the vessels were very hard pressed; never- 
theless the Dundee ships had a very fair catch, the six 
vessels averaging 15,392 Seals each, the ‘Thetis’ taking the 
lead with 22,144, the smallest number 8235 falling to the ‘ Arctic,’ 
the total catch of the Dundee vessels being 92,354, against 
63,204 last season. Of twenty-five other fine vessels from 
St. John’s six returned clean, the remaining nineteen capturing 
between them about 194,000 Seals, or an average of 10,210 each. 
The very large majority of these 286,000 Seals were young 
“Harps”; there were also a few old and second year Harp Seals, 
and some Hooded Seals. ‘he ‘Aurora’ also subsequently shot 
2250 old Hooded Seals, and the ‘ Resolute’ 1493 of the same 
species in the ice between Iceland and Greenland. 

Passing to the Greenland Seal-fishery, I cannot do better 
than give a brief summary of the voyage of the ‘ Eclipse,’ one of 
the most successful vessels of the British fleet, with the par- 
ticulars of which Capt. D. Gray, her commander, has been so kind 
as to supply me. On the evening of the 2nd April, after a very 
stormy passage out, the ‘Eclipse’ entered the ice in 73° 55’ N. 
5° K., and joined a fleet of fifteen other British and Norwegian 
vessels which had also found the Seals, some of the ships having 
been watching the pack ever since the 28th March, waiting for 
the opening of the fishery, which was to take place the following 
morning. About 8 p.m. all was in readiness for putting the men 
on the ice soon after daylight the next morning. The evening 
was fine, and the scene pretty and peaceful in the extreme. The 
Seals were all Harps, and they lay basking upon the ice in 
all directions, engaged, with evident demonstrations of affection 


THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1883. 297 


and satisfaction, in administering nourishment to their pretty 
long-coated and large-eyed offspring, or passing to and fro 
between the open water and the ice, still intent on their labour 
of love. On this peaceful scene the arctic sun went down. 

Hardly had daylight spread over the ice on the morning of 
the 3rd, when the ships commenced to send their men away, and 
by 8 o'clock there were something like 800 men on the ice, 150 of 
whom would be armed with rifles. Until 12 o’clock the cheers 
of the men, the cries of the Seals, and the crack of the rifles was 
incessant ; after 12, as the Seals grew scarcer and the men became 
fagged, the noise gradually diminished, and at 8 p.m. all was 
quiet again. 

As may be imagined, when in such large numbers and at 
such close quarters, quarrels, particularly between the Scotch and 
Norwegian sailors, were frequent, and the danger from wandering 
bullets was not slight; happily, however, the casualties from the 
latter cause were confined to one Norwegian wounded. The 4th 
was spent in like manner, but the men had farther to go and fewer 
Seals to get; and on the 5th still fewer Seals rewarded them for 
greatly increased labour. 

The ice was now completely cleared, and on ee off” 
Capt. Gray found that his share was as follows:—young Harp 
Seals, 1470; old ditto, 854; young Hooded Seals, 322; old 
ditto, 2; total, 2148. As Capt. Gray abstained from the injudicious 
practice known as “binging,’—that is, continuing to kill the 
Seals so long as any are to be found and piling the pelts where 
they were killed, instead of bringing them at once to the ship,— 
he did not make up so large a total as the Norwegians, but from 
the reports he received from the other vessels he estimates the 
total number of Seals killed by the sixteen ships at about 42,000. 

On the 10th April the ‘ Eclipse’ again fell in with Seals, and 
worked amongst them till the 13th, when owing to the distance 
his crew had to travel upon the ice, and the badness of the 
weather, the men were completely footsore and exhausted. The 
result of this second breeding-station was 2416 young and 26 old 
Harp Seals, and 6 young and 1 old Hooded Seals, making with 
those previously taken a total of 4596 Seals. 

I have mentioned the practice of “binging” Seals, which is 
precisely the same as that known in the Newfoundland fishery as 
“panning” or “bulking,” a system which ought to be strictly 

ZOOLOGIST.—AUGUST, 1884. DN 


298 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


prohibited; it is quite sufficiently destructive for the sealers to 
kill all the Seals which they can drag to the ship, but to bulk 
Seals which from various causes, such as fog, drifting ice, or the 
vessel being compelled by stress of weather or the tightening of 
the ice, to desert them, so that possibly they may never see them 
again, is a wasteful mode of proceeding which ought to be dis- 
couraged by all means, and it is to be regretted that by mutual 
arrangement amongst the sealers or otherwise itis not abandoned. 

The result of the Greenland Seal-fishery, so far as the British 
ships are concerned, was a take of 37,922, or an average of 2917 
per vessel, against a total of 22,142 for the season of 1882. 
Formerly, before the close time was enacted, the sealers took only 
the skins and oil of the old Seals, the pups being too young to 
yield oil and their skins useless, they were left to perish; now, 
however, as will be seen by the result of Capt. Gray’s voyage, very 
few old Seals are killed, and the pups being older and in fine 
condition, not only is the yield of oil very good, but the skins 
are equally valuable. 

Messrs. Stephen & Son, of Dundee, exhibited at the late 
Fisheries Exhibition a great variety of fancy leather manufactured 
from the skins of Seals, and of the pelts of the young Harps 
dressed with the long soft fur of the first coat, either of the 
natural colour or dyed; thus prepared they are now extensively 
used by furriers in the manufacture of the fur capes so universally 
worn. ‘The consequence of this demand is that the value of the 
skins has greatly increased, and they bring the importers about 
6s. to 7s. per skin. The total value of the 1688 tons of seal-oil 
brought home by the Scotch vessels from Newfoundland and 
Greenland last season represents a sum of about £52,328, and 
that of the 130,276 seal-skins, which may be taken at 6s. each, 
another £39,082, a very fair average for this portion of the voyage. 

I fear, however, there are signs of the Greenland Seal-fishery 
rapidly approaching the stage in which it will not pay to con- 
tinue it. It is probable that none of the breeding pack escaped 
detection this season, and that practically all the young brood 
was killed off. In 1882 the pack took the ice so far north that 
some of the vessels missed them altogether, and possibly a portion 
of the brood escaped, but in the past season the main body of the 
fleet was up before the close time came to an end, and it is not 
likely many young ones were left; indeed it is doubtful even now, 


THE SEAL AND WHALE FISHERY OF 1888. 299 


were it not for the attraction of the Bottle-nosed Whale fishery, 
whether our large vessels would be tempted to go north to the 
Greenland sealing, rather than, as is now done by the Dundee 
vessels, to Newfoundland, where a much greater chance of success 
at present awaits them. 

The 8.8. ‘ Mazinthien’ of Dundee went on the rocks off Peter- 
head on her outward passage on March 13th and became a total 
wreck, but happily her crew of fifty men was saved. 

The success of the Davis Strait whalers in 1883 was very 
poor indeed. Six Dundee vessels went to Davis Strait, and 
one Peterhead vessel to Cumberland Gulf; one of these, the 
‘Arctic,’ fished only for White Whales, of which she captured 1220, 
the remaining six killed eighteen Whales, some of which were 
very small, the whole yielding only 208 ewt. of bone; the ‘ Esqui- 
maux’ killed three Whales for 21 tons of oil and 18 ewt. of bone. 
The ‘Thetis,’ however, was as successful with the Right Whales as 
she had been earlier in the season with the Seals, having killed 
six Whales, which averaged 16 cwt. of bone each, in addition to 
791 White Whales. The ‘Thetis,’ by the fouling of a line, lost 
her carpenter and boatswain, the boat was carried under, and the 
remainder of the crew were rescued with difficulty by a boat from 
the ship. 

In all 2736 White Whales were killed; these creatures are 
captured by placing nets across the entrance to inlets and fjords, 
up which the Whales go in search of salmon. When the tide 
retires they are left by the water and easily killed, yielding a ton 
of oil to every six or seven Whales; their skins, however, are 
valuable, and when dressed constitute the ‘porpoise hide” so 
much prized for its strength and imperviousness to water; the 
hides are worth about 1s. 6d. per tb. 

The probable cause of the want of success in the Davis 
Straits fishery is the over-fishing, by which the Whales have 
become unapproachable, and decline to show themselves in any- 
thing like open water. How far this is due to the injudicious use 
of steam on the whaling grounds, and to the keen competition 
of the whalers, I do not venture an opinion. 

Only one Whale was brought home by the Greenland vessels ; 
this was killed by the ‘ Hope,’ Capt. J. Gray, and was a very small 
fish, yielding only 11 tons of oil and 11 ewt. of bone. Capt. David 
Gray went north, but finding the ice too fast, instead of waiting 


800 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


to effect a passage through it to the open coast-water, returned to 
the Bottle-nosed Whale fishery, which he prosecuted successfully, 
The total catch of Right Whales by the seven vessels was only 
nineteen, the quantity of bone being 219 cwt.; a most un- 
successful season, but so great is the present scarcity of bone, 
which is now selling at upwards of £2000 per ton, that the 
temptation to try again next season will be very great. 

The Bottle-nosed Whale fishery has been vigorously prosecuted, 
no less than 535 of these creatures having been killed, compared 
with 413 in the season of 1882; the ‘ Kclipse’ headed the list 
with 157 fish. Capt. Gray tells me he finds a great difference in 
the behaviour of these animals since they have been hunted with 
such vigour; they are becoming much more suspicious and 
difficult of approach than formerly, and whereas when he first 
commenced to take them the whole of the school would congregate 
around a wounded animal, rendering it easy to secure eight or 
ten out of a herd, now on one being harpooned its companions 
disappear at once, seeking safety in flight. JI am informed that 
two new vessels have been added to the Peterhead fleet, and that 
several additional steamers will sail next season from Dundee; 
in addition to which quite a fleet of Norwegians will take part 
in the Bottle-nosed Whale fishery. It is not hazardous, there- 
fore, to predict that the decline of this profitable industry will be 
as rapid as its rise, and that should the present race to get rich 
at their expense continue, the Hyperoodons will soon be as rare as 
the Right Whales. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS ON ORNITHOLOGY. 


By THE LATE Epwarp Biyrtu. 


No. 3.—Fam. Cypsetipx (Swifts). 


A remarkable group of birds, organized, both internally and 
externally, to produce the maximum power of flight. They have 
been much confounded with the Hirundinide or Swallows, which 
exhibit the true Passerine structure to its minutest detail, and 
which owe their volar power mainly to the development of the 
wings and tail. The Swifts, in their general conformation, most 
nearly resemble the J'rochilide or American Humming Birds; 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 301 


but are solely insectivorous, whereas the Trochilide subsisting 
partly on the nectar of flowers (though still chiefly insectivorous, 
and pursuing minute insects on the wing as well as picking them 
from flowers), have the bill and tongue modified accordingly.* 
Externally, they are readily distinguishable from the Swallows by 
having ten tail-feathers only (like the Trochilide, and also the 
Caprimulgide): the wings are longer, narrower, and distinctly 
curved, with very robust stems to the outer primaries, the second 
of which equals or exceeds the first in length;+ the character of 
the plumage is different, and each clothing feather (as in the two 
preceding families) is furnished with a distinct supplementary 
plumelet; the conformation generally is much more robust; 
and the bill is quite of a different form, more approximating that 
of Caprimulgus: the feet (excepting in Macropteryx, and perhaps 
Atticora ?) differ remarkably from those of every other bird 
known, in the circumstance of the four toes consisting each of a 
single phalanx, additional to the unguinal phalanx which is 
armed with a very strong, compressed, and acutely pointed claw; 
the representative of the hind toe is directed inward (as in 
Caprimulgus), but with rotation of the joint forward in Cypselus 
(whence this genus has been commonly described to have all four 
toes directed forwards), and backward in Acanthylis and Collo- 
calia, wherein the hind toe can be well opposed to the other toes. 
In Macropteryx, however, the number of joints of the toes suc- 
cessively increases as in other birds,{ and the hind toe is fixedly 
opposed to the others. With a wide gape (as in Caprimulgus), 
the cleft extending to beneath the middle of the eye, and always 
quite smooth or devoid of vibrisse, the bill is minute, and com- 
pressed anteriorly to the nostrils, having the upper mandible 
incurved and the tomiz of both inflected; the nareal orifices are 
exposed and vertical, forming oblique, oblong-oval slits. The 


* The Trochilide further differ from the Cypselide in having complex 
vocal muscles; though it appears that even in this respect the Patagona 
gigas accords with the Swifts. These two families further differ remarkably 
in their mode of flight. 

+ In the more powerful species the first and second primaries are sub- 
equal; in the weaker the first is shorter. The stems of the outer primariés 
attain their maximum strength throughout the class in certain Trochilida, 
known as the Sabre-wings (Campylopterus). 

} We have seen a slight exception in Caprimulgus, 


3802 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


tongue is narrow, somewhat elongated, a little fleshy, and cleft at 
tip. The muscular coat of the stomach is tolerably developed, 
though without constituting a true gizzard; the intestinal canal 
short and wide (not exceeding the length of the body from bill to 
vent), and without ceca. The sternum is somewhat narrow, 
widening posteriorly, with an entire hinder margin, and the keel 
enormously developed and continued forward (less prominently in 
Collocalia) to terminate in an obtuse point; in the young of all, 
and in the weaker species permanently, the ossification of the 
sternum is, however, incomplete about the middle—on either side 
of the ridge, and also in the thin portion of the ridge or keel 
itself; the coracoids are short; the furcula also short and widely 
arched, with a small mesial appendage projecting downward; the 
humeri are singularly short, with their tuberosities prominent in 
the extreme degree; the radius and ulna are about twice the 
length of the humerus; and the remaining (or wrist and hand) 
bones of the wing together exceed in length the humerus added 
to the radius. The legs (more especially in Cypselus) are very 
muscular, with the tarsi short, and the grasp of the toes with 
their sharp claws firm and clutching. The eye is tolerably large, 
and has its sclerotica strengthened by a circlet of about fourteen 
ossicles. In size the birds of this family vary from the bulk of a 
Thrush down to that of the generality of the larger Humming- 
birds; which latter, indeed, the Collocalie (or edible-nest- 
producers) not a little resemble in general aspect, excepting of 
course that of the bill, and in the lack of the resplendent gem-like 
colours which adorn the Trochilide generally, but which are 
wanting in the largest species of that family (Patagona gigas). 
Unlike the Caprimulgide, or at least the genus Caprimulgus 
and its immediate affines, the species of which descend much to 
the ground, the Cypselide never do so; and if by accident they 
fall, some at least of them are unable to rise from a plane surface, 
but must creep or clamber till they get the elevation necessary 
to permit of the free action of their long wings.* They are among 
the most aérial of birds, even copulating on the wing; out early 
and late, and throughout the day; and all the species would 


* The Indian Cypselus affinis rises on the wing with perfect facility from 
the smoothest surface ; and we once brought down a British Swift (C. apus) 
which lay on the ground till our near approach, when it rose and flew off as 
if unhurt. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 303 


appear to roost and build gregariously, in dark cavernous recesses 
of rocks, buildings, or the hollows of trees—some few in the 
fronds of palms; the nest is either formed of light substances 
collected during flight, and more or less cemented together by a 
viscid secretion of the cesophageal glands, or it is even wholly 
composed of this substance, constituting then the “ edible birds’ 
nests” so highly prized by the Chinese and Japanese. They are 
extremely tenacious of their breeding-places, and, if undisturbed, 
resort to the same nests season after season; if the nest be 
removed, another is immediately constructed in the same place, 
and this several times successively. Occasionally a number of 
nests in contiguity are agglutinated to one another; and often 
they are shaped like a cup vertically divided, the perpendicular 
surface to which they are attached rendering a deposit of material 
unnecessary on that side. The eggs are from two to four in 
number, of a lengthened shape, and (as in the T'rochilide pure 
white in every known instance.* In general the Cypselide are 
highly gregarious, often flying in companies, which are particu- 
larly active and noisy when the air is highly charged with 
electricity ; and they generally seek their insect-prey high in fine 
weather, and near the ground when the weather is damp and 
gloomy, and towards the dusk of evening—conveying pellets of it 
to their young, accumulated and held beneath the tongue as in a 
pouch. Their voice is simple screaming or twittering, according 
to the species; and the young of Cypselus apus has been remarked 
to emit a singular continuous sound, “‘like the humming of a tea- 
kettle.” The flight of all is most vigorous and powerful, smooth 
and sailing in some species, more or less rapid and impetuous, or 
in others flickering and irregular, yet with such power of wing it 
is remarkable that the geographical range of the species is not 
particularly extensive, but .in general rather the reverse. Ex- 
amples of this family occur in most countries, except the coldest; 
and at all elevations from the plains to the mountains; where the 
winter is cold they migrate. In Britain it is remarkable that 
the Common Swift (Cypselus apus) and Nightjar (Caprimulgus 
européus) are the latest of all the summer visitants to arrive, and 


* T suspect that the eggs described by Capt. Tickell in J. A. S. xvii. 302, 
are erroneously ascribed by him to the Palm Swift, even if found in the nest 
of that bird. Capt. Tickell, however, remarks that the nest was not brought 
to him. 


804 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


the earliest, excepting the adult Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) to take 
their departure.* 
Subfam. CypsrLinz&. 

Distinguished by the very peculiar structure of the digits, 
each of which consists of but a single phalanx additional to the 
unguinal phalanx, as is the case with the hind toe only of other 
birds. The majority of the foregoing generalizations refer more 
especially (so far as yet known) to the present subfamily, and 
particularly to the genus Cypselus. The species present no 
sexual diversity of plumage, which is commonly sooty-black or 
brown, with faint-coloured glosses, often relieved with white on 
the throat, belly, and in several forming a band above the tail. 


A. With more robust feet, the representative of the hind toe 
rotating forwards, and not completely opposable to the 
other toes. 


Genus Cypsruus, Illiger. (Ordinary Swifts). 

These have a square or generally a forked tail, with no ten- 
dency to be spinous; the toes are short, and the tarsi are always 
feathered above. About eighteen species are known, some of 
which occur in most parts of the world; two visiting Europe in 
summer, but none N. America; one only has been observed in 
Australia. 

C. MeLBA; Hirundo melba, L.; H. alpina, Seopoli; H. gularis, 
Stephens; C. alpinus, Tem.; C. gutturalis, Vieillot.— Length 
about 83 in.; of middle tail-feathers 2} in., the outermost 3 or $ 
in. longer; wing from bend 9 in. General colour brown, with 
white throat and belly ; a reddish-purple gloss on the back. 

Inhabits the Nilgiris, and Central India: also Africa; and 
chiefly the high mountains of S. Europe, visiting rarely the 
British Islands. Mr. Jerdon “first observed it on the road 
between Madura and Pallamcottah, when an innumerable flock 
passed over camp from the range of eastern ghats, travelling 
towards the east coast. It was almost midday in the month of 


* Very rare individual exceptions have been known to occur, but, from 
special causes, as a late brood of young; yet it is stated that they will some- 
times leave a brood of unfledged young to perish, so strong is the migrative 
impulse, 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 305 


August. They kept a steady easterly direction. I afterwards,” 
he continues, ‘‘ saw at Travancore single birds flying about at an 
immense height with great rapidity. I saw them also on the top 
of the Nilgiris, towards the edges of the hills; and at Madura, 
flying in small parties every evening, just before sunset, towards 
the east coast, apparently from the hills in the neighbourhood, as 
I did not see them during the daytime. Their flight is amazingly 
rapid.” 

C. virratus, Jardine & Selby, Ill. Orn., 2nd series, pl. 39.— 
Size and form of the common British Swift (C. apus, which spe- 
cies, it may be remarked, is a common summer visitant in 
Afghanistan) ; but distinguished from it by its blacker colouring, 
narrow white band above the tail, widening on each side, and by 
the duller albescent hue of the throat gradually diminishing much 
further down, the extreme tips of all the feathers of the lower 
parts being commonly albescent. Wing 7 in.; span of foot ¢ in. 
This bird varies, however, somewhat in size. Its claws are of a 
dusky-brown colour. 

It is common about Penang, and extends its range eastward 
to China. From the Australian C. pacificus (Latham), v. australis, 
Gould, it seems to differ little; but, according to Mr. Gould’s 
figure, the latter has the wide throat pure and well defined, and a 
broader white band on the rump. 

C. tEvconyx, Blyth, J. A. S. xii. 212.—Very similar to the 
last, but smaller, with a much smaller foot and white claws. Tail 
forked to the depth of 3 in., its outermost feather 2} in.; wing 
6 to 64 in.; span of foot 2 in. 

A rare species, but extensively diffused over India proper. 
Mr. Jerdon procured it in the Deccan, and has also obtained it 
from Malabar. An individual flew into an open room within a 
few miles of Calcutta, which is the only specimen we have seen 
from Bengal. In its flight it would be conspicuously distinguished 
from the next by its distinctly forked tail and much longer wings; 
but though many times looked for, we have never seen it in the 
air. Perhaps it ordinarily flies very high, in which case the time 
to seek for it would be in gloomy weather, or towards evening, 
when all the tribe hawk nearer the ground. 

C. arrinis, Gray, Hardw. Ill. Ind. Zool.; C. nipalensis, 
Hodgson, J. A. 8. v. 780; C. montanus, Jerdon, Madr. Journ. 
xui, 144; probably Hirundo fancica, Gm., apud Griffith’s 


306 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


‘ Animal Kingdom,’ vii. 67 (nec H. fancica vera). Abadil, Hind.— 
Remarkable for its shortish, even tail, the feathers of which are 
not pointed (as in the various preceding species). Length 53 in., 
by 12 in.; wing 5 in.; tail 1$ in. Colour brown-black, blackest 
on the back; with a white throat and rump; head brownish, 
palest on forehead. Irides deep brown. 

The common urban and village Swift of India generally, 
resident throughout the year; and though not generally a moun- 
tain bird, the C. montanus, Jerdon, inhabiting cliffs in the Nilgiris, 
appears to us to be perfectly identical; and Mr. Jerdon remarks 
of C. affinis that on the west coast he saw it “upon several 
oceasions, chiefly among rocky hills, but only observed it twice or 
thrice throughout the whole length of the table-land from the 
Tapoor Pass to Jaulnah, and then but few in number. At this 
latter place, however, it is very common.” In the Deccan it is 
so rare that Col. Sykes obtained only two specimens. Yet, 
observes Mr. Jerdon, ‘‘ it is found in all districts of India, but in 
these is often confined to a small tract in the neighbourhood of 
some few large pagodas, large old choultries, and other similar 
buildings. In the Carnatic it is common in Madras, at the rocky 
foot of Trichinopoly, and very numerous at the large pagodas at 
Madura, among which their nests are thickly crowded. It seldom, 
I think, takes a very long range from its breeding-place. During 
the night they roost in their nests, four or five often occupying 
the same one, as I observed in the celebrated choultry at Ajunta. 
It builds its nest in company always, often thickly crowded 
together, placing them in corners or crevices of old buildings.” 
In Bengal they are often placed in a low porch or verandah, even 
in the most crowded thoroughfares of towns, the birds passing to 
and fro, twittering loudly, and regardless of the throng beneath. 
Capt. Tickell correctly describes the nests as “large, flat, 
irregular, of fine straw, hay, and feathers, closely interwoven and 
kept together with the glutinous substance supplied from the 
bird’s salivary [proventricular] glands, generally glued against 
some beam in a verandah or outhouse. Eggs three, of a length- 
ened shape, spotless white. July.” Mr. Hodgson terms this 
“the common Swift of the central region of Nepal, building 
under thatched roofs, and against the beams of flat roofs.” It 
very commonly enters rooms through open windows, and flying 
to and fro near the ceiling finds much difficulty in escaping by the 


ae | 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 307 


way it entered. A slight touch with a switch brings it down 
immediately, when it suffers itself to be handled without making 
an effort to escape; yet place it on the smoothest table, and it 
rises with the utmost facility, springing high enough to gain the 
action of its wings. Let the wings be tied, and it will then be 
seen to be incapable of progressing by the feet on such a surface, 
while it endeavours to relieve itself by repeated springs. The 
flight of this species is very unlike that of the British Swift, 
being less steady, and performed with much action of the wings, 
with intervals of sailing, though never smoothly along for any 
distance. The voice is a sort of shivering scream, rather than a 
twitter. 

We have never seen this bird from the eastern side of the Bay 
of Bengal; but Mr. Strickland notes it from Malacca—“ Rather 
larger and of a deeper black than Indian specimens, but I do not,” 
he adds, “venture to separate them. Wing 54 in; tail 2} in.” 
(P. Z. S. 1848, p. 99). 

C. BALASIENSIS, Gray, Griffith’s An. Kingd. vii. 60; C. pal- 
marum, Gray, Hardw. Ill. Ind. Zool.*—A small species, with 
rather deeply forked tail, and with the first primary considerably 
shorter than the second, and attenuating to the tip. Length to 
end of middle tail-feathers 33 in., the outermost 1} in. more; 
alar expanse 10$in.; wing from bend 43 in. Colour wholly of 
an ash-brown, paler (somewhat albescent) below; wings and tail 
darker, and faintly green-glossed. Irides dark brown. 

“This little species,” remarks Mr. Jerdon, ‘is common to all 
the districts of India, except on the bare table-land, where it is 
very rare. It frequents groves of palms, especially the Borassus 
flabelliformis, and does not in general fly to any distance from 
them. It is very abundant in the Carnatic.” In Bengal it is also 
common, but a rural and garden species, which does not come 
much over towns, being generally found wherever a tall or isolated 


* Chamchiki is the only native name which we have heard for this 
species, and for Hirwndo sinensis ; but it properly refers to the Bats (ex- 
clusive of Pteropus), and is doubtless applied to these birds from their 
somewhat Bat-like mode of flight, unsteady and flickering. However, a 
remarkable Bat-like analogy is observable in most Cypselida, in the roosting 
places which they resort to, whether in buildings, or the deep rock-caverns 
of the Collocalie, or the instance of many thousands of Acanthylis pelasgia 
retiring into a single hollow trunk. As for their time of activity, the Swifts 
begin to retire to roost when the Bats begin to come forth after sunset, 


308 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Borassus grows; about a dozen pairs commonly resorting to the 
same tree, and attaching their nests to the upper surface of the 
drooping fan-like fronds, protected by overhanging fronds above. 
Affixed by the glutinous secretion to a plait of the frond, the rest 
of the nest does not (as in other Swifts) appear to be cemented by 
this substance, but is a closely-felted mass of silk-cotton (the 
pappus of the Bombax heptaphyllum), forming a neat cup of con- 
siderable strength, and lined with feathers. Except in size and 
mode of attachment, it is indeed remarkably like the nests of the 
generality of T’rochilide.* The eggs I have not seen. The palm 
selected for their abode is conspicuously indicated by the birds 
perpetually keeping about it, and ever and anon one or more of 
them entering or leaving the recesses of its dense head of foliage, 
sharply twittering as they fly, in their rapid, irregular, and vacil- 
lating course, sustained by much action of the wings. Not 
unfrequently the same palm is tenanted by a busy assemblage of 
Bayas (Ploceus), with their pendant retort-like nests waving in the 
breeze. 

Mr. Gosse has lately described a species of very similar habits 
in Jamaica, which he makes a genus of, and designates T’achornis 
phenicobia. The chief difference from Cypselus seems to be that 
the ossification of the sternum and its ridge continues permanently 
incomplete (as in the Collocalie), denoting a general weaker 
structure. In the Indian Palm Swift such is not the case. The 
latter species does not appear to have been observed by Mr. 
Hodgson in Nepal, but to the eastward we have seen it from 
Arracan (Ramree). 


* Indeed the Humming-birds affix their nests to a single twig, vertical or 
horizontal, according to the species; and Mr. Gosse, in his description of the 
nest of Trochilus polytmus, notices “some viscous substance, probably 
saliva, evidently applied after the web was placed,” alluding to a covering of 
spiders’ webs “crossed and recrossed in every direction” over the outside of 
the fabric. Hence it seems not improbable that species of Trochilide may 
yet be discovered to attach the nest to a flat surface, like the Cypselide, if 
indeed they do not all use the same glutinous secretion to make the first 
rudiments of it adhere. These diminutive birds sleep roosting, as do probably 
the Macropteryx genus of the Cypselide@, and do not put the head beneath 
the wing, like most other birds. Neither probably do the Cypselide, as also 
the Trogonide and Caprimulgide. The lengthened white eggs of the 
Cypselide and Trochilide present a further similarity between the two 
families. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 309 


B. With less robust feet, the representative of the hind toe 
rotating backwards, and opposable to the other toes. 


Genus AcANTHYLLIS, Boie. (Spiny-tailed Swifts). 


Distinguished by robust general conformation (as in Cypselus), 
and by having an even or wedge-shaped tail, with the shafts of 
the feathers prolonged into rigid spines, more or less developed. 
The tarsi are covered with a naked skin, and with the toes are less 
robust than in Cypselus, and comparatively somewhat elongated.* 
About fifteen species are known, which severally inhabit S.E. 
Asia and its islands, Australia, Africa, and both Americas.t 
Two only, of small size, visit N. America, one on either side of 
the great mountain range; and that of the Atlantic States has 
been the most studied of the genus. This bird is known as the 


* In Mr. Gosse’s ‘ Birds of Jamaica,’ an extract from the MS. notes of 
Dr. Anthony Robinson (vide the work cited, p. 20) is given in the notice of 
a rather large species, supposed to be A. collaris (Pr. Max.), in which it is 
stated—“‘ As this bird seldom alights, it is furnished with two supernumerary 
bones, which are placed on the superior and exterior part of the leg [tarsus ?]; 
the skin that covers them is of an obscure flesh-colour; they are of an oblong 
ovated form, in. long; and as the bird hangs upon a wall, rock, &e., by its 
claws, these bones are pressed close to it, and the leg thereby secured from 
harm.” The two large Indian species have no trace of such a structure. 
Of the same species another observer remarks—‘* The legs are curiously con- 
structed: the tarsus cannot extend further than at an angle of 28°, nor can 
it be straightened; so that it corresponds with the tail-feathers, and keeps 
the bird in an upright position against vertical rocks and trees. From this 
formation the bird cannot stand erect on the ground, nor can it apparently. 
walk”; and the same observer was told by fishermen and others that they 
have taken young ones clinging to the vertical honeycomb rocks, againt 
whose base the sea dashes. Dr. Robinson, however, remarked of a living 
specimen that on the floor ‘‘it crept along with its legs bent, leaning on the 
aforesaid bones, but was not able to raise itself upon its feet. When by any 
accident this bird falls to the ground, as sometimes happens, it creeps or 
scrambles to some rock or shrub, when, bending the tail and expanding its 
wings, it elevates its body, and at the same time throwing its legs forward 
eatches hold of the rock, &., with its claws, and climbing up to a proper 
height throws itself back and recovers its wings.” This species has been 
traced to caverns in the mountains of Jamaica, in which they appear to 
nestle by hundreds. In Cypselws and Collocalia it may be remarked that 
the action of both the tibial and tarsal joints is particularly free. 

} A single individual of the Himalayan species has been killed in England, 
at or near Colchester, in Essex, as I am informed by My. Bartlett. [A second 
has since been procured, ¢f. Zool. 1880, p. 81.—Ep.] 


3810 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Chimney Swallow in the United States, from its constant habit of 
resorting to chimneys wherever it can, while in the depths of the 
forest it roosts and nestles in hollow trunks of trees, and some- 
times in caverns. M. Audubon relates that he counted nine 
thousand of them roosting in the hollow trunk of a plane tree 
(Platanus occidentalis) in Kentucky. It migrates in multitudinous 
hosts, circling in their flight at a great altitude. All observers 
agree respecting the extreme rapidity of wing of the birds of this 
genus, and the elevation at which they soar in fine weather. Of 
the great Australian species (which would appear to be identical 
with that of the Himalaya), Mr. Gould writes—‘“‘I have frequently 
observed in the middle of the hottest days, while lying prostrate 
on the ground with my eyes directed upwards, the cloudless sky 
peopled at an immense elevation by hundreds of these birds, 
performing immense curves and sweeping flights; hence few birds 
are more difficult to obtain, particularly on the continent of 
Australia, where long droughts are so prevalent; on the contrary, 
the flocks that visit the more humid climate of Van Dieman’s 
Land, where they necessarily seek their food near the earth, are 
often greatly diminished by the gun during their stay.” The 
nidification of none of the three species has been observed. 

The first two of them are very large. 

A. caupacuta ; Hirundo caudacuta, Latham ;* Cypselus gigan- 
teus, Tem.; Spiny-tailed Swift, Jerdon, Madr. Journ. xiii. 173.— 
Length about 9 in.; of wing from flexure 8 in.; tail 23 in.; its 
form cuneated, but the barbed portion of the rectrices subequal, 
their prolonged stems much lengthened and very robust, those of 
the middle rectrices protruding } in. Crown and nape, wings, 
tail and its upper coverts, and the sides of the rump, glossy black, 
with steel-blue and green reflections; the last further bordered 
with white posterior to the thigh, and the inner web of the smallest 
tertiaries is whitish; under tail-coverts also white; back, scapu- 
laries, and medial portion of the rump, hair-brown; paler towards 
the middle of the back; lower parts dusky-brown, paler towards 
the chin; a white spot before the lores in some specimens only. 
Female (?) rather smaller, with the colours less distinctly con- 
trasted; wing 7 in. ‘ Irides deep brown” (Jerdon). 

This bird inhabits (or visits ?) the Nilgiris, Ceylon, the 


* “Throat very pale-dusky.” Latham. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 311 


Malayan peninsula (especially about Penang), and has been 
obtained so high as at Sandoway, in Arracan, where deemed a 
rarity. Mr. Jerdon observed it “in vast numbers at the foot of 
the Nilgiris, both at Metapollium and Goodaloor. It flies with 
amazing velocity.” 

A. Fusca (?); Tirundo fusca (2), Shaw; Chetura australis (2), 
Stephens; C. macroptera (?), Swainson, Zool. Ill., 2nd series, 
pl. 42; C. nudipes, Hodgson, J. A. S. v. 779; Cypselus leuconotus, 
Mag. de Zool. 1840, Ois. pl. 20, and figured also in the Souvenirs, 
&c., of M. Adolphe Delessert, pt. 1. pl. 20, p. 25.—Similar to A. 
caudacuta, but having the whole chin and throat pure white, and 
the spinous tips to the rectrices much less developed, the medial 
Searcely protruding } in. In A. caudacuta also the barbed portion 
of the rectrices narrows off to its termination, as in most Wood- 
peckers ; whereas in A. fusca (2) the barbed portion rounds off at 
tip, so that the spinous ends of the stems protrude abruptly. 
Mr. Hodgson gives the length of the recent bird as “83 in., and 
alar expanse 20 in. Weight 43 oz. Irides dark brown. Sexes 
alike. The young,” he adds, “want the blue or green gloss of 
maturity; the clear whity-brown of the back and pure sooty- 
brown of the belly are in them blended into an uniform dusky 
hue; and their throat is of a very sordid white.” 

Hab. Nepal, Sikim, and Bootan ; and, to judge from the 
figures published by Mr. Swainson and Mr. Gould, it would 
appear to be perfectly identical in Australia. Mr. G. R. Gray, 
however, in his illustrated “Genera of Birds,’ enumerates the 
Himalayan and Australian Species as distinct. In Nepal Mr. 
Hodgson states that—“ Its habitat is the northern region, whence 
it sometimes wanders into the mountains of the central, avoiding, 
however, the open and plain country. It climbs with great power, 
aided equally by its talons and its tail.” 

In an obliging communication from Captain Tickell, received 
just in time for insertion here, this naturalist remarks :—“ After 
much patience I shot one of these birds at Darjeeling, where they 
first appear in September. In the plains I have not seen them ; 
and it is probable that they pass from the Himalayas to the high 
ghats of Central India without halting intermediately. It is in 
September that the snow, gathering on the higher Himmalas, 
drives down hordes of birds to lower ranges, and amongst them 
- immense flocks of Hirundines ” (i. e., Hirundinide and Cypselide). 


312 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


“Of these I have watched scattered bodies passing over Dar- 
jeeling for many days together, journeying to the S. and S.W. 
They consist chiefly of Callocalia unicolor (nidifica), Acanthyllis 
Sabini ?, Hirundo riparia, and doubtless all the other species that 
visit us during the cold season. Amongst these Acanthyllis 
nudipes is at once recognised by his great size and the prodigious 
swiftness of his movements. There is nothing I have ever 
witnessed equa! to the flight of this bird; it is something bold 
and vast, and in keeping with the sublime precipices and cloud- 
capped pinnacles, which are its favourite resort. It breeds among 
the huge wall-like crags of the Himmala, and under the snow 
level.” 

In the same communication Capt. Tickell writes, of Cypselus 
melba :—‘‘ This is a common bird in the high central parts of 
India, from Mednipoor westward, in the cold weather. It mingles 
indiscriminately with flocks of Hirundo europyga (i.e., daurica, 
v. erythropygia), H. rustica (gutturalis?), Cypselus ajjfinis, and 
other common species, but flies so high as often to escape 
observation. It resorts much to the tops of high rocks or wooded 
hills, the summits of which it flies round with great velocity. I 
have shot them both in jungly and in open country. In Colgong, 
in Mantbhim, and in Chota Nagpore, flocks sometimes assemble 
of an evening near large ponds in the jungles, dashing into the 
water with loud screams, like our Swifts (C. apus) at home.” 

In Europe, remarks Mr. Yarrell of C. melba, “ High rocks 
and the loftiest parts of cathedrals and church spires are the 
places chosen by this bird, in the fissures of which it forms a nest 
of straw and moss” (?), “and these are cemented by a glutinous 
matter, which, when dry, makes the nest very hard.* M. Vieillot 
says the nest is small for the size of the bird, and, when fixed 
against a vertical surface, is in the form of a half-circle. This 
bird lays four or five elongated white eggs. The Cypselus afri- 
canus, or le Martinet a gorge blanche of Levaillant’s ‘ Birds of 
Africa,’ is considered to be the same as this White-bellied Swift.” 

While adding the above, and too late for insertion in its 
proper place, we have been fortunate in procuring a_ nest, 
evidently just built (August), of C. balasiensis, containing a broken 


* This description applies equally to nests of C. apws which we have 
examined, some of which more especially were solidified into a very firm 
crust or shell. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 313 


pure white egg. Unlike those built in the cold season of the 
pappus of the Bombaz, this is composed almost wholly of feathers, 
with a little admixture of pappus or vegetable down of some 
other very different plant, and most firmly agglutinated to the 
under surface of a Borassus frond by what assuredly looks like 
glistening and inspissated saliva. The structure, as in the nest 
before described, is remarkably firm and compact. 

A. sytvatica, Tickell, J. A. 8. xv. 284.*— Much smaller than 
the two preceding species, having the wing but 43 in.; the entire 
length from tip of bill to end of tail, 44in. Details of structure 
as in the last species; the wiry tips to the shafts of the rectrices 
well developed. Colour: above blue-glossed black, with a white 
rump; belly pure white, the feathers dark-shafted; rest of the 
under parts iron-grey, with a dash of ashy brown. Bill, iris, and 
legs brown. 

Hab. Central India; and also the §.E. Himalaya. Accord- 
ing to Capt. Tickell this species, as observed in Central India, 
“haunts open cultivated grounds in the midst of forest; also the 
cleared patches on the sides and summits of the hills. It is 
common, but local; gregarious and noisy; being often seen in 
company with Cypselus melba.” (Non vidi). 


Genus Cotnocai, G. R. Gray (Swiftlets). 

These are true Cypseli in structure, but comparatively feeble, 
having the first quill shorter than the second, and the wings and 
tail broad, the tail especially much resembling that of a Humming- 
bird, with its feathers of even length or nearly so. The feet and 
naked tarsi resemble those of Acanthyllis, having the hind-toe 
well opposed; but are comparatively slender, though of pro- 
portionate strength to the rest of the conformation. The breast- 
bone and its ridge remain incompletely ossified. Not more than 
three species appear to be known, though perhaps others require 
discrimination; they are of small or minute size, and are confined 
in their geographic distribution to the Indian, Indo-Chinese, and 


* Capt. Tickell suggests the identity of this species with Chetwra Sabini, 
Gray, described in Griffith’s edition of the ‘ Animal Kingdom,’ vii. 70, as 
“Bluish black, belly and rump white; Africa.” And with this Mr. G. RB. 
Gray identifies Chetura bicolor, Gray, Zool. Mise., p. 7, which description 
we have not seen. 

ZOOLOGIST.— AUGUST, 1884. 2B 


314 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Austral-Asian countries, as far as N. Guinea. Certain (if not all) 
of them produce the valued “ edible nests” of commerce. 

“Tn Java,” remarks Sir Stamford Raffles, “these birds not 
only abound amongst the cliffs and caverns of the south coast of 
the island, but inhabit the fissures and caverns of several of the 
mountains and hills in the interior of the country. From every 
observation which has been made in Java it has been inferred that 
the mucilaginous substance of which the nests are formed is not, 
as has been generally supposed, obtained from the ocean. The 
birds, it is true, generally inhabit the caverns in the vicinity of 
the sea, as agreeing best with their habits, and affording them the 
most convenient resorts for attaching their nests to; but several 
caverns are found inland, at a distance of forty or fifty miles from 
the sea, containing nests similar to those on the shore.* From 
many of their retreats along the southern coast they have been 
observed to take their flight in an inland direction, towards the 
pools, lakes, and extensive marshes, covered with stagnant water, 
as affording them abundance of their food, which consists of flies, 
musquitoes, gnats, and small insects of every description. The 
sea that washes the foot of the cliffs, where they most abound, is 
almost always in a state of the most violent agitation, and affords 
none of those substances which have been supposed to constitute 
the food of the ‘ Esculent Swallow.’ Another species of Swallow 
{Swift ?] on this island forms a nest, in which grass or moss, &e., 
are merely agglutinated by a substance exactly simitar to that of 
which exclusively the edible nests consist. This substance, from 
whatever part of these regions the nests be derived, is essentially 


* See also Hooyman, in the ‘ Batavian Transactions,’ iii. 95; likewise 
Marsden; and Sir G. Staunton, in his narrative of the Earl of Macartney’s 
Embassy to China; while Mr. G. R. Gray relates (rather as if a novelty), on 
the authority of Mr. Hugh Cuming, that in the Philippines the nests are 
found inland to the distance of fifty or sixty miles. One species has, in 
India, been only observed hitherto in the mountains of the interior, at a 
distance of many hundred miles from the sea. According to Mynheer 
Hooyman, however, the nests (even of the same species) vary somewhat in 
quality in different neighbourhoods. Thus, of those obtained in two inland 
localities, not very far apart, and but a few hours’ journey distant from 
Batavia, he states that the produce of one of these places is at least a third 
less valuable than that of the other, which latter is in its turn reckoned very 
inferior in quality to the nests gathered at Ternate and other islands chiefly 
to the eastward of Borneo. These last, however, we suspect, are not the 
produce of the same species. 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 315 


uniform, differing only in the colour, according to the relative age 
of the nests. It exhibits none of those diversities which might 
be expected if it were collected casually (like the mud employed 
by Hirundo urbica, and the materials commonly employed in 
nest-making), and applied to the rocks. If it consisted of the 
substances usually supposed it would be putrescent and diver- 
sified.” 

“Dr. Horsfield,” continues Sir S. Raffles, “thinks that it is 
an animal elaboration, perhaps a kind of secretion ;’* and Sir 
Everard Home, after examining the stomach of one of these 
birds, pronounced his decided opinion that the edible nests are 
composed of a substance secreted by the glands of that organ.+ 
M. Poivre, who in his often-quoted communication to Mont- 
beillard (Buffon’s Hist. Nat. Ois. vi. 688, e¢ seqg.), advocated the 
exploded notion that the substance was collected from the sea, 
remarks that there have been seen threads of this viscous matter 
hanging from the bills of these birds; and that it is believed, 
though without any foundation, they were derived from the 
stomach during the nesting season. M. Hooyman long ago 
(1781) was of opinion that the substance of them was nothing to 
do with sea-foam, but is elaborated from the food of the bird.t 
The Rey. J. Barbe adds, to his account of the nests gathered in 
the Nicobars, &c., quoted in the sequel, that “The Chinese 
say that when the nest is taken before it is completed the bird 
makes another, but of an inferior quality; and it appears that it 
exhausts itself in building the second, the nest being spotted with 
blood.”§ The prevalent opinion is that the substance is secreted 
by the salivary glands; but though, on carefully dissecting a 
specimen of C. fuciphaga, killed when there is reason to suppose 
that it had young (and therefore too late in the season), no 
remarkable development either of the salivary or of the proven- 
tricular glands was apparent, yet we are fully convinced that it is 
secreted by the latter, from examination of other Cypselide ; even 
in Cypselus balasiensis, which employs so little mucus, which is 
laid on merely to make its nest adhere, we have detected in 
situ stringy clots of it, while the proventricular glands were 


* * History of Java,’ i. 51. 

+ Home, as cited in Griffith’s ‘Animal Kingdom,’ vii. 98. 
{t ‘ Bataviaasch Genootschap,’ ui. 97. 

§ J. A. 8. xy. 363. 


316 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


adequately developed for its production. The animal origin of 
the edible nests is at once detected by simply burning a bit of 
one; and Mr. Laidlay informed us that, upon analysis, he found 
the constituent elements to be those of inspissated saliva. * 
Looking to a number of them, and more particularly to their 
under surface, the quantity laid on by the bird at each time, in 
successive layers to the rim, is in many conspicuously apparent, 
and this quantity is much more than the salivary glands could 
well be supposed to elaborate. Each addition consists of a linear 
collop continued along the whole semicircular rim of the nest, 
which latter forms generally a shallow saucer, imperfect where 
affixed to the rock, and when completed having the place of 
attachment on either side much thickened. It is evidently ina 
very viscid state when laid on, adhesive at first, ductile and 
tenacious while drying, so that on the upper surface threads of it 
are pulled forth by the bird, and more or less crossed into a kind 
of network, as if to bind together the vertical layers, some of 
which are often partially unadherent. These threads, however, 
consist of a little additional matter to that originally laid on in 
the successive marginal deposits. Mr. G. R. Gray writes :— 
“The formation of the nest differs with the species. Some 
appear to be formed of flakes or threads cemented together, 
making an almost solid nest; others are composed entirely of 
viscous matter. The exterior exhibits many nearly straight 
threads, which incline or are attached to each other, strengthened 
in front by some few short pieces of slender sticks” (this we have 
never seen). ‘The interior, which is rather shallow, shows many 
layers of irregular network, formed of a multitude of threads 
that cross and recross each other in every direction.” 

When newly formed these nests are perfectly clean, of a 
yellowish white colour, and wholly soluble in water; but when 
old they become deeply soiled and mixed with feathers, and their 
value is immensely deteriorated. Hence, as Marsden remarks, 
“they are distinguished into white and black, of which the first 
are by far the more scarce and valuable, being found in the pro- 
portion of one only to twenty-five. The white sort sells in China 


* J.A.S. xiv. 543. ‘ Upon this supposition, however,” Mr. Laidlay has 
since added, *‘I do not see how it could be deposited in the form of layers, 
as itis. The mechanical structure of the nest may be very nicely exposed 
by soaking it for a few hours in rain-water.” 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 317 


at the rate of 1000 to 1500 dollars the picul* (according to the 
Batay. Trans. for nearly its weight in silver) ; the black is usually 
disposed of at Batavia at about twenty or thirty dollars for the 
same weight, where, I understand, it is converted chiefly into 
BiIAce. 3. When the natives prepare to take the nests they 
enter the caves with torches, and forming ladders of bamboos, 
notched according to the usual mode, they ascend and pull down 
the nests, which adhere in numbers together from the sides and 
top of the rock. I was informed that the more regularly the cave 
is thus stripped the greater proportion of white nests they were 
sure to find, and that on this experience they often make a 
practice of beating down and destroying the old nests in larger 
quantities than they trouble themselves to carry away, in order 
that they may find white nests the next season in their room.” 
According to M. Hooyman the C. nidifica is about two months 
preparing its nest, and lays two eggs, which are hatched in fifteen 
or sixteen days; and of a species, which would appear to be 
C. fuciphaga, M. Poivre informs us that each of the nests which 
he observed contained two or three eggs or young; Sir G. 
Staunton, of doubtless the same species, asserts that it lays two 
white eggs. 

The nests of the Callocalieé are placed against the sides and 
roof of deep caverns of chiefly limestone rocks, at distances from 
the entrance varying from fifty to several hundred feet. Wherever 
(as we have seen) these caves occur, whether inland or in cliffs 
overhanging the sea, the birds resort to them alike in prodigious 
numbers, building commonly in successive layers, many nests 
together, but always where the cavern is perfectly dry, for obvious 
reasons. Every fitting site is usually crowded with the nests. 
The entrance to the cavern may be large, or so small as barely to 
admit the birds and their Bat-companions; and inland the rocks 
are sometimes clad externally with dense jungle. At break of 
day the birds issue forth with a great rush, at which time the 
Kites (Haliastur pondicerianus?) commit much havoc among 
them (being therefore destroyed by the Javanese and others) ; 
and in fine dry weather they fly very high, like the rest of the 


* 1331 1bs. avoirdupois. The current price in China at this time is 
18 dollars and upwards per catty of 1 1b. 54 0z., or 74; picul, 2. e., £4 10s, 8d, 
per lb., reckoning the dollar at 4s. 3d, 


318 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


group, rising till they are out of sight, and low in rainy weather, 
returning early in the afternoon direct to their cavern, from 
which they do not again issue till the following morning. Most 
of these details are gathered from M. Hooyman’s paper on C. 
nidifica. 

The Rev. J. Barbe remarks, of the nests of C. fuciphaga, 
gathered at the Nicobars, at Mergui, &c., that “They are of 
six qualities: the first, of a fine whitish colour, is obtained by 
taking the nest before the Swift has laid its eggs. This quality 
is sold at Penang from forty to fifty dollars the katee (!) The 
second quality, of a brownish colour, is obtained by taking the 
nest when the bird has laid her eggs. This quality is sold at 
Penang from twenty to thirty dollars the katee. The third 
quality is of a dark colour, mixed with blood and feathers, being 
obtained by taking the nests when the young birds have flown; 
the price of this is very low.” The gradual exhaustion of the 
bird, according to Mr. Barbe’s information, has been already cited. 
“The manner in which the Chinamen prepare the nest,’ con- 
tinues the same gentleman, “is to steep it in water during one 
night ; then with great trouble they clean it. This being done, 
they boil it in water, to which they have added some sugar-candy, 
till the whole forms a jelly: one nest prepared in this manner is 
enough for one person.” * 

The people who gather the edible nests practise a variety of 
superstitious ceremonies in relation to them, which belong rather 
to their history than to that of the birds, and therefore need not 
be here deseribed. But another point of interest arises respect- 
ing the actual species which produce them; and it would seem 
that all the authorities to whom I have access, who have discri- 
minated different species of these birds, are more or less in error. 
Firstly, as regards the Hirundo esculenta of Linneeus (founded on 
Brisson’s description of one of M. Poivre’s inaccurate drawings), 
there is no reason to suppose that this as described, with yellow 


* “ Birds’ nests being very dear,” he further continues, “the wealthy 
Chinamen only can obtain this delicacy. The rich opium smokers take in 
the morning a cup of it for the purpose of refreshing and strengthening their 
debilitated frames. Persons attacked by consumption are advised by the 
Chinese practitioners to take these nests; they prescribe the same to those 
who are reduced by a protracted illness; and I have seen several persons, 
who, having made use of this remedy, declared that they found a temporary 
relief from this refreshing and nourishing food.”—Journ. As, Soc. xv, 363, 


= 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 319 


irides and white-tipped tail, has any prototype in nature; the 
latter would be an anomaly throughout the Cypselide, but may 
refer perhaps to the white tail-markings of some real Hirundo, 
erroneously supposed to be the constructor of the edible nests.* 
Dr. Horsfield gives the species termed Lawet by the Javanese as 
Hirundo esculenta, Osbeck, stating that the specimens which he 
examined in Java, and those which he took to England, differ 
from Latham’s description in being uniformly of a blackish colour, 
without a white extremity to the rectrices. Another species, the 
Linchi of the Javanese, he gives as H. fuciphaga, Thunberg, 
stating that “Its nest is constructed of mosses and lichens, con- 
nected with the same gelatinous substance which composes the 
edible nest of the preceding species.”+ This accords with what 
has been already cited from Raffles; and in an interesting 
account of Karang Bolong, on the southern coast of Java, and of 
the birds’ nest rocks there, translated from the ‘ Tijdschrift voor 
Neerlands India’ in the ‘Journal of the Indian Archipelago,’ i. 
107 (Sept., 1847), the same two species are distinguished by the 
names Lawet and Lintye, and the nest of the latter is described 
to be “ without the least value. The residence of these Swallows 
(Swiftlets), termed Lintye in the caves,” it is added, “ contributes 
greatly to the injury of the holes, for which reason they are 
destroyed as much as possible at each gathering. The nests 
which they make are constructed of grass-stalks ; they are, how- 
ever, of the same form, and are as artfully made as the others.” 
Mynheer Hooyman likewise states, that besides the Lawet 
(Waled or Boerong { Daija of the hill Javanese), ‘ other species 
resort to the same caverns, which are named Momomo, Boerong 
itam,§ Boerong zoekoet, and Lintje. These,” he adds, “are very 
similar to each other, excepting the second, which has the head 
larger, and the feathers of all are entirely black. The nests 
which they contruct are black and friable, composed of a light 


* J find, indeed, that M. Montbeillard describes it to have twelve tail- 
feathers, which bears out the above idea that it may be a true Hirundo, and 
shows that it cannot be a Swift. It was on the drawings by M. Poivre that 
the Cuculus sinensis and C. paradiseus, Linn., were founded, the one repre- 
senting a Corvidous bird (Psilorhinus) and the other a Drongo (Edoliws), 
each represented with a reversed outer toe! 

+ Linn. Tr. xiii. 143. 

| Burong, i.e., bird. 

§ Literally, Black-bird, 


320 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


down” (agglutinated ?). ‘An opinion prevails that the presence of 
these birds is injurious to the caverns, on which account they are 
driven away as much as possible.”” Another writer in the same 
volume of the ‘ Bataviaasch Genootschap’ (p. 248), mentions the 
Momos or Boerong itam (thus bringing together M. Hooyman’s 
first two species), as a larger kind with plumed tarsi, indicating 
thus a true Cypselus, which is probably the constructor of the 
nests assigned by Dr. Horsfield and others to the Linchi. 
Assuredly, however, the C. fuciphaga (Thunberg), Linchi or 
Lintye of the Javanese, identical upon comparison with Javanese 
specimens, would appear to be the sole producer of the numerous 
nests gathered on the rocky coasts of the Bay of Bengal; and 
the often-quoted notice by Sir G. Staunton, in his account of the 
Earl of Macartney’s Embassy to China, must refer either to 
C. fuciphaga, or to an entirely new species (which is hardly to be 
supposed in the locality). For he remarks that ‘“'The birds 
which build these nests are small grey Swallows, with bellies of a 
dirty white. They were flying about in considerable numbers; 
but they were so small and their flight so quick that they 
escaped the shot fired at them.”* This was at an islet off the 
southern extremity of Sumatra, close to where M. Poivre also 
observed them, who remarks that “leur taille étoit 4 peu-prés 
celles des Colibris.” + The birds may have appeared greyish on 
the wing, but the white belly is characteristic of C. fuciphaga; 
and this particular species occurs abundantly on parts of the 
coast of the Malayan Peninsula, in the Nicobar Islands, and 
Mergui Archipelago, and so high as on certain rocky islets off the 
southern portion of the coast of Arracan, where the nests are 
annually gathered and exported to China. From all this range 
of coasts we have seen no other species than fuciphaga, nor does 
it appear that any other has been observed ; and we have examined 
a multitude both of the adults and of young taken from the nests 
collected in the Nicobars and preserved in spirit, all of which 
were of the same species. Nevertheless, what appears to be 
C. nidifica inhabits the mountains far in the interior of India, 
though hitherto unobserved upon the coasts; and it is worthy of 
notice that C. fuciphaga does not appear to have been hitherto 


* Narrative of Macartney’s Embassy, i. 287. 
+ See also Valentyn, as quoted in the ‘ Bataviaasch Genootschap,’ iii, 
247, 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 3821 


remarked inland in this country. The species which builds the 
edible nests collected on the western coast of the Indian Penin- 
sula, as in the group of small islands about eight miles west of 
Vingorla (which is a little above Goa, and 275 miles from 
Bombay), commonly known as the Vingorla Rocks, where about 
1 ewt. of them are produced annually, remains to be ascer- 
tained. 

C. nipirica; Hirundo nidifica, Latham; H. fuciphaga, apud 
Shaw; ZH. esculenta, apud Horsfield ; H. brevirostris, McClelland, 
P. Z. S. 1839, p. 155; H. unicolor, Jerdon, Madr. Journ. xi. 238, 
referred by that naturalist to Cypselus, ibid., xiii. 173, and termed 
C. concolor, J. A. 8. xi. 886 (there being a previously described 
C. unicolor). Length, 43 to 42 in., the middle tail-feathers 2 in., 
and outermost in. longer; wing, 44 in. General colour fuscous- 
brown, darker on the crown, wings and tail, which latter have a dull 
gloss of steel-blue or green; below paler. From M. Hooyman’s 
description of this species we feel satisfied of the identity of the 
Indian and Javanese birds, which some of the translated accounts 
had rendered doubtful. 

This species, in India first observed in Assam, appears to be a 
regular bird of passage at Darjeeling, where Capt. Tickell 
observed flights of them commencing in August proceeding to 
the S.W. Mr. Jerdon remarked it “on the Coonoor Pass of the 
Nilgiris, and about the edges of the hills. It flies in large flocks 
and with very great speed.” Its nests remain to be discovered in 
this country. 

C. rucipHaca; Hirundo fuciphaga, Thunberg. A minute 
species, about 3} in. in length by 9 in. in expanse; the tail 13 in. 
and even; wing, 3$in. Colour above blackish, green and purple 
glossed ; below fuscous-brown, passing to white on the middle of 
the belly, with whitish edges to the lower tail-coverts. A single 
large feather, with a distinct supplementary plumelet, grows on 
the hind toe, being nearly as long as the toe with its claw: this 
is always normally present, but is often lost in dry specimens. 

This bird is the edible nest-builder of the Bay of Bengal, and 
may prove to be exclusively a coast species, the nests of which 
are of superior quality to those of C. nidifica? In the extreme 
east it is perhaps replaced by C. troglodytes of Mr. G. R. Gray. 
The Rey. J. Barbe, from personal observation, notices it as 
“common’ in the Archipelago of Mergui, the Nicobars, &c., 


322 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


building their nests in the cavities of the rocks, where it is most 
difficult and perilous to have access. Formerly,” he adds, “both 
Malays and Burmese procured at the Andamans a considerable 
quantity of these nests, collecting them themselves or receiving 
them from the islanders in exchange for their tobacco, &c.” * 
But it appears that both people, “taking advantage of the time 
in which the natives were on board their vessels, tied them up 
and carried them off as slaves.” Hence the present hostility of 
the rude Papuan inhabitants of the Andaman Islands to all 
foreigners whatsoever. 


Subfam. MAcRropreryGIINn”. 


True Swifts in external structure, but with exceedingly short 
tarsi, and toes pointed as in the class generally, 7. ¢., the first or 
hind toe consists of one phalanx besides the unguinal, the second 
or inner toe of two, the third or middle one of three, and the 
fourth or outer of four; hence these birds are often seen to 
perch. ‘Their anatomy does not appear to have been examined, 
though of especial interest. One genus only is knownt:— 


Macropreryx, Swainson (Crested Jungle Swifts). 


The species of which are remarkable for their beauty, having 
delicate silky plumage, elongated on the crown to form an erectile 
and somewhat pointed crest. The wings are exceedingly long in 
the two following species, less so in others, and have their first 
two primaries subequal. Tail deeply forked. The ear-coverts 
(in probably all the species) are rufous or ferruginous in the 
males, dark in the females. 

Four species have been ascertained, which inhabit India, the 


* J. A.S. xv. 363. 

+ Unless Atticora, Boie, ranges here? Mr. G. R. Gray refers it to his 
Hirundinine ; and assuredly Hirwndo fasciata, Lath., assigned to this 
genus by Mr. Gray, appears to be a true Swallow (with twelve tail-feathers, 
&e.), as figured by Mr. Swainson in his ‘ Zoological Illustrations.’ But 
Atticora leucosternon, Gould, B. A., pt. ix., is a Swift, to judge both from his 
figure and account of its habits; Mr. Coxen’s statement quoted by him, that 
it chooses for its nest the deserted hole of certain small burrowing Mammalia, 
‘‘in the side of which it burrows for about seven or nine inches in a hori- 
zontal direction, making no nest, but merely laying its eggs on the bare 
sand,” being the only inconsistency with the habits of other Cypselide, and 
indeed Hirundinide also—so far as in not preparing a nest. 


7 ae 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 323 


Malayan Peninsula, and the Austral-Asian Archipelago generally, 
as far as N. Guinea. Cypselus parvus, Licht., of Africa, is sup- 
posed by Mr. Gray to constitute a fifth. They inhabit extensive 
tracts of high jungle, and the Indian species, remarks Mr. 
Jerdon, “frequently perches on bare and leafless trees. While on 
the wing it has a loud Parrot-like ery, very different from that of 
other Swifts. The elegant frontal crest is frequently raised when 
the bird is sitting.” 

The four oriental species might range in two sections,—those 
which have very long wings (as the two described below),—and 
those with shorter wings (as M. comatus and M. mystaceus), which 
are most elegantly adorned with long white supercilia and 
moustaches, respectively continued backward from a white fore- 
head and white throat. The colouring of the latter is still 
richer, with finer contrasts of hues, than in the two following 
species. 

M. coronatus ; Hirundo coronata, Tickell, J. A. S. ii. 580; 
M. klecho (v. longipennis) of India, auctorum, described J. A. S. 
xv. 21. Outer tail-feathers reaching 1} in. beyond the tips of 
the wings. Chin and sides of throat of the male, besides the 
ear-coverts, ferruginous, replaced in the female by black, with a 
whitish line bordering the throat. Colour bluish grey, infus- 
cated, purer on the back and rump; paler on the belly, and 
passing to whitish on the middle of belly and lower tail-coverts ; 
fore part of the wings glossed with purple, the rest of the 
plumage with green. “Irides deep brown ; bill black ; legs bluish 
black; soles of feet reddish white” (Jerdon). Length of wing, 
6z in.; of middle tail-feathers, 1 in.; the outermost 52 in., and 
passing the next by about 2 in. (more or less). 

Inhabits the high forest jungles of peninsular India in large 
flocks, “being partially met with,’ remarks Captain Tickell, 
“hovering over the marshy spaces in the jungles. They dis- 
appear in these regions” (Birbhum, &c.) “by the end of March, but 
I could never trace the direction of their flight.” In a late com- 
munication the same gentleman remarks :—‘‘ This species is very 
common, but local, resorting entirely to tree jungle, and chiefly 
marshy ponds in the close vicinity of forests. It has a mono- 
tonous squeak, resembling the cry ‘kya’ of a Parrakeet flying 
along. These birds are very gregarious, and pass the heat of the 
day in the forest, perching all together on some limb of a lofty 


824 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


dry tree. The male has at such times a curious sibilous note, 
imitated by the syllables ‘ chiffle-chafile, chiffle-chaffle,’ &c., and 
not very unlike the song of the Chimney Swallow. The Hos, or 
Surka Coles, call it the Topee Hen or Crowned Swallow, and 
assure me it lays three or four white eggs in holes in lofty 
decayed sal trees; but I have never seen nest or eggs.” Further 
south Mr. Jerdon observed this species “in high forest jungle in 
the neighbourhood of hills. I have seen it,” he adds, “in 
Goomsoor, at the foot of the Nilgiris, and in various parts of the 
jungle of the western coast.” 

M. xtecuo ; Hirundo klecho, Horsfield; Cypselus longipennis, 
Tem., figured in Swainson’s Zool. Ill., 2nd series, pl. 47. Outer 
tail-feathers not passing beyond the tips of the wings; ear-coverts 
only of the male deep maroon; crested crown, back and wings, 
finely glossed with dark green, sometimes bronzed; rump and 
upper tail-coverts bluish grey, extending less up the back than in 
M. coronatus; under parts ash-gray, passing to white on the 
middle of belly and lower tail-coverts ; tertiaries albescent. In 
the young the tertiaries are white-tipped; the coronal feathers 
have rufous tips; and those of at least the middle of the breast 
are whitish, with subterminal dusky band.* Wing, 6} in. ; middle 
tail-feathers, 14 in.; outermost, 3% in., passing the next by 4 in. 
only. 

Inhabits the Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, and Java. M. 
comatus is said also to inhabit Sumatra, in which case its range 
would probably extend into the Malayan Peninsula. 


Note.—As the European Cypselus apus (L.) is a common 
summer visitant in Afghanistan, it should be looked for in the 
N.W. Provinces of India. Two of the Indian species, Cypselus 
affinis and C. balasiensis, do not migrate ; perhaps also Collocalia 
fuciphaga in the Bay of Bengal; but all the other Indian 
Cypselide appear to be migratory ; and the migrations of some of 
them probably do not extend out of the country—Macropteryx 


coronatus, for instance, which is well distinguished from its 
Malayan affine, M. klecho. Again, we have the little-observed 


“Tn young birds the abdomen is whitish, and the wing-coverts are 
banded with white at their extremities. The feathers covering the back and 
the quill-feathers are tipped with brownish grey.” (Horsfield) Linn. Tr. 
xiii. 143, 


te f., 


THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 325 


Cypselus leuconyx of India, quite distinct from the nearly-allied 
C. vittatus of the countries lying eastward of the Bay of Bengal ; 
and a similar distinction probably exists between Mr. Strickland’s 
large and blacker Malacca variety of C. affinis and the bird so 
called of India, the more especially as C. afjinis is a permanently 
resident species, which does not appear to be subject to any 
variation, and moreover does not seem to inhabit the intervening 
Burmese countries. Lastly, we have a remarkable fact in the 
respective limitation of range of the two large species of Acan- 
thylis, neither of which has hitherto been observed in the regions 
inhabited or visited by the other, though both are known to be 
migratory. The times of arrival and departure of the various 
migrant species in different parts of the country, north and south 
especially, and in mountains or valleys, require to be noticed and 
recorded. 


PS.—Since the foregoing paper was printed we have seen Sir 
Everard Home’s article on the subject of the gastric glands of 
what he supposed to be the edible nest-building ‘ Swallow,” pub- 
lished in the ‘Philosophical Transactions,’ vol. evii. (1817), 
p- 382. He mentions that Sir S. Raffles had given him some of 
the nests, concerning the composition of which that observer 
“gave it decidedly as his own opinion that, whatever it is, it is 
brought up from the stomach, and requires at times so great an 
effort as to bring up blood, the stain of which is seen on the 
nest.” But it does not appear that Sir S. Raffles supplied the 
specimen of the bird examined by Home, which could scarcely 
be of the genus Collocalia, if, as Sir E. Home states, ‘‘ This bird 
is double the size of our common Swallow,” i.e., Hirundo rustica, 
a statement which is confirmed by his fig. 1 of the plate, “ magni- 
fied twice in diameter, or four times in superficies,” and repre- 
senting accordingly the stomach of a much larger bird than any 
known species of Collocalia. The structure of the proventricular 
glands figured by Home, as those of the producer of the edible 
nests, is so very curious and remarkable, and withal so con- 
spicuously different from the structure ordinarily observable in 
the class, that we imagined we could not well have overlooked it 
even with the naked eye ; and, upon submitting the gastric glands 
of Collocalia fuciphaga, Cypselus affinis, and C. balasiensis to 
microscopical inspection, we found in neither of these species a 


326 THE ZOOLOGIST. e 


trace of the peculiar petal-like appendages to the glands which 
Home has represented. 

Moreover, this author remarks :—‘‘ The present provision for 
forming a nest out of its own secretions, in an animal of so high 
a grade as the class Aves, strikes us with astonishment, since 
birds in all other countries find substances of some kind or other 
out of which they form their nests, and makes it evident that this 
particular bird, at the time of its first creation, was intended to 
inhabit the caverns of Java, in which nothing is to be met with 
out of which a nest could be constructed,” &c. As if the bird 
never passed out of the cavern! While other Cypselide inhabit- 
ing the same caverns do employ other substances: again, 
intended to inhabit caverns might be advantageously substituted 
for “the caverns of Java” exclusively, albeit the group may be 
confined in its range to S.E. Asia and its islands. 


Addendum.—KEdible nests in Ceylon. A most obliging corre- 
spondent in Ceylon, Mr. E. L. Layard, informs us that he has 
learned of a habitat for Collocalia in that island, “on the banks 
of a river, thirty miles from the sea, in some caves of a high 
mountain. A Chinaman rents them from Government, and pays 
£40 for a period of seven years. This man says there are two 
kinds, but does not know much about them; I will, if possible, 
visit the spot during the ‘take,’ which comes on four times a year, 
October being the forthcoming. This quadruple harvest would 
seem to imply that they do not migrate, as all our other species 
[of Swift and Swallow] assuredly do.” 

Our friend, Capt. Lewis, who saw much of these birds in the 
Nicobars, having opportunely returned to Calcutta after a long 
absence, we had an opportunity of submitting the accompanying 
notice of them to his criticism; and he states positively that he 
observed but one species in those islands, the C. fuciphaga, of 
which he preserved numerous specimens, both adults and young 
from the nests, and remarks that they laid two or three white 
eggs, commonly the latter number, but he thinks he once 
observed as many as four. The number may, in fact, vary 
according to season (Capt. Lewis observing them in the cold 
weather). He remarks that the gatherers of the nests are much 
given to mislead enquirers who interrogate them on the subject, 
which may account for the published statements that C. fuciphaga 


THE ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC COCK. 827 


does not produce a valuable nest. The notice which we have 
given, from M. Hooyman, of the manners and building-places of 
C. nidifica, he says applies equally to those of C. fuciphaga in 
every particular; and especially he has often remarked that they 
retire early in the afternoon to their caverns (2. e., about 4 p.m.) ; 
but he states that the edible nests, as we see them, are only the 
lining which comes out entire, though independently affixed to the 
rock, being underlaid by a network of some vegetable fibrous 
substance placed on the ledges, which the gatherers are careful 
never to remove. Further attention is invited to this subject. 


ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC COCK.* 


By E. CamBrince Puriuirs, F.L.S. 


Ir is universally admitted that the English game fowl has 
been carefully bred in this country and kept in its purity for 
many centuries. Introduced here by the Caesars (a favourite 
pastime of the Romans being cock-fighting, and copied by them 
from the Greeks, who most probably obtained their fighting 
birds originally from the far East), the English game fowl 
stands alone in its great antiquity, its beauty, and marvellous 
courage, far above all other breeds of our domestic poultry. 

During the past twenty-five years I have kept at various 
timesallthe different varieties of game fowl, and more particularly 
the pure white bird with yellow legs and bill. I purpose there- 
fore recording the following experiences I have had in crossing 
White game with Black-red game and other poultry, the results 
in each case being so surprising, and so very different to my 
expectations, that I venture to hope they may be found of some 
interest to naturalists and ornithologists in throwing some faint 
light upon the origin of the domestic cock, the subjéct of this 
paper. 

As this will probably be read out of England, it may not be 


* From experiments made in crossing some of the different varieties of 
pure English game fowls with each other, and also in crossing game fowls 
with common domestic poultry. A paper read at the Ornithological Con- 
gress at Vienna, April, 1884. 


328 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


out of place to state shortly the various breeds of game fowl 
alluded to in this paper, with a short description of each. 

First is the “ Black-red game,” the oldest breed of all, and I 
think the purest. The cock has the head bright orange in colour; 
comb, single, serrated, and red; eyes, bright red; face, red; 
hackle, bright orange, without any markings; back, dark rich 
red; shoulders and shoulder-coverts, red; wing-butts, black ; 
bow, red; greater and lesser coverts, brilliant lustrous black, 
forming a distinct bar ; primaries, black ; secondaries, outer web 
bay, black inner web; saddle, red; tail, black; breast, black; 
legs, either willow, blue, olive, or yellow; one very old breed, 
however, which is very scarce, called the Derby red, has, as its 
distinctive mark, white legs, and occasionally a white feather 
in its tail, which last feature in all other black-reds is considered 
a sign of the greatest impurity. 

Black-red hen.—Eyes, bright red ; neck-hackle, golden, with 
black stripes; back and shoulder coverts, wing-bow, shoulder, 
and coverts, partridge-colour ; tail, black and brown ; breast and 
thighs, salmon-colour ; legs, as in cock. 

‘““ White game.”—Plumage, entirely white ; comb, red; legs, 
orange-yellow ; eye red (this applies to both cock and hen). 

“ Piles,” or ‘‘ Pied game,” are common enough in the British 
Islands, and were originally obtained by crossing White game 
with Black-red game. 

The cock may be very shortly described as being the same 
colour as a Black-red cock, but where the Black-red is black the 
Pile is white. 

The Pile hen has comb, face, and eyes, red; neck, golden ; 
breast, salmon-colour ; tail, white; rest of plumage white, with 
yellow or red; legs, yellow or willow. 

“Blue game” are now very scarce; they are marked, both 
cocks and hens, the same as Piles, except that where a Pile is 
white a Blue is of a dull blue colour ; legs dark blue. 

“Cuckoo game” are still rarer, and I have seen but very 
few in this country; they are marked something like the breast 
of a Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, from whence they take their 
name, their entire plumage being a light bluish grey, each 
feather being barred with bands of a darker grey, no red; legs, 
in the few I have seen, yellow. 

I need hardly add that the comb in all game fowls should be 


THE ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC COCK. 829 


single, small and serrated, wattles small, with red deaf ear; 
their whole plumage very hard and short, and their general 
appearance elegant, fearless, and defiant. 

There are several other varieties of pure game fowl common 
here, besides those I have mentioned ; but as they are only very 
briefly alluded to in this paper it is hardly worth while describing 
them. I may, however, add that they are principally Brown- 
reds, Duck-wings, Blacks, Birchens, Ginger-reds, and Hennies, 
this last variety having the tails of the cocks exactly the same as 
in the hens, hence their name. In all these varieties, even in 
pure Black, the black metallic bar on the wing is distinctly visible 
or traceable (except perhaps in Whites and Piles); and this may 
also be said of most of the common farmyard poultry of the 
country. In many of the Black-red cocks, especially when per- 
mitted to have a wide range of ground, and wood-covers to roam 
over, there is often a tendency to droop the tail, but I think the 
contrary is the case amongst birds constantly exhibited or much 
confined. 

Being possessed of a very old breed of White game, I deter- 
mined, about sixteen years ago, to breed some Piles, and for this 
purpose I procured a very well-bred Black-red game hen with 
willow legs, to which I put an excellent White game cock, a prize- 
winner. From these I obtained a hatch of chickens, out of 
which only one turned out an indifferent Pile hen, whilst the rest 
were all Blues; these showed such high breeding that I kept the 
best of them, and, not being able to obtain any other Blues in 
order to introduce fresh blood, I bred from brother and sister. 
To my great astonishment they bred true Blues, very good birds, 
with not the slightest trace of white among them, the only per- 
ceptible difference being that the red in both the cocks and hens 
so bred was more abundant than in the parent Blues, and I have 
no doubt but that in a few more generations they would have 
relapsed into common red fowls—that is, red cocks and brown 
hens, with more or less of the elegance of the game fowl. On the 
other hand, had fresh blue blood been introduced, a permanent 
breed of great beauty might have been established. I omitted 
to say their legs were blue. I was unable to carry on the cross 
further, a game-fancier having been so struck with them on 
seeing them that he bought them at a high price. 

Having afterwards bred from the White cock above mentioned 
ZOOLOGIST.— AUGUST, 1884. 2¢ 


330 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


and a pure White game hen, some excellent Whites, and having 
among them a very troublesome young White cock that annoyed 
everyone with his fighting propensities, I placed him at my stables, 
some little distance away in the village, where I then resided. 
Close to this stable lived a farmer, who had a fine breed of 
Dorkings and other common farm-yard poultry, of which he kept 
anumber The first thing that happened was my young White 
cock (in spite of everything) killed all the farmer’s cocks that 
would stand up to him (he was the most determined fighter I ever 
saw), and he then possessed himself of all the hens, and as he 
was a fine bird he was allowed to remain with them, some large 
table-birds being expected from the cross. A great many chickens 
were the result, but all small, and all Blues, showing no white, 
and being in colour like Blue game, all with single combs and 
dark legs, and with some of the elegance of the game fowl in 
their appearance. I afterwards disposed of this White game 
cockerel, and his progeny the Blue farmyard cross were allowed 
to breed with each other. In about three seasons all trace of blue 
colour had disappeared, and they had relapsed into common Red 
single-combed cocks, more or less barred on the wing, whilst the 
hens appeared common Brown single-combed birds, scarcely, if 
at all, distinguishable from the common Barn-door fowl of the 
country. 

Some years after this, thinking to obtain some more Blues, as 
their scarcity made them valuable, I again obtained a good 
Black-red hen, to which I put a pure White game cock of the same 
strain as the White cock first mentioned, but, alas, ‘‘’Tis not in 
mortals to command success.” The chickens turned out all 
Cuckoo game of the purest type, both cockerels and pullets, 
without red, most regularly barred over the entire body and very 
beautiful. I parted with them to a friend of mine, who is a game 
fancier, and he bred from them. The result was exactly the 
same as in the Blues, the birds got smalier, the consequence pro- 
bably of breeding from brother and sister, whilst over them, 
especially in the cock, red feathers were sprinkled. They were 
afterwards sold, and I have never seen any Cuckoo game since, 
but 1 have little doubt that if their descendants had been per- 
mitted to breed with each other they would have developed 
ultimately into cocks, more or less red, and hens brown or 
partridge-coloured; whilst on the other hand, as in the Blues, 


THE ORIGIN OF THE DOMESTIC COOK. 381 


the introduction of fresh Cuckoo game blood, and a little care in 
breeding, would have established a permanent breed of this 
variety. 

From the above it will be seen that although birds of a 
marked different variety were bred from, namely, Black-reds and 
Whites, producing birds of two other very pronounced varieties, 
namely, Blues and Cuckoos; yet directly these were allowed to 
breed inter se (among themselves), or to cross with common 
poultry, as in the case of the White cock with the farmyard 
poultry, they all, although retaining their different colours for 
some length of time, gradually relapsed into Red cocks and 
Brown hens. In fact there seemed a strong determination, both 
in the Blues and Cuckoos, to throw back to red cocks and dark 
brown hens. I find also that in breeding pure Whites, as well as 
with pure Black game (a very beautiful variety), constant intro- 
duction of fresh blood is needed to keep out the red colour, which 
without it is almost certain to reappear in each successive brood. 

In nearly all farmyards in this country where the poultry are 
not carefully looked after, and are allowed to breed as they like, 
one invariably sees a common Red cock sometimes with a black 
breast, but in all cases with a distinct bar more or less strongly 
marked on the wing, and hens of various shades of brown. 

This bar on the wing, like the double wing bar so strongly 
marked on the Wild Rock Dove, Columba livia, and in the 
numerous varieties of its tame descendants, seems to be the 
principal and permanent distinguishing mark that has come 
down, through a long course of years, from the original stock of 
our domestic poultry ; and so strongly does it reassert itself that 
I have remarked that in instances where a Buff Cochin cock has 
been turned down in a farmyard with the intention of improving 
and enlarging the breed of common farmyard poultry, yet directly 
the descendants of this cross were allowed to breed among them- 
selves what has been the result? First, the bar on the wing 
made its appearance in a greater or less degree. Next, the cocks 
became red and the hens brown, and both showed only a slight 
trace of their Cochin ancestor in their fluffy sterns, and some- 
what shorter tails. Gradually even these evidences of Cochin 
blood disappeared, and in a very few generations the cocks 
relapsed into the common Red, and the hens into the common 
Brown, birds of the country. 


832 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


The result is also precisely the same where a Black Polish 
cock with a large crest (a breed of some antiquity) has been mated 
with common poultry, and their progeny allowed to breed 
together. The colour of the Polish cock is the first to disappear, 
getting redder and redder, then the crest gets smaller and smaller 
in each successive generation, until it gradually dies out altogether 
and no trace of it remains, except a few feathers on the head, 
almost an apology for a crest, which very occasionally reappear 
from time to time. 

When we consider the enormous care and length of time it 
must have taken to produce birds of so essentially different types 
as Cochins and Polish, and when we see how quickly these types 
disappear altogether when interbred with common poultry, I 
think this and the results above mentioned may be taken as 
some evidence of at least the colour of the original stock of our 
domestic poultry. 

With regard to comb, I have never among the numbers of game 
fowls I have bred during the past twenty-five years ever seen a 
single instance of anything but a single serrated comb, and even 
when game is crossed with the Malay the pea comb of the latter 
bird entirely disappears after the fifth generation. On the other 
hand, I have often seen the single comb appear among such care- 
fully bred birds as Sebrights and Black Bantams, both of which 
varieties have exceedingly well defined double combs. 

I have also occasionally observed it in the various varieties of 
the Hamburg fowl, all of which have very large double combs. 

Although the origin of the domestic cock is lost in the 
obscurity of ages, yet it may possibly be gleaned from the above 
experiences that originally the domestic cock sprang from a bird 
somewhat resembling the Black-red game cock in colour, although 
probably with some slight mottling on the breast, and with a 
greater metallic brilliancy of plumage, with a red eye, small 
wattles, and single serrated comb, dark or dark blue coloured 
legs of medium length, with a rather drooping tail, and that its 
general appearance was a little heavier than in the present highly 
bred English game fowl; that the hen was brown, marked some- 
thing like a Black-red game hen, with a very small single serrated 
comb, resembling the cock in general contour, and colour of 
leg and eye, but darker than the present Black-red game hen, 
and probably more inclining to grouse colour than to partridge. 


( 333 ) 


ON A NEW SPECIES OF BRITISH WREN. 


By Henry SEEeBoum. 


Tue readers of my ‘ History of British Birds’ are familiar 
with the name of Mr. Charles Dixon, the author of ‘ Rural 
Bird Life,’ and most of them will doubtless have appreciated his 
field notes, especially those made during his visit to Algeria in 
1882. This year I arranged for him to visit St. Kilda, to procure 
some notes respecting the birds of that interesting island for my 
forthcoming volume. Amongst other valuable information he 
has ascertained the existence of a Wren on St. Kilda, and has 
brought home a skin of one of them, which differs in many 
important respects from either the European or the Faroe Island 
forms. Those ornithologists who regard the climatic races of this 
bird as distinct species, will probably come to the conclusion 
that the St. Kilda Wren is one of the most distinct, and I 
propose to name it Troglodytes hirtensis, Hirta being the Gaelic 
name of St. Kilda. If the climatic races of the Common Wren 
be regarded as not worthy of specific rank, the St. Kilda Wren 
may be described as T'roglodytes parvulus hirtensis, which is a 
contraction of T'roglodytes parvulus, var. hirtensis, or of Troglo- 
dytes parvulus, subsp. hirtensis, and is the style of nomenclature 
adopted by the best ornithologists of America, and will no 
doubt, in a very short time, be that adopted by the best 
ornithologists of England also. The St. Kilda Wren most nearly 
resembles T'roglodytes parvulus pallescens, from the Western 
Aleutian Islands, but is much more distinctly barred on the 
back and head, and almost free from any traces of spots on 
the throat and breast. In general colour it is quite as pale 
and slightly greyer than examples of Troglodytes parvulus 
pallidus from Algeria and Turkestan. The bill resembles that 
of Troglodytes parvulus borealis from the Faroe Islands. The 
eye-stripe is as distinct as in typical examples from Europe, a 
character which is least developed in T. parvulus nipalensis and 
T. parvulus fumigatus. 

These various forms of Wren appear to differ in colour 
according to climate, and not according to geographical dis- 
tribution, except so far as it happens to be connected with 
climate. In Algeria, Turkestan, and Cashmere, where the rain- 


3384 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


fall is only a few inches, the colour is very pale and grey. 
In Sikkim, where the rainfall is a few yards, the colour is very 
dark and rufous. The other characters relied upon to diagnose 
the supposed species appear to intergrade in every direction. 
The absence of an eye-stripe seems to be correllated with 
the presence of bars on the throat and breast. These characters 


TROGLODYTES HIRTENSIS, Seebohm. 


are strongest in 7’. nipalensis, less developed in 7’. fumigatus and 
almost or quite lost in the other forms. ‘The bars on the back 
are most developed in 7’. hirtensis, less so in T’. pallescens, still 
less so in TJ’. bergensis, but always fairly developed in some 
examples from every locality, perhaps least so in those from 
England. The greater the number of examples which may be 
examined, the more clearly appears the fact that it is impossible 
to draw a hard-and-fast line between any of the climatic races of 
the Common Wren, which is an excellent example of a widely- 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 335 


distributed species in the process of being differentiated into 
a dozen species. Some ornithologists may exclaim, How is it 
possible that intermediate forms can exist between a Himalayan 
species and another isolated in Japan? TI can only suggest that 
the Japanese and Himalayan birds were formerly one species, 
that the birds in the Himalayas and in the extreme south 
of Japan are so still, but that further north in Japan a change 
of climate has produced a change of plumage. 

The St. Kilda Wren has been obliged by force of circum- 
stances to change its habits, as well as the colour of its dress. 
Stranded on an island where there is not a tree or a shrub, not 
even a bush of heather, it picks up its food on the water and 
rocks, and has, in fact, become a rock wren. In all probability 
it has gradually acquired its grey colour and barred back, by the 
slow process of protective selections, and is now almost invisible 
to the eyes of the hungry hawks that visit St. Kilda, as it flits 
about the grey lichen-pitted rocks. It would be interesting to 
know how many thousand years ago the accident happened which 
gave St. Kilda a Wren. Doubtless some flock of Norwegian 
birds, migrating southwards to find a milder winter in Great 
Britain, were driven out of their course and took refuge on the 
lonely Atlantic island, where their descendants, modified by time 
and circumstances, still survive. Let us hope that they will 
succeed in baffling the skill of all persecutors of rare birds, and 
for ages yet to come enjoy their barren home. 


NOTES AND QUERIES, 


Zoological Nomenclature.— On July Ist a meeting of naturalists 
was held in the Lecture Room of the Natural History Museum, South 
Kensington, to consider the expediency or otherwise of adopting the system 
of trinomial nomenclature advocated by American zoologists. The chair 
was taken by Prof. Flower, F.R.S., and, after papers on the subject had 
been read by Mr. R. B. Sharpe and Mr. H. Seebohm, Dr. Elliot Coues (at 
present on a visit to this country) gave a lucid explanation of the views 
now held by American ornithologists with regard to zoological nomen- 
clature, the substance of which will be found in his address to the National 
Academy of Sciences, Washington, printed in our last number (pp. 241— 
247). A discussion followed, in which Dr. Giinther, Dr. P, L. Sclater, 


336 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Mr. Blanford, Prof. F. J. Bell, Mr. W. F. Kirby, Lord Walsingham, 
Dr. Sharp, Dr. H. B. Woodward, Mr. H. T. Wharton, Mr. Howard 
Saunders, Dr. Traquair, and Mr. J. E. Harting took part, and after Dr. Coues 
had replied, Prof. Flower summed up the discussion, and the proceedings 
terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman. No formal resolution 
was passed; the meeting having been convened merely for the purpose of 
eliciting the opinions of specialists on the advantages and disadvantages 
likely to attend the adoption of the system of nomenclature proposed. 
A full report of the papers read and of the discussion which followed will 
be found in ‘ Nature’ for July 10th and July 17th. 


Protection of Wild Birds in India.—Under the auspices of the Hast 
India Association a meeting was held on July 11th at the Zoological 
Society’s Rooms in Hanover Square, to hear a paper read by Mr. R. H. 
Elliott ‘on the need for a Wild Birds Protection Act for India.” The 
chair was occupied by Prof. Flower, F.R.S., President of the Society, and 
the meeting was attended by a number of well-known naturalists. On the 
conclusion of the paper it was criticised by Mr. Grote, Sir Joseph Fayrer, 
Mr. R. B. Sharpe, Dr. Hyde Clarke, Dr. P. L. Sclater, and Mr. J. E. 
Harting, and at the suggestion of the Chairman, Mr. Elliot moved a 
formal resolution to the effect that, in the opinion of the meeting, it was 
desirable that the local governments in India should take such steps to 
frame and put in force such legislative measures as should appear best 
calculated to secure a close time for wild birds in India. This resolution 
having been put to the meeting, was declared to be carried, and the 
proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman. An 
epitome of Mr. Elliot’s paper and a report of the discussion which ensued 
upon it will be found in ‘The Field’ of July 19th (p. 99). 


The Hunterian Museum.—The vacancy in the conservatorship of the 
Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields, caused by 
the appointment of Prof. Flower to be Director of the Natural History 
Museum, South Kensington, has only recently been filled. The new 
Conservator is Mr. Charles Stewart, M.R.C.S.L., F.L.S., whose experience 
as Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy and Pathology at St. Thomas's 
Hospital and Conservator of the Museum there, well qualifies him for the 
post, and who is moreover well known for his scientific attainments. 


MAMMALIA. 


Deer killed by Lightning.—A keeper of the Duke of Portland, writing 
toa contemporary, states that during the severe thunderstorm on the night 
of July 9th, the lightning struck an oak tree in Welbeck Park, killing 
three deer: two of them were close to the tree, but one was about ten or 
twelve yards off. All the deaths seemed to be instantaneous. He adds:— 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 837 


“This may not seem to be anything extraordinary, but when I say that 
an occurrence of this sort has not taken place in my lifetime in this park, 
it makes it remarkable to me. I may also say that my father and grand- 
father never knew lightning to kill deer in this park, and that time extends 
to a period of 120 years. Now, as our park is well wooded with oak, and 
very rarely a year passes without several trees being struck with lightning, 
it makes this occurrence more remarkable. The bark of this tree was 
thrown a distance of sixty yards. Other trees were struck the same night, 
but I have not found any more dead deer.” 


Weasel swimming.— Walking along the river “ wall” near here on the 
24th June last, I saw a short distance ahead a strange-looking object 
swimming across the river to the opposite side, which on landing proved to 
be a Weasel, carrying in its mouth a young one, to all appearance more 
than half the size of its parent. On landing she found herself suddenly 
face to face with two colts, upon which she dropped the youngster and ran 
into a clump of brainbles and nettles close at hand, but almost immediately 
returned; and again taking up the young one she went “looping” along 
through the long grass at a pace which, considering the weight of her 
burden and the shortness of her legs, was really wonderful. I could not 
see what ultimately became of her, but at the time I lost sight of her she 
was apparently making for a tall thick hedge bordering a ditch, where 
perhaps she had already fixed upon some safe retreat for her family. 
I have more than once seen a Stoat swimming,—probably a matter of 
common occurrence with that species, which is very partial to the banks 
of rivers, watercourses, ditches, &c., where it preys upon the rats, water 
rats, meadow mice (A. agrestis), young waterhens, &c., to be found in such 
places. Only last spring I saw one cross a small stream carrying some 
object which I took to be a large meadow mouse, but was not near enough 
to be quite certain. ‘The Weasel in this district is much scarcer than the 
Stoat, but neither can by any means be called common, being everywhere 
persecuted with the utmost rigour by gamekeepers; besides which the 
objectionable practice of destroying rats and mice by means of poison, which 
has become so prevalent of late years, must be very fatal to both species, 
not to mention the Hedgehog, the poisoned rats and mice being in all 
probability devoured by all three. It is a great pity that the pretty and 
very useful little “ Mouse-hunt” should be so dealt with—G. T. Rorr 
(Blaxhall, Suffolk). 


Grey Seal in the Channel Islands.—On the 26th June last a Seal was 
captured by some soldiers of the 86th Regiment near the barracks at 
Gréve de Lecq, Jersey, which seems to have puzzled the naturalists of 
Jersey. It was first announced in the ‘Jersey Times’ of June 27th as a 
Walrus, and the measurements there given were much exaggerated, a foot 


338 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


being added to its length and about four feet to its ciieumference! Accord- 
ing to another report it was a Sea-lion, Otaria jubata, although why this 
species should have been fixed upon it is difficult to say, seeing that it is a 
native of the southern shores of South America from Peru and Chili on 
the Pacific coast to Rio on the Atlantic side, and has never been met with 
north of the Equator. Moreover, no species of the Otariide is known in 
the North Atlantic. Fortunately Mr. F. P. Pascoe, who happened to be 
staying in Jersey at the time, secured a photograph of the animal, which he 
very kindly forwarded, and this shows it to be the Grey Seal (H. grypus), 
which has been met with on various parts of our coast from Shetland to the 
Isle of Wight. Mr, J. Sinel, of Jersey, in whose hands the animal has 
been placed for preservation, has been good enough to send particulars, and 
states that the entire length was 7 ft. 7 in., greatest girth 4 ft. 8 in., and 
estimated weight about 500 Ibs.; the brain barely 1]b. It proved to be 
an adult male, with the teeth much worn.—J. FE. Harrine. 


BIRDS. 


Flamingo shot in Hampshire.—The following particulars concerning 
a Flamingo, which was shot in Hampshire in November last, have been 
communicated by Lord Henry Scott to Lord Walsingham, who has very 
kindly forwarded them for publication ;— 

“7 have referred back to my journal, and find that the Flamingo was 
shot on the 26th of November, 1883. It had been flying about on the 
mud-banks outside the Beaulieu river for about a fortnight previously, and 
many people had gone out to try to shoot it. It was very wild and wary, 
and no one had been able to get within gunshot of it, as it was able to fly 
extremely well, and never allowed any boat to approach near enough to it. 
The coast-guardsmen frequently shot at it with their rifles. When I heard 
that the bird was being thus shot at, and had been at the mouth of the 
river so long, I sent a keeper of mine (a naval pensioner and a capital hand 
with the punt-gun) in the gunning-punt to try to get the bird for me. In 
this he succeeded, but he was not able to get nearer than about 120 yards. 
He was laying the punt-gun on the bird at about that distance, hoping he 
might get nearer and shoot it with the shoulder-gun, when the Flamingo, 
being on the alert and very wild, rose on the wing, and my keeper Goff 
fired the punt-gun at him and brought him down with three shots through 
him. The bird is a very fine grown one, quite pink all over, and with a 
good scarlet wing. ‘There was nothing to show that it could have been at 
any time in captivity, for its wings were quite perfect, and it was extremely 
wild and could fly well, taking long flights. I cannot remember much 
about the weather previous to the bird being seen off the Beaulieu river, for 
I only returned home on the 20th from Scotland; but there had been a 
great gale from the south-west about a fortnight before, and it is my belief 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 339 


that the Flamingo had been blown by this gale to the British shores. 
Whether he came from North Africa or from the South of France (mouth 
of the Rhone) it is impossible to tell; but that the bird was a wild one, 
and had been blown to England by stress of weather, I have no doubt.”— 
H. J. Scorr. 


Unusual Variety of the Snipe.—I have been intending for some 
time past to send you a note of a variety of the Common Snipe, inter- 
mediate in general colouring between the so-called “ Sabine’s Snipe” and 
the common species, though approximating more nearly to the latter. It 
was bought at a poulterer’s at Hastings in the winter of 1881-2, and was 
killed in the vicinity. It was secured by Mr. Sorrell, who showed it to 
me when at St. Leonards some time afterwards. Having recently seen 
the collections of Mr. Bond and Mr. Whitaker, I may state from recollection 
that there is no variety of the Common Snipe in either of these fine 
collections like the Hastings bird, but, if a comparison could be made, it 
would probably be found to be like the Irish specimen recorded by you in 
‘The Zoologist’ for July (p. 272).—J. H. Gury, gun. (Hill House, 
Northrepps, Norwich). 


Rose-coloured Pastor in Sutherlandshire,—A fine male of Pastor 
roseus was shot, with another example, at Bordighera, on June 7th, and 
brought in the flesh to my sister, by the owner of the cherry orchard which 
it had frequented. It seems not improbable that they might have nested 
in the neighbourhood had they escaped molestation. A female of P. roseus 
was shot about the same time in Sutherlandshire, and sent in the flesh to 
Macleay, of Inverness, who showed it to me when just set up.—H. A. 
Macpuerson (Carlisle). 


Curious Site for a Redstart’s Nest.—When nesting in the big wood 
here in April last, I saw a Redstart fly out of some dead leaves, and on 
looking found a nest with six eggs. The nest was on the ground under 
the leaves, and a run of about six inches through the leaves led to it. 
I have seen many nests of this bird, but none in this situation before.— 
J. WHITAKER (Rainworth Lodge, Mansfield). 


Fieldfares and Redwings.—In reference to Mr. Young’s note (p. 228) 
on the scarcity of Fieldfares and Redwings during the past winter, I may 
say that here both species were very abundant up to the end of November. 
I noticed Redwings (eight birds) first on October 6th, and Fieldfares (a flock 
of about fifty) on November 8rd. On the 10th and 11th of that month my 
diary runs :—‘ Very large numbers of Fieldfares, more than I have seen 
for two or three years—several considerable flocks. Many Redwings. 
Fieldfares in great abundance.” I don’t think I ever went into the Cherwell 
meadows all the winter without seeing a few of both species. The last 


840 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Fieldfares I saw were two birds flying over on April 23rd.—Ottver V. 
APLIN (Great Bourton, near Banbury, Oxon). 


Note on the Nightjar—Having had exceptional opportunities this 
summer, in Berkshire, of watching the habits of this curious bird, I venture 
to send the following remarks :—On its arrival, about the end of April or 
beginning of May, it is much bolder than it is later in the season. The 
note is loud and discordant then, and it is easy in the twilight to walk to 
the tree on which it may be sitting lengthwise on the branch, with head low. 
If disturbed it gives a peevish hoot and claps its wings together behind, 
after the manner of some pigeons, pausing an instant after each clap to 
recover its equilibrium. Later on, as the breeding season approaches, its 
note becomes very ventriloquial, and it is then sometimes very difficult to 
stalk. The jarring note becomes much softer, and sometimes resembles 
the purring of a cat. If roused from its perch whilst making this noise, 
it continues the same note, letting it grow fainter till it dies away, and 
then gives the cry, or “ hoot,” which is always uttered on the wing. The 
bird rarely appears in daylight, though I have heard one occasionally 
during the brightest summer afternoon. At half-past eight, at midsummer, 
they begin to appear, and continue till shortly after ten, but on moonlight 
evenings they may be heard till midnight. They lay earlier in the year 
than is generally supposed, on June 25th, I found two “nests” (?), each 
containing eggs; one lot had been sat on for some little time; and a keeper 
assured me that on June 19th he found young birds. When the hen is 
disturbed on her nest, if only one egg is laid, she flies straight away; but if 
she is sitting she will draw the intruder away by feigning a brokenjwing, 
at the same time uttering a cry of distress. The eggs are laid on the 
ground, not the slightest pretence of a nest being made; in one case, how- 
ever, some fallen pine-needles had been scraped away till the bare soil was 
reached. ‘The hen bird appears to select her breeding-place some time 
before laying, notwithstanding the absence of a nest. When the eggs are 
reached there is difficulty in seeing them, so much do they resemble the 
ground; few better examples of “ protective mimicry” could be given, 
the eggs exactly matching in colour the leaden sand with its white stones 
found in the district of Berkshire where these notes were taken.—T. N. 
Postietuwaite (Millom, Cumberland). 


Hen Harrier breeding in Dorsetshire.—The occurrence of a pair of 
Hen Harriers nesting this year in Dorsetshire seems worth recording. 
They selected a spot dangerously near a preserve, and the female bird 
forfeited her life after her fifth or sixth day of incubation, as the pair were 
flying home with a young duck and pheasant. The first egg was laid on 
the bare ground in a bed of rushes, which was afterwards made more 
comfortable by bits of grass being scratched together. Although she 


aioe 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 341 


apparently began to sit after laying the second egg, she subsequently laid 
two more. ‘There were four in the nest when she was killed, which 
catastrophe occurred about a month ago. I sawa male Hen Harrier the 
day before yesterday (July 9th) in the neighbourhood, which was probably 
the mate of the other. The Poole Estuary is crowded with the Black- 
headed Gulls, young and old; they must have had a good breeding season.— 
J.C. Manset Pruypen (Whatcombe, Blandford). 


Montagu’s Harrier in Nottinghamshire.—A neighbour brought me 
a hawk which he had taken out of a pole-trap on the Forest, which, as it 
was not at all injured, I kept for a few weeks and then sent on to the 
Zoological Gardens. It was a young male Montagu’s Harrier, and as this 
is the first authentic occurrence of the species in this county I think it is 
worth recording. I have just heard from Mr. Bartlett that it has since 
died, and Gardner is making a skin of it for me.—J. Wu1TaKER (Rainworth 
Lodge, Mansfield). 


Rare Visitors to North Oxfordshire.—On May 17th my brother and 
Isaw a White Wagtail, Motacilla alba, in a pasture-field just below this 
village. We were able to get close to it, and with a good field-glass could 
see it perfectly. From the pure pearl-grey of the back and the clearly and 
sharply defined black cap, throat, and breast, I think it was a male. 
Although I have watched carefully for this species for the last five springs, 
this is the first time I have been able to identify it. Two Ring Ouzels— 
rare visitants to North Oxon only on migration—were procured about the 
end of April; one which I dissected had been feeding on ivy-berries, and 
was extremely fat. When examining the numerous small birds scattered 
over a field newly drilled with spring corn on March 16th, I turned the 
glass on a fine male Brambling. I do not know of any other instance of 
this bird staying here so late in the season; the sun being unpleasantly hot 
it seemed strange to see a bird which we are accustomed to associate with 
severe winters.—OLiver V. APLIN (Great Bourton, near Banbury). 


The Larder of the Red-backed Shrike. — Karly in July, whilst 
watching a pair of Red-backed Shrikes, in order to obtaiu their nest, I 
found close to it, in addition to a plentiful supply of bees, beetles, &., a 
good-sized red-herring (not exactly impaled, as were the beetles, &c., but in 
such a situation in the thorn bush that it could not easily be moved) eaten 
away almost entirely to the bone, evidently by the birds, and leaving only 
the head, tail, and fins untouched. I have found the young of other birds 
impaled by the Shrikes before, but never a fish—F. Sransxxx (50, Hill 
Terrace, Taunton). 

[Of course our correspondent does not intend it to be inferred that the 
birds, cr one of them, placed the fish on the thorns unaided. Doubtless it 
was placed there by human agency, either by way of a joke or by way of 


342 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


experiment, to see if the birds would touch it. Apparently they seem to 
have relished it very much, as they probably would many other things 
which they are unable to procure. —Ep.] 


Little Bittern at Colchester.—On visiting our local birdstuffer, Mr. 
Ambrose, a short time since, I saw a specimen of the Little Bittern 
(Botaurus minutus) on his shelf. He informed me it was picked up under 
the telegraph wires, having probably killed itself by contact with them. 
This is the second specimen captured here within the last few years.— 
Henry Laver (Colchester). 


Food of the House Sparrow.—I am glad to be able to record some- 
thing favourable of this bird; the apple trees this year seem to harbour a 
great number of the larve of some insect, which rolls a leaf round itself. 
The Sparrows have been very busy picking these leaves off the trees, and 
then extracting the larve. I think, however, that now they will cease to 
do good, as various seeds are obtainable. 1 shot two yesterday; their 
stomachs were full of grass seeds, and I could not detect any insect 
remains.—K. F. Becuer (Southwell, Notts). 


Spoonbill in the South of Ireland.—On the 7th of May last an adult 
male Spoonbill was shot about a mile from the village of Fethard, County 
Wexford.—Joun N. Wutre (Rockland, Waterford). 


White Partridges.—Some years ago, among a brood of common brown 
Partridges on my home-farm, there was one white one. ‘The little bird 
interested not only me, but my grieve and his children, who took so much 
interest in it that if they saw the covey go off the farm they used to drive 
them back; and, lest it should be killed or lost, I forbade shooting on the 
farm. At the proper season it paired with a brown bird, aud the result 
was five white and several brown birds. They were so purely white as to 
be easily distinguished on the ground from white pigeons by their purity. 
Again I took care of them. One was killed by a poacher, and found its 
way to a birdstuffer in Elgin, from whom it was taken by Capt. Dunbar 
Dunbar, of Seapark, on whose manors it had been poached. I believe he 
still has it. The other four survived the season and paired—two white 
ones together, and the other two with brown ones. I hoped for a good 
number the next season, but they all disappeared, and there have been 
none since. I should not have been surprised if they had all gone at once 
in a covey, for they might have been netted, in spite of my keepers; but 
they were in pairs, and with growing crops on the ground I could not 
account for it.—J. Bropir Innes (Milton Brodie, Forres, N.B.). 


An Albino Cormorant.— A remarkable specimen of the Green Cor- 
moraut, Phalacrocorax graculus, was shot at Midyell, Shetland, on the 
27th February last, and seut to me for preservation, the geueral colour 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 343 


being of a fine creamy white. It has siuce Leen added to the fine collection 
of varieties of Mr. Whitaker, of Rainworth Lodge, Mansfield, Notts.— 
Gro. Sim (14, King Street, Aberdeen). 


Hooded Crow wading.—When walking along the banks of the Liffey 
between Straffan and Cellridge, Co. Kildare, one afternoon in April, 
I witnessed a Hooded Crow wading in the river, under the following circum- 
stances :—Three Lesser Black-backed Gulls were flying along over the river, 
and alighted on a low gravel bank, near which is a plantation of Scotch pine 
and other trees, where a pair of Hooded Crows nest annually. They were 
soon seen to be feeding by one of the Crows, which flew down, buffeted 
them, and succeeded in driving them away, and then commenced feeding 
on what they had left. The Gulls very soon alighted on the water, and 
Swam pretty near to the Crow. The latter then waded out almost to the 
Gulls, a distance of perhaps two yards, and succeeded in driving them off 
for good. It then waded back to continue in peace the meal it had appro- 
priated. I think it waded into as deep water as it dare to; its legs, so far 
as I could see, were entirely under water, as was also the end of its tail. 
My friend Mr. W. Banks, who was with me, also witnessed this remarkable 
occurrence.—J. H. Patmzr (Lyons Mills, Straffan, Co. Kildare). 

[The circumstance of the Crow wading does not seem to us so 
remarkable as its bold attack on three such large birds as Lesser Black- 
backed Gulls. We have repeatedly observed both the Carrion Crow and 
the Hooded Crow wading along the banks of tidal rivers on an ebb tide in 
search of food which floated on the water or lay just below the surface. 
Mussels, the shell of which they can easily break with their powerful bills, 
seem to be a favourite food with them.—Ep.] 


Terns and Gulls inland in Yorkshire.— Whilst on Strensall Common, 
near York, on the 11th May last, I observed four Common Terns, Sterna 
fluviatilis, hovering over one of the ‘‘splashes” there. This is, I believe, 
the first time these birds have been recorded as occurring at Strensall 
during the breeding season. ‘The Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus, are 
this year breeding in larger numbers than ever.—W. Hewerr (York). 


Great Reed Warbler at Ringwood, Hants.—Your readers will be 
interested co hear that on the 3rd June last a fine specimen of the Great 
Reed Warbler, Acrocephalus turdoides, was shot by Mr. G. F., Hart, who 
takes charge of my fishery near Ringwood. He found it by the river side 
in a rank growth of sedge, reed, water hemlock (Ginanthe crocata), and 
willow. It has been preserved for me, and proved on dissection to be a 
male.—T. J. Mann (The Grange, Bishops Stortford, Herts). 

[We have been favoured with a sight of this bird, which Mr. Mann 
very kindly brought for our inspection, and there is no doubt that it has 
been correctly identified. — Kp.] 


344 ; THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Habits of the Magpie.—There is a remarkable instance of instinct 
displayed by the common Magpie which I have not seen noticed, although 
it has long attracted my attention, and is well known to farmers in the 
West of Scotland. This bird may be seen each year, on the first Sunday 
of March (old style), very busily employed carrying small twigs of branches 
to renew its old nest or form a new one for the approaching breeding season. 
This particular day appears to be appointed for taking formal possession of 
the premises, as no more work whatever is done for some weeks after. The 
instinct which enables a bird to take the sun’s altitude on a particular day 
in March is certainly a very rare gift, but any person who wishes to satisfy 
himself of its truth, and who lives in a locality where these birds breed, has 
only to rise early on Sunday, March 16th, this year, to see them at work 
for himself. It would be interesting to know within what degrees of 
latitude this particular day is observed by these birds— Wm. Brown.— 
From ‘ Nature.’ 


Instinct of Birds.——I have read Mr. Brown’s letter relative to the 
instinct shown by Magpies in Scotland as to the time for commencing their 
nest-building, which goes so far as to assume that this particularly cunning 
bird is capable of fixing a certain day in March (the Sunday after the 16th, 
as I remember) as the invariable time to start the nest. And the writer 
observes that it would be well to ascertain if difference of latitude made any 
difference in the Magpies’ calculation. Now I live in the south-east 
of Ireland, a good many degrees south of your correspondent’s Scotch 
Magpies’ locality, and it so happens that I have for the last twenty years 
observed the nest-building of Magpies, who have enjoyed undisturbed 
possession, and who invariably build in the trees close to my house. It is 
curious that this colony (if a single pair may be so called) never increases. 
Four young “ Mags” are brought out every year, but though I have 
observed congregations of ten or fourteen at times, the breeding birds never 
exceed two. The young birds never, like Rooks, join a colony near their 
paternal nests, but are shipped off to new localities. I could mention many 
traits of my Magpies’ instinct—* their tricks and their manners ”—but will 
confine myself to the nest-building. They never repair or re-occupy an old 
nest. A new one is constructed every year, and always, each year, ina 
different tree. ‘The nest-building is a serious labour, and takes a long time. 
So they begin early in February, selecting the sites often with much 
deliberation. ‘The work is entered on very early in the morning, and the 
“Mags” seldom work in the daytime. About the end of March this domed 
nest with its two openings is finished, and the laying of eggs commenced. 
I am quite certain that the middle of March is not the time of beginning 
the nest, and this is important, as the claim set up for the Magpies’ 
instinctive knowledge of dates therefore falls to the ground. I do not 
conceive it possible to prove that in this particular Magpies have a more 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 3845 


highly developed instinct than most other birds; all have their normal time 
of nesting, although there may be cases of abnormally late or early build- 
ing; but as to the Magpies or any other bird being able to fix dates exactly 
to the day, it is unproved and incredible-—James Graves (Inisnag, Stony- 
ford, Co. Kilkenny). 

I think it was about the year 1844 that the Duke of Argyll desired my 
late father, his factor, to preserve game in the district of Kintyre, Argyll- 
shire. If any steps in this direction had been taken by other proprietors, 
they were very irregular. My memory goes back to about 1846 and 1848, 
and at that time the Grouse of Kintyre “sat like stones”; they might be 
shot to dogs from the first to the last day of the season; in fact it was 
often difficult to get the birds up. With this preservation Grouse in- 
creased enormously,—and therefore the food supply of the people,—to such 
an extent that the late Sir John Cunningham and my father shot, on one 
12th of August, seventy-two brace of Grouse. Sir John was a very old 
man, and insisted on loading his own gun, an old muzzle-loader. My 
father never shot hard. Now I do not believe any two men with two guns 
and loaders could do this in the same district with all the improvements in 
arms and dogs; whilst I have heard my father say that seven brace was a 
good bag when he was young, before game-preserving. Grouse yet sit 
pretty well in Kintyre, and I believe this is the case because it was one of 
the last districts to preserve and shoot; but the birds are every year 
becoming wilder, and now in the month of September it is useless to take 
dogs on the hill, and for two years we, like others, have had to drive them. 
I account for this by an alteration in instinct, and I am as sure as any one 
can be, from observation and the opinion of competent persons, that it is 
progressive instinct in successive generations. Formerly the great enemies 
of the Grouse were Ravens, that took their eggs and young birds ; Foxes, 
Polecats or Marten Cats, and Wild Cats, that took them at night on the 
ground; and hawks, that took them on the wing during the day. When 
man stepped in and altered the balance of Nature, the 

Bird that up and flew away, 

He lived to breed another day. 
No hawk was there to knock him down. He found from experience that 
flying away before man and his dog came near gave him safety; and his 
children that inherited the wit or instinct or power of turning heather into 
nerve-force or intelligent thought—or whatever the straw-splitters like to 
call it—lived ; whilst his brother, that inherited the qualities which kept 
him hiding in the heather, was shot when forced up. I had this summer 
ample corroboration of this theory. About eight years ago I was shooting 
in the island of Rum; the Grouse were not preserved and were extremely 
tame, so tame in September and October that I had to run after them to 

ZOOLOGIST.— AUGUST, 1884. 2D 


3846 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


make them take the wing, and it was new to dogs. Last year I again shot 
in the island, and I observed the same tameness in one part of the island, 
but in another district I observed the Grouse were larger, darker, and much 
wilder. I was puzzled with this until I found out that the late tenant had 
three years before turned down some English Grouse, and in the district 
where they were so turned down the Grouse were very wild.—Dunoan 
Stewart (Knochrioch). 

Mr. Graves says, “ As to the Magpies or any other bird being able to fix 
dates exactly to the day, it is unproved and incredible.” I do not know 
what may be the case in regard to birds’ nest-building, but I can give two 
instances of the regularity with which birds arrive at certain localities 
en route northward, whatever may be the state of the weather. During a 
ten years’ residence on the shores of Hudson’s Bay the first Canada goose 
of the spring migration was seen and generally shot on April 28rd. At 
Toronto, on Lake Ontario, large flocks of a pretty little Plover called the 
“ Black-heart,” from a black patch on its breast, pass along the islands, 
flying northward, on St. George’s Day (April 23rd), and are seldom or 
never seen even a day before ora day after that date. The poor little birds 
have a sad time of it for six or eight hours, as a number of sportsmen go 
out for the occasion and knock them down by the half-dozen or more at 
every shot. In this case, as in the other, wind and weather appear to 
cause no difference.—Joun Rat (4, Addison Gardens).—F’rom ‘ Nature.’ 


Golden Plover with white Primaries.—On the evening of June 28th, 
while searching for young Golden Plovers in some rough ground towards 
the base of one of “ Macleod’s Tables,” in Skye, it struck me that one of 
the old birds seemed unusually light in colour. On shooting it I found 
that the greater part of the primaries were white. It proved to be a male 
in good condition.—H. A. Macpuerson (Carlisle). 


International Ornithological Congress at Vienna. — After a long 
delay we have at length received a copy of the resolutions which were 
passed at the First International Ornithological Congress at Vienna (see 
pp. 139, 188), of which the following is a translation :— 

“ The First International Ornithological Congress assembled at Vienna 
resolves :— 

“1. To elect a standing international committee for the appointment of 
bird-observing stations, of which the Crown Prince is asked to take the 
protectorate. 

“2. To ask the Austro-Hungarian Government to make representations 
to all those countries not represented in this Congress with a view to their 
arranging for ornithological observation stations, and to their notifying the 
president of this committee of proper persons interested in the matter. 

“3. To request the delegates of the different States here represented 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 347 


to suggest to their respective governments as follows :—a. The arrange- 
ment, so far as may be possible, of ornithological observation stations. 
b. The granting of money to carry on the business of the stations and for 
the publication of the annual record of their observations of birds; also to 
appoint local committees in their various States to be under the general 
direction of the president of the international committee. 

“4, To request the committees to work after a common plan, as 
follows :—a. The ornithological observations will be spread over the entire 
inhabited globe, but in their first lines (in erster linie) will be attempted in 
Europe. 06. The observations will be made, so far as possible, on one plan, 
for which the Austro-Hungarian and German will serve as a basis. ¢. Upon 
this basis (see the German and Austro-Hungarian reports) the communi- 
cations coming in from the different States are to be worked up and 
systematically arranged, if possible, with the same system of nomenclature, 
and always with the same scientific names. d. A check-list of the native 
birds of each country is to be kept after the plan.of that made for Austro- 
Hungary by E. von Homeyer and von Tschusi, the particular local names 
being added. e. Every effort should be made to enlist the interest in the 
observations of academies, natural-history societies, museums, &c.; also 
consulates, Catholic and Protestant missions, meteorological stations, 
journals of natural science, teachers, foresters, inspectors of lighthouses, 
&e. f. If skilful observers are at hand drawings should be made of all 
species of birds. Where this cannot be done it is to be left to the 
discretion of the committees to name some species well known to all lovers 
of Nature for special examination. g. It would be desirable at the same 
time to note anything unusual in the animal and vegetable kingdoms; also 
the meteorological phenomena, 

**§. In the international committee each country is to be represented 
by one or more delegates, according to its size and importance. The com- 
mittee has the right to appoint representatives to serve for those countries 
not represented in this Congress.” 


FISHES. 


Blackfish on the Devonshire Coast.—On the 20th June last four 
specimens of that scarce fish on the British coast, Pompilus centrolophus, 
were caught in a net off Penlee Point, at the entrance of Cawsand Bay, not 
far from Plymouth. The head in this species is small, and its body of 
graceful form, much resembling that of a salmon-peal; back and fins very 
dark, its general colour purplish black or dull neutral tint, shading lighter 
towards the belly, a silvery sheen showing, as it were, through the more 
sombre tint; the iris white, contrasting finely with the dark head and face. 
When dry the scales of these fish appeared to be marked with a small light 
oblong spot, forming rows of stripes both above and below the lateral line. 


348 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


The length of the larger of two specimens examined by me was exactly one 
foot, and its depth three inches; the other somewhat less. Both are now 
preserved in spirit in the Museum of the Plymouth Institution, and the 
other two were, I believe, sent to Exeter for the Albert Memorial Museum. 
This species, like the Pilot-fish, is said to follow wrecks and large Sharks 
towards the shore, but I have not heard of either having been lately found or 
seen on this part of the coast.—J. GatcomBE (Durnford St., Stonehouse). 


Ichthyological Notes from Mevagissey, Cornwall. — April 26th.— 
Young Flounders, Platessa Jilesus, first seen for the season in our harbour ; 
not larger than rice-grains, with eyes on each side of their heads, and 
swimming on the surface of the sea. My son also noted them at Port- 
melon beach, about a mile from here. They are to be seen every year 
about this date, and yet I have not been able to find the spawn in the sac 
before the young break the eggs. April 27th.—Sea Urchins (Spatangus) 
found at Portmelon beach in great quantities about six inches below the 
surface of the sand near low water, and congregated together in a shoal 
near the west rocks in about fifteen square feet. Every one has a hole in 
the saud communicating with the sea. The strangest circumstance is 
that they appear to be eating the sea-sands; possibly the worms and other 
marine life which the sands contain may sustain the life of the creatures, 
and not the sand itself. April 29th.—Mackerel boats were fishing from 
twenty to forty miles from land last night. Some landed as much as 2000 
Mackerel; fish rather small, but all were full of roe—should think many 
would spawn in a fortnight. Quantities of minute Crustacea in the 
stomachs of all of them; I estimated that one had full thirty thousand of 
them stuffed tightly in his stomach-sac. April 30th.—Some Sea Bream, 
Pagellus ventrodontus, for the first time for the season; and Garfish, 
Esox belone, with well-developed roes in them. May Ist.—Joseph Elvins 
caught some hundreds of Herrings in his seine. Found they were feeding 
on minute young Herrings of about an inch long. One large Herring had 
eaten full fifty little ones. Dr. Day confirmed the fact that they were 
young Herrings; I sent him several, and a large Hérring with a roe in 
it. ‘The fish should have spawned in February, but could not do so in 
consequence of the vent being obstructed; the eggs had not yet broken 
out into the intestines, but were on the point of doing so; the eggs looked 
white and sickly. I have known Mackerel and Ling in this state; in the 
Mackerel these scatter among the intestines. I believe I have seen three 
years’ eggs in one fish. June 12th.—Noted a Sandy Ray (Couch), female. 
Couch’s figure is also that of a female. I have never yet seen a male of 
this species. Picked-dog-fish (Couch) are full of young ones and eggs. I 
believe I have seen them in this state in every month since December last. 
Took several large red parasites from gills of the Bib, Morrhua lusca. 
‘These must be new to science, for neither Couch nor Day mention them. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 3849 


I have put them in spirits for further consideration. June 13th.—Pilchards 
are spawning about twenty miles from land. Congers full of roe; grains 
too small to be seen with the eye, but very distinct as seen through a 
magnifying glass. Noted this day Crustacea, Rocinila dunnoniensis. These 
have been scarce on the rocks for some years; in some seasons they come 
in multitudes, and then the Sea-bream come and devour them. June 14th. 
—Noted Crustacea, Couchea cylandricea, in stomach of Conger. Mounts 
Bay boat here with three thousand Mackerel, at 6s. 6d. per 120. Noted 
they had a very green appearance. Men report that where the Mackerel 
are most abundant the sea has a very green appearance. This no doubt 
is caused by the food of the Mackerel being of a green colour and in 
such quantities as to alter the colour of the sea. Mackerel off our coasts, 
when at their best, are of a very blue colour. Sawa Blue Shark, Squalus 
glaucus, for the first time for the season. The Mackerel brought from 
Mounts Bay were full of small Crustacea in stomach, but very different 
in form from those caught off our coasts. June 16th.—Messrs. Fox, of 
Falmouth, directed my attention to the immense quantities of Crustacea 
in stomach of Mackerel caught off the Scilly Isles. June 20th.—Had large 
Mounts Bay Mackerel in Sandon Factory, full 1500, and noted they were 
full of roe. Took roe-sac from one; weight five ounces and a half. Found 
238 eggs in one grain; the total number of ova in this Mackerel would 
be 560,000. Noted Sandy Ray (Couch), again a female, and Chads (young 
Sea-bream) for the first time for the season. June 24th.—First Pilchard 
landed for the season here, from spawn caught about fifteen miles from 
land. The whole family of Garfish, Esox belone, have now finished 
spawning; proportion of sexes, about three females to one male. Male 
much the smallest. These are very vicious fish, and use their beaks 
violently. Noted that several of the males are very much lacerated in 
the sides, evidently caused by the beaks of the Gars—Maruias Dunn 
(Mevagissey, Cornwall). 


Opah-fish in Shetland.—A fine specimen of the Opah-fish, Lampris 
guitata, was taken off Unst, Shetland, on May 22nd, and forwarded by the 
fishery officer to Prof. Kwart, University of Edinburgh. It measured four 
feet in length and over two feet in depth, and has been handed over to 
Prof. Turner, to enable him to complete an account of the fish begun some 
years ago, when he received a somewhat smaller specimen from the Moray 
Firth. 

CRUSTACEA. 

Abnormal Growth in Cancer pagurus.—I have received a specimen 
of the Common Edible Crab, Cancer pagurus, a female, measuring four 
inches across the carapace, and therefore mature, in which the right pedi- 
palps were normal, but instead of the usual left pedipalps a small “claw” 
was developed, with arm, wrist, hand, and fingers all clearly defined, the 


350 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


two ordinary claws being present and in perfect condition. [ do not usually 
note monstrosities, but I do so in this case because it shows the tendency 
of any part of a Stalk-eyed Crustacean to assume the form of any other 
part.— THomas CornisH (Penzance). 


ARCHAZ OLOGY. 


Meaning of the word “Gaunt” applied to the Great Crested 
Grebe.—Attention having been directed (Zool. 1879, p. 468) to the fact 
that in the Co. Durham formerly (1343—1361) land was held by the 
tenure inter alia of paying one “ wode henne” yearly to the Bishop of 
Durham for the time being, it may be worth while to mention that in the 
reign of Edward I. land was held in the Co. Bucks by the tenure of 
finding (amongst other things) a couple of Grebes. William, son of 
William de Alesbury, held three yardlands of the King in “ Alesbury” by 
the serjeanty of finding straw in winter and rushes in summer for the 
King’s bedchamber, and providing (amongst other things) two Grebes (duas 
gantas), which services were to be performed thrice a year if the King 
should happen to come three times to “ Alesbury,’ and not oftener. Blount, 
who cites this tenure sub voce “ Aylesbury,” renders gantas, geese; but 
whenever geese were intended anseres is the word found in the Court Rolls. 
Bearing in mind the use of the soft satiny plumage for the trimming of 
robes and mantles, I have do doubt that by duas gantas we are to under- 
stand “two gaunts,” i.e. two grebes. “Gaunt,” a provincial name for 
the Great Crested Grebe, in the Sussex dialect signifies to yawn (Ang. 
Sax. geanian), and I have frequently observed in the grebes and divers a 
spasmodic action analogous to gaping or yawning.—J. E. Harrine. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, 


ZooLogicaAL Society or Lonpon. 


June 17, 1884.—Prof. W. H. Frower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in 
the chair. 

Mr. H. Seebohm exhibited and made remarks on some specimens of 
rare Asiatic and European birds, and called special attention to examples 
of a newly-discovered Russian species, Bonasa griseiventris (Menzbier). 

Mr. Sclater exhibited the knob of the culmen of the beak of a Rough- 
billed: Pelican (Pelecanus), which had been shed by the bird in the Society’s 
Gardens last autumn; and called attention to the fact that on coming into 
breeding-plumage again this summer the bird had grown another knob, 

Mr. Sclater also called the attention of the meeting to a very singular 
habit of a Vasa Parrot, Coracopsis vasa, as observed in the Society’s Gardens. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 851 


Mr. F. Holmwood gave an account of his observations on the employment 
of the Remora by native fishermen of Zanzibar for the purpose of catching 
Turtle and large fishes. 

Mr. R. Bowdler Sharpe read some further notes ou the new Corsican 
Nuthatch, Sitta Whiteheadi, in continuation of former communications on 
the same subject. 

A communication was read from Dr. G. Hartlaub, in which he gave the 
description of a new species of Creeper of the genus Salpornis, discovered 
in Eastern Equatorial Africa by Dr. Emin Bey. The author proposed to 
name it, after its discoverer, Salpornis Emini. 

Prof. Flower read a note on the names of two genera of Delphinide, 
which he found it necessary to change. 

A communication was read from Dr. Camerano, giving a summary of 
the distribution of the native Batrachians in Italy. 

Mr. G. A. Boulenger gave the description of a new variety of Lizard of 
the genus Lacerta from South Portugal, which he proposed to describe as 
Lacerta viridis, var. Gadovit. 

A communication was read from Mr. H. O. Forbes, containing remarks 
on a paper by Dr. A. B. Meyer on a collection of birds from the East-Indian 
Archipelago, with special reference to those described by him from the 
Timor-Laut group of islands. 

Lieut.-Col. C. Swinhoe read a paper on some new and little-known 
species of butterflies of the genus Teracolus. The author referred to and 
described twenty-two species, sixteen of which were new to science and the 
others very rare. 

A communication was read from Mr. Francis Day on the occurrence of 
Lumpetus lumpetriformis off the east coast of Scotland. 

Mr. Oldfield Thomas read a paper upon the Murid@ collected by 
M. Constantin Jelski, near Junin, in Central Peru, during the years 1870-73. 
The collection consisted of ninety-two specimens, representing twelve species, 
mostly belonging to the genus Hesperomys, the nine subgenera of which 
were now arranged and re-defined. One species and two varieties were 
described as new under the names of Rheithrodon pictus, Hesperomys 

laticeps, var. nitidus, and H. bimaculatus, var. lepidus. 
A communication was read from Mr. W. L. Distant, describing the 
Rhynchota collected by the late Mr. W. A. Forbes on the Lower Niger. The 
collection contained examples of twelve species, eleven of which belonged to 
the Hemiptera and one to the Homoptera. Two species appeared to be 
undescribed. 

Prof. Mivart read a paper on the development of the individual and of 
the species as forms of Instinctive Action. 

This meeting closes the present session. The next session (1884-1885) 
will commence in November,—P. L. Sctarer, Secretary. 


352 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


EntomoLocicaL Society or Lonpon. 

June 14, 1884.—J. W. Donnina, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., &e., President, 
in the chair. 

Capt. Richard Holt (Heathfield Lodge, Granville Road, Wandsworth, 
S.W.) and W. F. de Vismes Kane, Esq., M.A., M.R.I.A. (Sloperton Lodge, 
Kingstown, Ireland) were balloted for and elected Members of the Society. 

Mr. G. Coverdale exhibited a box containing many Micro-Lepidoptera 
and several Macros set, on pith with gum, without pinning, according to 
his new process, described in the ‘Entomologist’ for June (xvii. 131), 
Messrs. Dunning, M‘Lachlan, and Fitch made some remarks thereon. 

Mr. R. M‘Lachlan exhibited galls on the roots of various species of 
Cattleya, similar to those exhibited at the last meeting which produced 
Isosoma orchidearum, Westw., which had been received from the Hon. and 

tev. J. T. Boscawen. He also exhibited the extraordinary heliciform 
lepidopterous larva-cases from East Africa—about 200 miles inland from 
Zanzibar—which he had described and figured in Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xxi., 
p- 1; also, from the same locality, several other cases of Psychide@, one 
species bearing a remarkable resemblance to a Dentalium ; and an egg-case, 
probably of a Mantis, very similar to those exhibited at the last December 
meeting but not identical, these being neither so large nor so delicate and 
transparent. 

Mr. M‘Lachlan also exhibited nearly 100 microscopic slides of British 
Aphides, prepared by the late Francis Walker in 1847, which had been pre- 
sented to him by Mr. P. Hubert Desvignes, son of the late Mr. Peter 
Desvignes, who was one of the original members of the Society ; these 
slides evinced great care and skill in microscopic mounting, considering 
that nearly forty years had elapsed since they were prepared. 

Mr. T. R. Billups exhibited several specimens of Cremastogaster 
scutellaris, Oliv., captured while running about on the pavement of Church 
Street, Greenwich. As there was a cork importer’s in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the capture, and as the ants commonly nested in bark, 
their presence was not difficult to account for. 

Mr. W. C. Boyd exhibited some remarkably fasciated strawberry plants 


from his garden at Cheshunt; it was thought that the attacks of a 


Phytoptus had caused the abnormal growth. 

Mr. W. H. Patton communicated some “ Notes on the Classification and 
Synonymy of Fig-Insects.” 

Mr. F. Moore communicated “ Descriptions of new species of Indian 
Lepidoptera Heterocera, mostly from specimens in the British Museum.”— 
E. A. Fircu, Hon. Sec. 


Z.B 


“-D. 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vot. VITI.1 SEPTEMBER, 1884. [No. 98. 


ON THE GROWTH OF DEER-HORNS, WITH REFERENCE 
TO SOME ABNORMAL ANTLERS OF THE ROE. 


By tHe Epiror. 


THE manner in which the horns of deer are shed and 
annually reproduced is one of the most curious phenomena in 
Natural History. 

The exact time of shedding the horns depends in some 
measure upon the age of the animal and the temperature of the 
winter and early spring. They are sometimes shed towards the 
end of February or beginning of March; but should the winter 
be cold and spring protracted stags shed their horns as late as 
May—the old ones at the beginning, the young ones at the end 


of that month. 
It is very rarely, however, that an old stag is seen with his 


old horns on after the beginning of May; but a two-year-old 
deer will carry them for a month or two later. 

In a few days after the old horns have dropped, the new 
growth shows itself, and gradually the new antlers are developed: 
they are then covered with a thick velvet, which preserves the 
point, as yet soft and tender, from injury. While in this soft 
condition they are very sensitive, and to avoid injury from 
striking against trees the deer leads a life of retirement. In 
about ten or twelve weeks they are full grown, and as they 
gradually harden, the animal rubs them against a tree to get rid 
of the velvet. This can only be done gradually, and a deer may 
often be seen at this time of year with the velvet hanging in 
strips, being only partially detached from the horns. 

ZOOLOGIST.— SEPT. 1884. 2k 


854 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


With the Red-deer, as a rule, the horns begin to appear at 
the age of about seven months, when two small protuberances 
are perceptible; and gradually, in the second year, straight 
pointed horns shoot forth. About the beginning of April, before 
the animal is quite two years old, these loosen at the root and 
drop off. In the course of the summer another horn grows up 
with a “tine” issuing from it in a downward curve towards the 
eyes; a year later an additional “tine” is seen on each horn, 
and from year to year, should no accident occur, the antlers, 
which in summer time shoot up anew to replace the old ones, 
increase in size and weight until the animal is six years old, 
after which, it is believed, no material alteration takes place; 
in other words, a deer will carry as fine a head at six years old 
as he is ever likely to have. 

This is a brief summary of what takes place in regard to the 
casting and reproduction of the horns, so far as has been ascer- 
tained by the observation of sportsmen and foresters. 

The great drawback in ascertaining very precisely what 
occurs is the difficulty of keeping the same animal under observa- 
tion for any length of time. For unless it has some peculiarity 
about it which will always serve to distinguish it amongst its 
fellows, or unless it be specially marked or isolated in confine- 
ment, it is certain to escape recognition the following year; the 
more so because the change which by that time will have taken 
place in the growth of the antlers will have materially altered its 
appearance. 

Some years ago Mr. J. Clarke, surgeon, of Lynton, being 
anxious to settle certain points in connection with the growth of 
deer-horns, upon which a difference of opinion prevailed, con- 
ceived the idea of keeping a solitary Red-deer in a paddock under 
his own immediate supervision, and making regular observations 
upon it until it reached the condition of a fully grown adult 
animal. 

This he carried out, and subsequently published the result 
of his observations in a small pamphlet, which was printed at 
Barnstaple in 1866.* As this pamphlet is now out of print, 
and unprocurable, it will doubtless be of service to naturalists to 


“ «A Treatise on the Growth of the Horns of the Red-deer.’ By J. Clarke, 
Lynton. Post 8vo, pp. 12. Barnstaple: A. C. Wood. 1866. 


ON THE GROWTH OF DEER-HORNS. 355 


quote it in extenso, for the statements which it contains are 
founded on personal observation, and therefore valuable, and 
probably very few of my readers have seen the original. 


“Various accounts have been written respecting the Red-deer; but as 
controversies on the subject of the growth of the horns arise from time to 
time, I am induced to present the following observations, although they 
will be found to vary very materially from what has been written by others 
who are considered good authorities. The best description, and nearest the 
truth, which I have yet met with, is in the eighth volume of the ‘ Penny 
Cyclopedia,’ published by Charles Knight & Co., in the year 1838. This, 
however, is not exactly correct, for, in the first place, it states that the 
horns of a male Red-deer do not appear till its second year, whereas they 
do appear in his first year as a knob, or single straight horn, varying in 
length from one to nine inches, but are not shed until he is twenty months 
old. The formation of horns commences by an increase of blood through 
the arterial circulation, as has been correctly stated by John Hunter in his 
work on the blood, and copied into the ‘ Penny Cyclopedia’; but this is a 
part of the subject which I need not dwell on, and beg to refer the reader 
to the work named for further information. Shortly after shedding the first 
horns, the formation of the second takes place, according to the same process, 
and these are shed in the latter end of April or the beginning of May, when 
they will have attained a length of nearly two feet, or perhaps more; these 
in turn drop off, to be again renewed, and thus the same process is con- 
tinued for a series of years, except some casualty should happen to his head, 
or generative powers, whereby the growth of horns becomes immediately 
arrested, as has been clearly and satisfactorily proved. 

“Several years since there came into my possession a young male 
Red-deer, only a few days old. Just then the Rev. J. Boyce (or as he was 
familiarly termed ‘ Stag-hunter Boyce’) happened to pass through Lynton, 
on his journey to Porlock, and I had some conversation with him respecting 
stag-hunting and the Red-deer. Knowing him to be the oldest stag-hunter, 
and one who had been present at more deaths of the wild Red-deer in the 
county than any other living being, I, in the course of conversation, asked 
him whether he could tell, or if he thought it possible for anyone to tell, 
the age of a stag by his horns. His answer was prompt and decisive, ‘ No.’ 
I then told him that I had a young male Red-deer, and that I intended to 
keep him for the sole purpose of ascertaining and proving the question. 
He said that this was the only way in which the different ages could be 
possibly ascertained, as no two persons could be found to agree on the 
subject. 

“At the time that this deer was in my possession I had an opportunity, 
which I doubt if anyone will again possess, of frequently seeing together a 


356 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


herd of from fifty to eighty, or more, Red-deer of all ages (then harboured 
and protected on Brendon Barton and Scobhill, by the late Mr. Knight, of 
Exmoor), aud which would allow a person on horseback to approach quite 
close to them, so that I could distinctly trace the growth of the horns of the 
different animals there assembled, and contrast them with the one in my 
possession. This opportunity I frequently embraced, and consequently 
I consider myself to have been in a position to give more correct information 
than any person who has yet written on the subject, and the result of my 
experience I will now proceed to state. 

“Tn the first year of the stag’s life there appears a small straight horn, 
or it may be merely a knob, varying from one to nine inches in length. In 
the second year he may have what is termed in Devonshire his ‘ brow,’ 
‘bay,’ and ‘tray,’ which are called antlers; but frequently there is an 
absence of one or other of these, and when this is the case I have observed 
that it continues as he advances in years, and that the points on the top 
are diminished accordingly. But I must here remark that the points will 
not alone serve as a guide to his age, although by a combination of these 
and other marks, as I shall hereafter state, it may be ascertained. In 
short, I defy any individual who has merely followed the hounds and been 
present at the death—I care not how many times—to tell the age of a stag 
by his horns only. 

‘‘T have myself followed the hounds for a great number of years, and 
been present at many a death; and I can safely say that I have frequently 
heard the most ridiculous arguments as to his age, some asserting him to 
be three or four years old, and others saying he is ten and upwards. For 
my own part, of late years I have not seen a stag of ten years old, nor do 
I think that any one in the county can show me one; that they do live to 
the age of ten and upwards I do not for one moment dispute, but if anyone 
possesses a head of a stag of that age I should very much like to see it. 
Another error which I have frequently heard persons assert is, they know 
him to be an old stag because he is hoop-horned ; but are these individuals 
aware, or will they believe, that this is not a mark of old age, but of youth, 
as most of the male Red-deer, from two to three years old, are what they 
call hoop-horned ? 

«‘ But now the question comes, Can a stag’s age be known by his head ? 
I believe it can up to a certain period, but only by those who have studied 
it. The latest publications, wherein it is said that a male deer has no horns 
in his first year, are in error, as I have already remarked, and the statement 
appears to have been copied from older writers, where the same error has 
been committed. But when the first two or three years of the animal's life 
have been so confounded, is it to be wondered at that mistakes should arise 
as to his age? It has also been asserted that an animal which has been 
kept in a park or paddock will at three years old present the appearance of 


ON THE GROWTH OF DEER-HORNS. 357 


a stag four, or even six, years old; but this is likewise incorrect. ‘The one 
I had was kept, as is well known, for nearly seven years in a dry land field 
facing the south, of less than one acre, with a shed for him to go into, with 
not a drop of water in the field, nor ever having any given him (and no 
artificial food)—nothing but the natural grass of the field. When he was 
first put into the field there was a small mow of hay in one corner, which 
remained there for two years; as he never touched it, it was taken away 
and given to the cattle. 

“This animal therefore lived under great disadvantages, having nothing 
but the same piece of land to graze over year after year, summer and winter, 
so that he was not (as has been misrepresented) kept highly fed, but the 
contrary, the purpose being to see the natural growth of the horns. And 
what has the experiment proved? that the character and growth of the 
horns depend almost entirely on the natural disposition of the animal; 
otherwise how can it be accounted for that one in his wild and natural state 
shall have a splendid head, with all his rights, and another quite the con- 
trary? If it is owing to either or both of the parents, there surely must 
have been as fine heads as the one J possess; but then, I ask, what has 
become of them? For my own part, I know not where to find one. 

“T will now give some particulars of the head and horns in my 
possession, with some remarks thereon. 

“‘ Before the animal was one year old the horns began to appear, about 
the latter end of May. In the following April these were shed, when they 
were nine inches long. A very short time afterwards others began to be deve- 
loped, and in the latter end of April these were also shed, though not both 
on the same day. These had ‘brow,’ ‘bay,’ and ‘tray,’ upright—altogether 
upwards of two feet in length. In his third year he had the same kind of 
antlers, with two points on top on one horn, and two and an offer on the 
other. In his fourth year, antlers as before, with two points and an offer 
on each horn. In his jifth year, antlers the same, with three points on each 
top. In his si#th year, antlers as before, with four points on each top. In 
his seventh year (when he was killed), antlers as before, though on one horn 
the points were not so perfect as in his sixth year. It will thus be seen this 
deer had seven on each horn, making together fourteen. 

“T do not think there is much difference in the points, &c., up to ten 
years of age, but the beam increases in size, antlers, &c., in length. After 
that age I believe the horns get shorter and wider at the spread. 

«Tn judging a stag’s age it must be borne in mind that, by the increase 
of the base of the horn or coronet, and projection of the burr, with the size 
of the beam, the greater distinctness of the superficial furrows, together 
with the length of the antlers and number of points, a stag’s age may be 
nearly ascertained, but then only up to a certain period. 

“The head and horns of the animal just spoken of were exhibited at 


3858 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


the Bath and West of England Agricultural Show, held at Barnstaple 
in 1859. 

“It has been shown that the hind brings forth her calf in May or June, 
but, as far as I have been able to ascertain, she does not drop her calf until 
July or August; at all events, the one I had was not dropped until the 
latter end of August. 

“As my sole purpose in publishing this treatise is to correct statements 
which have been hitherto published respecting the growth of the horns, 
with the antlers and number of points, I have not thought proper to enter 
on the mode of hunting the Red-deer, as practised in Somerset and Devon, 
and have in addition only to observe, if anyone doubts the statements 
I have advanced, Jet him procure some male calves and rear them as I have 
done this one, and by close observation he will then see whether I am in 
error, and, if so, where. Surely there are plenty of persons in the world 
possessing the means, provided they have the will and inclination, to keep 
and study the Red-deer, respecting which there yet remains a great deal 
to be learnt. 

* There certainly is not a more noble creature existing than a seven- or 
eight-year-old stag (with all his rights—which, by the bye, is not now to 
be seen), especially on his first being roused and breaking the covert, just 
after he has lost his velvet, which takes place early in September. Indeed 
it is a sight which must be witnessed to be described; and the pursuit of 
such an animal is well worthy of royalty, as it was wont to be in ancient 
times. 

*‘T last season witnessed a most splendid chase of several hours, after 
which the stag was taken in a bedroom at Minehead, and I was somewhat 
surprised on viewing his head—having a ‘ brow’ and ‘ bay,’ no ‘ tray,’ with 
three points on top of one horn, and two on the other—to find his beam 
small and antlers short, while the horn was of a dark colour. Now, how 
can this be accounted for? I believe from the following:—A few years 
since I was informed that a number of Red-deer (which I then understood 
were foreign, but have since learnt were from Cheshire) were procured and 
set free among the different herds of wild deer in Devon and Somerset. 
These stags (for I believe they were mostly, if not all, male deer) had 
shorter horns, with generally only a ‘ brow’ and ‘tray,’ and of a dark colour. 
I once saw a pair of their horns, but they bore no comparison to those 
I had hitherto had under my inspection. Why, or for what reason, the 
animals were obtained and so mixed, I know not. (Query). Were those 
animals of a larger frame? If so, their horns were very inferior. Those 
above described derived their dark colour, I have not the least doubt, from 
the imported stock. This will make a vast difference in the horns and head 
of the future stags, and much further investigation will be required towards 
settling the question, so as to be able to judge of a stag’s age by his horns; 


ON THE GROWTH OF DEER-HORNS. 859 


for in my opinion thig cross will always continue to be more or less marked, 
just as various marks may be seen in sheep and cattle, when the breed has 
been crossed. Does it not tend to prove it is the natural disposition of the 
animal? Surely it cannot be said it is owing to his keep or pasturage, or 
age ; for as I have before stated, the number of antlers which a stag has in 
his second year, continues throughout the growth of the horns, and the 
ones he is then deficient of he never regains; so that if he has his ‘ brow,’ 
‘bay,’ and ‘tray,’ they will continue to be developed in the same manner, 
though there may be some slight variations in them, and possibly in each 
of them. If he has only his ‘ brow’ and ‘ bay,’ he never gets a ‘ tray,’ nor 
does he get a ‘bay’ if he had only had ‘ brow’ and ‘tray’ in his second 
year: this I believe to be strictly correct as far as my observations have 
been carried. 

“ Having said thus much as regards a stag’s head, horns, &c., I feel 
bound to bestow my humble meed of praise on the present pack of stag- 
hounds latterly hunting the counties of Devon and Somerset, and also to 
add that the greatest credit is due both to Babbage the huntsman and 
Arthur the whip for the command which they have over their hounds, and 
likewise for the manner of hunting them. Indeed it is a sight worth riding 
miles to witness; and in conclusion I wish them health and strength, with 
plenty of deer, and support for many years to come. 

“T certainly differ from some who fancy the Red-deer must soon be 
exterminated, for I believe if the landed proprietors in Devon and Somerset 
would unite and fence off certain portions of waste land, together with 
sufficient quantities of woodland and plantations where the deer may be 
harboured, and not disturbed by sheep, dogs, or poachers, that there may 
be always plenty of deer. 

“ The farmers also in these counties ought to consider where hunting 
is practised, that it not only gives a stimulus for rearing and breeding good 
horses, but also, if I may be allowed the expression, will be the means of 
bringing ‘ grist to the mill.’ 

“That the deer are not generally such close feeders as some have 
represented, I think, will appear from the small space of ground the one I 
had was kept in, though in their wild and free state they have a much 
larger space to roam over, and feed at their will.” 

Dated Lynton, July, 1866. 


With the Roebuck, the first horn which appears is a single 
short prong with a small burr at the base. The following year 
this prong, or rather the new one which supplies its place, curves 
backward and throws out a tine rather above the middle, and 
pointing forwards. In the succeeding year a second tine is 
thrown out a little higher up and pointing backwards; the main 


360 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


stem, or “beam,” as it is termed, continuing upwards and 
curving slightly forwards. Hach horn therefore has three well- 


developed tines, and this is the usual and normal condition of 
horn with the adult Roebuck (Fig. 1). An animal with a head of 


ee 


ON THE GROWTH OF DEER-HORNS. 361 


this character, carrying three tines on each horn is called by 
German sportsmen a “ six-ender,” and this number of “‘ ends,” or 
as we call them “tines,” is very rarely exceeded. Old writers on 
hunting sometimes refer to ‘“eight-enders” in cases where an 
additional tine appears midway between the one first thrown 
forward and that directed backwards; and Blasius even gives an 
illustration of a ‘‘ten-ender,”’ in which there is a bifurcation of 
the tine thrown backward, as there is of the main stem towards 
its extremity. Such heads, however, must be very uncommon, 
and are said to be unknown in Germany. Blasius speaks of 
their having been met with in Servia (Sclavonia) and Croatia. 


Roebucks with very long and heavy horns are found in the 
Ural, the Altai, and in Great Tartary ; but, notwithstanding their 
abnormal size and weight, would all be described, I believe, as 
six-enders. (See Fig. 2, which has been drawn to the same scale 
as Fig. 1, for the purpose of comparison.) Fig. 3, although not 
so symmetrical, represents an unusually fine large head for 
a Roe. 

It is a curious fact that abnormal growths of horn are more 
frequent amongst Roe than with Red-deer, It ig difficult to say 


362 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


why this should be so, but such appears to be the experience of 
both English and German sportsmen who have devoted them- 
selves to the pursuit of these animals. It may be due indirectly 


Fie. 5. 


to the different habits of the two species; for as an abnormal 
growth of horn must be occasioned either by disease or by direct 


Fic. 6. 


injury to the horn itself while still soft, or ‘‘in the velvet,” as it 
is technically termed, it would follow that the species whose 
habits would be most likely to subject it to accident would most 


ON THE GROWTH OF DEER-HORNS. 363 


frequently exhibit an abnormal growth of horn. Now the Roe- 
deer is a timid, shy creature, keeping much to the woods, easily 


Fic. 8. 


taking alarm, and dashing off suddenly into the thicket at the 
approach of an intruder. Nothing is more probable than that 


Fic. 10. 


Roe-deer constantly injure their horns while “in the velvet” by 
coming in contact with some opposing bough during hasty flight. 


364 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Red-deer, which are not so much attached to the woods, and 
are more circumspect in all their movements, would be less 
likely to meet with such mishaps. 

It may, I think, be fairly assumed that in all cases of 
abnormal growth wherein the antlers are asymmetrical (as in 
Figs. 4 and 5, and Figs. 6 and 7) the abnormality is due to direct 
injury to the particular horn which is distorted or affected. But 
in cases where the horns are symmetrical and yet abnormal in 
character (as in Figs. 8 and 9) the abnormality is probably to be 
traced to some peculiar physical ailment whereby the growth 
and proper development of the horn is arrested or interfered 
with at a critical stage. 


Fre. 12. 


The size and weight of antlers will doubtless depend much 
upon the nature and quality of the food available, and will vary 
in proportion to the supply of phosphate of lime secreted in 
their formation. 

A third class of abnormal growths (as in Figs. 10 and 11) is 
not to be explained as due either to injury or disease. In Fig. 10 
we see two pairs of horns springing from the same skull, one pair 
directly above the other, and both fairly symmetrical, although 
not quite normal in character. In Fig. 11 we see a coalescence 
of the burrs of what should have been two independent horns, 


ON THE GROWTH OF DEER-HORNS. 365 


and a union of the two beams into one in the centre of the 
forehead with a subsequent bifurcation and development of a 
single tine on each prong of the fork. 

The specimen from which this drawing was made is probably 
unique; and I may take this opportunity of stating that all 
the heads here figured as remarkable (with the exception of 
Fig. 18) may be seen at the present time in London, at the 
well-known Auction Rooms of Mr. J.C. Stevens, 38, King Street, 
Covent Garden, who has on view and for sale a most extra- 
ordinary collection of Red-deer and Roe-deer horns from Germany. 


This collection, numbering about 600 head, is the property of 
Dr. Leo von Klipstein, of Giessen, who inherited it under the 
will of his uncle, Colonel Geoffroy von Klipstein, a great sports- 
man, who spent fifty years in its formation. 

These horns, it appears, were not all procured in one 
district, but were obtained at different times in various parts 
of Germany and Austria. There are, of course, amongst them, a 
good many heads of the normal type which have been preserved 
simply as sportsman’s trophies; but there are also amongst 
them some very singular and remarkable antlers which are well 


366 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


worth going to see. Sportsmen and naturalists should not miss 
the opportunity of examining so good a collection of German 
Deer heads. 

From so large a series it was a somewhat difficult matter 
to make a selection for the draughtsman and engraver; but 
through the courtesy of Mr. Stevens, who gave every facility for 
the purpose, a dozen heads have been picked out which are all 
notable in their way, some of them, probably unique. 

As a sequel to Fig. 12, showing the appearance of a diseased 
growth of horn, I have added another (Fig. 13), copied from 
Dr. Altum’s ‘ Forstzoologie’ (i. p. 865), illustrating a case in 
which the horny substance (phosphate of lime and gelatine) has 
exuded over the top of the head, covering the upper portion of 
the face like a mask, and depriving the animal of the sight of 
one eye. This very remarkable specimen was alive when found 
and secured by his Royal Highness Prince Frederick Charles of 
Prussia, in December, 1872, near Potsdam. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY ON THE COAST OF FINMARK. 
By Aurrep Heneace Cooks, M.A., F.Z.S. 


Most people who have paid the least attention to the Cetacea 
are aware of the existence of the veteran Norwegian sailor Herr 
Svend Foyn, and associate his name with the invention of gear 
enabling him to cope successfully with the large and active Fin- 
whales, a family hitherto usually let alone by whalers as too 
dangerous for the known appliances of their craft; and are also 
aware that he established a very successful whaling business at 
Vads6, on the east coast of Finmark. But the number of persons 
(beyond the actual whalemen,* and natives of the North of 
Norway) who know anything about the fishery,—extended within 
these last two years by the expiration of Herr Foyn’s patent- 
rights,—may be almost reckoned on one’s fingers. 

As very few persons have visited the scene of the whale- 
factories, and no account has been published in England, so far 
as I am aware, and as I am, I believe, the first amateur who has 


* The whalemen are none of them natives of the North of Norway, but 
all come from the south—from Sandefjord and Tonsberg. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 367 


seen a whale captured by this new system, some account, how- 
ever imperfect, of what I saw there may be of interest. 

Herr Foyn’s exclusive rights to the fishery on the Finmarken 
coast terminated at the end of the season of 1882, but he allowed 
some companies to start whaling that season. Last year (1883) 
was the first open season, and various companies, all got up in 
Sandefjord and Tonsberg in the South of Norway, tried their 
fortunes, and at least in most cases I believe did extremely well 
from a commercial point of view. One Russian steamer was also 
engaged last season in this fishery; and this season there are to 
be several, I understand. 

It is now about sixteen years since Herr Foyn established his 
factory at Vadsd, which is situated far up Varanger Fjord; at 
that time the fjord was a favourite resort of the huge Sibbald’s 
Rorqual during the summer. This is now quite changed; con- 
stant hunting and harrying has taught the survivors to keep 
outside in the open sea. The new factories therefore were 
established at Vardo, with a few at other convenient situations* 
on the north coast; they are therefore much closer to the 
cruising grounds of the whales, so that when one is killed all 
the long miles of towing up the fjord are saved. 

Most of the whaling companies’ factories at Vard6 are known 
by the name of their resident manager, all of whom are, I think, 
sea captains, with the exception of one, and this company is 
almost or quite the only one which has not paid this season. 
Besides these, there are some whaling establishments in West 
Finmarken, where, however, Sibbald’s Rorqual is not common. 

Arriving at Vardo in the middle of August, I was quite at the 
end of the season, and too late to see much of the chief object of 
the ‘‘fishery”—the huge Sibbald’s Rorqual, or Blue Whale as it 
is called in Norway, and which latter name seems decidedly 
preferable for ordinary use. 

I met with great civility and kindness from all the owners 
and managers of the whalers; my thanks are especially due to 
Captains B. and §., to whose kindness I am indebted for 
a cruise in one of the steamers; other kind invitations I was 
unable to avail myself of, owing to the season coming to an end. 
I propose to give some account of this cruise, and then to give 


* At Sylte Fjord, Jar Fjord, &e. 


368 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


such particulars as I was able to note about the different species 
of Balenopteride found in those waters. 

We weighed from Vardé on the evening of August 26th, and, 
leaving the Sound by the north entrance, made for the N.W. © 
The harpooner went up to the crow’s nest while we were still in 
the sand, and almost immediately saw a steamer hunting a 
whale; we steamed steadily ahead, and in the course of the 
evening we saw three other whalers, one of which turned into 
Sylte Fjord, where there is a factory. At ten o’clock, the 
nights being already by this time of the year dark, the fires were 
let down, and we ceased steaming, the vessel being allowed to 
drift while it was too dark to see whales. We were under steam 
again by three o'clock the next morning, and some time later 
the harpooner (from aloft) saw a Common Rorqual, which spouted 
three times and disappeared. At about eight o’clock a Hump- 
back Whale (Megaptera) was sighted, so we turned after it 
towards the north, across the bows of another whaler; at 8.30 
the whale rose and blew close on our port quarter; it next rose 
a little ahead of us, and when it dived again we stopped. The 
harpooner, who remains at the crow’s nest for hours at a time if 
no whale is sighted, comes down from aloft as soon as a chase 
commences, and remains as it were glued to the gun fixed at the 
extreme forward end of the forecastle; he cannot even go below 
for his meals, but has to snatch as best he can a hunk of bread 
and meat brought him by the steward. The whale next rose 
close on the starboard bow, heading to starboard. The harpooner 
slewed the gun round as quick as lightning and fired, but the 
whale (as small ones are said frequently to do) swerved at the 
moment and the harpoon missed it, though it received a “‘smack”’ 
from the shank of the harpoon, slightly grazing the skin. It 
instantly dived, and next came up 150 or 200 yards away, when 
it screamed more from fright than pain, I fancy, and then 
disappeared. We hauled in the line, and proceeded to reload, 
which latter operation takes all hands just half an hour to 
accomplish. 

This is perhaps the best place to attempt a description of the 
- harpoon, and the gun from which it is fired. The harpoon-stock 
(all of iron) is about five feet long. It has two pairs of folding 
flukes, barbed, lying at right angles to each other; the butt end 
of the shank is enlarged and flattened at the extremity like a 


THE FINWHALE PISHERY OF FINMARK, 369 


ramrod. A slit is carried for about three feet lengthwise through 
the shank, in which travels a ring or grummet made of coils of 
thin iron wire, to which the whale-line is attached. Forward of 
' the end of the slit a joint is formed by two large rings. This 
joint is rendered rigid, however, when ready for firing, by firmly 
lashing the ring of the anterior part back to the end of the slit. 
This lashing is broken by the movement of the whale after the 
harpoon has entered it, allowing the joint to have free play, and 
at the same time the resistance offered by the lashing before it 
parts breaks the force of the otherwise sudden strain on the 
rings. In front of the second ring come the barbs before 
mentioned, and the shaft terminates in a screw-worm, the fore 
end being hollow to the depth of about six inches. Into the 
hollow is fitted a tin cylinder about five inches long, containing 
a small glass specimen-tube covered with india-rubber piping, 
which on the fracture of the glass tube comes in contact with 
fulminating powder, which then explodes. The fracture of the 
glass tube is brought about by the meeting in the middle line— 
inside the hollow end of the harpoon—of the inner ends of the 
larger pair of folding flukes, which are continued inwards beyond 
their pivots. On to the worm at the hollow end of the shank is 
screwed a conical iron shell nine inches long, which is filled with 
gunpowder, and this is exploded by the means just mentioned, 
assisted by a little powder added as a priming inside the worm. 
Into the fore end of the shell is screwed a three-side spearhead 
like a ploughshare, four and a half inches long; an older pattern, 
as used by Herr Foyn, is shaped like an ordinary spearhead— 
i.e. flat. 

The explosion takes place when, after the harpoon has entered 
the whale, sufficient strain is brought on to the line to cause the 
lashings by which the flukes were previously held down to break, 
and allow them to open out; the inner ends of the larger pair 
then almost meet in the middle line, and, squeezing the glass 
tube, break it as before described. 

The harpoon-cannon works on a pivot fixed on the forward 
end of the forecastle. There is no bowsprit or forestay: a kind 
of platform projects over the bows on either side, giving room to 
the harpooner to stand and turn the gun well round to either 
side. Over the stem projects a square sheet of iron, lying at a 
slight angle forwards; on this about twenty fathoms of the 

4ZOOLUGIST.— SEPT: 1884, 2F 


370 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


whale-line (which is fully double the thickness of the whale-line 
used in the Greenland fishery) is very carefully coiled down, and 
lashed in place with spun-yarn, which breaks directly the line 
gets the least strain on it. The sheet of iron is hinged, and 
when steaming in rough weather through a head sea the harpoon 
is removed from the gun and the iron turned up, so as to protect 
the gun from the seas. 

The cannon has naturally to be very strong, and was in this 
instance 4} inches thick at the muzzle. The charge of powder 
is 15 “lod,” and is kept ready measured off in round canvas 
balls about the size of a cricket-ball. The recoil is taken off by 
pads of gutta-percha several inches thick at the rear of the 
trunnions. A pistol-stock shaped handle is fixed to the breech 
to aim the gun with; the details, such as percussion-caps, &c., 
vary, I believe, in the guns of almost every company; but I have, 
I think, attempted a description of every important point. 


(To be continued.) 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 


By Henry Srevenson, #.L.S. 


A sap season for the shore-gunners means, always, brief 
notes for the naturalist; and both before and after Christmas, 
in the winter of 1881-2, an almost total absence of ‘ hard- 
weather” fowl, and a singular scarcity of Fieldfares and Red- 
wings, were readily accounted for by November of 1881 being 
the mildest and warmest for many years. 

In the first week of January, 1882, I heard of two or three 
Waxwings, seen or shot, near Holt, and one at Lamas, near 
Cromer, indicating, as I have before observed, that the advent 
of this beautiful but irregular migrant is by no means confined 
to severe winters. 

On the 6th a Common Buzzard appeared at Northrepps, and 
a large Raptor, seen at the same place on the 30th, was, possibly, 
a Rough-legged Buzzard, of which species one had been shot at 
Fulmodestone on the 14th. Of wild-fowl, the only entries I find 
worth notice during this month are a male Gadwall, at Salthouse, 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 371 


on the 6th, and another at Hickling on the 14th, the latter, in 
all probability, bred in this county. 

On the 22nd a Snow Bunting was shot at Cromer, which had 
already begun to assume its breeding-dress,—an exceedingly 
early date. 

March followed suit as to mildness of temperature, and the 
first three weeks were altogether foreign to its usual character. 

On the 1st, at Gunton, near Cromer, a solitary Brambling 
was seen consorting with a flock of other small birds; and 
on the 4th and 6th Hooded Crows, in some numbers, were 
observed passing southwards, near the coast at Northrepps. By 
the 12th some thirty Rooks’ nests were completed in Brundall 
Wood, and about twenty more by the 16th; and young Herons 
were hatched at Taverham prior to the 25th. Of the earliest 
summer migrants, the Wryneck was heard in Cossey Park on 
the 20th, and the Willow Wren and Chiffchaff at Northrepps, 
about the same date. 

Snow Buntings, in small numbers, remained along the coast 
at Yarmouth till late in the month. Redshanks were clamorous 
in the marshes quite early in March, and Lapwings’ eggs were 
in Yarmouth market by the last week of the month. 

April was not a pleasant month, the weather variable, and 
mostly cold and wet, with a prevalence of north and north-east 
winds. ‘Two or three Magpies were seen at Forncett on the 1st 
of the month; and one or more of that species were observed at 
Northrepps, on the coast, throughout the winter. Of the dates 
of arrival of summer migrants, I may quote the following from 
various correspondents :—Cuckoo, 14th, at Northrepps; Night- 
ingale, 16th, on the Ipswich and Unthank’s Roads, Norwich, and 
Reepham a few days earlier, Thorpe 20th, Keswick and Yarmouth 
22nd; Blackcap, 10th, Woodbastwick; Swallow, 18th, Keswick, 
19th, Thorpe River; Sand Martin, 19th, Thorpe River; Redstart, 
16th, Eaton. On the 21st, at Katon, a bright spring day, with 
a south-west wind, I heard and saw, in the sheltered copse of 
*Blue-bell Hole,” Nightingales, Redstarts, Willow Wrens, 
Blackcaps, and Chiffchatis, and three Red-backed Shrikes on a 
neighbouring fence. Neither in the village nor on the river did 
I see a single Swallow, or Martin of either species. 

A few Hooded Crows still remained at Northrepps into the 
seeond week of April; and a Woodcock was flushed there on the 


372 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


10th. A large number of Pied Wagtails appeared at Yarmouth 
about the latter date ; and early in the month a Water Rail was 
caught alive on board a smack, just off the coast. During the 
first week, also, the puzzling occurrence of French Partridges, 
seen to come in from the sea with a strong easterly wind, and, 
as usual, in an exhausted state on arrival, was observed on the 
beach at Yarmouth, and I have notes of a single bird, seen to fly 
in from the sea, at Lowestoft in March, and, in the same month, 
a small covey of this species arrived on the sands at Cromer, in 
like manner, and crept into any holes they could find for shelter. 
Being birds of rapid but not sustained powers of flight, as is well 
known to sportsmen, it is not easy to conjecture, if continental 
immigrants, from whence they come. We have no record what- 
ever of this Partridge being found in the Eastern Counties 
till eggs were imported at the close of the last century, and as 
when Sir Thomas Browne wrote just two hundred years ago it 
was not seen in Norfolk, I still incline to the theory advanced in 
the ‘Birds of Norfolk’ that these apparent visitants are but 
residents after all, seized with a restless migratory impulse in 
spring, and daunted by the vast expanse of water, as they pass 
out to sea, swerve round again towards the land, and alight in 
the exhausted state in which they are usually found. Some of 
our immigrants, also, may cross the Wash, from the Lincolnshire 
coast, or arrive from still more northern counties. 

A Hobby was observed at Northrepps on the 16th of May, 
and of spring migrants amongst the Waders on Breydon ‘‘muds” 
the Whimbrel was seen on the 3rd, Turnstones on the 10th, and 
both Common and Green Sandpipers on the 18th; and on the 
16th and 17th a Greenshank and some Bar-tailed Godwits, all 
these putting in an appearance about their accustomed time, as 
the 12th of May is known as “‘ Godwit-day”’ to the shore-gunners. 
Somewhat later, Grey Plovers and Pigmy Curlew were also seen 
at Yarmouth in summer dress; and three Ayocets were said to 
have been seen, and one Spoonbill shot, the Bird Protection Act 
notwithstanding. A flock of Black Terns were observed on the 
22nd, hovering over the river between Brandon and Lakenheath ; 
and on the 28th a large flock of Common Curlew were seen 
passing at Northrepps. 

On the 29th Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., found the larder of a 
pair of Red-backed Shrikes, at Northrepps, their prey spiked, as 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 373 


usual, on the thorns of a fence; and this within a few yards of the 
spot where he had noticed the same occurrence, in the previous 
summer,—a tall fence, on the road near the Cromer Station. 

A stay at Cromer, from the 12th of May to the 9th of June, 
afforded daily observation of bird-life in that neighbourhood; 
and renewing acquaintance with that well-known and genial old 
fisherman, Billy Mayes, I learnt from him, when at sea in his 
crab-boat, many interesting facts, both as to sea-fowl and sea-fish. 

On one occasion I saw a few adult Greater Black-backed Gulls, 
passing rapidly, with an evident purpose in view; and I believe, 
from many former observations, that with an instinctive know- 
ledge of the ebb and flow of the tide, these Gulls come for miles 
to exposed feeding-grounds near Yarmouth, and work back again, 
late in the day, to roost on the extensive sand-hills about 
Blakeney and Cley. 

Mayes tells me that about the month of October, the fishermen 
see Gulls by hundreds, day after day, flying in the direction of 
Blakeney, late in the afternoon, where he has seen them congre- 
gated in great numbers; but, as at that season they never see 
them going in the other direction in the morning, he supposes 
they must pass along the coast earlier than even the fishermen 
are about at that time of the year. Early in May he had seen 
Guillemots out at sea, off the Cromer lighthouse, passing north- 
wards, no doubt to their breeding station at Flamborough, from 
whence, in the breeding season, as the fishermen assert, they 
pass regularly for food down to Yarmouth Roads. At different 
times when fishing out at sea, he has seen various species of 
birds coming over the sea, and making direct for land, more or 
less exhausted; and amongst them he mentioned Starlings, 
Rooks, Sparrows (Tree Sparrows, probably), Chaffinches, Swal- 
lows, and Martins, and the tiny Gold-crested Wren. Rooks he 
had seen settle on the waves, as if to refresh themselves, as is 
frequently the case with the Swallows, dropping their feet into 
the water, and raising their wings at the same time. He has 
seen French Partridges making for land, but never saw or heard 
of an English Partridge in flight over the water. 

One morning a small flock of the Common Gull, and on 
another, of Black-headed Gulls, all birds of the previous year, 
were hovering over and settling on the waves, within gun-shot of 
the beach, attracted, no doubt, by the fish-offal thrown overboard 


374 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


by the fishermen before coming ashore; and I noticed, also, that 
a few old Rooks on the Runton beach came regularly to feed on 
the same diet, when washed up by the tide. This is a common 
habit with them in the autumn and winter, in company with 
the Grey-back Crows; but I had never noticed it before in the 
nesting season. 

On the 4th of June, an adult Night Heron was seen by 
Mr. Cremer, at his pond at Beeston. At Palgrave, near Diss, 
my friend, Mr. Ringer, had his attention drawn to the note of 
the Wryneck, and on tracing the sound to an old Scotch fir in 
the churchyard, he saw two of these birds, sitting, one above the 
other, each on a short, broken branch projecting from the trunk, 
and as they uttered their notes with a curious elongation and 
twisting of the neck, they seemed to lean hard against the bole 
of the tree; and this they continued to do till he was tired of 


watching them. 
(To be continued.) 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM SWITZERLAND. 
By W. Warpr Fowter, M.A. 


Tue following notes, made by me in Switzerland last summer, 
may perhaps be of interest as supplementing the observations 
on Swiss birds recently contributed to ‘The Zoologist’ by Dr. 
Hamilton and Mr. Backhouse. 

While visiting Stanzstadt, on the lake of Lucerne, on the 26th 
June, 1883, I observed a pair of Blue-headed Wagtails, Motacilla 
flava, by the lake. The landlord of the hotel showed me a fine 
Bittern, shot by himself, but said it was not a resident species. 

On the road to Engelberg, on June 27th, Buzzards, Magpie, 
Redstart, Ruticilla phenicura, and Marsh Tits, slightly different 
in colouring from ours as I fancied, the white on tke throat and 
sides of the head occupying a larger space. In the Bern 
Museum is a variety, more resembling P. ater, and wrongly 
marked “ P. borealis, var. alpestris, Bailly.” See Prof. Newton in 
Yarrell’s ‘ British Birds’ (ed. 4, i., p. 49). 

June 28th.—At Engelberg, Black Redstarts, R. titys, Whin- 
chats, and Tree Pipits were all abundant. We heard a single 


NOTES FROM SWITZERLAND. 875 


Cuckoo. In an opening in a wood a huge bird passed slowly 
over us at no great height, enabling me to see it frequently from 
below with my glass. This I believe to have been a Golden 
Eagle, Aquila chrysaetus, for my guide, who knows the bird well, 
saw one near the Engstlen-Alp the same day. I afterwards saw 
one alive in a cage on the Wengern-Alp. 

June 29th.—Joch-pass. Heard the Chiffchaff on the 
Pfaffenwand, more than 5000 ft. above the sea. In these higher 
regions a Pipit is abundant, which, I feel pretty sure, is Anthus 
spinoletta (Linn.). It frequented well-watered pastures, and would 
perch on stones, or on the very top twig of a pine, and to the best 
of my belief was neither A. pratensis nor arboreus. More 
puzzling was a bird which my observant old guide, who now 
joined us, called an ‘‘ Alpen-lerch ;” this bird made a trilling noise 
when sitting on a stone, and would then mount and sing on the 
wing. <A skin since forwarded to me by the guide proves this to 
be Accentor alpinus. It was abundant on and about the Joch- 
pass, where I hope to give special attention another season. 

My guide wrote of this bird: “ The brown bird I sent you is 
called here in our common speech ‘ Bliemtrittel;’ it has this name 
because, when it is in the valley (i.e., in winter), it often haunts 
barns, and there picks up the ‘ Bliem ’—that is, the blossom-dust 
that is found under every heap of hay. In the books (schrift- 
weise) it is called ‘ Alpenlerche.’ Old Professor Dollfus used to 
call it ‘the tourists’ guide,’ because we see it in summer on the 
high mountains, which, like the tourists, it leaves in winter for 
the lower grounds. I shot the specimen I sent you close to my 
own house (just out of Meiringen) at the beginning of January. 
We saw the bird on the Engstlen-alp when you were with me last 
summer. Itsits usually on a stone, where it sings with a sweet 
voice ; it does not sing on the wing. [This, I think, is a mistake. 
W. W.F.] It builds its nest among rocks and stones in the 
mountains in the summer; the nest is of moss, and the hen bird 
lays, I believe, beautiful pale blue eggs. When it isin the valley 
in winter, we find it sometimes here and sometimes there, but the 
one I sent youis the only specimen I have seen this winter. 
The reason of this is no doubt to be found in the beautiful mild 
weather we have been having, which has enabled the little things 
to make a long stay in the mountains.—Johann Anderegg. 
Meiringen, Feb. 24th, 1884.” [Translation.] 


376 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


June 380th.—Engstlen Alp. (7000 ft.) Here were a few Ring 
Ouzels (which descend to the valleys in winter, but according to my 
guide do not leave the country) and Cole Tits, P. ater. I talked 
with the guide about migration; he told me of twenty-two Red- 
starts having been found in a hollow cherry-tree in Canton Valais 
in winter, all in a cluster. We talked of the beautiful red-winged 
Rock-creeper, Tichodroma muraria, and he told me positively 
that it loses the end of its long bill every autumn, and that a new 
one grows rapidly. He says that he told M. Fatio (a Genevan 
naturalist) of this, and on his disbelieving it sent him specimens 
to prove it. I afterwards found in the Bern Museum a specimen 
which had lost the end of its bill. Here also were Redstarts, 
chirping their little song from the roofs of the chalets, in which 
they build and bring up young even before these upper pastures 
are visited by human-kind in early June. I see that Bree (‘ Birds 
of Europe,’ vol. ii., p. 6) gives a “ Grey Redstart,” R. Cairii, which 
exactly answers in appearance to some of these on the Engstlen 
Alp, which I took for young of R. titys; and this R. Cairii is 
there said to inhabit the highest Alps, ‘where it breeds in old 
isolated chalets and huts, where one never sees by any chance a 
specimen of R. titys.’ I certainly do not remember to have seen 
any specimens of the adult male of titys on these Alps; yet it 
seems to be now agreed that this mountain bird is not a distinct 
species. 

July 1st.—Engstlen to Meiringen. The guide was much 
taken aback by the rising of five wild ducks under his nose while 
he was enjoying an early pipe this morning; this was at a little 
pool of melting snow water about forty paces from theinn. From 
the feathers they left I should say they were Teal; but Switzer- 
land boasts of a great variety of wild duck, as I learn from the 
Bern Museum. We had looked for the Crested Tit, P. cristatus, 
yesterday; my guide tells me it is arare bird even here. To-day, 
however, he detected it, keeping eyes and ears on the look out, 
and I had the great pleasure of watching a family of these birds. 
The note is very much like that of Acredula caudata ; motions 
and gestures as like those of P. ceruleus as possible. Its black 
collar also reminds one of the latter. The female seems to be 
much browner than the male, whose prevailing colour is bluish 
grey ; in fact the guide erroneously described to me two species, 
one grey and the other brown. He was right, however, in telling 


NOTES FROM SWITZERLAND. WL 


me that it is not a shy bird; it allowed me to come quite close 
without getting alarmed. 

July 2.—Meiringen. Certhia familiaris abundant in the 
apple trees; Marsh Tit and Robin. A little Warbler, very 
slender, but otherwise looking very like the Chiffchaff, was sing- 
ing a somewhat tremulous note in the hazel bushes and brush- 
wood on both sides of the valley ; 2.e., near the paths to Hasliberg 
and Rosenlain. As the note was strange to me, and as it could 
hardly have been that of our Wood Warbler, [ have consulted 
Bree, and find there figured a bird which closely corresponds, 
viz., Bonelli’s Warbler, Phylloscopus bonellit, which is said to be 
common in Switzerland, and to prefer wood-covered hills, alders, 
hazels, &c., and to have a very monotonous note. I shall hope to 
examine the bird more closely next summer. 

July 38rd.—Rosenlain. Pair of Yellow Wagtails, with black 
or dark heads, and therefore probably M. flava, though much 
yellower in general appearance than those I saw at Stanzstadt. I 
saw a Missel Thrush on the top of a pine; also some round holes 
in an old pine, made (so said the guide) bythe Great Black Wood- 
pecker, Picus martius. 

July 5th.—Grindelwald to Wengern Alp. Heard a Robin 
sing with two Cuckoo-like prefatory notes, repeating its song many 
times. A little further on I found a Ring Ouzel singing the same 
two notes from the top of a pine; was Robin imitating? My 
guide suddenly declared he saw a “ Gold-amsel,” a rare bird he had 
only seen two or three times. We left the path and stalked this 
bird, and I saw at last a bird of the size of a Blackbird, with 
yellowish tints about it, flying from one bush to another. This 
was very likely the female of the Golden Oriole, Oriolus galbula, 
many specimens of which I saw in the Bern Museum afterwards. 
It must have been the male which caught the guide’s sharp eye, 
but we could not find it. This was at a height of about 6500 ft. 

July 6th.—Lesser Scheidick. Here I saw a pair of Snow- 
finches, Montifringilla nivalis, close to the glacier which descends 
from the Eiger, the only ones I saw this year. I have seen them 
in flocks on the Gemini Pass, and very beautiful they are as they 
rise together in the sunshine. I call them Snow Finches, though 
both Snow Finches and Snow Buntings were in the Bern Museum, 
and I could not have clearly distinguished the two at the distance 
I was from this pair of birds; but Prof. Newton (Yarrell, vol. ii., 


378 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


p- 8) leads me to suppose that the Bunting is of exceptional 
occurrence in Switzerland. 

July 7th.—Wengern Alp. The Corvide seem partial to this 
place; we saw a Raven, Crows, and Alpine Choughs—the latter 
always three together. At this hotel is a Golden Eagle (Stein- 
adler) in a huge cage. The gigantic cliffs opposite are said 
still to afford protection to a stray Liimmergeier, Gypaetus 
barbatus. 

I was not able to go to Murrur, as I had intended, but it is 
worth noting that the landlord of the new hotel there has an 
admirable collection of Alpine animals, which he will gladly 
show to anyone who wishes to inspect it. We returned home 
by Bern, where Spotted Flycatchers, Muscicapa grisola, were 
building their nests in the garden corridor of the Hotel 
Belle-vue. The Museum afforded me plenty of occupation during 
the two hot days I spent here. We returned to England without 
further opportunity for making observations. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


The proposed Marine Biological Laboratory.—As we have already 
mentioned (p. 270) an Association has been formed which is collecting funds 
for the purpose of promoting marine biological study, and we cannot doubt 
that its objects need only to be widely known in order to receive the 
encouragement they deserve. ‘The harvest of the sea is only less important 
to the people of this country than that of the land and the study of marine 
biology is to the one what the study of agricultural science is to the other. 
The life and habits of the fish on which we feed are still for the most part 
shrouded in mystery. Fishermen go mainly by tradition and the rule of 
thumb. They know empirically where certain fish are to be found at certain 
seasons, and provided they secure a good haul, they trouble themselves as 
little as possible about the causes which produce it or the conditions which 
favour it. They cannot be persuaded that Science has anything to tell 
them which they do not know already, and they have the common distrust 
of practical men for scientific methods and conclusions. The researches 
already made, however, in foreign marine laboratories have incontestably 
proved the value of such institutions having resulted in promoting the 
supply of Oysters. It has long been known that the Oyster of Northern 
Europe is hermaphrodite, and that its eggs are hatched inside the shell of 
the parent, the young being thus carried and protected until they are so 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 3879 


far developed as to be ready to fasten themselves on a rock and to live 
independently. It follows, of course, that the continued existence of the 
parent is indispensable to the life of the young Oyster, and that Oysters of 
this particular species cannot be artificially bred. It does not follow, how- 
ever, though the inference was hastily drawn, that all Oysters are of the 
same unaccommodating nature. If Oysters could be found as careless of 
their offspring as the Salmon, the Herring, or the Mackerel, it would not 
be difficult to increase the supply by collecting and cultivating the eggs. 
This discovery has been made by Prof. Brooks, of the John Hopkins 
University at Baltimore, by means of the marine laboratory attached to 
that institution. European visitors to the United States are agreed that 
the Baltimore Oyster is the best in the world, and Prof. Brooks has ascer- 
tained that in this particular Oyster, and, indeed, in the American Oyster 
generally, the sexes are separate, and that the eggs, instead of being hatched 
inside the parent shell, are thrown out into the water in immense numbers, 
and are then fertilized and developed without further assistance from the 
parents. This is a scientific fact first discovered in a Marine Biological 
Laboratory, and its industrial and commercial bearings are manifest. Prof. 
Brooks was not so successful as Thales, however; he did not himself make 
a fortune out of his discovery. He succeeded in showing the possibility of 
fertilizing the eggs artificially, and of rearing the young Oysters until after 
they had acquired their shells; but he failed to keep them alive until they 
were able to take care of themselves. The next step in practical discovery 
was taken by Lieut. Winslow, of the United States Navy, who had followed 
the experiments of Prof. Brooks, and being afterwards stationed at Cadiz 
repeated the experiments with Portuguese Oysters, and found that they 
also exhibited habits of breeding identical with those of the American Oyster. 
It appears, moreover, that a French savant, M. Bouchon-Brandely, the 
Secretary of the Collége de France, was encouraged to similar experiments 
by the observations of Prof. Brooks, and that, having reached the same 
conclusions as Lieut. Winslow, though quite independently of that officer, 
as to the breeding habits of the Portuguese Oyster, he has overcome the 
practical difficulties, and has succeeded in producing Oysters of commercial 
value from eggs artificially impregnated. Similar results have since been 
obtained by Mr. Ryder, in Maryland, so that the artificial breeding of Oysters 
may now be regarded as a practical undertaking on both sides of the 
Atlantic. It would be difficult to give a more satisfactory demonstration 
of the practical value of marine biological research. The commercial im- 
portance of the discovery of Prof. Brooks and M. Bouchon-Brandely is 
obviously immense, and it opens up a prospect of unlimited extent to the 
whole gastronomical world. The possible extinction of the unaccommodating 
“native” may now be regarded with comparative equanimity. Its marsupial 
habits, so to speak, unfit it for the struggle for existence. Its parental 


380 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


affection is its ruin. Its place will be taken by the less philoprogenitive 
but not less delicate bivalve of Baltimore or of Portugal. Meanwhile the 
contrast between the two may well serve to point the moral of scientific 
research, and to promote the establishment in these isles of Marine Bio- 
logical Laboratories. What Science has already done for the Oyster it may 
well be expected to do in time for many another of our sea-fishes and shell- 
fishes. The field of research is almost inexhaustible, and Science would be 
perfectly ready to cultivate it, if once it could obtain the means and oppor- 
tunities. It is impossible to doubt that the study of the structure and habits 
of the fishes which frequent our coasts will result in an accumulation of 
knowledge which must in the end direct and inform the practice of our 
fishermen. But it is not merely for the increase of the supply of Oysters, 
or even for the improvement of our fishing industries in general, that the 
Marine Biological Association has been formed. The object is the scientific 
study of a branch of Natural History which has hitherto been neglected for 
want of adequate means and opportunities for its prosecution. The under- 
taking is a costly one, and it is hoped that the necessary funds will be freely 
forthcoming.—F'rom ‘ The Times’ July 9th. 

[We understand that the Corporation of Plymouth has already offered 
a site for the erection of the building as well as a very liberal donation to 
the building fund.—Eb.] 


MAMMALIA, 


Wild Cat in Lincolnshire.—In the spring of the present year I saw 
in the shop of Mr. W. Barber, of Lincoln, a cat which was received by him 
in the flesh from one of his country customers. It was shot in the early 
part of March, 1883, by Mr. Arthur Belton, a farmer living at Bullington, 
near Wragby, and under the following circumstances:—He was out with 
his gun in a small plantation near Bullington Wood, when his dog—a small 
terrier—brushed the animal from beneath a thicket of brambles. Instead 
of flying the cat at once attacked the dog, which it severely mauled. Seeing 
his dog was getting much the worst of the combat, Mr. Belton rushed in, 
on which the cat took refuge in an oak tree, crouching between two branches 
above the bole; perceiving the creature apparently making preparations to 
spring, he fired at its face and brought it down. He thinks it is the same 
cat which had been seen at intervals in the neighbourhood for many years 
past. Mr. Barber told me that on skinning it he found all the characteristics 
of a wild animal; the muscles were very strong, red, and highly developed, 
and the intestine was much shorter than in the common cat. On com- 
paring the animal with the best written descriptions, as well as with a 
Scotch Wild Cat obtained many years ago in Mar Forest, I have not the 
least hesitation in stating that it is undoubtedly a genuine Wild Cat, Felis 
catus. It agrees closely in coloration and dimensions with the wild type, 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 381 


and the only difference that I can point out is that the tail is not quite so 
full at the end as in some Scotch examples. According to Macgillivray, 
however, Scotch cats vary in this respect; speaking of the tail, he says 
(‘ British Quadrupeds,’ p. 191), ‘‘ Generally as broad to the end as the base, 
although often narrowed at the tip.” In the Lincolnshire example, which 
is a fine old “tom,” the canine teeth are remarkably developed and very for- 
midable; the tongue across the middle is covered with strong horny papille 
directed backwards; ears large and triangular, and directed forward ; fur very 
thick and close, general colour a yellowish grey, with the lateral stripes on 
the body and limbs a darker grey, two small stripes below the eyes, and four 
across the head to the nape, which are dark brown, almost black; there is 
also a black irregular stripe down the centre of the back; and the tail, 
which is cylindrical and covered with long hairs, has alternate rings of black 
and grey, the tip for two inches black; feet yellowish, soles black, claws 
horn-coloured and very strong. Bullington Wood was the last haunt of 
the Kite in Lincolnshire ; a pair nested there in 1870. The Pine Marten 
still lingers in the district, examples being obtained almost every year. 
The Polccat is very numerous, also the Stoat and Weasel. The wood itself 
is one of an almost continuous chain of great woodlands extending from 
Mid-Lincolnshire to near Peterborough. Much of this district has never 
been preserved for game, the shooting being left in the hands of the neigh- 
bouring farmers. Keepers are few and far between, hence the wild animals 
have enjoyed an almost complete immunity from persecution. Cats are 
known to have bred in these woods in a wild state for generations, and 
there is no improbability that the subject of this notice may have descended 
directly from the old British Wild Cat. That it should be a reversion from 
the domestic cat to the wild type is scarcely probable, so closely does it 
agree with the original wild race, unless we are prepared to allow fora 
strong admixture of original blood coming directly from pure wild ancestors 
which at no distant period inhabited the district—Joun CorDEAux (Great 
Cotes, Ulceby). 


Weasel in Skye.—At p. 12 of the ‘ Mammalia of the West of Scotland,’ 
drawn up by the late Mr. Alston, it is stated that the Weasel is absent 
from all the Western Isles with the exception of Islay, where it is rare. 
At the present moment the Weasel is well established in Skye. I have 
seen it trapped in a district where it is more numerous than the Stoat.— 
H. A. Macpuerson (Carlisle). 


BIRDS. 


The Birds of Pembrokeshire.—As only the county of Carmarthen 
separates us from the county of Pembroke, it may be worth while to com- 
pare those birds which have occurred here, but which Mr. Mathew, in his 
interesting paper (p. 211), has been unable to identify in Pembrokeshire: 


382 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


This may possibly assist him to find some of them in the southern 
and more wooded part of that county. The Long-eared Owl, Tree 
Sparrow, Hawfinch (rare), Wood Lark, Nuthatch, Green, Greater, and 
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, all occur with us; also occasionally the Stock 
Dove, which is common in Herefordshire. I have also seen the Ring 
Ouzel, Pied Flycatcher (fairly common), Nightingale, Wood Wren, Garden 
Warbler (once), Reed Warbler, Redstart, the Pied, Grey, and Yellow 
Wagtail (common), Turtle Dove, and Wryneck. Regarding this last bird 
some little doubt has been expressed with respect to its occurrence here by 
English ornithologists. I have no doubt of it; it has been caught in pole- 
traps set for hawks in Radnorshire. I myself heard it close to Brecon this 
year, and have seen its eggs taken from a nest near here this year. It is 
certainly not common, but, from its excessively shy habits, is often unper- 
ceived. ‘The note of this bird, however, when once heard is not easily 
forgotten. Among the autumn migrants Mr. Mathew has been unable to 
detect, we have the Siskin (very common last winter), Brambling (one 
specimen only recorded), Twite, Black Redstart (one specimen), Firecrest, 
Royston Crow (one specimen), Solitary Snipe, and Green Woodpecker. I 
have never heard of the Thick-knee or Norfolk Plover in South Wales. 
With regard to Mr. Dix’s list of birds observed in Pembrokeshire, I have 
no doubt but that he is right as to the Wryneck. Its name in Welsh, 
“ Gwas-y-Gog,” the servant of the Cuckoo (or, as it is called here in 
English, the “ cuckoo’s maiden”), points it out as well known in Wales. 1 
think the Garden Warbler is very rare here. The Black Grouse, if extinct 
now, must have been an indigenous bird in all South Wales, and the many 
blackcock runs one sees there everywhere attest its presence. It is 
increasing in Breconshire, Radnorshire, and especially in the northern part 
of Carmarthenshire, where it is now plentiful; it is probable therefore that 
with a little preservation it may spread into Pembrokeshire. May I ask 
why Mr. Mathew does not publish a complete list of the birds of Pembroke- 
shire? It would be most acceptable to ornithologists, and with such an 
extensive sea-coast as the county possesses, the list of sea birds should be 
very complete. I hope by the time it appears he may be able to include 
the Black Grouse among its game-birds.— EK, CAMBRIDGE PHILLIPs (Brecon, 
S. Wales). 

Greenland Falcon in Skye.—On the 3rd January last a female Green- 
land Falcon, in immature plumage, was shot at Ardmore, Skye, by my 
friend Capt. Macdonald, who recalls a similar visit from a Greenland Falcon 
thirty years previously. It had haunted the neighbourhood for some days, 
and was sent in the flesh to Macleay, of Inverness, who has mounted it 
well in a case with a Peregrine, but omitted to take any measurements. I 
examined the bird last June, but a detailed description is unnecessary.— 
H, A. Maceuenson (Carlisle): 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 383 


Dotterel in Nottinghamshire.— Thirty of these beautiful but now rare 
birds were seen by a farmer in one of his seed-fields about three miles from 
Nottingham during the last week of April Having no respect for the 
Wild Birds Protection Act, he shot three of them; the rest I hope have 
since reared their broods amongst the Cumberland or Westmoreland hills. 
I never remember so large a “ trip” having occurred in this county before ; 
they generally come in small numbers only once in two or three years.— 
J. WHITAKER (Rainworth Lodge, Notts). 


Nesting of the Long-tailed Titmouse.—On the 27th March last I 
found the nest of the Long-tailed Tit built in a wild rose on the outside 
hedge of a wood. It was domed but not quite lined, and the entrance also 
needed some finishing touches. Both the birds were busily engaged in 
completing the nest. Not unfrequently one of them, arriving with a 
feather in its beak before. the other had finished its work, would wait 
patiently until its turn came. After adjusting the feather to its satis- 
faction, and before leaving, it carefully restored the nest to its right shape. 
So far as I was able to observe both head and wings were used for this 
purpose, but as nothing was visible but the tail, which projected from the 
opening in the side of the nest, I could only judge from the strange way in 
which the nest bulged out now on one side, now on another. Occasionally, 
when this operation had been conducted with great violence, the bird would 
cling by its feet to the outside of the entrance, and, after pulling out 
portions of the fabric, rearrange then, moving the head rapidly from side 
to side, as if weaving together the disordered part. This nest was finished 
and contained one egg on April 9th. Another nest I found only just com- 
menced on April 14th was finished and contained six eggs on April 28th. 
The Long-tailed Tit (Acredula rosea) was more abundant in this neighibour- 
hood last spring than has been the case for several years, but I fear several 
nests were wantonly destroyed. One sent me from Newark, built in 
a thorn, had the outside ornamented with bits of paper. I have noticed 
this peculiarity occasionally in nests of the Chaffinch, when built in the 
neighbourhood of a town.—W. Becuer (Hill House, Southwell, Notts). 


The St. Kilda Wren.— Having spent three weeks on St. Kilda in 
June, 1883, it might be supposed that I overlooked the bird which Mr. 
Seebohm has lately described in this Journal as a new species of British 
Wren (p. 333). On the contrary, one of my principal objects next to 
making a complete list of the St. Kilda Flora, which was practically 
unknown, was to procure a specimen of its Wren to see whether it differed 
from, or was identical with, the Common Wren of the mainland, or of 
the Faroes. On my return some short notes were put together and 
shown to Mr. Howard Saunders in September last, and in these the St. 
Kilda Wren and the special interest attached to it were particularly men- 


384 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


tioned, as well as my failure to obtain a specimen. The inquiry would 
naturally suggest itself to any one aware of the variations of Troglodytes 
parvulus, but my attention was first directed to it two years ago by my 
friend Mr. A. G. More. That St. Kilda possesses a Wren was not first 
ascertained by Mr. Dixon, as stated by Mr. Seebohm, for its existence was 
recorded so far back as 1698 by Martin in his ‘ Voyage to St. Kilda’ [as 
also in Macaulay’s ‘ History of St. Kilda,’ 1764, p. 160.—Ep.] A Wren, 
too, was seen there by Atkinson in 1831 (Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Newcastle). 
It must, however, be rare there and difficult to meet with, for I only came 
across it six times during three weeks; and J visited every island of the 
group possessing vegetation, Borrera, Soa, the Doon, and St. Kilda proper. 
I do not wonder therefore that Macgillivray, who spent four days on 
St. Kilda, has omitted to mention it (Edinb. Phil. Journal), and that Sir 
William Milner, who only remained there three days (Zool. 1848), does not 
make any allusion to it. There is perhaps some danger in giving the 
exact localities or islands on which I saw this Wren. One, however, may 
with safety be referred to. Armed with a vasculum and gun I was 
botanising on the ledges of the great cliff Conacher (1220 feet) wherever it 
was possible to creep, thus encumbered, when I saw a rope descending over 
a ledge, and attached above to a rotten peg. Knowing that some men must 
be Fulmar-catching below I awaited their return, but, losing patience, laid 
aside the gun and vasculum, and, taking off my boots, descended hand over 
hand some three or four hundred feet, having first ascertained that the peg 
was not so rotten as it looked. Going down the rope a Wren flew out of a 
crack, and I paused for three or four minutes, placing my feet against the 
rock, and watched it hopping among the luxuriant herbage which grows 
here in every cleft and fissure. I may here correct a common impression 
that St. Kilda is extremely barren. Some regard it as an igneous rock 
with precipitous sides, whose summit has less vegetation than the lava-beds 
of Iceland; and Mr. Seebohm says it does not possess a “ tree or shrub, or 
even a bush of heather.” There are 110 phanerogams on St. Kilda, and 
amongst them are Sambucus nigra (planted), Salix herbacea, Calluna 
vulgaris, Erica cinerea, and Lonicera periclymenum. On three islands, 
Borrera, Soa, and the Doon, the grass is long and plentiful between the 
rocks, and, though St. Kilda proper has a very barren look from the sea, a 
short examination will show that, although the flowering plants are com- 
paratively few, yet some of them grow with exceptional luxuriance on the 
cliffs where they are beyond the reach of sheep. The sorrel (Rumewx acetosa) 
especially attracts attention on the north-east of St. Kilda, and the primrose 
can be gathered here in most places. The Wren has therefore plenty of 
cover, and I should say insects also; and it would take some of the best 
cragsmen in the Alpine Club to extirpate it. I never saw it within 400 ft. 
of the water's edge. Those who study the daily weather charts issued from 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 385 


the Meteorological Office in London will see that the centre of a great 
number of the cyclonic disturbances which affect the British Isles pass near 
St. Kilda and the Hebrides; and it may be that this fact, combined with 
the situation of St. Kilda and its freedom from frosts, affects the growth of 
some species which prefer a very moist, uniform, and cool climate near the 
sea. Whether the St. Kilda Wren derives any of its characters from the 
same influences I am unable to say. Out of the six occasions when I saw 
a Wren I only got a shot twice, but never saw the bird at which I fired 
afterwards either alive or dead. My anxiety to procure one could not be 
disguised, and as I passed by the houses daily “ Dra-an-dhoun,” the 
St. Kilda name for the Wren, was frequently heard in the remarks of the 
natives, who, I began to fear, had given me that nickname. Sandy Camp- 
bell, a native of Skye, was the only man on the island, except the minister, 
who could speak English, and he was the medium of every ornithological 
query put to the natives. He did all in his power to procure me a Wren. 
Naturalists will be pleased to read of Mr. Seebohm’s success in procuring 
such an interesting bird, and I am glad to learn from a letter received early 
in July that Mr. Dixon, who obtained it, had Sandy Campbell with him, 
upon whom I had impressed the importance last year of obtaining at least 
one specimen of it. St. Kilda, as well as the Orkneys and Shetlands, are 
al] well within the 100-fathom line on the west coast of Europe; whereas 
Faroe is separated from it by water 400 to 500 fathoms in depth.— Ricuarp 
M. Barrinerton (Fassaroe, Bray, Wicklow). 


Green Sandpiper at Farnborough.—On August 7th, ata deer-pond on 
the downs near here, I shot a female Green Sandpiper (Totanus ochropus) 
weighing 23 0z., and measuring 1lin. The barred tail-feathers and axillary 
plume are the subject of a tail-piece in Bewick’s - British Birds.’ The 
bird is rare here. Is it common elsewhere ?—E. T. WuirEenurst (Farn- 
borough Rectory, Wantage). 

[The Green Sandpiper is a regular spring and autumn visitor, generally 
appearing about the last week in April, and again about the end of July or 
beginning of August. On its return in autumn it often stays a con- 
siderable time, frequenting small streams, out-of-the-way ponds, and marsh- 
drains, where we have frequently met with it when looking for Snipe in 
October. Occasionally we have heard of specimens being shot in November 
and December, but the majority of those which visit us in July and August 
go a long way south and south-east for the winter.—Eb. ] 


White Carrion Crow.—A beautiful specimen of a white Carrion Crow 
(Corvus corone) was lately killed near Brecon by Mr. Rees Williams, of 
Aberyskir, and has been sent to Shrewsbury for preservation. Albinos 
occur frequently among Rooks (Corvus fruyilegus), but are, I think, much 
rarer among Crows and Ravens. Unfortunately this bird had been seut off 

ZOOLOGIST.— SEPT. 1884. 24 


386 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


before I had an opportunity of examining it, or it would have been interest- 
ing to have noted the colour of its eye. In most albinos it is pinkish red, 
or brown with a reddish tinge, as was the case with a white Starling killed 
last year at Aberystwith, and recorded by me (Zool. 1882, p. 144). On the 
other hand, some years since I saw a white Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) with 
not only the plumage, but the eye, beak, legs, and claws pure white ; this, 
however, seems to have been an exception to the general rule. I also saw 
recently, at Aberystwith, a peculiar buff-coloured Starling killed near that 
town. Speaking to a brother naturalist the other day he agreed with me 
that, considering the enormous number of Starlings, albinos among them 
were most rare. I hope the Editor will therefore forgive me if [ say that 
his note thereon (Zool. 1883, pp. 144) has not yet converted me to his 
views.—E. CampBripGE Prius (Brecon, S. Wales). 

Habits of the Huia.—Any reliable information about the life of the 
Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, Gould, will doubtless prove acceptable to 
ornithologists, as particulars of the habits of this bird in its wild state, as 
hitherto published, have been very meagre. Its range is restricted; a few 
years ago we found it was not of very rare occurrence in some of the valleys 
that run into the spurs of the Rimutuka mountain; about the Manawatu 
country it is yet to be met with. That it will be driven thence within a 
short time seems only too sure, for the clearings of the noble forests in 
that district are permitted to be carried on with great rapidity. Maories, 
too, lend their aid in the work of extermination; they have great regard 
for the plumage of the bird as an ornament; rangitiras of very distant 
tribes may be seen decorated on certain great occasions with the feathers 
or with the head of the Huia. These much-prized ornaments lead to the 
destruction of great numbers of these interesting birds. The Maories use 
very effective calls which draw Huias from a considerable distance; in the 
winter months, about July, camps are formed for the purpose of hunting 
these birds; usually some hundreds fall victims to arts of the destroyer. 
Not only are skins with the heads dried; I have a female specimen which 
the native taxidermist has preserved whole in a flattened state. Huias 
usually wander about in pairs; they are very seldom to be seen on the 
ground; their time is mostly passed in the tops of the larger timber trees, 
travelling from limb to limb, moving from tree to tree. ‘heir flight is not 
powerful nor long sustained, rarely do they cover more than a hundred 
yards without perching. Sometimes, in the winter, as many as four may 
be seen in company, in which case it is probably a family party that is 
thus met with. Although their home is in deep forests amongst huge trees, 
they have been observed in manuka scrub (Leptospermum) that clothes the 
more open spurs and terraces, but such occurrences have been rare. Like 
so many of our native birds, they are very tame and confident, and perhaps 
may never acquire the safeguard of shyness. Restless, they roam about, 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 887 


shifting their quarters frequently. arly are they astir: their peculiar 
whistle or call may be heard soon after daybreak lights up the forest, when 
their food-search begins. Their notes are more often sounded in dull or 
foggy weather, when mists settle on the leafy tops, and the broad trees— 
clad with mosses and drooping parasites—are dropping glistening beads of 
moisture; the sweet note of the Huia is then frequently heard. To those 
not familiar with the aspect of New Zealand forests it may be told that the 
lofty trees are clad with mosses, with tangled network of delicate filmy 
ferns that hang translucent—an evergreen fringe that overlaps the rough 
bark of the great stems that tower aloft. Beneath this covering lies the 
Huia’s food; both sexes may be noticed, using their strong white bills to 
tear away mosses or ferns in order to extract the larva or grub of one of 
the large Longicorn beetles (Prionoplus reticularis). This insect is well 
distributed from the interior to the coast; in summer time it hums its 
sonorous drone just about dusk. The larva is found very plentifully in 
the decaying wood; the industrious birds strip away ferns or tear rotten 
wood in order to get at the sluggish insect ; the stiff shafts of the tail-feathers 
aid them in their work by being pressed closely against the bole or branch. 
The breeding season is late spring or early summer, as I have notes of two 
nests in the month of November. Huias being often noticed about an 
ancient hinau tree (Cleocarpus dentatus) that stood about two miles from 
the banks of the Manawatu river, the nest before me was discovered. 
There was a large hole about fifty-four inches long by eighteen inches wide 
at eighteen feet from the ground, not far above a large limb. The nest 
was placed a little below the mouth of this cavity, about sixteen feet six 
inches from the ground: the diameter of the tree was four feet. Itisa 
large structure, rather loosely yet symmetrically built, the foundation of 
coarse grasses and the bases of dead grass-leaves, closely plied and twisted 
together; on these the walls are raised, of dead sprays and bits of coarse 
herbaceous plants, twined into a basin-like form; the inside lined with 
long chips of coarse yet soft grasses; the whole measuring, outside the 
walls, thirteen inches in diameter, with a cavity of six inches and a half in 
width, the depth not exceeding four inches. On November 18th it con- 
tained one young bird that appeared about a week old; this was carefully 
fed on the larve of the beetle before mentioned, and is still alive. The 
nest material had been collected from the ground. In November, 1881, 
a nest was discovered in the same neighbourhood which contained three 
young birds.—T. H. Ports (Ohinitahi, February 6, 1884). 

Tit’s Nest in a Railway Carriage.—The following paragraph is from 
the ‘ Suftolk Chronicle’ of May 31st :—‘‘ Mr. Wm. Briggs, the eugine-driver 
on the Clacton-on-Sea branch, forwards an account of an ornithological 
incident of some interest. In one of the buffer-plungers of a carriage 
which is running on that line a pair of Tomtits have built a nest. The 


388 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


eggs have been laid and the usual attention is now being paid to them. 
The only entrance to the nest is through a round hole, exactly one inch in 
diameter, and is precisely in the centre of the buffer-facing. This hole is, of 
course, covered by the buffer-facing of trucks when going towards Clacton 
or by the buffer of the engine when going to Thorpe, so that the bird is a 
prisoner on each of her trips. On arrival at Clacton-on-Sea on Wednesday 
morning the buffer was watched, but although the carriages stood there for 
about two hours, the bird, which was distinctly seen on arrival, was not 
observed to leave her nest. No doubt her mate was waiting for her at 
Thorpe, where their movements were first observed on Tuesday by some 
plate-layers.” The distance from Thorpe to Clacton is four miles and a 
half. Being acquainted with the station-master at Thorpe (Mr. Rush- 
brooke), I wrote to ask if he could verify the statement. Annexed is his reply, 
dated June 9th.—H. Mriuer (Bismere House, Norwich Road, Ipswich). 

“T have pleasure in verifying in every particular the correctness of 
Mr. Briggs’ statement, as per extract from ‘ Suffolk Chronicle,’ but am 
sorry to say that some mischievous individual has destroyed the nest since 
the account appeared. Iam vexed it should be so, as doubtless the eggs 
would have been hatched, rendering the incident more interesting thereby. 
T return the extract.”—O. KusHBrooke (Railway Station, Thorpe-le-Soken, 
Essex). 


Common Domestic Duck diving for Food.—When at Buxton last 
year I spent a good deal of my time in watching and occasionally feeding 
the waterfowl in the ponds of the garden. On week-days the ducks received 
large contributions from the visitors, but on Sundays they apparently were 
on rather short commons, judging by their greater activity in searching for 
food, and constantly standing on their heads in the water, so as to search 
the bottom for aquatic plants. Of course every scrap of plant to the depth 
of ten or fifteen inches (eighteen inches where the geese were) was cleared 
away. I was surprised one Sunday to see a common Domestic Duck 
(female) diving in three or four feet of water, and searching along the 
ground, as if she had been “to the manner born,” for plants, which, when 
she found, were brought to the surface; some fifteen or twenty other ducks 
watched her proceedings with great interest, and made an immediate rush 
at her when she came up to share in the food, exactly as the Wigeon 
pounce upon the Canvas-back Ducks at the mouth of the Delaware River 
and other favourite winter feeding-places of these delicious birds, which, 
notwithstanding their difficulties with their thievish tormentors, must 
manage to pick up a fairly good living, as when killed they are usually 
in fine condition. I saw only one duck (a Mallard) at Buxton make any 
attempt to imitate the clever diver, but his efforts were always ignominious 
failures. Had I been living in Buxton I should have endeavoured to get 
some eggs of this diving duck and had them hatched, with the object of 


ie i et nk te 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 3889 


finding out if the progeny inherited the peculiarity of the mother.—JouN 
Rax (4, Addison Gardens).—From ‘ Nature.’ 

[We have on several occasions observed farmyard ducks diving in sport, 
but not in search of food.—Eb.] 


Scarcity of Summer Birds in Co. Kildare—During the past summer 
Spotted Flycatchers and Cuckoos have been remarkably scarce in this 
district ; and most of the smaller summer migrants also appear to me to 
have been less numerous than usual. Several persons have remarked to 
me on the great scarcity of Cuckoos, some saying that they had only heard 
two or three all the season, while in other years they had heard numbers 
every day. Idid not hear the Cuckoo here more than half a dozen times 
this year, although during the past few years I have heard it constantly 
through the month of May from where I now write. The Spotted Fly- 
eatcher, too, has not appeared in many of its usual haunts in this imme- 
diate neighbourhood. This was also observed by a friend of mine, who 
remarked on its absence from his garden, where it has been in the habit of 
nesting for years. The Corn Crake, on the contrary, which I am inclined 
to think is becoming more abundant here than formerly, appears to have 
been more plentiful than usual this summer. I saw more Corn Crakes 
than I ever saw before during the early part of May; they made known 
their presence, moreover, in considerable numbers by their incessantly- 
repeated notes. During the greater part of May and June it would have 
been impossible in this neighbourhood to help hearing several calling at 
once at all times of the day and night. Perhaps, however, their seeming 
greater abundance was not a reality. The grass was very backward during 
the spring for want of rain; that accounts for my seeing so many, for the 
grass in many parts of the meadows did not cover them. And I noticed 
that after many weeks of fine dry weather, when the rain came towards the 
end of June, the Corn Crakes became comparatively silent. So possibly 
circumstances made them appear unusually numerous. Whether the wet 
weather was the cause of the cessation of their notes Iam unable to say. 
The Swallow, Swift, and the two Martins appeared in their usual numbers. 
The Chiffchaff I first heard on March 16th (the earliest date on which 
T ever observed it); the Sand Martin I saw on the 27th; and the Willow 
Warbler I first heard on April 3rd. These three birds arrived earlier than 
usual this year, but those which do not come so early did not, so far as I 
observed, appear earlier than the average date of their arrival. —J. E. 
Parmer (Lyons Mills, Straffan, Co. Kildare). 


Instinct in Birds.— The question of instinct, as compared with 
reason in animals, is one commanding a good deal of attention, so that 
circumstantial evidence on either side is of considerable value. One of the 
most remarkable points of this question is the fear of man, or other 


390 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


natural enemies, on the part of animals and birds. That this is an 
acquired feature, so to speak, is shown by the entire absence of such fear 
in islands where birds, &c., have never seen man; but is that knowledge of 
danger in inhabited countries imparted by the parent birds or not? ‘This 
will help somewhat to show that it is. A few days ago I visited a friend of 
mine, who said, as soon as I entered the house, ‘Oh! I have something 
fresh to show you,” and he left the room and returned with a young, but 
nearly full-grown, Starling perched on his shoulder. This bird he had 
picked up when very young, it having evidently dropped from a nest, and 
had reared it successfully. Though a perfect stranger the bird allowed 
me to take it up, and it perched on my finger, and nothing that I did in 
the way of a sudden noise seemed to disturb its serenity in the least; in 
short, I never saw a bird so devoid of fear. My friend keeps a cat, but 
its first introduction to the Starling was by the latter flying in its face, 
which has evidently so upset the calculations of the cat that it never 
attempts even a hostile demonstration. This bird has free run, or rather 
“fly,” of not only the house but the garden; in fact, it is free to go 
altogether, but it never does go far, and, so far from being a ‘shy pet,” 
it is the most obtrusive, impertinent bird I ever saw, and if its “ tame- 
ness” and utter want of fear increases with age it is likely to become a 
somewhat troublesome Starling. I think this is worth recording, as I was 
able to judge the case myself, and it seems to support the idea that many 
characteristics of birds and animals that are regarded as innate are really 
not so, but that the information is imparted by the parents.—Epwarp 
Lovert (Addiscombe, Croydon). : 


FISHES. 


Long Sun-fish near Penzance.—On June 21st a specimen of that rare 
species, the Long Sun-fish (Orthagoriscus oblongus), was observed by Mr. 
F. W. Millett lying dead on the beach at Marazion. I saw it two days 
afterwards. It measured, to the extremity of the caudal fin, 2 ft.; its 
greatest depth was 1 ft., the pectoral fins were 4 in. long, the dorsal 7 in., 
and the anal 6 in.; the eyes had been eaten out, but their sockets measured 
1} in. in diameter, being certainly large for the size of the fish ; the caudal 
fin was well defined and rayed, and extended from the dorsal fin straight 
down to the anal. The fish had a very small mouth (from which the teeth 
had rotted out), and had no scales but a placoidal skin not so rough as the 
skins of the smaller Sharks. This specimen must have been dead for 
some time, for when I saw it it was too far decomposed to be set up. Its 
colour was of a uniform dull leaden blue, but a specimen captured alive at 
Looe last year (Zool. 1883, p. 842), and of which my friend Mr. Stephen 
Clogg advised me at the time, showed brilliant colours on its sides.—'THomas 
Cornish (Penzance). 


~/ Oi eah wut 


¢ao ) 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


EntomoLogicaL Society or Lonpon. 


July 2, 1884.—J. W. Dunnine, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., &e., President, 
in the chair. 

Dr. Fritz Miller (Blumenau, Santa Catharina, Brazil) and Dr. A. 8. 
Packard (Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.) were balloted for and elected 
Honorary Members of the Society; and Charles Golding Barrett, Esq., 
was elected an Ordinary Member. 

Mr. C. O. Waterhouse remarked on the great changes which occurred 
in the colours of insects from exposure to light, changes so startling that 
they would certainly mislead anybody not cognisant of the fact; as a rule, 
brilliant fiery red became changed to bright green, blue to black, green to 
purple or purplish brown, and pale yellow to light brown. In illustration, 
Mr. Waterhouse exhibited certain specimens of the following Coleoptera 
before and after exposure in the show-cases of the British Museum :— 
Eurhinus cupratus, Ulig., Poropleura bacca, Kirby, Eumolpus ignitus, Fabr., 
Doryphora cincta, Germ., and Omoplata aulica, Bohem. Mr. W. L. Distant 
remarked that from this cause quite recently old and exposed specimens of 
Lepidoptera had been described as new species. 

Mr. E. P. Collett exhibited a specimen of Calosoma sycophanta, Fabr., 
captured on the cliff near Foreness Point, Kent, by Mr. Cockerill, in 1879 ; 
also thirteen females of Athous difformis, Lac., captured last June by sweeping 
at night at Guestling, near Hastings, by the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield. 

Dr. Sharp exhibited two nests or cocoons he had received from Mr. James 
Inglis, of Dilkhoosha, India, each contaiving a large stag-beetle, Odonto- 
labus carinatus, Keitter. These nests were constructed in the thatch of a 
house, which was mixed with much earthy matter, and were lined with some 
fine earthy substance making the interior smooth. Mr. Inglis sent them 
under the impression they were the hybernacula or “ winter-nests” of the 
stag-beetle ; but they were more probably the cocoons in which the insect 
had undergone its transformation to the imago state, although it was im- 
probable that the larva of so large an insect should live in and feed on 
the thatch. 

Dr. Sharp also exhibited a small insect recently received, together with its 
larva and peculiar nests constructed by the latter, from Senor Antonio de 
Lacerda, of Bahia. The beetle is a small Cassida identified by Mr. Water- 
house as Porphyraspis tristis, Dej. Senor Lacerda states that they are found 
on the “ young leaves of the cotto-nut tree.” The larva constructs a nest, 
similar in form to a bird’s nest, and composed of coarse vegetable fibres, 
which are apparently attached to the insect by a membranous process 


392 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


extending from the hind part of the dorsal region of the insect; the latter 
is thus completely concealed by these fibres, so that no one would suspect 
there was an insect beneath them. 

Mr. W. F. Kirby exhibited drawings of a new species (and probably 
genus) of Mymaride, which had been bred by Mr. J. M. Gooch from the 
coccus affecting St. Michael oranges, and which appeared to be near the 
genus Limacis, Forst., but had some of the characters of the Tetrastichide ; 
also an extensive series of drawings of the saws of sawflies drawn by Mr. 
Gooch under the camera from fresh specimens. 

Mr. T. R. Billups exhibited specimens of Trichopteryx brevicornis, Mots., 
a species hitherto only found in Madeira, which were shaken out of a stack 
of radish seed at Canning Town, West Ham, in November, 1883. 

Mr. Billups also exhibited specimens (some-living) of Pelop@us archi- 
tectus, St. Farg., and its nest, which was found attached to a leaf of tobacco 
from Owensboro, Kentucky, and taken from a hogshead weighing over 
12 cwt. recently opened at Whitechapel. Mr. Kirby remarked that he had 
seen a similar nest to the one now exhibited attached to a pod of maize. 

Mr. A. Sidney Olliff exhibited a small coleopterous larva, evidently one 
of the Staphylinida, and possibly that of a species of Philonthus or Quedius, 
which was found by the Rev. Robert Dunn, of Cricklade, engaged in a 
vigorous encounter with a large earthworm. ‘The specimen was the one to 
which Mr. W. E. Darwin called attention in a letter published in a recent 
number of ‘ Nature’ (vol. xxx., p. 146). Mr. Billups thought this no un- 
common occurrence, as he had frequently witnessed encounters between the 
larva of Ocypus olens and earthworms, and had kept Carabus auratus alive on 
nothing but earthworms for more than five months. Dr. Sharp remarked 
that Cybister Reseli had been kept alive five to seven years by being fed on 
earthworms once or twice a day; he thought that the larva exhibited was 
carabideous, and that earthworms were the favourite food of carnivorous 
coleoptera. Mr. Waterhouse remarked that he had fed the larva of a Tele- 
phorus on earthworms with much success. Mr. W. Cole thought it very 
probable that the later stages of many entozoa which were known to exist 
in earthworms, and had been sought for in vain in birds, would very probably 
be found in coleopterous insects. 

Mr. H. T. Stainton communicated a newspaper cutting taken from the 
‘Dundee Advertiser’ of June 27th, 1884, in which it was recorded from 
Dunning, near Perth. that the gooseberry sawfly (Nematus ribesii) larva was 
making sad hayoe with the black currant bushes; he had never known this 
larva to attack the black currants of his own experience. Mr. Waterhouse 
and Mr. Fitch thought it extremely improbable that the larva of N. ribesti 
would eat the black currant. 

Mr. J. B. Bridgman contributed “ Further Additions to Mr. Marshall’s 
Catalogue of British Ichneumonide.”—E. A. Fires, Hon. Secretary. 


Z.D. 


ee 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vou. VIII.) OCTOBER, 1884. [No. 94. 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN.« 
By J. E. Hartine, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 


Tue great French zoologist Cuvier has characterized the 
Dog as the completest, the most singular, and the most useful 
conquest ever made by man. It was probably the first animal 
selected by man to assist him in his pursuits as a hunter, but it 
is by no means clear that it was the first of the beasts of the field 
to come under his subjection. It is more likely that sheep and 
eattle were the earliest subjects of human conquest; for with the 
skins of these man formed for himself a defence and clothing, 
and the milk which they yielded, as well as the meat which they 
supplied, furnished him with nutriment. But as these would 
offer no companionable qualities, and could render him no 
assistance in vapturing wilder animals, he would naturally be led 
to look around him for such a companion and assistant as the 
dog would be likely to prove. 

The marked prejudice which existed against the dog in certain 
parts of the East doubtless operated for some time to protract its 
perfect domestication; nor was it likely that until its valuable 
qualities had gradually but irresistibly conquered this prejudice, 
it would be enlisted into the confidence and esteem of man, and 
its services be duly appreciated. But when it was found that in 
this animal were united exquisite powers of scent and vision, 
great strength, speed, and courage, and an instinctive ardour in 


* An abstract of one of the ‘‘ Davis Lectures,” delivered at the Zoological 
Gardens, July 3rd, 1884. 
ZOOLOGIST.—ocT. 1884. 2H 


894 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


the pursuit of all wild animals, its future association with man 
must have become fixed by an indissoluble tie. 

It is not unlikely that the unity of purpose displayed by wild 
dogs in their gregarious state, when spontaneously pursuing game, 
may have first impressed man with the idea of enlisting them, if 
possible, into his service. How would this be accomplished in 
the first instance? Probably the first dogs were taken in pitfalls, 
traps, and snares formed for the capture of deer and other wild 
animals on which the hunter had to live. Such as might prove with 
young would be preserved, in which case their progeny would gradu- 
ally become domesticated, and as they yielded to future discipline 
would prove useful, not only in the chase, but in giving notice of the 
approach of enemies of their owners, or of their owners’ flocks. 

In the wilds of North-east Australia at the present day, as 
I am informed by a recent traveller there, Dr. Lumholz, the 
natives, who employ the Dingo in their hunting, never capture 
the adult animal, which will not breed in confinement (so they 
allege), but search for a litter of puppies, which they find in 
crevices in the rocks, or in hollows at the base of tree-trunks, 
and bring them up by hand. They gradually become familiar 
and obedient, and, since they hunt by scent, soon become 
useful in the chase. Dr. Lumholz, however, remarked that they 
do not long remain with their masters, for as soon as the inclina- 
tion for pairing comes on (which with wild dogs happens only 
once a year) they betake themselves to the wilds, never to return. 
Thus their owners are compelled to seek for fresh puppies to 
reclaim and educate, and keep as long as they can. 

It is evident, then, that the dog, which we now know in such 
a great variety of forms, has not always been domesticated, but 
has, at a very remote period, been reclaimed by man’s agency 
from a feral state. The means employed to capture it I have 
just indicated. Let us now consider the question of origin. 

Whence have arisen the numerous and remarkably different 
breeds which are now scattered all over the world? Can it be 
possible that they have originated from one wild prototype, whose 
descendants by transportation to different climates, and forced 
existence under altered conditions of life, have in the course of 
countless generations become so modified as to assume the 
appearance which they now present? Or are we to believe that 
more than one wild ancestor has contributed to the formation of 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 395 


the various existing breeds, the variations presented by the wild 
types being still further increased by the hybridization of their 
progeny? Their variability, their universal commixture, the per- 
fect fertility of the produce of the most widely separated varieties, 
are arguments in favour of their being only one species. On the 
other hand, the remarkable difference between some of the varieties 
is the argument chiefly relied on for the plurality of stocks. As 
there is sufficient evidence to show that the dog existed in a 
domesticated state in pre-historic times,* neither history nor 
tradition enables us to solve with certainty the question of origin 
—a question upon which so much difference of opinion prevails 
that it is doubtful whether it will ever be satisfactorily settled. 

I propose therefore to consider, first, what was the appearance 
presented by some of the earliest known forms of the domestic 
dog amongst different nations; secondly, what are the existing 
wild species of dog from which it is both possible and probable 
they descended; and thirdly, how far a knowledge of these existing 
wild types, and their geographical distribution, will enable us to 
classify the various modern domestic breeds, and account for 
their origin. 

In historic times the earliest records of the dog are to be 
found in figures on Egyptian monuments more than 3000 years 
B. c., and these show that even at that early period several different 
breeds were known, such as the hound, mastiff, and a small long- 
bodied, short-legged dog not unlike the modern Turnspit. 

From a critical and learned paper by Dr. Birch, “On the 
Tablet of Antefaa IL.,” published in the ‘Transactions of the 
Society of British-Archeology’ (vol. iv. p. 172, 1876), it appears 
that the oldest dog seen on the monuments, appearing at the 
time of Cheops of the 4th dynasty, B. c. 3700, and called by some 
“the Khufu dog,’ was an animal of moderate size, having a 
pointed nose, upright ears, and curled tail, and resembling what 
we should now-a-days call a Wolf-dog.t 


* Remains of the dog of the Neolithic age have been discovered in the 
kitchen-middens or refuse-heaps of Denmark and Switzerland, as well as in 
the Neolithic caves of N. Wales and the Neolithic tumuli of Yorkshire. 

t Great difference of opinion prevails amongst Egyptologists with regard 
to dates. The date 3783 B.c. is that assigned to Cheops, or Khufu, of the 
4th dynasty, by Brugsch Bey in his ‘ History of Egypt under the Pharaohs,’ 
vol. ii. p. 312 (1879). 


396 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


I may here remark, by way of parenthesis, that in all truly 
wild dogs the ears are erect, the tail pendent or drooping; while 
pendent ears and a recurved tail invariably indicate domesticity. 
It is not difficult to understand how this change came about. 
A wild dog for its own safety is ever on the alert, and depends 
much on its keen sense of hearing. The familiar expression, 
“pricking up the ears” suggests how much the muscles of the 
ears must be exercised and strengthened by daily and hourly 
necessitated use of them. In a domestic condition, a dog 
becoming attached to an owner and his friends, and growing 
accustomed to the approach of strangers without molestation, 


Fic. 1.—Eeyptian Doc. B.C. 38700. (Birch, l.c.). 


would gradually lose his constant apprehension of danger, would 
consequently cease to prick up his ears, and the muscles of these 
gradually becoming weakened would fall into disuse; until, at 
length, from being semi-erect they would become completely 
pendent, and this peculiarity would become more and more 
marked in succeeding generations.* 

Then, with regard to the tail, we know what an index of 
temper it is in the dog. When an animal puts his tail between 
his legs, or wags it violently from side to side, we know as well 


* This want of power to erect the ears is especially noticeable in Spaniels 
and certain long-eared hounds like the Bloodhound. 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 397 


as possible the different emotions by which he is actuated. We 
can easily conceive that the altered conditions of life in which 
the domestic dog would exist, as compared with the habits of a 
wild dog, would lead to much greater exercise of the tail, which 
in consequence would become strengthened, gradually recurved, 
and eventually would be carried permanently in the position in 
which it had come to be so frequently placed. 

Now it will be noticed that the earliest known dog within 
historic times, to which I have referred (Fig. 1), and which is 
sometimes depicted as a house-dog attached to the chair of its 


Fic. 2.—Eeyptian Hounp. B.C. 8700. (Birch, /.c.). 


master, had upright ears, like a wild dog, but a recurved tail, like 
a domestic one; a circumstance which seems to indicate not only 
a relationship to some wild prototype, but also domestication for 
some considerable time before the date of the monument on which 
it is depicted. 

On the same ‘“‘ Tablet of Antefaa II.” deciphered by Dr. Birch, 
three other forms of dog are sculptured—or at least two, for two 
out of the four figures appear to resemble each other very closely. 
One is a hound with pendent ears and recurved tail (Fig. 2); 
another is a longer-headed, sharper-nosed dog, like a Greyhound, 


898 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


having also a longer and more tapering tuil* (Fig. 3), while the 
fourth resembles the hound, but with a somewhat shorter muzzle 
and shorter ears, and is considered by Dr. Birch to be a kind of 
Mastiff. This type is seldom represented on the monuments, 
and may have been introduced into Egypt perhaps from India. 
It is somewhat similar to a large dog depicted on the marble 
slabs of Assyria about 660 B. co. (Fig. 4). 

On other monuments and tablets, described by Sir Gardner 
Wilkinson, in his ‘ Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyp- 
tians,’ besides the breeds just mentioned, we find another and 
smaller dog with erect ears, a head like a Terrier, a long body, 
short legs, and slender tapering tail (Fig. 5). Thus, even at this 


Fic. 3.—Eeyprian GreyHounD. B.C. 3700. (Birch, l.c.). 


remote period, several very distinct forms were known to the 
ancient Egyptians, and the fact of their being domesticated is 
still further indicated by their being represented with collars. 

By the ancient Egyptians the dog was worshipped under the 
title Anubis, as the genius of the Nile—the appearance of Sirius, 
the dog-star, corresponding with the time of the annual rise of 
that river. 

Among the ancient Assyrians we find sculptured representa- 
tions of two kinds of dog: a large dog like a Mastiff, used in the 
chase of the lion, the wild bull, and wild ass (Fig. 4), and a sort 


* This perhaps was the breed specially used for the capture of the white 
antelope, referred to and figured by the Rev. W. Houghton, in his ‘ Natural 
History of the Ancients,’ p. 26. 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 399 


of Greyhound employed for coursing the Gazelle. But although 
only these two kinds have been found upon the monuments, there 
is reason to believe that some other breeds were known to the 
Assyrians. 

The Rey. W. Houghton, who has paid considerable attention 
to the subject, and has published a very learned and most 
interesting paper on “the Mammalia of the Assyrian Sculp- 
tures,’ * commenting upon the bilingual tablets which have been 
discovered, whereon the Assyrian names of animals and plants 
are represented side by side with their Accadian equivalents, 
states that he has found on one of these names which signify 
“the chained-up mouth-opening dog” (that is, a watch-dog), and 


Fic. 4.—Assyrian Mastirr. B.C. 660. (Houghton, l.c.). 


the “protecting dog,” probably a sheep-dog. In addition to 
these he has also deciphered words implying “the water-dog,” 
and “the dog of the earth,” perhaps some kind of Terrier, or 
at all events an animal dwelling, as many wild dogs do, in a 
burrow. To the Assyrians, then, as to the Egyptians, several 
different breeds appear to have been known. 

The earliest record of the dog in Sacred History is in con- 
nection with the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt, and it has 
been suggested that the religious homage paid to it by their 
oppressors may probably explain why the Jews were taught to 


* Tyans. Soe. Bibl. Archol., vol. v. (1877). 


400 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


regard it as unclean. Canon Tristram, however, assigns another 
reason, and considers that the dog came to be regarded with 
aversion and disgust from its scavenger-like habits, and the filthy 
nature of its food in Oriental towns.* 

Every Oriental city and village abounds with troops of hungry 
and half-savage dogs, which own allegiance rather to the place 
than to persons, and which wander about the streets and fields 
howling dismally at night, and devouring even the dead bodies of 
men when they can reach them. 

“The common dog of Eastern towns,” says Canon Tristram 
(op. cit. p. 80), “is the same breed as that of the Shepherd-dog, 
often in India called the Pariah-dog, and probably the nearest in 
appearance to the wild original, not unlike the Jackal, with short 
sharp-pointed ears, sharp snout, generally a tawny coat, and tail 


Fic. 5.—Anctent Eoyprian Terrier. (Wilkinson, 1. c.). 


scarcely bushy. It much resembles in form and size the Shep- 
herd’s dog or Colley of the North of England. * * * * * 
No other breed of dog is known in Palestine, save such as are 
introduced and kept by Europeans, excepting the Persian Grey- 
hound, a very different animal from the town dog, and highly 
prized by the desert Sheikhs, who use it for the chase of the 
Gazelle. It is of the shape of our Greyhound, but larger and 
stronger, with long silky hair on the ears and belly, and a long 
pendent fringe of the same fine hair on the tail. Inferior in 
speed, it far surpasses our Greyhound in endurance, and can 
frequently run down the Gazelle.” 

The only instance noticed in Scripture of the dog being 
treated ‘‘as a companion” occurs in the Book of Tobit, where 


* ‘Natural History of the Bible,’ p. 79 (6th ed.). 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 401 


we are told that young Tobias with a companion was sent by his 
father into Media to recover some money which he had lent to a 
friend, and that ‘‘they both went forth, and the young man’s dog 
with them” (v. 16; xi. 4). 

The Persians, like the Assyrians, had a large breed of dogs 
like our Mastiff, which they used in war as well as for the chase 
(Fig. 4). In time of war they were furnished with spiked collars, 
and savagely attacked the enemies of their owners when urged so 
to do.* In the chase they were employed for hunting the lion, 
the wild bull, and the wild ass. Doubtless they were allied to 
the great Indian dog known to Alexander, and mentioned by 
Herodotus, Aristotle, Xenophon, and Strabo amongst the Greeks, 
and by Pliny and Solinus amongst the Latins. Models in 
terra-cotta of some of these large dogs as used, about 660 B.c., 
by Assurbanipal, the son of Esarhaddon, may be seen in the 
British Museum. 

The Greeks held their dogs in great esteem, and cultivated 
two kinds, the large Mastiff-like dog to which I have referred, 
and a fleeter hound which ran by scent. Xenophon, in his 
‘Treatise on Hunting,’ particularly mentions two kinds of dogs 
(both Spartan), one of which he calls Castorian, the other Alope- 
cian, or the fox-breed. He explains that the Castorian dogs 
were so called because Castor, who delighted in hunting, had 
most regard for them, and that the others were hybrids between 
dog and fox, adding that ‘‘ through length of time the natures of 
the two animals had become completely amalgamated.” + 

Whatever may be said now-a-days as to the possibility of a 
cross between dog and fox, it is worth notice that such a cross 
was believed in by an authority on dogs who wrote about 400 
B.¢., and it also indicates the antiquity of a breed which even at 
that day was believed to be very old. 

Coursing, as we now practise it, was unknown in Xenophon’s 
day, although the hare was constantly an object of pursuit; but 
it was hunted by scent, by the kind of hound to which I have 

referred, and not by the fleeter Greyhound running by sight 


* Pliny tells us how the people of Colophon and Castabala kept troops of 
dogs for war purposes, which used to fight in the first rank and never 
retreated (Nat. Hist. viii. 61). 

+ Xenophon, ‘ Cynegeticus,’ iii. 1. 


402 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


alone. Five hundred years later, however, as we learn from 
Arrian, coursing with Greyhounds had come in vogue, and this 
author has left us a very remarkable treatise on coursing, which 
presents a vivid picture not only of the way in which this branch 
of hunting was anciently pursued by the Greeks, but also of the 
peculiarities which were considered by them to be “ good points”’ 
in a dog, and their methods of feeding, training, and general 
management. 

Among the Romans dogs were divided into three classes :— 

(1) Canes villatici, House-dogs ; 

(2) ,, pastorales, Shepherd-dogs ; 

(3) 4, venatici, Sporting-dogs ; 
and in the last division they recognised three distinct breeds, 
which they termed— 

(a) pugnaces, pugnacious dogs ; 

(b) nare sagaces, dogs running by scent; 

(c) pedibus celeres, swift dogs running by sight. 

This threefold division of the Canes venatici (or dogs used for 
the chase) into pugnaces, sagaces, and celeres may be traced more 
or less clearly in the writings of many classic authors, as Gratius, 
Seneca, Artemidorus, Oppian, Claudian, and Julian Firmicus ; 
although in Xenophon and the earlier Greek writers we only find 
mention of the two first-named, for the Greyhound of that period 
was unknown to them. 

With regard to the original geographical distribution of these 
three varieties, the prevalent opinion of continental writers who 
have devoted their attention to the Cynegetica of Greece and Rome 
is that the pugnaces came from Asia, the sagaces from Greece, and 
the celeres from Gaul. 

The Celtic or Gallic hound does not appear to have been 
introduced generally into the more southern parts of Europe till 
after the dissolution of the Commonwealth of Rome. It is first 
mentioned by Ovid, and its style of hunting the hare is so well 
described by him that it must have been derived from actual 
experience in the field rather than hearsay; which circumstance 
alone seems to have given it admission into the Cynegeticon of 
Gratius, Ovid’s contemporary. 

The dogs used by the early Britons for the protection of their 
flocks and for the chase appear to have been of great importance 
with them. Three varieties were cultivated with considerable 


— a 


, © Gil es «he 


ty 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. - 403 


care, viz., the Mastiff, the Boar-hound, and the great rough Grey- 
hound, generally known as the Wolf-hound. Itis remarkable how 
well these three breeds correspond with the pugnaces, sagaces, 
and celeres, to which I have just referred. ‘They were common 
in all European countries, particularly the northern, but varied 
somewhat in size and substance, according to locality and the 
different conditions of life under which they were obliged to 
exist. It is a matter of much regret that we are so little 
acquainted with the real form and dimensions of these notable 
and ancient dogs. 

These early breeds are all remarkable for having erect or 
semi-erect ears, like all wild dogs and wolves. The pendulous 
ear was not seen till near the decline of the Roman Empire. 

Having now glanced briefly at the different kinds of dogs 
which were known to the great nations of old, let us consider 
what are the existing species of wild dogs (including Wolves, 
Foxes, Jackals, and a few other aberrant forms), from which it is 
possible, and indeed probable, that our domestic races have 
descended. ‘To take a survey of these satisfactorily it will be 
desirable, in the first place, to note the position which the great 
family Canide occupies in the order Carnivora in relation to 
other Carnivores. It will be perceived, on looking at the accom- 
panying diagram (which I have copied by permission from 
Prof. Flower’s Classification of the Carnivora*), that the land 
Carniwwora or Fissipedia may be conveniently. separated into three 
large groups or sections, the AiLuRorpDE£A (comprising the [elide, 
Hyenide, Viverride, &c.), the AncroIpEA (comprehending the 
Urside, Mustelide, Procyonide, &c.), and the CyNnompEa, which 
includes all the different forms of dog-like animals. 

It should be observed that this is no mere arrangement of 
fancy. A careful study and comparison by various zoologists 
of the anatomy of most of these different forms (whenever oppor- 
tunity has enabled the examination of specimens) has resulted in 
the publication of careful descriptions and figures, by means of 
which we are able to trace the relationships which are here 
indicated. 

It need scarcely be said that the cranial characters, and 
especially the dentition (as indicating the animal’s mode of life 


* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, pp. 4—837. See also Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, 
~ pp. 178—186. 


WaLlOkd 


WYaAITaVLO 


VICUdINNId 


WYAITALSOAN 


WTaInNnvo 
~ 2 Q10Nh? 


suo 
chee WYaiItai 


b 
re % 


"3q1019%" 


VICGAdISS lA 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 405 


and the nature of its food) have been regarded as most important 
in determining its zoological position;* and thus, this grouping 
(artificial or arbitrary as it may at first sight appear) really indi- 
cates in the case of each of these three sections, the possession 
by its members of certain characters in common which link them, 
as it were, together, and which being well marked are easily 
recognisable. 

Tt will be seen, then, that the section Cynorxa holds a posi- 
tion intermediate between the AiLuRoIDEA and the ARCTOIDEA; 
its affinities with the former section, through the Hyznas, being 
indicated by Lycaon pictus, the Cape Hunting-dog, which pos- 
sesses much resemblance to a Hyena, and its relations towards 
the latter section in the direction of the Mustelide being indicated 
by that curious aberrant canine form the Bush-dog of Guiana, 
Icticyon venaticus. 

This being the position of the Canid@, then, in the order 
Carnivora, let us see what are the members of this family now 
existing in a wild state, and what their geographical distribution. 

From a general review of these existing forms it would 
appear that they may be conveniently grouped into perhaps eight 
genera :—I. Canis, to include Wolves and Jackals; II. Cyon, the 
wild dogs, like those of India and Sumatra ; III. Vulpes, the true 
Foxes; IV. Fennecus, the Fennec-Foxes, remarkable for their 
abnormally large ears; V. Otocyon, represented by a single 
species, the South-African large-eared Fox; VI. Lycaon, the 
Cape Hunting-dog; VII. Nyctereutes, the Racoon-like dog of 
Eastern Siberia and Japan; and VIII. Icticyon, the Musteline- 
looking Bush-dog of British Guiana. 

The last four of these genera, it will be seen, contain each 
but a single representative species. Of the Fennecs four species 
have been described, although it is by no means certain that they 
are distinct, for some of the differences noticed may be attributed 
to the altered conditions of life under which the so-called different 
Species have had to live. 

Of the wild dogs (Cyon), which have a somewhat different 
dentition to the typical Canis, four species also are recognised— 
two inhabiting India, a third the Altai Mountains, and the fourth 


* See Prof. Huxley on the cranial and dental characters of the Canide, 
Proc, Zool, Soc. 1880, p. 238, 


406 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Sumatra. It is possible, however, that C. primevus of Northern 
India, and C. dukhenensis of Southern India may not be really 
distinct. 

By far the largest number of existing wild species of Canide 
are comprised within the two great genera Canis and Vulpes, the 
Wolf-like and the Fox-like forms, the former containing more 
than a score of species, the latter more than a dozen. 

As regards the geographical distribution, we find that 
throughout the whole of the Palearctic and Nearctic Regions 
both Wolves and Foxes abound. In the Ethiopian and Oriental 
Regions we find numerous species of Jackal; in North Africa, 
Asia Minor, and the countries bordering the Black and Caspian 
Seas, all the three last-mentioned animals are found; the African 
Fennecs and the Cape Hunting-dog having a more restricted 
distribution. The Neotropical Region is characterised by the 
possession of certain dog-like Wolves (or dog-wolves, as they are 
generally called), of which some ten or a dozen species have been 
described, several of which have been procured and exhibited in 
the Zoological Society’s Gardens.* Their names will be found 
in the subjoined list of species of the genus Canis. 


Genus CANIS. 


Canis lupus.* Common Wolf of Europe. 
»» hydophylax.« Japan. 
», laniger.«  Thibet. 
» pallipes.* India. 
» aureus.* India. Jackal. 
» anthus.* North Africa. Jackal. 


» varlegatus. uf yi 

», mesomelas.* South Africa. ,, 

» lateralis.* West Africa. G 

», occidentalis.« North America. 

» latrans.* a Prairie Wolf. 
» azarae South America. Dog Wolf. 

» gracilis. a 

» rudis.%* " 

», microtis.* i 


» cancrworus.*  ,, 


** All the species of Canide to which an asterisk is affixed are those 
which are now, or were lately, living in the Zoological Society’s Gardens, 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 407 


Canis fulvipes.* South America. 


» braziliensis,* sf 
» vetulus. 95 
» magellanicus.*: a 
» jJubatus.%* 


” 
+» antarcticus.* Falkland Islands. 
» @ustralis.* Australia. Dingo. 


The Common Wolf of Europe was, as we all know, once an 
inhabitant of the British Islands, and was only exterminated 
with great difficulty after payment of large rewards for its 
destruction, and burning down whole tracts of the forests which 
harboured these animals. As I have elsewhere entered very fully 
into the history of the Wolf in Great Britain,* I need say no 
more here than refer to the date of its extinction in this country. 
So far as I have been able to ascertain, it became extinct in 
England during the reign of Henry VII.; it survived in Scotland 
until 1743; and the last was killed in Ireland about 1766-70. + 

With regard to the other members of the genus Canis, 
whether Wolves, Jackals, or Dog-wolves, the list shows their 
geographical distribution, and Space will not permit me to enter 
upon the history of each one of them. I may refer, however, to 
the Australian Dingo, the last upon the list, because in some 
respects itis more remarkable than any of the others. 

In appearance and colour (a reddish brown) it resembles the 
wild dogs of India and Sumatra (Cyon primevus, dukhenensis, and 
sumatrensis), but in regard to its cranial characters and dentition 
it agrees with the typical Canis, and is perhaps more nearly allied 
with the Indian Jackal than any other species. It is an ancient 
form, and is believed to be indigenous to Australia in consequence 
of its remains having been discovered in caverns with the remains 
of other animals now extinct.{ It is thoroughly wild still, but 
(as might be expected as a result of colonization) not nearly 


* * Extinct British Animals,’ pp. 115—205. 

+ The evidence which fixes these dates will be found in the work to 
which I have referred. 

{ Prof. M‘Coy states that he has identified remains of the Dingo in bone 
caverns beneath the basalt flows of Mount Macedon, associated with those 
of an extinct Kangaroo, Macropus titan, and recent species of Hypsiprimnus 
and Hydromys. (Ann. Nat. Hist., 8rd ser., ix. p. 145), 


408 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


so numerous as formerly. The puppies are searched for and 
reclaimed by the natives, as I have already incidentally remarked 
(p. 394), and are trained to be useful in the chase. 

It, or a variety of it, is also found in New Zealand, where 
it is said to have been introduced from Australia some two or 
three centuries ago.* The dog of the native New Zealanders, 
however (now extinct) was not the Australian Dingo, but a much 
smaller animal, resembling a Jackal, according to Dieffenbach. t 

From the united testimony of the first voyagers to that 
country, it appears that the ancient New Zealand dog was much 
like those of ahiti and other South Sea Islands; that it was 
merely a domestic animal; small in size, with pointed nose, prick 
ears, and small eyes; hair long and lank, of different colours, 
and a short bushy tail. It was a lazy sullen animal, with no 
proper bark, and with but small powers of scent. } 

From the statements of the natives it appears that the ancient 
Maori dog was of small size, and by no means numerous in the 
“pas” or villages; that it did not bark, only howled plaintively 
at times; that it would not bite man; that the owners were 
much attached to them, gave them names, and petted them; 
that some of them were trained to seize ground-birds (wekas 
and kiwis) for their masters, and this was effected chiefly by 
stratagem on the part of the native, who, when he went bird- 
catching, would take his dog with him, always leading him 
securely tied by a cord, and, squatting down concealed in a 
suitable place, held his dog, and imitating the cry of the bird 
he was in quest of, the bird came near, when the little dog was 
let go, and he ran and seized the bird and held it, or brought 
it to his master. 

This native dog was useful in various other ways; for its flesh 
was used for food, its skin for clothing, and its hair for orna- 


“ Polack, ‘New Zealand,’ i. p. 320 (1838). 

} ‘Travels in New Zealand,’ p. 184 (1843). 

t See ‘ Cook’s Voyages,’ 4to, 1773, ii. pp. 152, 196; G. Forster’s ‘ Voyage 
round the World,’ i. p.219; J. R. Forster's ‘ Observations,’ 4to, 1778, pp. 189 
—208; Parkinson’s ‘Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas,’ 4to, 1784. 
An admirable summary of all that has been contributed to this subject by 
these early voyagers has been embodied in an article by the Rev. William 
Colenso, “On the Ancient Dog of the New Zealanders,” printed in the 
‘Transactions of the New Zealand Institute’ for 1877 (vol. x. pp. 185—166). 


re 


ee 


DOGS: ANCIENT AND MODERN. 409 


mental purposes. This was the case not only in New Zealand, 
but in many of the islands of the South Pacific. 

It would take too long to go into the history of the various 
other wild dogs which are to be found scattered over the world; 
but it will be of interest just to glance at some of those which 
exhibit a manifest resemblance to certain domestic breeds with 
which we are acquainted at the present day. 

The Esquimaux Dog, for example, so closely resembles the 
Arctic Wolf, both in appearance and voice, that even so expe- 
. rienced an Arctic traveller as Sir John Richardson on one occasion 
mistook a pack of the former for a troop of the latter. 

The domestic dog of the Hare Indians on the Mackenzie 
River is exactly like the Prairie Wolf, Canis latrans, though 
smaller. The Sheep-dog of Hungary resembles the European 
Wolf, and, according to Blyth, some of the Hindu Pariah-dogs 
resemble the Indian Wolf. In tropical countries, where Jackals 
take the place of Wolves, the domestic dogs closely resemble 
_ the former. In Tropical America, where Jackals are unknown, 
the domesticated dogs resemble the native wild dogs which 
take the place of them. In Australia, as we have seen, the 
Dingo occurs at the present day both in the wild and domes- 
ticated state. 

Thus it seems pretty evident that more than one wild ancestor 
has contributed to the formation of the various domestic breeds 
which now exist. Reviewing this question of origin, in his 
‘Animals and Plants under Domestication,’ Darwin concludes 
that it is highly probable that the domestic dogs of the world 
have descended from two good species of Wolf, Canis lupus and 
C. latrans, and from two or three other doubtful species of 
Wolves,—namely, the European, Indian, and North African 
forms,—from at least one or two South American canine species, 
from several races or species of the Jackal, and perhaps from one 
or more extinct species. 

In this view I think we must concur, coming as it does from 
so high an authority. 

Then comes the question of the classification of the existing 
breeds of domestic dog. 

I have already referred to the way in which the Romans of 
old classified their dogs :— 

ZOOLOGIST.—ocrT. 1884. 21 


410 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


CANEs. 
VILLATICT. PASTORALES. VENATICI. 
PUGNACES. SAGACES. CrELERES. 


So simple a classification as this might have done very well 
at that period, when the number of breeds then known was 
comparatively few. At the present day, of course, it would be 
quite inapplicable. 

If we look at the classification of Dr. Caius, the author of a 
well-known Latin treatise on English Dogs, composed in 1576 
at the request of his friend Conrad Gesner, and translated into 
English by one Abraham Fleming, we shall find that although it 
brings us nearer to the present day by taking in certain breeds 
which were unnoticed because unknown to the Romans, it is 
nevertheless at the present time more curious than useful :— 


Terrar. 
Hounde. | Harrier. 
Bloudhounde. 
Gasehounde. 
Grehounde. 
Leviner. 
Tumbler. 


Hawking and [si 


Generous, or | Hunting. 


Thorobred. 1 


ENGLISHE 


: setter. 
Doacus Fowling. Se: 


Water Spaniel. 


| Delicate. Spaniel Gentle. 


Shepherdes Dogge. 
Mastive, or Ban- 
dogge. 
Wappe, or Warner. 
Degenerate. [zat 
Dauncer. 


4 
| 
| Country. 
| 


According to Prof. Fitzinger,* there are at least 185 distinct 
varieties of the domestic dog, and considering that the origin of 


* Fitzinger, ‘Der Hund und seine Racen,’ 1876. Prof. Fitzinger’s classi- 
fication is—(1). House Dogs, Domestici, 48; (2). Spaniels, Extrarii, 30; 
(8). Terriers, Vertragi, 12; (4). Hounds, Sagaces, 35; (5). Mastiffs, Molossi, 
19; (6). Greyhounds, Leporarvi, 35; (7). Hairless Dogs, Carabei, 6; 
Total, 185. 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 411 


many, if not most of them, is uncertain, it is not surprising that 
much difference of opinion should exist as to the most natural 
mode of grouping them together. 

Their arrangement into the following six races, founded to a 
certain extent, on the form and development of ‘the ears, perhaps 
affords an approximation to a natural classification :— 


I. Wolf-like dogs. IV. Hounds. 
II. Greyhounds. V. Mastiffs. 
III. Spaniels. VI. Terriers. 


By the judicious crossing of these half-dozen types, it would 
seem possible, in time, to produce every one of the present 
existing breeds of domestic dog. 


ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 
By Henry Stevenson, F.L.S. 
(Concluded from p. 374). 


A parr of Snow Buntings and a pair of Bramblings both 
nested, and had eggs, in my aviary in June, but unfortuately no 
young were hatched. In each case the male assumed the most 
perfect summer plumage. I also noticed for the first time in my 
experience, that a male Twite re-assumed the flame colour on 
the upper tail-coverts and a Lesser Redpoll the red on its fore- 
head, which had been lost for a time, and is hardly ever re- 
assumed by such birds in confinement. 

On the 18th of June, this year, I heard the Cuckoo’s note 
seven or eight times repeated, when sitting in my garden, on the 
Unthank’s Road, within a few minutes’ walk of the Market Place ; 
and a few days afterwards I saw one on a fence, as close to the 
city as Mount Pleasant Lane. 

Lesser Redpolls and Goldfinches had nests and eggs in my 
aviary by the first week in July. 

An adult Magpie, found dead on the 15th, and a young one 
trapped a few days later, at Northrepps, proved the nesting of 
that species in this vicinity, in spite of all precautions in the 
interest of game preservers. 

On the 24th, I spent an hour or two on Surlingham Broad, 
but though a bright, sunny day and still, with a south-west 


419 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


wind, both Reed and Sedge Warblers were strangely silent; the 
former, I was told, being very scarce. But I learnt afterwards 
from Mr. Robert Pratt, who is constantly on the water, that he 
had scarcely ever known the Broad so void of melody in marsh- 
birds’ notes; and the same might be said of the cries of Coots 
and Waterhens, so terribly had these birds been thinned down 
in the hard winters of 1879—80 and 1880—81. They had not, 
in fact, recovered their losses, especially in the former winter, 
when, with the Broad frozen over, the half-starved birds were 
knocked down with sticks, or killed by dogs and Hooded Crows ; 
and the remnants of the Waterhens took to the stackyards and 
upland fences. The Coots, after a time, left for the salt-marshes 
on the coast, where the gunners killed large numbers, and very 
few returned in the spring. Migratory birds were heard whistling 
over the city, one night, near the end of this month. 

In the course of the summer I had ocular demonstration of 
the abundant breeding of wild-fowl on a Norfolk estate, where 
the strict preservation of game proves a sure safeguard. Here, 
on extensive waters, were seen many pairs, with their young, 
not only of the Common Wild Duck and Teal, but of Shovellers, 
Garganey, Pochards, Tufted Ducks, and Gadwalls, as well as 
Great Crested and Little Grebes. Further details as to locality, 
site of nests found, &c., are carefully preserved in my journal. 

On the 1st of August a Hobby was seen at Northrepps. By 
the 12th and 15th I find the usual notes of migratory waders 
appearing on Breydon, and along the coast at Cley and 
Blakeney. Curlew and Green Sandpipers were very plentiful at 
the former place, where two immature Spotted Redshanks were 
shot on the 15th and 26th, and a few Pigmy Curlew and Knots. 
Four Cormorants appeared on Breydon on the 29th, and one 
Kentish Plover was obtained on the 21st; and a Black-tailed 
Godwit at Cley. 

A Nuthatch visited my garden on the 7th, and was very 
busy about the trunk and branches of a cherry tree. This 
species nests, regularly, in some spot on the Unthank’s Road, 
between my house and ‘‘ Mount Pleasant’? Lane, as I fre- 
quently hear its peculiar cry during the summer months. 

I may here mention that Mr. H. M. Upcher, of Feltwell, in- 
formed me that he had reason to believe that the Short-eared Owl 
nested, once again, this summer in the fens at Feltwell. 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 413 


A Red-necked Phalarope was sent me in the flesh from 
Yarmouth, shot on Breydon on Sept. 4th, and another was 
seen at the same time and on the same date exactly on 
which a specimen was killed there in 1881. There was 
somewhat a paucity of migratory waders at Yarmouth early in 
the month, though including Knots, Pigmy Curlews, and 
Golden Plovers (still with much black on the breast) and several 
Greenshanks; more than usual of this species. Terns, both 
Common and Lesser, were leaving about this time. Redstarts 
were still seen on the coast about Yarmouth late in the month, 
as well as many Golden-crested Wrens; and Siskins had arrived 
at Overstrand on the 18th, and Caister Denes on the 20th. 
Numbers of Titmice, Great, Blue, Marsh, and Long-tailed, in 
plantations near the sea; also a good many Kingfishers about 
Breydon water, of which, I regret to say, ten or twelve were shot, 
whether migrants or residents. 

On the 21st a Hoopoe was killed near Barton, and another 
specimen, some time this month, at Sheringham. 

Towards the end of September there seems to have been a 
very mixed assortment of waders at Yarmouth ; and, in a list 
sent me by Mr. G. Smith, of birds shot on Breydon and 
on the beach between the 16th and the 25th, I find Little Stint, 
Reeve, Oyster-catcher, Greenshank, Dunlin, Sanderling, Bar- and 
Black-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper, Purple Sandpiper, Turn- 
stone, Curlew, and Golden Plover. 

A single Snow Bunting was seen on the beach as early as 
September 16th. Some Honey Buzzards appear to have 
arrived on the coast in the last week of September, as one 
was trapped at Northrepps on the 30th, and another, I under- 
stand, occurred at Flegg-Burgh near the same time, and at 
Lound, near Lowestoft, a third (all immature) about the 26th. 

On the 8rd of October Snow Buntings appeared in con- 
siderable numbers on the Denes at Yarmouth, where about a 
score were netted, and I received three pairs for my aviary. 
An immature Hobby was taken on a smack off Yarmouth on the 
9th, and Bramblings were plentiful in the same neighbourhood 
on the 13th. On the 5th an immature Little Gull was shot on 
Breydon. A Hoopoe was killed at Horsey on the 9th. On the 
morning of the 12th a Woodcock was shot on Yarmouth Denes, 
from a fresh flight, and about a dozen in that neighbourhood by 


414 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


the 15th. Short-eared Owls also appeared there about the same 
date. On the 12th, at Blakeney, Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., found 
numbers of Song Thrushes on the sand-hills, apparently just 
arrived. Gray Crows, first seen at Northrepps on the 9th, 
arrived in large numbers at Yarmouth on the 22nd, and some 
Fieldfares. On the 20th also, at Northrepps, a considerable 
flight of Jackdaws was seen passing inland. There seems to 
have been an arrival also of Magpies about Weybourne and 
Sheringham on the 10th; and, on the 17th at Northrepps, an 
apparent immigration of Robins, as observed by Mr. J. H. 
Gurney, jun. A good many Ring Ouzels appeared at Yarmouth 
and its vicinity between the 6th and 15th of the month (and 
several at Weybourne in September). Mr. Smith told me he had 
seven or eight specimens brought to him. And, of other birds 
in that locality, seen or shot, I may mention a Peregrine at 
Caister on the 14th, an immature Richardson’s Skua on Breydon, 
same date; a Great Snipe at Bradwell on the 18th, and one at 
Lopham on the 28th, weighing 84 ounces; also a Grey Shrike 
on the North Denes on the 26th; and a young male Merlin at 
Barton on the 28rd. 

A good many Spotted Rails were met with in the Yarmouth 
neighbourhood this month. The chief ornithological event, how- 
ever, of the month was the arrival, in unusual numbers, all along 
the coast, of the tiny little Golden-crested Wren; their flights 
occurring at intervals of some days, commencing in the previous 
month, and noticeable up to about the 20th of October. 

A single bird, which flew, exhausted, into a room in Dr. 
Beverley’s cottage at Overstrand, close to the sea, on the 
morning of the 5th, marks the date, no doubt, of one flight ; 
and on the 8th they were abundant in a plantation on the 
Caister road, near Yarmouth, and Mr. Smith described them 
in the same locality, and in like shelter, at Gorleston, as ‘‘ very 
thick,” on the 15th. In the neighbourhood of Cromer, Mr. J. H. 
Gurney, jun., noticed a very large arrival on the 13th, and they 
were numerous in the garden of Colney House, Cromer, on the 
18th and 19th; and just at this date, twelve were picked up dead 
against the Hunstanton Lighthouse. 

Among the Starlings, Skylarks, and other migrants killed at 
the Cromer Light, this month, was a specimen of the Knot 
Sandpiper, a very exceptional circumstance. 


NOTES FROM NORFOLK. 415 


Another special feature of this month was the great influx of 
Shore Larks on the beach and denes at Yarmouth. They were 
first seen, Mr. G. Smith informed me, on the 15th, and from 
that date to the 29th about fifty were shot, of which thirty 
passed through his hands; and of these he believed only six 
were females. Two were shot at Cley, out of a considerable 
flock, on the 30th. Twenty years ago I gave a long price for a 
Yarmouth specimen, as one of our Norfolk rarities. 

The wild-fowl killed on Breydon this month consisted only of 
a few Pintail Ducks, Wigeon, Mallard, and Teal, a few Grey 
Geese, of what species not known; a large flock was observed, 
flying, at Northrepps on the 25th, and a lot of seven Sheldrakes 
on the 23rd. The fearful gale, however, from the east on the 
27th, drove hundreds of gulls, large and small, in shore, which 
sought Breydon waters for shelter. 

November, mild, wet, and stormy, and with but slight frosts, 
afforded little sport to the gunners. The only winter fowl at 
Yarmouth were represented by a few immature Scaups, Golden- 
eyes, Red-breasted Mergansers, and Goosanders, on Breydon, 
and considerable flocks of Scoters out at sea. Several young 
Sclavonian Grebes were also met with, and about sixteen 
Whoopers appeared, but passed on in safety. 

The paucity of Tringe, both on the beach, and Breydon 
muds, this month, was remarkable; but Snipe were at times 
very plentiful in the marshes, with hundreds of Lapwings. 

A few Shore Larks still frequented the Denes, and five more 
were shot in the first week, and two on the 25th, and one 
caught alive, which came to my aviary. A pair were seen at 
Hunstanton on the 2nd (when Skylarks and Hooded Crows were 
arriving off the sea all day), and three were shot at Blakeney 
the same week. Large flocks of Wood Pigeons were observed 
coming inland at Northrepps on the 5th, and Lapwings, in 
successive flocks, high up, on the 28rd. 

Of other occurrences may be noted a fully adult male 
Shoveller, in brilliant plumage, shot near Yarmouth on the 3rd. 
A Norfolk Plover, from Swaffham, as late as the 8th of this 
month, which was very fat, and weighed 1lb. 60z. A Fork- 
tailed Petrel was said to have been for sale in Yarmouth market. 
A Crossbill, shot from a flock at Caister, near Norwich, and a 
beautiful adult male Merlin at Caister, by Yarmouth, Two or 


416 ' THE ZOOLOGIST. 


three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, seen this month in unusual 
localities near the sea, had, no doubt, arrived on this coast. The 
last House Martins seen this year were two young birds of a 
very late hatch, flying feebly about Bracondale Hill on the 8th 
of November. 

Several rime frosts and one severe night when eight degrees 
of frost was registered, in December, did not avail to bring 
wild-fowl, or other winter visitants, to our shores in any 
numbers; and the list of occurrences on any part of the coast 
is but a meagre one. 

When going up to London by rail on the 4th, I saw a 
prodigious quantity of Lapwings rise from the meadows near 
the Lakenham Viaduct. I should say between three and four 
hundred. I never before saw so many in one flock; and with 
the sun on them, as they rose and spread out, it was a beautiful 
as well as a remarkable sight. 

The scarcity of waders on Breydon was the same this month 
as last; and a few Knots and a Bar-tailed Godwit, shot on the 
19th, was an event amongst the gunners. Golden and Green 
Plover were plentiful, and a good many Wigeon appeared on the 
3rd, and a Whooper was shot on the 11th. About the 16th, 
seven Goosanders were sent into Yarmouth, one an adult male, 
shot in the neighbourhood; and three other young birds had 
been killed on Breydon with one or two immature Red-breasted 
Mergansers. Immature Golden-eyes were the only “hard- 
weather” fowl, and one or two Greylag Geese were shot on 
the coast— eight seen in one flock; and three Bean Geese in 
the marshes near Yarmouth. Two more Sclavonian and one 
Red-necked Grebe were also obtained on Breydon. On the 8th 
another Little Gull was shot on the beach, and an immature 
Hen Harrier, male, on the 15th. Two Bitterns, from Hickling, 
were for sale in Yarmouth market ; and a Peregrine Falcon was 
shot on Breydon on the 18th. 

Early in the month, three Great Gray Shrikes were killed in 
the county, at Loddon, Aylsham, and Fakenham. 

Waxwings were seen, and two or three shot at Palling, 
Sheringham, and Hunstanton; at Yarmouth, one was killed in 
the ‘‘ Apollo Gardens ” on the 14th, and two were reported from 
Gorleston on the 17th. Woodcocks were numerous about the 
15th, when thirty were shot in the coverts at Hempstead. 


OO eee ee es eee eee 


lease 


Cate) 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY ON THE COAST OF FINMARK. 
By Atrrep Hrniact Cocks, M.A., F.Z.S. 
(Continued from p. 370.) 


Very little, ornithologically speaking, was observed during 
the cruise; but about this time a duck—I think a female Long- 
tail—flew past us; and about an hour later a Mealy Redpoll 
came on board, and settled on the steam-winch, close to where 
the mate and I were standing; on my trying to catch it, it flew 
forwards, and remained some minutes trying to eat the frayings 
of the whale-line coiled in front of the gun on the iron tray or 
sheet previously described; it finally flew away in the direction 
of the land. Rather later I saw distinctly, and watched for 
some little time as it swam, a Razorbill, a bird which, so far as 
my experience goes, is decidedly rare on the Norwegian coast. 
I afterwards saw a Skua, which may probably have been Lestris 
pomatorhinus. Kaittiwakes, once or twice in large flocks, probably 
feeding on Coal-fish, complete my list of birds. 

The harpooner told me that Common Rorquals, when sound- 
ing, never throw their tails out of the water, like the Humpbacks, 
but the Blue Whales do so sometimes. He descended from the 
crow’s nest and joined us at dinner about 12.20, and reported 
four steamers after about as many whales. Ten minutes later 
we also started after a Humpback, and very soon found that 
there was a pair in company, the larger having a wound on the 
right side, forward of the fin, and hence reasonably supposed 
to be the individual we had shot at yesterday. The chase was 
very interesting, and at times intensely exciting. Once I saw 
one of the nate on its side, put its long flipper straight up out 
of the water. They generally dived and came up again nearly 
at the same time; once they both sounded at the same instant, 
and once we got between the two; two or three times spray came 
over us from their flukes. After some time one whale left, and 
we continued after the one with the mark on its side; it had 
evidently learned wisdom by experience, and kept well on the 
look-out. The range of the harpoon-gun, from the weight it has 
to propel, and more especially from the great weight of the line 
stopping its momentum, is very short: I cannot give the range 
accurately in yards, but it is only about, or very little more than, 


418 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


what is roughly called “‘ pistol-shot.” At length the whale mis- 
calculated its distance while under water, and came up right 
under our bows, heading from us; the harpooner immediately 
pulled the lanyard attached to the trigger, but the cap snapped! 
As soon as the gun was recapped we continued hunting, but the 
whale did not give us another chance, though we were never very 
far away. At last, soon after 6 p.m., we gave this whale up as 
a bad job, and went after another which we saw at some little 
distance. This whale (or it may have been a different one 
again) proved on approaching it to be a Common Rorqual, 
which sounded for very long periods; the longest that I timed 
was not more than three minutes, but some of the soundings 
before I began to time them were probably three times as long. 
Just as the steward announced supper at seven o’clock we saw 
another whaler fire and get fast to a Humpback. After watching 
for a few minutes I went below, and hurrying over supper 
hastened on deck again, when I found the poor beast was 
screaming every time it rose to the surface; the screams being 
distinctly audible from our deck, though the whale was (according 
to the mate’s estimate) more than an English mile from us. I 
was told by the Norwegian whalers that the Humpback Whale is 
the only species which appears to have a voice, but in ‘A Whaling 
Cruise and History of the Whale Fishery,’ by J. Ross Browne 
(London, 1846), the author speaks of a Sperm Whale, when 
harpooned (page 209), giving ‘‘a tremendous hollow roar, like 
that of an infuriated bull.” 

The screaming of the Humpback is referred to in ‘ Recent 
Memoirs on the Cetacea by Professors Escricht, Reinhardt, and 
Lilljeborg’ (edited by Prof. Flower, and published by the Ray 
Society, 1866), in the ‘Synopsis of Scandinavian Cetacea,’ by 
Lilljeborg (p. 293), where he mentions a case of a young Hump- 
back caught at Godthaab (Greenland), which still followed the 
mother, who was for several days afterwards seen swimming 
about in the same bay in the greatest anxiety :—‘‘Her sudden 
jumps and a peculiar way in which she spouted, often with an 
audible bellowing sound, plainly indicated her grief.” The 
sounds which I heard emitted by this species I should rather 
describe as a shrill scream, reminding me very forcibly of the 
gruesome sounds uttered by a wretched pig when being rung or 
stuck, but somewhat less shrill. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 419 


During the short interval that I had remained below we had 
commenced hunting two Common Rorquals in company. Pre- 
sently we saw the whaler, which was fast to the Humpback, 
lower a boat and proceed to lance the unfortunate animal; my 
shipmates, who although Norwegians, are I suppose the kindest- 
hearted people in the world, had grown callous to the sufferings 
of a whale, and shouted with laughter at every fresh scream 
uttered by the huge beast in its agony. Exactly an hour from 
the time of harpooning it the “flurry” took place; the whale 
turned on its side, churned the water with its long flipper, at 
length died, and immediately sank. 

We continued meanwhile hunting our Finner, and half an 
hour later it gave us a chance. It rose just ahead of us, and 
came right towards us, shaving close past our starboard bow—so 
close that I for one expected to feel it collide with our hull. At 
the moment when he was right under our bow the harpooner 
pulled, but the cap again missed fire! Everybody’s disgust and 
disappointment may perhaps be imagined. We continued 
hunting it, and three-quarters of an hour later it passed us on 
the starboard side; the harpooner again pulled, and this time 
the gun went off, but the harpoon fell harmlessly into the sea. 
The men said afterwards they thought the whale was too far off, 
and that the harpoon fell short. By the time that we had 
reloaded it was too dark to hunt, being about a quarter to ten ; 
so steam was let off, and we lay by for the night. 

The following morning we were under steam soon after five 
o’clock, again a beautiful morning. We hunted a Common 
Rorqual—whether the one seen the previous evening there was 
nothing to show. Meeting the steamer that we had seen kill a 
Humpback yesterday, we stopped for a talk. She had towed it 
into Tana Fjord, and came out again without loss of time. She 
had taken a large Blue Whale on the 26th, which I afterwards 
saw in Vardé. 

After some time our Finner disappeared, and we went after a 
Humpback, which we soon perceived was the same one that we 
had hunted so long the previous day with the wound on its 
right side, showing that they keep their ground to some extent. 
Just before eight o’clock it gave us a chance, coming up on our 
starboard bow, and the harpooner fired. The whale, as is usual, 
disappeared instantly, and then came a few minutes of almost 


420 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


breathless suspense before we could tell for certain whether the 
harpoon was in him. He proved to be fast, and we presently 
saw the harpoon in his left side, high up on the back, a little 
way below the fin. The harpoon being near the vertebral 
column apparently prevented his sounding, and he never went 
far down. Once or twice he put his head out of the water and 
turned over on his back, and nearly every time he spouted he 
screamed. A boat was lowered for the purpose of lancing him, 
with four men to row, a boat-steerer, and harpooner. They 
rowed carefully round astern of the whale, and then watching 
their opportunity, approached, and the harpooner lanced it ; 
the operation was repeated whenever an opportunity offered. 
Once he dug the lance in so deep that he had to leave go and 
haul it in by the line attached ; when recovered the lance was 
much bent, and had to be straightened before being again used. 
Presently the whale swam a little away and spouted blood, and, 
dying soon afterwards, sunk. On the return of the boat the crew 
told us that they had heard the shell explode while they were 
close to the whale, and this accounted for the somewhat sudden 
death, which took place three-quarters of an hour from the time 
of harpooning. Having hoisted the boat and waited a minute or 
two to see whether the whale were really dead (for, having 
previously killed only one or two Humpbacks, they were not sure 
of the behaviour of this species), we began heaving on the line 
(of which it had taken out seventy fathoms) with the steam- 
winch, and using an india-rubber relieving tackle or multiplier 
attached to the foremast, similar to that used on the ‘ Chal- 
lenger’ Expedition when the dredge was used while the ship 
was under sail. 

One of the reasons, I believe, why the Humpback Whale is 
seldom or never hunted by the Scotch or American whalers 
(independently of the small amount of blubber on them) is that 
this species almost always sinks when killed (no doubt in con- 
sequence of having so little blubber), and the lines used in open 
boats are not strong enough to haul it up by. Even the huge 
hawsers used by the Norwegians off the Finmarken coast are not 
strong enough to bear the enormous weight of a large Blue 
Whale, and I was told of a whaler who had killed a large 
example which sank, riding to it for three days, and then 
thinking it must by that time have become sufficiently inflated 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 421 


by gas to be light, commenced heaving in; to the surprise of the 
whole crew the harpoon came up quite easily, and they discovered 
that the detested Greenland sharks had eaten, if not the whole 
whale, at least the blubber and muscle round the wound, freeing 
the harpoon. 

We continued heaving gently until the flukes came to the 
surface, when the engine was immediately stopped, and the 
*‘praam’”’ (a small boat answering the purpose of the English 
dingy) was lowered with a couple of men, who put two bights of 
chains round the tail, just in front of the flukes; these chains 
were carried to the foremost tompions, and secured aft. The 
flukes were cut off with a blubber-knife, as they would con- 
siderably increase the resistance in towing; and at once steaming 
ahead the body swung round, and we began towing it tail first, 
the whale lying alongside the steamer. In this position the 
harpooner and I measured him as well as we could in a straight 
line along the deck; but as the huge body was plunging and 
surging about in a moderate sea, with the head more or less 
under water, we could not arrive at great accuracy, but it was 
about forty-four feet long, and was a male; a few measurements 
are given lower down. 

We took it to the west centre of the entrance to Tana Fjord, 
about ten English miles (or perhaps rather less) from land, 
viz., in about 71° N. lat., and 28° 52’ 30” long. E.G. The towing 
began about 9.30 a.m., and we proceeded at about three knots 
per hour, using full speed (twenty-five horse-power); the wind 
freshened in the afternoon, and by about 4 p.m. it was blowing a 
fresh breeze, gradually moderating towards evening. We arrived 
of Vardo at 1.30 next morning, and after an early breakfast 
(5.80) I went ashore. 


I made the following scanty notes on Balenopteride :— 

Humpback Whale (Megaptera bodps, Fabr.) — Norwegian 
names, Knél, Pukkelhval,* or (Finmarken) Troldhval. Specimens 
seen, three males, estimated at about 30, 40, and 44 feet 
respectively in length. A foetus 343 inches long; a skeleton 
roughly cleaned (by Dr. Guldberg), &c.t The colour of the 


* Dr. Guldberg, ‘ Vardé Posten,’ Aug. 12th, 1883. 
+ In addition to these were living specimens, and another dead one or two 
seen from some distance. 


429 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


whole upper side of the body, and both upper and lower parts of 
the head, jet-black. The under side towards the tail end is also 
black; the remaining portions varied in the three males I 
examined. 

In the specimen about forty feet long (Aug. 23rd) the throat, 
with the furrows and nearly the whole of the under side, was 
white; part of the under side of the flukes white; the flukes were 
about 15 ft. across, narrow, notched along the free edge. The 
flippers measured 11 ft. 4in. to the head of the humerus; 
breadth at their broadest projection 38 ft. 2 in.; opposite axilla 
2ft.1in. The flippers were black on the outer side, white on 
the inner, the black extending round the edge to the inner side, 
with an occasional blotch of black, and two or three black rings 
—looking as if the outer side had been painted black, and the 
colour brought well round the edge to prevent the white showing 
from in front. 

In the specimen about forty-four feet long (the one caught 
during my cruise) the under side was entirely black, except two 
white or marbled patches on the chest, just aft of the flippers, 
and one or two tiny white spots not bigger than crown-pieces 
about the belly; half the lip of the navel was white. Flippers 
all white on the inner side; proximal quarter of the outside 
black, but the black stopping short of the anterior margin. 
Length from blowholes to end of nose, 7 ft. 10 in. Greatest 
width of skull, a few inches anterior to blowholes, at the zygo- 
matic portion of the frontal bones, 5 ft. 4 in. Length of flipper, 
including humerus, 15 ft. (about 13 ft. 9 in., measured to the skin 
at axilla); width of flipper at proximal notch, 3 ft. 7 in.; width 
of flipper at biggest notch more than half-way down, 3 ft. 1 in. 
Height of fin at after end, 9 in. The flukes having been cut off, 
not to be in the way in towing, I could not measure their width, 
but from fore to aft at the middle line they measured 8 ft. 7 in. 

The specimen about thirty feet long was almost entirely black 
on the under side, flippers quite white on the under side, and 
only black on the upper side a little way down from proximal 
end. This species may be immediately identified by the remark- 
ably long, unnatural-looking flippers; they are not distinctly 
curved or scimitar-shaped, as in the Rorquals, but are nearly 
straight and deeply notched or undulated along the anterior 
margin, and to a slight extent on part of the posterior also. 


. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 423 


The dorsal fin springs from a small hump on the back; Lilljeborg 
(Recent Mem. Cetacea, Ray Soc.), p. 289, thus describes it :— 
e ihe dorsal fin’. . +. . has rather a long base, but is very low, 
and in old specimens has the appearance of a hump, having 
thereby given rise to one of the names of the animal.” The 
measurement which I took of the height of the fin (9 in.) was 
independent of the base. The baleen is quite short, and entirely 
black, the fringes or hairs on the inner edge being of a lighter 
tint than the faded brown of the under side of a Hedgehog. 
The tongue is very soft and flaccid, attached throughout its 
length, and black in colour. The palate between the rows of 
baleen is flesh-coloured, and convex downwards instead of con- 
cave, as in most animals. When the skin and blubber had been 
removed the pelvic bone could be felt, slightly forward of the 
centre between the penis and the anus, and probably at least two 
feet from the median line in the specimen about forty feet long. 

A skeleton of this species prepared by Dr. Guldberg, and lying 
at the time of my visit on the quay, ready for shipment, has an 
exostosis or enlargement of the bone on the middle of the under 
surface of the right maxilla. There is a large projection on the 
central line of the under side in this species, about midway 
between the anus and the flukes. There are two transverse 
creases or folds of the skin about two feet respectively in front of 
and behind the anus, dividing the median line of the under side. 

A fetus, from a whale killed about August 21st, I brought 
home and gave to Prof. Flower for the Museum of the College of 
Surgeons. It measured 84$in. Girth behind flipper, 21 in.; 
length of flipper, 92 in.; breadth of flipper to largest projection 
on anterior edge, 23 in.; breadth of flukes, 82 in. It was flesh- 
coloured, and its eyes were open. 

Doubtless everyone who has seen a dead whale ashore 
has noticed its greatly inflated condition, and probably put it 
down to putrefaction ; but in the only case that came under my 
observation, viz., the example of this species which I saw killed, 
swelling began almost immediately after death—that is to say, 
it was perceptible after the lapse of about an hour, and the 
inflation steadily increased, the belly gradually rising more clear 
of the wash of the sea. Another individual of this species which 
I saw being towed in the offing by a whaler who had picked it up 
floating at sea, and which had probably been dead some days, 


424 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


was so much inflated as to float high out of the water, and 
resembled a balloon rather than a cetacean. 

The parasitic Crustacea, Diadema coronula, L. (balenaris, 
Lilljeborg), with Conchoderma (Otion, Lilljeborg) auritum, L., 
growing on them, were very numerous on the Humpbacks I 
examined, while ‘‘ lice” (Cyamus) were in thousands; I found 
some under the skin at a depth of two inches or so beneath 
the surface. 

Dr. G. A. Guldberg, Conservator of the University Museum in 
Christiana, was sent for, I think, two seasons to East Finmarken, 
to study the Cetacea on the spot; and now goes up there during 
the summer on his own account to prepare skeletons, for the sale 
of which he is in correspondence with many of the principal 
museums of Europe. He has probably had greater opportunities 
of studying the life-history and anatomy of the three species— 
the Sibbald’s and Common Rorqual, and the Humpback— 
than any other authority. He delivered a lecture on Whales 
in Vardé last summer, a verbatim report of which was published 
in the ‘ Vardé Post.’ The whole account is very interesting, but 
I must confine my quotations to his remarks on the coloration 
and reproduction of each species. He also went for a cruise on 
one of the Finmarken whalers, an account of which he published 
in ‘Norsk Jeger-og Fisker-Forenings Tidsskrift,’ 1883, p. 89, 
et seq. He was not fortunate enough to see a whale killed during 
his cruise. One Englishman had been for a cruise on one of 
these whalers before me, but he also was not lucky enough 
to see a whale killed; and I am, I believe, the only amateur 
so far who has seen a whale killed in this comparatively new 


fashion. 
(To be continued.) 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


The Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.—At Exeter on Sept. 12th, 
the presentation of a silver salver, a diamond locket, and one hundred 


sovereigns was made to Mr. and Mrs, W. D’Urban by the Mayor, in | 


recognition of their services in connection with the Albert Memorial 
Museum, of which Mr. D’Urban has been curator for twenty-two years. 


Se eee ee 


ee 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 425 


MAMMALIA. 


The Growth of Deer-horns.—A friend has sent me ‘ The Zoologist’ for 
September, with your article on the growth of deer-horns. It is a subject in 
which I take a great deal of interest, for I have had some opportunity of 
studying it, as we have here the heads of some seventy deer killed during and 
previous to my great-grandfather’s mastership of the North Devon Stag- 
hounds; and I have been Master of the Devon and Somerset Stag-hounds 
since April, 1881, since which date we have killed some eighty stags and 
male deer. I hope therefore you will excuse me if I offer some observations 
on your paper. {fam sure that a deer’s horns alone are a very uncertain 
guide to his age, though between them and his teeth you can tell a good 
deal about him. I doubt if deer in a wild state bring their heads to 
perfection as quickly as Dr. Clarke's did, for though it is true he had only 
one small piece of ground to get his living off, yet as that was only an acre, 
he could not have taken a great deal of exercise. It would have been 
interesting to know what his weight was when killed. The horns of 
Clarke’s deer are in the museum at Exeter, and if I saw them on a wild 
deer I should certainly say the animal was a year older than Clarke's deer 
was when he had them each year on his head, as they are big well-developed 
horns, and this has much more to do with the deer’s age than the number 
of points. Quite young deer will have eight and ten points, though both 
horns together are no bigger than a single one well grown with but four or 
five points on it. But I do not believe a deer ever has more than twelve 
points till his sixth year, and he will not have so many well developed 
before that time. I doubt the correctness of your statement that a deer 
has as fine a head at six as he ever will have. I think up to nine or ten 
years old the horn gets more points on it, and may improve in all respects. 
I am sure deer don’t have fifteen or sixteen poiuts much earlier; after that 
age it gets narrower and the points shorter, though I write this under 
considerable reservation, for Lord Brownlow told me that his Red-deer at 
Ashridge go on improving till fourteen, at which age they have twenty-four 
to twenty-eight points. He showed me the head of a deer thirty years old; 
it had nearly thirty points, but was short and hoop-headed. My predecessor, 
Mr. Bisset, ear-marked and turned out several deer; these occasionally 
come to hand, and give us information. On August 28th, 1882, we killed 
a great big stag, with brow, bay, and tray antlers, and two on top of one 
horn, four on top of the other. He was proved by ear-marks to be seven 
years old. On August 30th, 1883, we killed another ear-marked deer; he 
had brow, bay, and tray, and four on top of both horns. He was eight 
years old, but I should doubt if his horns were any heavier than those of 
the deer killed in the previous year. On September 1st, this year, we 
killed a deer also ear-marked with “ B. B. T. 2” on both horns; he was five 

ZOOLOGIST.—ocT. 1884. 2K 


426 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


years old—the age which, without knowledge of the ear-marks, my huntsman 
assigned to him. All these deer had lost the velvet. My huntsman has a 
theory that early calves lose it sooner than later ones; but there is only a 
week or ten days difference in the time of shedding the velvet, and at least 
three months, if not more, in the time of calving. This I know by observa- 
tion. Moreover, we have been obliged of late years, by the increasing number 
of deer, to hunt hinds as late as March, and the development of the foetus 
differs very much. I do not know if you have noticed it, or can give any 
reason for it, but in English and Scotch Red-deer it is the exception for 
the bay (or second) antler to be longer than the brow, while that is the rule 
in the Kashmiri, Bara Singh, and the American Wapiti. But deers’ heads 
grow all sorts of ways. We killed a stag last year, which, from his teeth, was 
very old, with a head like this [the sketch shows a head without bay antlers, 
and clubbed at top, the knob on the off-horn being eleven inches in cir- 
cumference; that on the near-horn nine inches.—Ep.], and another not 
long before with a palmated top. A curious thing about the former was 
that his “slot” was no bigger than that of a four-year old, and his testicles 
also were small, though the condition of his teeth left no doubt as to his 
age being great. Three years ago, too, we killed a stag with knobs on his 
horns, and he was only a six- or seven-year-old stag. But the strangest 
head I ever saw was one killed in the Duke of Bedford's park at Woburn, 
being more like a Fallow-deer’s head, only very irregular, and with the 
horns squeezed up against each other. I may add that the modern heads 
here, notwithstanding the crossing against which Dr. Clarke inveighs, 
compare favourably with the ancient ones. The bay antler is as often 
as not missing all through. Since writing the above I have seen a pair of 
horns which were shed this spring by a stag we killed the other day. They 
had two on top one side and three on the other. When we killed him he 
had three on top both sides and the horns are somewhat larger. He was 
apparently an eight-year old deer; and I know another similar instance. 
A very fine stag was killed some years ago near Holincote, with I think 
five and four on top; the horns he shed the spring previous had one point 
less, and were somewhat smaller all over; both pairs are in the possession 
of Sir T. D. Acland. This was one of the heaviest deer ever killed, and 
was supposed to be nine or ten years old. Our late Master, Mr. Fenwick 
Bisset, who died the other day, left me his hunting records and papers, and 
I expect that from them I could give you further particulars as to the 
horns of deer whose ages were known by ear-marks, as also of a castrated 
deer having horns like another. We have a theory down here that if a 
stag fails to grow his bay antler when he ought—7.e., at three years old 
or thereabouts—he will never do so; but I rather doubt if this always holds 
good, though no doubt it often does. We hunted a stag on Sept. 15th which 
still had velvet on his horns. Lord Portsmouth has the head of a stag 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 427 


killed by his father, which has only uprights, about eighteen inches long, 
such as a yearling might have, only wider spreading; but an old sportsman 
who saw him killed told me he was the biggest stag he ever saw. Lord 
Graves, on giving over the Mastership of the Staghounds to my great- 
grandfather in 1812, wrote thus about the points on stags’ horns at various 
ages :—‘ A male calf has no horn; a brocket (after one year old the 
male is termed a ‘brocket’), only knobbers and small brow antlers; 
a spire (three-year-old), brow antlers and uprights; a staggart (four-year- 
old), brow and tray antlers and uprights; a five-year-old deer, brow, bay, 
and tray antlers, a crocket or two on top of one horn, and an upright on 
the other; a warrantable stag (six-year-old), brow, bay, and tray antlers, 
and two on top of each horn: after this age their heads vary much in 
appearance.” —Esrineton (Castle Hill, North Devon). 


Growth of Deer-horns.—Having just read your interesting article on 
the ‘Growth of Deer-horns,” in the ‘ Zoologist ’’ for September, I venture 
to send you a few remarks bearing on it. You say “It is believed a 
deer at six years’ old will carry as fine a head as he is ever likely to do.” 
This statement seems strange ; for assuming, for the sake of argument, that 
the majority of stags have attained their rights and three crockets on top 
of each antler at six years old, for years after this number is reached the 
stag, if healthy, will usually have one point at least added to the crest of 
the horn every year, until a bullet or natural causes cut short its course. 
A case in point came under my notice, of a stag of twelve points having 
one point added every year until the number had reached seventeen, and 
that number would in all probability have been further increased had not 
the stalker’s bullet interfered. In overcrowded districts the antlers are 
very often almost rudimentary, and often, if well shaped, deteriorate at an 
early period; but, on the other hand, when the deer are few and the 
grazing good, there is very little supposition for concluding that the antlers 
do not attain great size, with many points, as age increases. I remember 
once picking up a a single antler with ten points, perfectly developed, the 
coronet well spread and the bone furrows very deep, plainly indicating the 
stag to be of considerable age and size. Assuming the fellow antler had 
ten points, this would give eight points added after six years had passed. 
The experience of Mr. Clarke could hardly be taken as a test case, for not 
only were his observations confined to a limited area, but the stag he takes 
as atype was in confinement. The experience of Mr. Collyns (Dulverton ) 
set forth at length in his book (‘The Chase of the Wild Red Deer,’ 1862), 
is more in accordance with general notions on the subject. He un- 
doubtedly was of opinion that, until natural decay or disease afflicted the 
animal, a gradual yearly increase, both in the size of beam and number of 
points, was kept up. I should like to see the collection at Mr. Stevens's, for 
Germany is the land of well-developed antlers now-a-days.—HERBERT Gow 
Stewart (Hole Park, Rolvenden, Ashford.) 


428 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Notes on Mammalia of Northamptonshire.—The Polecat, Mustela 
putorius, though formerly very common in this neighbourhood, has become 
so rare therein of late years that I consider the capture of a pair during 
the past winter as worthy of record. I was laid up and unable to write at 
the times of capture, which occurred with an interval of several weeks 
between them, and regret that I have not an accurate record of the month 
or day; but my impression is that the first of these two animals was 
trapped about the beginning of this year in a plantation which has been 
hitherto the place of execution of almost all of the few Polecats that we 
have taken in this neighbourhood during the last twenty-five years; this 
individual was a female, and not a very large one; the second, a very fine 
male, was caught—I think in March—at an old stone pit just outside our 
deer park. My neighbour, Mr. G. Hunt, of Wadenhoe, found the head of 
a Pike, Hsoa lucius, recently killed by a small Otter, Lutra vulgaris, whose 
tracks were quite fresh, on March 2nd. I record this, because Mr. Hunt 
assured me that this Pike’s head weighed three pounds. May 81st, one of 
our people brought in an orange-coloured Mole, Talpa europea, var., alive 
and uninjured, but it declined food, and died in a few days.—LiLrorD 
(Lilford Hall, Oundle, Sept. 14, 1884). 


BIRDS. 

Hoopoe in Sussex.—I learn from a friend in Sussex that during the 
first week of September a Hoopoe, Upupa epops, was shot at Alfriston, and 
is in the hands of Mr. J. Balcombe, Southover, Lewes, for preservation. 
Many persons regard this as a rare British bird, but the regularity with 
which it makes its appearance in spring and autumn, shows that it would 
be very much commoner if people would only abstain from shooting it 
whenever it appears. In France, where it is common in some parts, I have 
seen it strutting about on the grass within sight of the windows, raising and 
depressing its crest, and uttering its singular note “ hoop-hoop,” “ hoop- 
hoop.” A more curious and attractive bird on a garden lawn can scarcely 
be found.—J. E. Harrina. 


Food of Sparrows,—Having been asked to collect information on the 
food of Sparrows for the Norwich Chamber of Agriculture, I should feel 
extremely obliged to anyone who, having kept dated dissections, would allow 
measight ofthem. Capt. EK. F. Becher sent me two of the larve (from apple 
trees) on which Sparrows were recently feeding in Nottinghamshire (Zool. 
p- 342), and I forwarded them to Mr. C. G. Barrett, by whom they were 
identified as Teras contaminana, Hib. Instances of adult Sparrows eating 
any insects except small beetles, in the summer months, are rare. Nor 
are the young habitually fed on caterpillars. Far from it; I have opened 
several which contained none, and many in which corn largely prepon- 
derated. There is no doubt that the good which Sparrows do has been 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 429 


greatly exaggerated; whether the good is enough to balance the evil is 
another point.—J. H. Gurnuy (Northrepps, Norwich.) 


Ruff and Green Sandpiper in Co. Sligo.—On September 8th I was 
presented by Mr. C. Little with a specimen of the Ruff, shot by him a few 
days previously, when Grouse shooting on a lone flat moor near Tullylin, 
in this county. The bird was probably a female, but owing to its bad 
condition, I was unable to ascertain its sex with any certainty. The Ruff 
is a very rare bird in this western district, this being the first specimen 
I have met with, or even heard of, and in Thompson’s ‘ Birds of Ireland’ 
there is no record of its occurrence on the western coast. On August 28th, 
when walking through Castletown demesne, I disturbed a Green Sandpiper 
as it was feeding along the bank of a stream running from a mill-pond. 
I was surprised at its unusual tameness, for on being flushed it flew only a 
few yards, and alighted on the muddy bank of the pond, and gave me 
a good opportunity of observing it for some time at a distance of about 
forty yards. From its very dark plumage it was evidently an old bird. 
The Green Sandpiper is of very unusual occurrence in this district—some- 
times a period of several years elapses between its visits; the last noted 
occurrence was in 1877, when I shot an immature bird on October 4th.— 
RoBert WARREN (Moyview, Ballina). 


Water Rail near Penzance.—I received a Water Rail which had been 
killed by flying against the telegraph-wires near Marazion station. On 
taking it to Mr. Vingoe to have it set up, I found that he had already 
received two others on that day from places within the district. The bird 
is a scarce one in this neighbourhood, and does not, I believe, breed here. 
This coincidence of three specimens received together suggests a migration. 
—Tuomas CornisH (Penzance). 

[The late Mr. Rodd, in his ‘ Birds of Cornwall,’ writes of this bird 
(p. 134):—‘In sedgy morasses and overgrown wet ditches the Water 
Rail is sometimes met with. It is probably not uncommon, but from its 
skulking habits and disinclination to take wing, unless pressed by a dog, 
it doubtless often escapes observation.”—Eb. ]. 


Black Stork near Rainham.—About the beginning of July a large 
heron-like bird, with black back and belly white, was seen by a shepherd on 
an island marsh near here. On Sept. 8th Mr. Charles Gordon, of Dover, 
being at my house, we happened to go on the same marsh to shoot, and 
beside the shepherd’s house on the creek shore we found a skin of a bird 
very much decayed, which Mr. Gordon pronounced to be the skin of a 
Black Stork. From its appearance we assumed that it must have been 
lying there for about six weeks, floating on the shore with the tide. 
I picked up the pinion of one wing, one foot, and the skull. On ques- 
tioning the man he said that he had captured it at a small plash of water 


430 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


where eels had collected, all the rest of the ditches in the marsh, from the long 
warm dry weather, being quite dried up.—WatreR Prenris (Rainham). 


Ornithological Notes from Dorsetshire.—On August 5th I met with 
a Greater Shearwater, Puffinus major, in Durleston Bay, Swanage. As it 
was not shy I got within a few yards of it several times, and when disturbed 
it took only a short flight, settling down again upon the shore without any 
apparent alarm. I left it floating in the bay quite close to the shore. The 
next day I saw it in Swanage Bay. As I have not since heard of its capture 
or death, I would fain hope it has escaped the usual fate of rare birds in the 
neighbourhood of Poole. Two pairs of Stone Curlews (@idicnemus) selected 
a fallow field in the neighbourhood for their nests. Unfortunately it required 
reploughing before the young were hatched, and both nests were destroyed 
Three broods of Pochards were produced this summer on their usual breeding 
ground, which a pair selected about seven years ago for the first time; at 
least there is no record of such an event before. The present is a good 
season for Sheldrake ; several broods have been noticed in the Poole Estuary, 
but since the termination of the close season their numbers have been sadly 
diminished. A Snipe which I flushed the other day, after taking a short 
flight, settled upon the highest branch of an ash tree, and remained there 
until I again disturbed it, wishing to satisfy myself that I was not mistaken. 
—J. C. Manset Pieypert (Whatcombe, Blandford). 


Blue-throated Warbler on Spurn Head.—On Sept. 15th I saw two 
Blue-throated Warblers on Spurn Head, and shot one of them. TI after- 
wards wounded the other, but lost it. On the 18th I procured three more, 
one of which is a male, I think of the second year; the other two are birds 
of the year. These Bluethroats were all feeding on insects amongst the 
bent grass covering the headland. They could hop very fast; I sometimes 
put them up thirty or forty yards away from the spot I had marked them 
down.— Tueo. Fisner (Erfurt Lodge, Greenwich). 


Nesting of the Black Redstart in Bavaria.—On the very day that 
a window-frame was put into a house in the process of building at Parten- 
kirchen, Bavaria, a pair of Black Redstarts ([uticilla titys, Scopoli) 
commenced their nest in the space between the arch of the opening and 
the frame itself. The men worked daily in the room without the birds 
minding them, and the eggs in due course were hatched. Soon after this 
it became necessary to move the nest for the purpose of finishing the room- 
It was accordingly carefully removed and placed in a small box hung up 
outside the window under a joist intended to support a future balcony, and 
about a yard from its original position. The birds made no objection, and 
in due time the brood was reared. I am inclined to think that the males - 
do not change their plumage until the second year. A young pair, in the 
plumage described by Dr. Bree under the name Ruticilla cairii, built their 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 431 


nest under my balcony last year, and reared their brood. This year a 
similar pair built within a foot of the same spot, and reared a brood. The 
male is now (September 5th) beginning to change to the darker plnmage. 
I think it was the same pair, because they occupied the very twigs they did 
last year, and approached the nest exactly by the same route, and were even 
more friendly this year. They remain here throughout the winter.— 
Micuarx Foster Warp, Col. (Partenkirchen, Bavaria). 


Green Sandpiper in North Yorkshire.—A party of Green Sandpipers 
(7. ochropus) passed here in the middle of August last, on their autumnal 
migration. I saw one at Marfield Pond, a sheet of water of considerable 
extent much frequented by wild-fowl, on the 15th; another was seen by the 
river-side near Clifton Castle on the 19th; one was shot ata rapid stream on 
the Yore on the 21st, close to Masham; and on the 24th a second was shot 
on the edge of a small horse-pond, about a mile and a-half down the river. 
1880 was the first year we noticed these birds in this locality, when 
one was feeding on a sandbank by the river side on August 15th. August 
16th, 1883, I flushed one from almost exactly the same spot. None were 
seen during the two years 1881-1882. It is remarkable how nearly the 
dates of the three appearances of these birds fall upon the same day of 
the month, they being the 15th, 16th, and 15th respectively —THomas 
CarTER (Burton House, Masham). 


Manx Shearwater inland in Shropshire.—On Sept. 12th I received 
from my brother, the Rey. W. Bond, a fine adult Manx Shearwater, which 
had been picked up the previous day in a barley field at Aston-on-Clun, 
Shropshire. It is now in the hands of Mr. Burton, of Wardour Street, for 
preservation.—F’. Bonp (Staines). 


Black Game in Pembrokeshire.—By a printer’s error I am made to 
Say, in my notes under this heading, with reference to the Blackcock 
(p. 382), “the many blackcock runs one sees there everywhere attest its 
presence.” This should, of course, be “ Blackcock Inns,” alluding to the 
various inns of that name which occur generally throughout the whole of 
South Wales.—E. CampripcE Pariiips (Brecon). 


REPTILES. 


Lizards on the Rock of Filfolaa—The most interesting inhabitant 
of this limestone rock is the black variety of the common Green Lizard, 
Podarcis muralis, so common and universal in Malta. It has been remarked 
that they are tamer than their green relations on the mainland, but this 
is only natural, as human beings are comparatively unknown to them. 
Concerning this peculiar colour variety, Prof. Giglioli states that he has 
invariably found that P. muralis constantly presents dark varieties ‘on 
islets adjoining small islands,” and quotes as examples islets off Ponza, 


432 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Ventolene, Vacca (Sardinia), Panaria (Lipari Is.), &c., the extreme cases 
being Saraglione off Capri and Filfola.- Similar observations have been 
made in other parts of the world. The cause of this coloration has been 
assigned to the action of the sun on the pigment-cells of the skin, the 
lizards on islets being more exposed to. the sun’s heat than on larger tracts 
of land. These black Filfola lizards ate,'as 4 rule, larger than the type 
in Malta. I received several specimens; there was considerable variation 
in the arrangement of the scales on the belly, as also in the intensity of the 
bronze-black. They were all more or less marked with green scales, varying 
from emerald-green to a pale bright green. An excellent instrument for 
obtaining lizard specimens is a very small-bore walking-stick-gun, with 
No. 10 shot; it kills or disables them without mauling.—E. F. Becuer 
Capt. R.A. 
FISHES. 

Wreck-fish at Penzance.—On August 17th I obtained here a specimen 
of the Wreck-fish (Polyprion, Couch), one of the three fishes known as 
Stone Bass. It was found, as usual, near wreckage (in this case a wrecked 
barrel) afloat. I have nothing particular to record of it, except perhaps 
the fact that it proved exccedingly good from a culinary point of view.— 
Tuomas CornisH (Penzance). 


Ray’s Bream at Penzance.—On Sept. 5th I received from Porthgwara 
(a fishing cove west of the Logan Rock) a small specimen of Ray’s Bream, 
Brama Raii. It was captured, as these fish usually are, in a dying or 
disabled state on the edge of the waves. It is a small specimen, weighing 
about twenty ounces, and is chiefly remarkable from my having made it 
the subject of experiments with an antiseptic powder exhibited in our little 
West Cornwall Fisheries Exhibition held here during the past fortnight. 
The fish was taken on Sept. 4th, was bathed in the prescribed solution of 
the antiseptic powder on the 6th, and was eaten by me on the 12th, when 
I found it in a perfectly fresh state—Taomas CornisH (Penzance). 


MOLLUSCA. 


The proposed adoption of Trinomial Nomenclature.—Objection has 
been made to the trinomial system of nomenclature proposed by Dr. Coues, 
on the ground that it would be very liable to abuse, especially by amateurs, 
and certainly no better justification of this stricture could be found than the 
following extract from ‘Science Gossip’ for September :— The early part 
of this week I had a very pretty banded Helix nemoralis, var. hybrida, 
var. minor, var. sinistrorsum (reversed), sent me from a village near Bristol.” 
Readers of ‘ Science Gossip’ will doubtless be grateful to the writer for the 
translation of sinistrorswm, which of course should be sinistrorsa ; but surely 
the addition of “ var. a-fasciata” is required to complete the deseription.— 
B. B. Woopwarp (British Museum). 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vou. VIII.) NOVEMBER, 1884. [No. 95. 


A VISIT TO SKOMER ISLAND. 
By tHe Rev. Murray A. Matuew, M.A., F.L.S. 


In delightful weather at the end of May I was able to gratify 
a long-formed wish to visit Skomer Island, and to make acquaint- 
ance with its birds, especially with the Manx Shearwaters. I 
had the advantage of the company of Mr. Mortimer Propert, of 
St. Davids, who is an enthusiastic oologist. Received with no 
little kindness by the hospitable occupier of the island and hig 
family, we saw the sights of his interesting domain under most 
favourable circumstances, and much that is stated below is the 
result of information which he imparted to us. 

Skomer Island lies off the south-west of Pembrokeshire, at 
the southern extremity of St. Bride’s Bay, corresponding with 
Ramsey Island, which occupies a similar position to the north, 
and like the sister island is parted from the mainland by a 
narrow sound of deep water through which the tide rushes with 
great force. The sounds which part the two islands from the 
shore have besides the same characteristic in being studded with 
rocks, which render them rather dangerous for navigation when 
there is anything like a sea on, which is generally the case. In 
area Skomer contains about 700 acres. All over its surface large 
citadel-looking rocks crop up, and give to the island its name, 
which is taken from a Danish word signifying ‘the rocky.” 
Remains of an ancient occupation are visible in sepulchral 
barrows, and in the rough outlines of dwelling-places and 
enclosures. A conspicuous mark on the eastern side of the 

ZOOLOGIST.—Novy. 1884. 21 


434 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


island is a lofty upright stone. There are similar stones on the 
mainland, which are said to mark victories gained by Harold 
over the Danes. The village of Haroldston takes its name from 
such a memorial. 

A visitor to the island in the summer-time is struck with 
astonishment at the vast multitudes of Puffins which resort to it 
for nesting. They are everywhere, and are so tame that they 
hardly trouble to move out of one’s way. In walking, you are 
sure sooner or later to find your foot slipping through into some 
Puffin’s burrow, astonishing the bird sitting placidly on its egg. 
The whole demeanour of the Puffins may be said to be placid. 
It is not easy either to hurry them or to frighten them. Every 
now and then they may be seen scuttling out of their holes and 
making off in a ridiculous manner, rolling and tumbling head 
over heels before at last they can rise on wing. Unless they 
face the wind, or are on an eminence, Puffins are unable to fly, 
and when these conditions are not present to them they may be - 
easily caught. All along the edge of the cliffs they were to be 
seen thickly congregated ; their white breasts turned towards us 
had the appearance of monster snow-flakes. The only notice 
taken by the birds of our approach was to fall in in closer order, 
the outside ones advancing together with an absurd kind of 
military precision until the host was drawn up on the brink of 
the cliff four or five deep. And even then, unless one went 
close up to them, they remained stolidly motionless, regarding 
the stranger with no apprehension and with much indifference 
out of their queer little eyes. Throw a stone at them, and the 
bird near which it passes will only duck its head. As we were 
watching a great body of Puffins, wheeling backwards and 
forwards over the water, we suddenly noticed one with pure 
white wings, which was a very conspicuous object among its 
companions. After a while this bird flew several times close by 
where we were seated, and might easily have been dropped had 
a gun been at hand. The Puffins arrive on Skomer with great 
punctuality on the 1st of April, and leave the island early in 
August. The Manx Shearwaters are a little earlier in coming 
and later in their departure. 

In the bird way Skomer possesses two phenomena, one being 
the great multitude of its Puffins, the other the equally vast hosts 
of the Manx Shearwaters. During the daytime none of the 


A VISIT TO SKOMER ISLAND. 435 


Shearwaters were visible, being all asleep in their burrows. 
Anyone walking over the island might have little notion of the 
yast population slumbering just under his feet, in the deepest 
rabbit-earths, or in holes of their own excavation. Since the 
Sea Birds Preservation Act was passed, the rabbits on Skomer 
have greatly diminished in numbers; the annual take, which 
used to be 9000, is now barely 3000. As the rabbits are the 
chief produce of the island, this represents a serious loss. The 
Herring Gulls are the greatest depredators, being for ever on the 
hunt for young rabbits; and the Puffins and Shearwaters are 
continually worrying the breeding rabbits in their burrows, 
thus contributing their share to the mischief. The Shearwaters 
do not emerge from their holes until dark. At 10 p.m. there 
was no sign of them, but going out at midnight the whole 
island seemed alive, and the air vocal with their unearthly 
wailing cry. 

From the sky above, from the ground at one’s feet, and from 
below the ground, the noise proceeded, and was compared by a 
friend to the cry of jackals at night, and it seemed to us that the 
words ‘‘Come over the wall,” ‘‘ Come under the wall,” rapidly 
repeated in a sibilant whisper, would represent the sound which 
surrounded us. It was not a deafening noise, far from it; rather 
a soft, weird, and unearthly chorus, resembling nothing we had 
ever listened to before. It was too dark to see the birds, unless 
they flew directly overhead, but we could hear them fluttering’ 
close by, and feel our cheeks fanned by their wings. They were 
also to be heard beating along the ground at our feet; for, like 
the Puffin, the Shearwater is unable to rise unless it is on 
sloping ground, or is assisted by the wind. A setter we had with 
us caught the birds and brought them to our hands uninjured as 
fast as we could take them from her; and it would have been 
easy in this manner to have captured hundreds, or aided by a 
lantern to have run down the birds and knocked them over with 
sticks. One night we were told that the farm servants actually 
destroyed a multitude in this manner, and that the bodies 
of the birds were ploughed into the ground as a dressing for 
wheat. Alas, poor “‘ cockles”! to what vile uses did they come. 
N.B. ‘‘Cockle” is the local name for the Manx Shearwater, from 
the noise the bird makes when its nest is dug into. The night 
we spent upon the island the wailing of the birds was incessant 


436 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


until about 3 a.m., and at the first streak of dawn it died away, 
as they then retired to their holes. 

We were out early in the morning to perambulate the island, 
and came upon a single Shearwater at the mouth of its burrow, 
and no rabbit could have made a more precipitate bolt than it 
did on our approach. After peering into many rabbit-holes we 
at last found one in which a ‘‘ cockle’’ was to be seen, distant 
about an arm’s length, sitting either asleep or upon its egg; and 
not coveting its treasure, after a good look into the hole we left it 
undisturbed. We searched in vain for the White-winged Puffin, 
which was either out on the water, in its hole, or somewhere else 
out of sight. On the top of the island we came upon numerous 
Sea Pies, nesting in the stunted heather and fern. The old birds 
wheeling above our heads and keeping up an incessant piping of 
alarm and anger, were very handsome objects, with their vividly- 
contrasted black and white plumage standing out well against 
the blue sky. We could find no eggs, and all the birds seemed 
to have young; and it was not long before some little chicks . 
were detected crouching beneath the shooting bracken. These 
bore a great resemblance to young Peewits, but had far stouter 
legs. We sat down for some time opposite a grand cliff at Wick 
Haven, on the south-west side of the island, which swarmed 
with myriads of birds. The lower ledges were occupied by 
countless Kittiwakes seated on or beside their nests, which, like 
the structures of the House Martin, seemed made with mud. On 
the higher ledges sat Razor-billed Auks and Guillemots row 
upon row, in places five and six deep, and every coign of 
vantage on the top of the cliff was occupied by the inevitable 
Puffin. A babel of sounds came forth from these innumerable 
birds, the hoarse cackle of the Kittiwakes, which seemed to 
formulate the complaint, ‘‘ tobacco I want, tobacco I want,” 
prevailing over all. 

Walking further on we came to a spot where a little mais 
of Lesser Black-backed Gulls had taken up a station on the top 
of the cliff, and soon found several nests containing eggs. A 
little later I nearly trod upen a Whimbrel among the fern. The 
bird walked slowly off, trailing its wings—suspicious behaviour 
which made me search for its nest, but none was found. It would 
have been a grand discovery could Whimbrel’s eggs have been 
detected so far south as Skomer. Choughs and Ravens were 


A VISIT TO SKOMER ISLAND. 437 


noticed about the cliffs, but the absence of all hawks surprised 
us; not even a Kestrel was visible. We were told that a pair of 
Peregrines had an eyrie upon the island, and that Buzzards 
sometimes visited it. An old stone wall was pointed out to us 
as frequented by Stormy Petrels, which place their nests, like 
Wheatears almost, in the interstices of the stones; but we were 
not fortunate enough to find what would have been to us one 
of these interesting nests. Partridges thrive very well on 
Skomer, and in the season good bags are made. The island 
possesses an immunity from rats. Mice are abundant, and are 
looked after by numerous White Owls, which have their 
habitations among the rocks. 

While gazing on the myriads of sea-birds, we could not help 
thinking what an enormous quantity of fish there must be in the 
adjacent waters to maintain them, and what immense numbers 
the birds must capture. When the young Puffins are hatched, 
the old birds may be seen returning from fishing to their 
burrows, with little fish hanging like ribbons, two or three on 
either side of their beaks. These little fish are presumably 
young herrings. But no doubt there are enough fish in the 
green depths for all the birds, for all the seals, for all the larger 
predaceous fish, and for all the fishermen who go after them, and 
plenty over when the wants of all these are appeased to the full. 
Seals are not scarce round Skomer, and inhabit the caves at the 
base of the cliffs. We were. favoured by the sight of one. Ag 
we sat among the sea-pinks (what singular cushions these plants 
form !), on the side of the island looking down on one of the 
havens, the seal was immediately beneath, and in the clear 
water his movements were perfectly visible. Every now and 
then he would lift his head just above the surface, and gaze up 
at us in a lazy indifferent manner, and then we could see him 
sink again and slowly paddling benéath the water, among the 
masses of many-coloured sea-weed. An ordinary sight this to 
dwellers upon the island, but to landsmen like ourselves, the 
apparition of the seal appeared something to be preserved 
among the pleasant pictures stored away in the gallery of 
memory. 

The experiment has been tried on Skomer of removing 
the eggs from the Gulls’ nests and substituting hens’ eggs, 
which have been invariably hatched out, and the chickens then 


438 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


removed to the farm-yard. Even a pair of Carrion Crows were 
successfully entrusted with a quota of hen’s eggs, and this, 
which might well seem a risky venture, resulted in the due 
appearance of the chickens and their safe removal home. The 
fact that one of them was black, although the eggs were the 
produce of fowls in which that colour was not represented, was 
of course regarded by the farm people as due to the influence of 
the Crows. 

I must not omit to state that there are no Common Terns 
upon Skomer, as I erroneously asserted in my paper on the 
Birds of Pembrokeshire (p. 218); but a small colony of about 
twenty pairs, as I learned from the boatman who brought us 
across, inhabit Skokolm Stack, a large rock off the eastern end 
of Skokolm Island, some four or five miles distant from Skomer, 
and this would appear to be the only breeding-station of these 
birds in Pembrokeshire waters. 

Skomer, like Lundy and Ramsey, is without either bush or 
tree, and does not appear to be dowered with the same wealth of 
wild flowers that one finds on those two islands. The white 
lychnis, and the beautiful wild roses of Ramsey were absent from 
Skomer. But as one walks round its cliffs there are some grand _ 
effects of colour. At one place the rocks are coal-black; this is 
at their base, and where they contrast with the green sea-water 
and sea-weeds of varied hues; higher up there are larger masses 
of deep orange-colour, while intermingled are rocks of brown and 
grey of different shades. 


EGGING ON THE COAST OF YORKSHIRE. 
By Tuomas Carrer. 


Tur night we arrived at Filey (June 13th) we met on the 
cliff-top, past the old church, two men returning from a day’s 
“ climming,” as it is there called; they had eggs of the Guillemot, 
Herring Gull, and Lesser Black-backed Gull, though very few of 
the last named. After making arrangements to accompany them 
on the next occasion, we enquired the best place on the Flam- 
borough cliffs to see some “ climming,” and were told Bempton. 

Accordingly, on the 16th, my brother and I proceeded there. 
Arrived at the cliff-top we found a strong north-east wind blowing, 


EGGING ON THE COAST OF YORKSHIRE. 439 


bringing with it a strong fishy smell from the birds below, numbers 
of which were flying about in an agitated manner. Two men 
seated on the edge of the cliff were hauling in a rope in capital 
time, and as we reached them their comrade’s head appeared from 
below, and the next moment he walked up to where we stood. 
He proved to be the head man of this set of four, and had brought 
up about thirty eggs, all Guillemots’ or Ringed Guillemots’. This 
he considered a fair number for the time of year, the season being 
so far advanced. He wore two broad-brimmed felt hats padded 
with tow, for the chief danger arising from the fall of loose stones, 
it is necessary to have some protection. As he goes down he 
takes care to clear away with his feet any stones which look likely 
to become detached ; it is, however, impossible to free the face of 
the cliff from all loose pieces, and if he sees a fragment falling he 
dodges it, if possible, by swinging out of the perpendicular. He 
had been so far fortunate as never to have met with any serious 
accident during the whole period of his climbing (thirty-six years), 
though he had occasionally been struck by falling stones, but never 
much hurt. 

The ropes used are two in number, made of finest Russian 
hemp, and every third year a fresh pair, costing about £2, is 
carefully selected. The ‘“ climmer” first puts on the “‘ breeches,” 
which are about three inches deep and made up of stout sacking. 
The legs are thrust through the two loops, which are pulled up 
to the fork of the body, and two belts attached to the breeches 
are crossed over the body and buckled on the chest. ‘T'wo canvass 
bags, each capable of holding a great number of eggs, are 
slung one over each shoulder, for if an egg be picked up on 
the right side it is difficult to put it in a bag on the left side, 
and vice versé; hence two bags are necessary. A strong leather 
shield is strapped over the left wrist, and the “climmer” is 
ready for work. One of the ropes is then fastened to two small 
loops on the front of the breeches, and passing over the left 
wrist (where the leather guard is strapped to prevent chafing), 
is held by the men on the cliff-top. An iron spike, about 
eighteen inches in length, with a flat top the size of a crown- 
piece, is then driven into the ground near the edge of the cliff, 
one end of the other rope is made fast round it, and the whole 
length of the rope thrown over the cliff, the birds flying out by 
hundreds from below as it falls. 


440 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


The “climmer” now stands astride of this fixed rope, which 
is called the “hand-rope,” and grasping it in his hands, leans 
well back and walks backwards over the cliff, sticking his toes 
against any projections which appear. His companions, who have 
seated themselves behind one another on the cliff-top, with the 
“‘ ouide-rope” (the one fixed to his breeches) carefully coiled 
beside them, paying it out as he goes down. The one nearest the 
edge wears a broad leather band round his body to prevent the 
friction of the guide-rope (which runs round his body and through 
his hands) becoming painful. 

A bank of earth from two to four feet in height is thrown up 
near the cliff, to prevent cattle straying over. Beyond this isa 
footpath, and between this path and the extreme edge of the cliff 
is a steep grassy slope, like a house-roof, so that it is impossible 
to lie down and look over, and care has to be taken not to shoot off. 
While the “climmer” is being lowered the rope is allowed to run 
out along this slope, the friction retarding too rapid a descent, 
and thus helping the men at the top. When the man below has 
gathered as many eggs as he can reach, he jerks once upon the 
rope fastened to him, and as the other end is held by his com- 
panions they feel it at once, and draw him up, he all the time 
aiding himself with hands and feet in mounting upwards. The 
signalling is done by jerking the rope; thus one jerk means 
“pull up,” three “ more hand-rope,” &e. 

As the “clinmer” went down we walked to where the cliff 
jutted out a little, and as he was in a curve of the cliff we had a 
good view of his proceedings. ‘This is the only way by which a 
proper view can be obtained. Down he went at a fair speed, 
every now and then striking his feet against the face of the cliff, 
and in his rebound gliding down the hand-rope a considerable 
distance. Proceeding lower still, he grew rapidly less to sight 
until he was perhaps two hundred feet down, when he stopped, 
aud began to pick (to us) invisible objects from the ledges and 
put them in his bag; with an opera-glass we could see they were 
eggs, the birds—which seemed mere specks—flying round him in 
hundreds, the sea below being dotted with their numbers. Now 
and again a bird would rise as high as the top of the cliff, and 
skim past us, twisting its head about in an anxious manner. The 
Guillemots, by far the most numerous species, kept crying in a 
harsh croaking voice, “or—r—r”; the Ringed Guillemots and 


EGGING ON THE COAST OF YORKSHIRE. 441 


Razorbills have a similar note, while the Kittiwakes reiterate 
their own name. 

Now the “climmer” has got so low down that the sea-spray 
wets his clothes, and as the only eggs to be found so low down 
are Kittiwakes’ and not much in request, being small and easily 
broken, he stands on a ledge and jerks once on the guide-rope. 
One of his comrades goes to the edge of the cliff, holding by the 
hand-rope, and sticks an iron pulley on a short spike into the 
ground, passing the guide-rope on to it. The weight of the man 
on the rope keeps the pulley fast, and thus they haul him steadily 
but rapidly up. He empties the contents of his bags into large 
baskets, and we find the eggs are almost all Guillemots’, with a 
sprinkling of Ringed Guillemots’, which can only be told by 
watching the birds off the eggs, though the men profess to be able 
to distinguish them by their being shorter and rounder; but some 
eggs from which the men watched the birds for me, and brought 
up, were exactly similar to those of the Guillemot. The colours 
are most brilliant and varied, and a basketful is a beautiful 
object. 

Next to the Guillemots, Razorbills are the most abundant 
species ; but the eggs of these birds are generally difficult to reach, 
being, as a rule, placed in a deep fissure. Then come Kittiwakes, 
which make their nests just above reach of high tide. Puffins are 
very numerous, but as their eggs are almost invariably placed at 
the end of a deep crevice or hole, they are not often seen in the 
“climmer’s” baskets. Rock Pigeons build in some numbers in 
the caves below, but from their inaccessibility their eggs are 
seldom taken. Jackdaws build in the nooks and crannies of the 
rocks, but the eggs are too small to be worth the trouble of 
looking after. Occasionally the nest of a Kestrel or Carrion Crow 
is met with, and twice only in his life had our informant taken a 
Cormorant’s nest. Ravens have been extinct for the past fifteen 
years. ‘The birds are known by the following local names :—the 
Common Guillemot is called the ‘ Scout” (pronounced “ Scoot”); 
the Ringed Guillemot, ‘‘Silver-eyed Scout’; the Razorbill, 
“Auk”; the Puffin, “Parrot”; the Carrion Crow, “Raven Crow”; 
the Kittiwake, ‘“ Kittiake.” 

The next time the “climmer” went below he brought up a 
live Razorbill which he had caught on her egg; she was in a very 
bad temper, and bit savagely at his fingers. When he let her fly 


> 


442 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


she had some difficulty in getting below again, for the wind struck 
upwards from the cliff as it blew in from the sea. These birds are 
often blown inland in stormy weather, and never get back again, 
seeming to get quite bewildered. ; 

£1 reward is offered for information given for every bird 
killed or taken during the close season; hence a sharp look out 
is kept for any offenders against the law. We were glad to hear 
that the birds have been increasing in numbers every year since 
the Act was passed, and we were told that if the passing of the 
Act had been delayed a few more years there would have been no 
birds left. 

On asking whether they would let us try to bring up some 
eggs, they said “ Yes, if we dared.” Accordingly we arranged to 
go next day, and they would find an easy place or two where the 
cliff was not hollow. After going down a few more places they left 
off for that day, as one of the set was absent, and it was hard 
work for only two to keep pulling up the third all day. They 
take it in turns to go down, one man climbing one day and next 
day another, and all the eggs are divided equally among them. 
They sell most of them for eating among the villagers and farmers, 
_ but pick out some of the best-marked specimens to sell to visitors 
at neighbouring watering-places, and sometimes to an egg dealer. 
They have their regular places where they always go down, and 
each place is visited twice a week, so that the eggs cannot get 
incubated. The different sets of climbers along the cliffs have 
each their own ground, and do not trespass on one another's 
territory. The farmers along whose fields they climb receive a 
basketful or so of eggs as rent. The men are ordinary working 
men, perhaps renting a field or two, and climb from about the 
middle of April or beginning of May till the first week in July, 
though they cannot climb when the weather is very wild or wet. 

On arriving the next day at the cliff-top, I found the men at 
work nearer Speeton, on Raincliff, where the cliffs are about four 
hundred feet in height; the highest point is at Speeton, four 
hundred and fifty feet. They were just at the place where they 
had decided to let me down, so taking off my hat, coat and watch 
I donned the breeches, bags and gauntlet, and grasping the hand- 
rope, proceeded to walk backwards off the edge. I should imagine 
it is the first turning over the edge that tries the nerves of the 
amateur most. I felt an inclination to kneel on the edge instead 


EGGING ON THE COAST OF YORKSHIRE. 443 


of leaning as far back as possible with my feet against the face of 
the cliff. However, I did not give way to this, but went steadily 
over and down, the men paying out the guide-rope. As soon as 
I was fairly over I looked straight down into the sea boiling below, 
and cannot say that I felt the least giddiness; on the contrary, 
I enjoyed the sensation very much. I was soon low enough to 
see two Guillemot’s eggs on a ledge, and speedily bagged them, 
but on looking round could not see any more. I expect the men 
had cleared off all but these two, so that in case I did not put in 
my appearance no great loss would result to them. Giving the 
signal to pull up, I was soon at the top again, and was critically 
looked at by the men, who, seeing that I did not tremble, said 
I was “a good-plucked one.” 

They do not seem to care much about lowering amateurs, 
probably because it takes up too much of their time. ‘The birds 
were very numerous here, and I was taken on to one projection 
and pointed out the slack on one side of it, where the birds were 
simply clinging in thousands to the face of the cliff, like bees. We 
shouted and waved our hands to try and frighten some of them 
off, but their screams drowned our voices, so that very few, com- 
paratively, flew away. Almost all that left had been sitting on an 
egg, and very beautiful these looked against the white cliff. These 
birds were almost all Guillemots, and the reason for the vast 
colony at this point is that the cliff hangs over many yards at the 
top, so that it is quite impossible to swing far enough under to 
reach the eggs. The birds seem to know this, and breed in 
security. 

The cliffs are of white limestone; down below are curious 
fissures, in which the “‘climmers” sometimes disappear from sight, 
and at the bottom are fine caves and arches. The Guillemots and 
Razorbills, as a rule, sit with their backs to the sea; they seem 
to be unable to fly directly up to their ledges, and approach them 
by a circuitous sideways route. Here and there a cluster of five 
or six Razorbills may be seen facing the sea, and as another bird 
flies past they stretch out their necks and hiss and snap at it. 
The little Puffins seem to take a delight in sitting in the mouths 
of the holes where their eggs are, and surveying the animated 
scene. The men told me that at one time a black variety of the 
Common Guillemot, and at another time a white Guillemot, 
haunted the cliffs, but were never killed to their knowledge. The 


444 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


eggs are much liked by the villagers, who say they are never 
made bilious by eating them. 

The next day my father, brother, and self set out again for 
the cliffs, and found the men climbing at .“ Danes Dyke,” nearer 
to Flamborongh. The birds were not so numerous there, with 
the exception of Puffins; but these birds were more abundant, 
probably, because a colony of rabbits also found quarters there, 
the Puffins doubtless finding the burrows made very convenient 
for nesting in. The rabbits ran about and disappeared over the 
edge of the cliff in a miraculous fashion. 

As this was the last time we expected to visit these cliffs, 
I again donned the climbing apparatus, and was lowered a great 
distance, until I gathered two eggs of the Ringed Guillemot and 
one of the Common Guillemot, which were all I could see, one of 
the men having been over this part of the cliff earlier in the day. 
Taking a last survey of the wondrous surroundings from my airy 
position, I gave the signal, and was soon on the cliff-top again. 

The eggs when fresh gathered are of the most brilliant and 
varied colours, and we were able to choose a splendid series from 
those we saw brought up. ‘Those with a green or blue ground 
colour, with black markings, are most abundant; then those with 
white ground and black marks; and lastly, those with white ground 
and reddish brown and lilac markings. ‘l'wo we saw brought up 
were of a uniform pale green colour, without any markings. The 
story that a Guillemot’s egg will spin round with the wind must 
be a myth. The men said they had never seen anything of the 
kind, and when I was down I should imagine there was quite 
sufficient wind to turn them round if they would go. The greatest 
number of eggs we saw brought up at one time was forty-nine, 
but in the height of the season they sometimes get upwards of 
one hundred—no light weight to bring up. 

We arranged that night with the Filey men, before mentioned, 
to climb the cliffs between the Brigg and Scarborough, and started 
early the following morning (June 19th). We commenced climbing 
soon after we passed the Spa, but one of the men and I went down 
several times without finding anything, until he brought up three 
eggs from a Herring Gull’s nest. The cliffs are not so high as 
the Flamborough range, but much worse to climb, often over- 
hanging very much, and composed of soft material which readily 
crumbles. We climbed as far as a part of the cliff jutting out 


EGGING ON THE COAST OF YORKSHIRE. 445 


ealled ‘Scout Nab,” as a small colony of these birds lay there, 
but we found only a few Herring Gulls’ eggs, and some Rock 
Pigeons’ nests, from which I was unable to extract the eggs, as 
they were so far in the crevices. We only saw one Guillemot’s 
egg here, for the rest had all been taken by a climber from Filey 
a day or two previously. A Sheldrake flew quacking below us, 
and doubtless had a nest or young near. My fellow-climber said 
he had never found a nest. He said there had been a Teal with 
a brood of young on the Brigg that morning. 

Past ‘‘ Scout Nab” we found nothing until we came to a part 
of the cliff called the ‘‘ Lime-kiln,” and here we could see three 
Herring Gulls’ nests, containing respectively three, two, and one 
egg. I again donned the ropes and went down. It was an 
awkward place, the cliff overhanging a considerable distance. 
When this is the case the best plan is to turn your back to the 
cliff at once and slide down the rope, as in this position you do 
not spin round and twist your ropes. I brought up three of the 
eggs in safety, not caring to take any more. A Rock Pigeon 
flying out, further on, I again went down, and saw the nest was in 
a deep fissure. Creeping up it as far as I could, with my walking- 
stick held out at arm’s length, I succeeded with much difficulty in 
raking out the two eggs, but cracked them both in doing so; they 
were quite fresh, and I managed to blow them on reaching our 
lodgings, whither we then turned our steps, as it was late in the 
afternoon. 

Several times in the course of the next few days when on the 
Brigg, we observed some Cormorants fly into a bend in the cliffs 
past the Spa; so we went along the top of the cliff, and saw one 
of the birds on a projecting point, while two more flew out from 
below it. Feeling sure there must be a nest there, we went with 
one of the men on June 26th, but though he and I went down 
several times we could see no traces of a nest, though the cliff 
had a quantity of the droppings splashed about where we had 
seen the Cormorant perched. 

We then went to a recess between the Spa and the Brigg, 
from whence we had often seen a Rock Pigeon leave its nest. 
Our companion held the rope above, and after throwing both ends 
down, I climbed below, and tying the guide-rope round my chest, 
gave the signal and climbed up the rope—for the cliff was hollow 
and overhung some yards—until opposite the crevice where the 


446 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


nest was. By swinging in, I was at length able to catch my foot 
on a projecting cornice of rock, and then my brother, who stood 
below to shout directions to the man above, told him to slack the 
rope. I was thus able to get a hold of the rock with my hands. 
Then, as he continued to slack the rope, I crawled further under 
the cliff along a ledge which led to the nest, and at length was 
able to reach the eggs, which fortunately were only a hand’s length 
in the hole. Pocketing these, I crawled back as far as possible, 
and then, swinging away from the cliff, slid down to the ground. 
Our companion was delighted when he saw the eggs, as he said 
“climmers” considered Rock Pigeons’ eggs the most difficult to 
get. I may mention that we several times saw tame Pigeons 
flying about the cliffs in company with the genuine Blue-rocks. 
When climbing on these cliffs we did not use “ breeches,” but 
merely tied the rope under our arms. The “breeches” are 
certainly more comfortable, as the rope then does not chafe. 

On June 27th, as we still observed the Cormorants visiting 
the same part of the cliffs, we hired a boat and rowed out round 
the Brigg, opposite the Point. We had not been there long 
before a Cormorant flew up and alighted on a ledge, where it sat 
watching us and preening its feathers; but though we waited an 
hour it would not show us its nest, and at length flew away. 
While we were watching two other Cormorants flew past us and 
disappeared behind the cliffs jutting out at Gristhorpe Bay. Next 
morning we went across country to this bay, where we commenced 
climbing, but could see no traces of Cormorants or their nests. 
A pair of Kestrels screaming round told us they had a nest near. 
One of the men then descended, and we saw him thrust his 
arms into a fissure, below which we had remarked a quantity of 
droppings. ‘Then ensued a tremendous screaming and chattering 
from within. Out fluttered a young hawk to the foot of the cliff, 
and immediately after our man pulled out by the legs five young 
Kestrels, screaming, fighting and clawing one another vindictively. 
He said they were all standing in a row in a crevice of the cliff, 
with no sign of a nest. 

We then climbed towards Scout Nab, but with very poor 
success, finding only a few Herring Gull’s nests. These were full 
of dry grass and roots, and placed on ledges of the cliff, especially 
where a little grass is growing, and are often in places most 
difficult of access, doubtless from the incessant persecution to 


EGGING ON THE COAST OF YORKSHIRE. 447 


“6 


which they are subjected by the “climmers” from Filey, parties 
of whom are constantly visiting them; but in spite of this we 
were told that these birds are not decreasing in numbers. They 
make a tremendous outcry when their nests are approached, 
hovering so close as to show the sparkling of their eyes, and all 
the time screaming vociferously. We did not take any of their 
eggs, for we had a sufficient number; and one of the men and 
I kept climbing at intervals, in the hope of finding a Cormorant’s 
nest, but in vain. We only found two Jackdaws’ nests with eggs, 
and one Guillemot’s egg, which, being a nicely marked specimen, 
I secured after some difficulty. We also found two plump young 
Herring Gulls, as large as pullets, walking briskly along a ledge 
half way down the cliff. We saw but a single pair of Lesser Black- 
backed Gulls during the three days we were on these cliffs. 

From the number of times we saw Cormorants turn in past 
the Spa, I feel sure there were one or two nests there. A large 
fissure ran into the cliff in a slanting direction, but as the cliff 
hung over very much it was quite inaccessible, and my opinion is 
the nests were in there. Had there been any nests on the face of 
the cliff we should have seen them. A man who had been climbing 
that week assured us that a Cormorant had flown from this very 
fissure, nearly striking him as it hurried out, but that he could 
not possibly climb into it. All whom we asked said Cormorants’ 
eggs had never been taken there; but one climber said he once saw 
a nest with three eggs on Scout Nab, but in an unapproachable 
position. He said that Ravens had not built, or been seen, on 
these cliffs for upwards of twenty years, though formerly they 
bred there regularly ; and that one year he took some large-sized 
eggs, of a pale green ground colour, with red blotches from the 
cliffs near the Spa, and that remains of many birds, &c., were 
scattered about near, from which we judged them eggs of a hawk. 
He sold them toa eee in Filey, but on making enquiries we 
found they had been again sold, though not identi 

On July 3rd we visited Flamborough Caves, and found the 
birds there were mostly Puffins, with a few Guillemots. On the 
sloping banks on the shore between Filey and Speeton we found 
nests of the Titlark, Linnet, Sedge Warbler, Sand Martin, Whin- 
chat, and Hedgesparrow in abundance. We also noted Grass- 
hopper Warblers and Stonechats, and found a Wheatear’s nest 
with young between Filey and the Brigg. House Martins had 


448 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


nests on all the cliffs, and here and there a pair of Swifts flew 
about, evidently having their nests in some crevices. Corn 
Buntings and Skylarks were most abundant inland, and on 
several occasions we saw two or three Ringed Plovers feeding on 
the Brigg. 


ON SOME INTRODUCED BIRDS IN NEW ZEALAND. 
By T. H. Ports, F.L.S. 


Some particulars about introduced birds seem worth recording, 
such as the remarkable rate of reproduction in some species, 
the retrogression—without apparent cause—that may be noticed 
amongst others. 

The Hedgesparrow, Accentor modularis, is plentiful in the 
gardens and hedgerows about Christchurch and its suburbs; it 
finds such capital shelter in the thick gorse hedges. On Banks’ 
Peninsula it is rarely met with. 

The Song Thrush, Turdus musicus, may be found at Riccarton, 
near Christchurch, but in most other places it is a rare bird. 
There were several nests in the gardens at Ohinitahi eighteen 
years ago, but a cock bird that made its appearance in the 
summer of 1882-8 was looked upon as a rarity. 

It has been hitherto unexplained why this species should 
die out, when its congener, the Blackbird, Turdus merula, is so 
prolific, increasing in numbers wherever there is cultivation or 
covert to skulk in. About Christchurch it breeds in far too 
great numbers for the contentment of owners of gardens and 
orchards, for it attacks most kinds of fruit. Notwithstanding the 
gun, the trap, and even poison, the Blackbird flourishes. I have 
known more than one hundred and fifty killed in one strawberry 
garden in about three months. 

Of the Australian Magpie, Gymnorhinus, the numbers have 
decreased almost everywhere. Probably many are destroyed 
during the breeding season, for at that time its attacks on persons 
are so savage and persistent that it tries peoples’ patience too 
much for its welfare. Native birds have increased since the 
Magpies have left this district. 

The Rook, Corvus frugilegus, thrives in the suburbs of Christ- 
church; it breeds on the taller blue-gums (Hucalyptus). The 


i lem ei Ne tee ie 


ON SOME INTRODUCED BIRDS IN NEW ZEALAND. 449 


cawing and wheeling of large flocks reminds one of the rural 
delights of the old country. 

The Starling, Stuwrnus vulgaris, has greatly increased in 
numbers. Large flocks settle in the sheep-paddocks, where they 
do good service. In the autumn the Starling affects the taller 
trees about the plantations. 

The Chaffinch, Fringilla celebs, once was common here ; 
during the past two years it has sensibly decreased. In nest- 
building it very frequently uses fragments of printed paper as a 
substitute for lichens where this favourite material is scarce. 

The Goldfinch, Fringilla carduelis, is now one of the com- 
monest species here. It breeds in our gardens freely, and is some- 
times seen with Sparrows searching for food on newly-dug ground. 

The Greenfinch, Fringilla chloris, was once one of the worst 
pests of the corn-fields and fruit-gardens. One of its favourite 
habits in the winter months consisted in picking out seeds from 
the large cones of the cluster pine (P. pinaster). 

The Sparrow, Passer domesticus, has become a. terrible 
nuisance to the farmer. At a recent meeting at the rooms of 
the Agricultural and Pastoral Association the damage from 
Sparrows was estimated to have entailed a loss of £50,000 to 
the Canterbury farmers. Very energetic measures have to be 
taken for lessening its numbers. Sparrow Clubs have started 
in all directions, and tens of thousands of eggs and young birds 
are annually brought in for the rewards offered for them. The 
Sparrow is gregarious in its breeding habits in some instances. 

The Yellow Bunting, Emberiza citrinella, is not very often 
seen here. It has been introduced twenty years, but its numbers 
in this part of the country are not large. 

The Skylark, Alauda arvensis, has increased in an astonishing 
manner. As it annoys farmers by eating off many varieties of 
young plants, great numbers are destroyed annually. I knew 
the English South Downs well very many years ago, but neither 
there nor in any other district of England have I heard at one 
time so many Skylarks aloft, pouring forth their melody, as 
in some parts of this colony—notably in Nelson and on the 
Canterbury plains. There seems to be gradually taking place 
some change in their habits, influenced doubtless by the altered 
conditions of life in this country; although gregarious I have 
never noticed them packing together in vast flocks. Migration 

ZOOLOGIST.— Nov. 1884. 2M 


450 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


from one district to another is doubtful, except perhaps from the 
higher western lands during winter. In the “‘ back country” to 
the west the winter season is severe and well marked, but over 
a great part of the colony the weather during that portion of the 
year is open enough to allow them ample scope for getting their 
living. In this district it remains with us all the year round. 
In the old country I never observed the Skylark in full song 
when perched. This habit is not very infrequent here; I have 
noticed it in Nelson, Akavoa, and in some places on Banks’ 
Peninsula. Taking up a position on a post or rail, gently 
turning from side to side, now and then with a slight movement 
of the wings, it indulges in song as joyous and powerful as when 
ascending in spiral circles skyward. At Sumner it has been 
observed singing whilst on the ground. Perhaps this may be 
the beginning of a gradual development of a newly acquired 
habit. It does not shun trees so much as in England. After 
favourite plants it will freely enter gardens or orchards. I have 
seen one perch on a dwarf kouhai tree (Sophora tetraptera, 
Aiton) by the roadside, near the Maori pah at Raupaki. One 
may observe considerable variety in the coloration of the eggs: 
whitish or grey-yellow, profusely speckled with brown of various 
shades; dull greyish with a green tinge, freckled or mottled 
with ashen brown; rich browu, abundantly marked with darker 
shades, highly varnished. A nest from the Ashburton district 
contained eggs of pale dull pink, profusely speckled with reddish 
brown; these beautiful specimens differ from any I have seen. 
Usually there are three in a nest. 


Ohinitahi, N. Z., July 9, 1884. 


NOTES ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
By rue Rr. Hon. Lorp Livrorp, F.L.S. 


SHortiy after sending my last communication, dated Nov. 
15th, 1883 to ‘The Zoologist’ (Zool. 1888, p. 502), I was laid 
low by a severe attack of rheumatic gout, which kept me a close 
prisoner to the house, and often to my bed, till the first week of 
June, 1884; so that the following notes are, with few exceptions, 
given on the authority of others. 

The Common Buzzard hinted ut in the notes to which I have 


NOTES FROM NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 451 


just referred, was not a myth, but distinctly seen and described 
to me by several persons, till Nov. 22nd. A Swallow, Hirundo 
rustica, was seen at Achurch on Nov. 14th. 

Two birds seen by the Hon. Thomas Fitzwilliam, an expe- 
rienced snipe-shooter, on Noy. 16th, were reported by him to us as 
undoubtedly specimens of the Great or Solitary Snipe, Scolopax 
major. Mr. Fitzwilliam was out with his hounds, and flushed 
these birds close to him, from a field of newly-sown wheat near 
Barnwell. This is a very late appearance for this species in this 
neighbourhood, in which it is at all seasons an uncommon bird. 

A Short-eared Owl, Strix brachyotus, was shot and brought to 
us on Dec. lst. Hight Wild Geese, Anser sp. ?, reported to us 
as passing southwards on Dec. 2nd. A Green Sandpiper, Totanus 
ochropus, was shot by Mr. George Hunt on our land near Clapton 
on Dec. 4th. An adult female Peregrine Falcon reported to us 
on Dec. 5th, by Mr. Hunt and one of our gamekeepers, as 
haunting the river very near this house. I only record this for 
the reason that both my informants were struck by the large size 
and ‘“‘ blueness”’ of this individual. A Dunlin, Tinga alpina, shot 
“up the river,” and brought to us, on Dec. 7th, by one of our game- 
keepers. On the same day Mr. Hunt bagged thirteen Snipes, Scolo- 
pax gallinago, two Jack Snipes, S. gallinula, six Wild Ducks, Anas 
boschas, three Teal, A.crecca, and an immature Common Gull, 
Larus canus, on our property between this house and Thrapston. 

On Dec. 12th, an Oystercatcher, Hematopus ostralegus, was 
knocked down by a “large hawk” near Clapton, and shot by the 
gamekeeper to Mr. Freeman; this specimen was very kindly 
presented to us by the Rev. E. Freeman, of Clapton Rectory. 

On Jan. 29th, 1884, we received, for identification, a stuffed 
specimen of a young Puffin, Pratercula arctica, which was caught 
alive at a cottage-door near Naseby Reservoir on the evening of 
Dec. 12th, and reported to us, and recorded in local publications, 
as a Little Auk, Mergulus alle. With reference to these last two 
occurrences, I may mention that I find Dec. 12th, 1883, recorded 
in my journal as “a wild stormy day, after a fierce gale and heavy 
rain during the previous night.” 

On Jan. 30th a very large and fine Bittern, Botaurus stellaris, 
was brought to us, in the flesh, by Mr. 8. Deacon, of Polebrook, 
from whom we learned that the bird had been shot by a game- 
keeper near Ashton, on the river below Oundle. 


452 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Early in February Dr. Tomlinson, of Oundle, reported to us 
having several times seen a Blackbird, T'wrdus merula, var., of a 
light golden sandy colour, at a certain spot on the road between 
Oundle and Lilford cross-roads, not a mile from this house. 

On March 1st authentic reports reached me of Wild Ducks 
beginning to sit on full complements of eggs near the house. On 
the 18th the Rev. F. M. Stopford reported a nest of Wood Pigeons, 
Columba palumbus, containing two eggs, in the garden of his 
rectory at Tichmarsh. On the 19th a pair of Stock Doves, 
Columba enas, were busy at nesting in a thick Pinsapo pine tree 
immediately in front of the house and my bed-room windows. 

On March 26th one of our gamekeepers brought me a Tawny 
Owl, Strix aluco, alive, with an egg, one of four upon which the 
bird sat without moving till the hollow tree in which the nest was 
situated was felled and about to be sawn up. The woodmen had 
been at work at the tree all the previous day, unconscious of the 
Owl's establishment therein, and she remained on the débris of 
her productions till caught. We let her go out of window about 
half an hour after receiving her, and were glad to see her sail off 
in the direction of her ruined home, uninjured, but hotly pursued 
by “Sankey,” a tame Spanish Raven, Corvus corax, taken from 
the nest near Santander by us in 1876, who has, and takes every 
every advantage of, complete liberty of action. 

On March 27th we received from the Rev. W. Finch Hatton 
an escaped Silver Pheasant, Huplocamus nycthemerus, female, 
which had been caught a few days previously on the high road 
road near Deene, and remained unclaimed. 

On April 2nd Mr. Hunt reported large flights of Fieldfares, 
Turdus pilaris, and Redwings, T’. iliacus, going northwards on 
March 29th, and Wood Pigeons still in large flocks about the open 
fields, though many of this species are now sitting. I imagine that 
these flocks consist principally of our autumnal immigrants on 
their return journey, and that those employed in domestic duties 
are our home-bred birds. 

On April 5th my son put a Wild Duck from her nest full of 
eggs, on a broken elm at some fifteen feet from the ground; and 
reported that on enquiring from one of the gamekeepers about 
the “golden” Blackbird above mentioned he found that the bird 
was well known to, and had been repeatedly seen by, that indi- 
vidual, who took him to the spot previously alluded to, and soon 


NOTES FROM NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 458 


showed him the bird, which my son described as being of the 
colour of an Australian sovereign. 

On April 6th three Woodcocks, Scolopax rusticola, were ob- 
served “glading” in Souther Wood. On the 8th Wild Ducks 
were beginning to hatch. On the 11th fresh remains of Wood- 
cock were found by Mr. Hunt in Little Wadenhoe Wood. On 
the 15th Woodcock seen at dusk near Souther Wood, and again 
on the 17th. On the 19th, vast numbers of Wood Pigeons in 
flocks near Thurning. On the 20th four Swans, Cygnus sp. ?, were 
seen by several persons about and near the park here on wing. 

On April 21st one of our gamekeepers assured me that he had 
seen a large female Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus, in December 
last, make several fierce dashes at a rabbit running on some bare 
‘spring’ wood. We think that we shall be borne out by falconers 
in stating that the above is a very uncommon occurrence; but it 
is not the first to the same effect that has reached us, and in this 
instance we have every reason to believe in the complete accuracy 
of our informant. 

On April 24th another Wild Ducks’s nest with eggs was 
reported as discovered on a broken elm-bough, in our park here, 
at some fourteen feet from the ground. Woodcock seen in 
Souther Wood on the 22nd. 

Spring migrants reported to us in the following order :— 


March 9. Whinchat, Pratincola rubetra. 
», 22. Wheatear, Saxicola enanthe. 
» 27. Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus minor. 
April 1. Redstart, Ruticilla phenicura. 
» 7% Wryneck, Yunx torquilla. 
» 11. Ring Ouzel, Turdus torquatus ; Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus 
,» 12. Swallow, Hirundo rustica. 
», 18. Willow Wren, Phylloscopus trochilus; Blackcap, Sylvia atri- 
capilla. 
,, 16. Sand Martin, Cotyle riparia. 
», 23. Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla rayi. 
,, 30. House Martin, Hirundo urbica. 
May 2. Common Sandpiper, Totanus hypoleucus. 
» 9» Whitethroat, Curruca cinerea. 
» 4. Landrail, Crex pratensis ; Swift, Cypselus apus ; Spotted Fly- 
catcher, Muscicapa grisola. 
» 8. Hobby, Falco subbuteo. 
» 12. Turtle Dove, Turtur communis. 


454 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


I left home on June 3rd, and did not return till August 20th, 
and as Mr. Hunt, my neighbour and chief purveyor of ornitholo- 
gical news, left Wadenhoe shortly after the first- mentioned date, 
I have very little to record during June, July, and the early part 
of August. 

On June LO0th we received information of the finding of three 
eggs of the Hobby, Falco subbuteo, at some twelve miles from this 
house, in a nest in an oak tree, from which a pair of Carrion 
Crows, Corvus corone, had been killed and their produce destroyed 
about a month previously (letter dated June 7th). 

Mr. Hunt, on June 15th, found a nest of the Red-backed 
Shrike, Lanius collurio, containing three eggs, in his garden at 
Wadenhoe. ‘This occurrence is one of purely local interest, as 
the Butcher-bird has only of late years bred in this neighbour- 
hood, and the present is but the second instance of the finding of 
its nest in this district that has come to my knowledge. 

On July 8th I heard of young Hobbies in a Carrion Crow’s 
nest, in the same tree from which I received two of these little 
falcons last year (see Zool. 1883, p. 427). On July 10th three 
young Hobbies, from the nest mentioned June 10th, were brought 
to Lilford. The second nest (July 8th, supra), said to have been 
destroyed by ‘‘ crows’’—a statement about which I am, with good 
reason, extremely sceptical. 

On August 22nd one of our gamekeepers assured us that on 
the previous day he saw five Partridges, Perdix cinerea, sitting 
upon the top rail and posts of a five-barred gate near this house. 
On the 23rd we saw a large raptorial bird at no great distance 
from us, which I believe to have been a Honey Buzzard, Pernis 
apiworus. On the 25th three Whimbrels, Numenius pheopus, 
flew past my windows in a §.W. direction, “ tittering” loudly, 
about @ a.m. 

On August 27th a “white Swallow,” Hirundo rustica, var., 
was reported by one of our gamekeepers as seen and watched for 
some time near Aldwincle. My informant is quite certain as to 
species, as distinct from Martin, Hiruwndo urbica, and saw the 
bird again in the same district on the 29th. My sister-in-law 
and our coachman also reported a “ white Swallow” as seen by 
them whilst driving near Clapton on Sept. 6th; but neither 
informant in this latter case knows a Swallow from a House 
Martin. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 455 


On Sept. Ist a flight of some twenty or thirty Whimbrels 
passed high overhead, going 8.W., as we were shooting near 
Pilton. On this day Mr. Wirley P. Birch, of Cranford, near 
Kettering, kindly brought to me alive a Shag, Phalacrocorax 
graculus, which his son had “‘ fetched down” a few days previously, 
as it was passing high in air near the last-named village. The 
bird is very little injured and doing well, on a little pond in our 
garden, in company with a Black-footed Penguin, Spheniscus 
demersus. I consider this Shag to be a bird of last year’s hatch. 

On Sept. 4th four Snipes (two of which were, as we are assured 
by the gamekeeper who saw them, ‘‘Jacks’’!) were noticed at a 
pond near Thrapston. We do not feel quite assured as to correct 
specific identification in this instance, but ourselves saw a Jack 
Snipe on Sept. 11th. 

On Sept. 7th Dr. Tomlinson assured me he had seen that 
morning some young Swallows in their nest in his cowshed at 
Oundle. 

Sept. 13th. Mr. Wm. Seale,—the London birdcatcher men- 
tioned in my last communication (Zool. 1883, p. 502),—who has 
been here for some days past, has seen several Redpolls, Linota 
rufescens, and taken four of them. He reports a Ring Ouzle near 
this house about the llth, and a long string of large Gulls, 
probably Larus argentatus, going southwards on that day. 


Lilford Hall, Oundle, Sept. 14, 1884. 


- 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY ON THE COAST OF FINMARK. 
By AtrreD Hrniacr Cocks, M.A., F.Z.S. 


(Concluded from p. 424). 


Dr. Guldberg, speaking of the Humpback (‘ Vardé Posten,’ 
Aug. 12th, 1883), says:—‘‘ The colour is above more or less 
coal-black; on the sides and under the belly whitish, or with 
white flecks and black rings upon white ground, which give it in 
many places a marbled appearance. The pectoral fins are marked 
upon the distal two-thirds with black rings. The proximal third 
is black. The baleen-plates, of which the longest is 2 ft., are 
grey-black, with yellowish hair. Its food consists of Capelan 


156 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


(Mallotus arcticus), and other small fish, also of ‘‘ kril”’ (Thysano- 
poda inermis), and other small Crustacea. ..... With regard 
to its propagation, I have not chanced to come to any certain 
knowledge about it, either as to how long its period of gestation 
is, or whether it has any fixed pairing season. I have only had 
the opportunity of examining two foetuses... ... Such foetuses 
are considered of the greatest rarity. Both were of small size, from 
1 to 1 ft. in length, and were taken in the middle of summer,— 
in the month of July,—which should augur that the pairing 
season falls in one of the spring months.”’ 

Common Rorqual (Balenoptera musculus, L.) —- Norwegian 
names, Fin Hval, Roérhval.* Specimens seen, a male about 
40 ft. or rather more, brought in Aug. 24th; one passed at sea, 
being towed by a whaler on Aug. 21st, about 60 ft. long; and a 
foetus between 9 and 10 ft. long, in too bad a state to be worth 
preserving, probably obtained about the end of July or beginning 
of August. Grey-blue or greyish slate-colour on the back; the 
whole under side white, including the under side of the flukes. 
The white is only a few inches in width along the small part— 
the last few feet of the tail-end. 

The extremely thin, elongated, or seemingly emaciated 
appearance of this species is very noticeable; the posterior 
portion of the back is almost sharp-edged, quite deserving the 
English name, “ Razor-back.” The white on the under side 
includes all the furrows, except about the uppermost row. The 
front of the under jaw and the chin are also white, with black 
flecks. In the figure of this species in Mr. Southwell’s ‘ Seals 
and Whales of the British Seas,’ the nasal protuberance or ridge 
along the median line of the head appears to shelve away gradu- 
ally to the sides, instead of being a mere narrow ridge standing 
up abruptly on the otherwise very shallow skull. This figure is 
after one in Professor Flower’s paper on an example of this 
species (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 604), where the nasal ridge is 
shown correctly. In Mr. Southwell’s figure the under side is 
shown almost entirely dark, and the shape of the tail portion 
between the fin and the flukes is more like a Blue Whale than 
this species, which is smaller or shallower; and this point is 
also, I venture to think, incorrect in Prof. Flower’s figure. This 


* Dr. Guldberg, ‘ Vard6 Posten,’ Aug. 19th, 1883. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 457 


latter figure is merely an outline, no coloration being shown, as 
the specimen from which it was drawn, having been for some 
time exposed to the action of the sea, had entirely lost the outer 
cuticle. The baleen-plates are narrow, black on the outer edge, 
then slate-colour, gradually striping to yellow on the inner. The 
bristles are light yellow, almost buff. 

I noted the following few particulars of the anatomy of the 
foetus :—The intestine was distinctly divisible into large and 
small intestine; the former extended about three-quarters of an 
inch beyond the commencement of the latter—not enough to call 
a cecum. The colon was about 4 ft. long. The kidneys are 
long ovals, almost pointed at the lower end, coarsely granulated, 
flattened, and much larger proportionately than the kidneys of 
any other order of Mammalia with which I am acquainted. The 
liver is divided into two lobes, each slightly smaller than, and 
much the shape of, the kidneys. 

In the first of the three stomachs I found a small quantity of 
two species of Alg@, which I presume must have been forced 
there by the action of the tides since it had been lying on the 
beach. The heart was very broad ; the ventricles were separated 
from each other on the inferior side by a well-marked depression 
running down the exact centre. The cavity of the thorax was 
much compressed. The diaphragm was very thick and muscular. 

An idea prevails apparently amongst all, or at least a large 
majority of those connected with the whaling in Finmarken, that 
hybrids occur between the Common and Sibbald’s Rorqual, and, 
without for one moment believing this to be the case, I have 
thought it well to refer to this belief, as showing, as I suppose, 
the variation in individuals of the common species. Captain F. 
describes these supposed hybrids as having the head of a Finner, 
the tail of a Blue Whale; bluer on the back than a Finner, and 
blue and white on the under side. Captain S. says the baleen is 
partly black, partly yellow; the flippers like a Finwhale’s, but 
blue colour; the fin like a Finner’s with the point cut off. 
Captain Bn. says he once killed one that was so fat it could not 
go fast! It had the narrow head, light-coloured baleen, and 
small flippers of a Finner; and had some white on the under 
side, but was on the whole darker than a regular Finwhale. 
Captain. Bg. describes them as most like Finners when caught, 
but like Blue Whales when the speek is off. Captain Bn. algo 


458 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


told me that once, when eighty English miles from land, he saw 
a whale seventy-five to eighty feet long, the colour of the cheese 
well known to everyone who has been in Norway, called ‘‘ Mes 
Ost” (that is, a shade or two lighter colour than brown Windsor 
soap); it was with a Blue Whale, and had a small fin lke that 
species. Captain §. also told me of whales which he called 
*‘Langror” (Longreed), between fifty and sixty feet long, which 
are thinner than Finners; yellow nearly all over, and black on 
the under side. I think it will be allowed that all these appear 
like varieties of the common species, except perhaps the one 
described as like ‘‘ Mes Ost,” which is as likely to have been a 
variety of the Blue Whale. 

Dr. Guldberg (‘ Vard6 Posten,’ Aug. 19th, 1883) says of the 
Finner :—‘‘ Its length varies between sixty and seventy feet. The 
form of its body is rather slender, the greatest thickness lies 
behind the pectoral fins, and is most pronounced in old indi- 
viduals. The pectorals are comparatively small, one-ninth to 
one-tenth of the length of the body, rather pointed and lancet- 
shaped. The back fin is small, with the point bent upwards and 
backwards, but arching forwards and curving inwards on the 
hinder side. The colour is above blackish, or else grey-black ; 
underneath it is white, with a greyish band passing over it. 
Now and then, both in this and the following species, one meets 
with yellowish tinges, which originate from a peculiar colouring- 
matter; this likewise occurs among the older specimens. There~- 
is a variety of it, called ‘Langror’ (Longreed), which is chiefly 
conspicuous from its length and slender build. The white colour 
under the throat reaches to the sides and on to the under jaw. 
The baleen-plates are short, the longest is scarcely 3 ft.; the 
colour is blue-grey or black-grey, with light stripes and yellow 
hair; they are likewise light on the sides, where the light colour 
extends up to the under jaw. The foremost baleen-plates are 
yellow and greyish white.” (‘ Vardo Posten,’ Aug. 26th).—“ Its 
food consists partly of fish,—as, for instance, herring, small cod, 
and capelan; partly of small crustaceans, e.g., shrimps. It is 
this whale which is called ‘ Loddehvalen’ (Capelan Whale), when 
it is seen constantly pursuing the shoals of Capelan).” 

Sibbald’s Rorqual (Balenoptera sibbaldui, Gray).—Norwegian 
name, Blaa Hval = the Blue Whale. Besides parts of several 
skeletons and quantities of loose bones, and a specimen already 


it, 


= a ee 


a 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 459 


flensed, I only saw two examples of this species during my stay 
at Vard6, as it was too late in the season for them; and I was 
fortunate in finding an unusually late season, as in most years, 
arriving as late as I did (Aug. 21st), I should not have seen a 
single example. The dates of the arrival at the factories of these 
two specimens were August 22nd and 28th, having been killed 
about the 20th or 21st, and on the 26th. The blubber is thickest . 
on the neck and shoulders (about 8 or 10 in. with the skin, ina 
specimen from fifty to sixty feet long), giving the animal a some- 
what humpbacked appearance. Upper side dark slate-blue; 
under side a shade lighter; no white about the body, but the 
flippers are white on the under side, and are longer than those 
of a Finner. The baleen is coal-black, including the bristles, 
and is rather broader than the Common Rorqual’s. The blow- 
holes are situated in a very deep depression. The colouring of 
this species generally, and the shape of the tail just in front of 
the caudal fin, much more nearly resemble the figure of the 
Common Rorqual in ‘Seals and Whales of the British Seas,’ 
before referred to, than does that species in these particulars. 
The Blue Whale is probably the first to leave the Finmarken 
coast at the end of summer, the Finner next, and the Humpback 
last ; but there are not many days interval between them all. 

In ‘The Arctic Voyages of A. E. Nordenskiédld,’ p. 52, the 
editor, Mr. Leslie (whether on his own authority or Nordenskiéld’s 
is not stated), says—‘‘ It is probable that ‘finners’ never live in 
colder water than 2°5° C. (= 36°14° F.), and that the northern 
limit of their distribution coincides with sea of this temperature.”’ 
It seems remarkable that on this voyage, while whales ceased on 
the outward passage in May, after lat. 75° 45’, they were seen 
again on the return passage in September as high as 78°. 

During my voyage to Spitzbergen in the autumn of 1882 
(Zool. 1883), we saw Balenopteride (all considered at the time 
as Blue Whales, though I now think some of the smaller indi- 
viduals seen may have been Humpbacks) on the way north, on 
Sept. 1st, three or four specimens close to ice, in about lat. 75°; 
temperature of the water 34°34° F. (= 1°3°C.); two on Sept. 3rd, 
in about lat. 75° 28’, water 32°9° F. (= 0°5° C.); and on our way 
south again we saw the first whale on Sept. 28th, in about lat. 
75° 22’, and others later that same day (temperature of water 
was not taken). 


460 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Of the two whales passed in the cold water on Sept. 8rd, only 
the blowing of one was seen ; the other was only about forty feet 
long, so they may have been Humpbacks. In my summer voyage 
to Spitzbergen in 1881 (Zool. 1882) I saw no whales as far to the 
north as this. 

I was told, at third hand, of a Blue Whale which measured 
102 ft., and similar stories are numerous; but I doubt if the 
whales were in any case accurately measured. Dr. Guldberg 
does not believe it ever attains a length of 100 ft.; a little over 
80 ft. is, I believe, the longest that has been at all accurately 
measured at Vardo, and whales of this length are the exception. 
Dr. Guldberg (‘Vardé Posten,’ Sept. 2nd, 1888) says of this 
species :—‘‘ Its length varies between 70 and 80 ft.; the indi- 
viduals that are 70 ft. and under, I have always found to be 
rather young, and not full-grown. That it can attain to a length 
of over 80 ft. is certainly unquestionable, although it may be very 
seldom. But the numerous measurements which have been 
taken of various individuals are not trustworthy, since they are 
not measured in a right line from the point of the under jaw to 
the cleft in the tail fin. ..... The most characteristic feature 
to recognise it by when one sees it in the water, besides the high 
spout and conspicuous size, is the extremely small dorsal fin 
which is situated so far back. The colour above is blue-grey or 
blue-black, and sometimes copper-brown when it is seen rolling 
about in the sea. The dead whale* has always a more or less 
pronounced blue-grey or steel-grey dark colour over the back, 
which on the sides becomes a little lighter, with, over all, 
peculiar slightly striped marks of a lighter grey, which often lie 
in small shallow pits, which give the surface of the skin an 
uneven appearance. Under the belly, and especially forward 
near the throat, it is more or less flecked with white, with some 
parts alternating with grey or blacker shades. It has always a 
more or less marbled appearance, which in some specimens 
present very pretty patterns. The baleen-plates are black or 
erey-black, with black-brown hair. 


* On this change of colour after death in cetaceans, vide Dr. J. Murie, 
‘On the Organization of the Caaing Whale,’ Trans. Zool. Soc., vol. viii., 
p- 239; and Prof. Turner’s account of the present species in Trans. Roy. Soe. 


Edinb., 1870, p. 203. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 461 


“‘ How long the Blue Whale goes with young is still a riddle. 
Two things are certain, viz., that the pairing does not take place 
at any fixed time of the year, and that the gestation is longer 
than one year. As proof of this it may be stated that in the 
course of fourteen days foetuses have been found of 2, 4, and 64 ft. 
in length, coexisting at the same time of year as the pairing has 
been observed. From this, again, one may infer that the period 
of gestation was longer than one year, which is also borne out 
by several other things. There are, moreover, several certain 
observations of the fact that the young one follows the mother 
a long time; the mother has, for instance, been shot while 
accompanied by a young one of between 40 and 50 ft. I have, 
however, also received information that pairing has taken 
place notwithstanding that the mother was accompanied by 
its offspring. Consequently my theory is that the Blue Whale 
goes with young from eighteen to twenty months; this is 
borne out essentially by comparison with other mammals. It is 
a prevailing rule with whales that the size of the offspring 
amounts to a fourth part (or even a little more) of the mother. 
According to this, the newly-born young of the Finwhale would 
be about 15 to 16 ft. long, probably it is still larger; for, as 
regards the Blue Whale, the proportion must be between one- 
quarter and one-third, since foetuses have been removed of 
23 ft. in length. This latter species also cannot reproduce its 
species more frequently than every other year. This is its most 
favourable rate ; we arrive perhaps nearer the truth when we say 
that the Blue Whale reproduces every third year, since there 
are many proofs of the fact that the young at a considerable size 
(up to 50 ft.) still follow the mother, and that the Finwhale 
reproduces every second year.” 

A Blue Whale may be immediately distinguished from a 
Finwhale by the following external points of difference :— 


SIBBALD’s Rorquat. Common Rorquat. 

A fairly stout and well-proportioned — Looks emaciated, and much too long 

looking whale, in spite of its great for its girth. 

length; a slightly humpbacked 

appearance at the shoulder. 
The whole of the baleen coal-black. Baleen only black on outer edge, 

partly slate-colour and yellow. 

No white about the body. Under side white. 


462 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Rudolphi’s Rorqual (Balenoptera borealis, Lesson). — Nor- 
wegian names, Sildehval, Seiehval.* This, I believe, is the 
species most frequently taken by the whalers stationed off West 
Finmarken, 7. e., the coast to the west of North Cape. I have 
not with any certainty seen a living specimen of this species, 
and my sole acquaintnnce with it was a hasty glimpse at the 
skeleton of the example killed in the River Crouch (Essex) in 
November last, when it was lying in the prosector’s room at the 
Zoological Gardens. A full account of this specimen was pub- 
lished by Prof. Flower (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, p. 518, et seq.). 
The baleen is black, with white bristles. The dorsal fin had been 
brought with the skeleton; it was rather higher and more 
curved and pointed than the Common Rorqual’s. The skin was 
still on the flippers; the outer side was black, the under side 
white; they were more pointed than the common species. 

Dr. Guldberg (‘ Vardé Posten,’ Aug. 19th, 1883) says :—‘‘ We 
shall next pass on to the so-called Herring Whale (Sildehval), 
whose natural affinities are rather obscure. I am inclined, from 
information given me,..... to consider it as identical with 
the so-called Coal-fish Whale (Seiehval), which both in the 
summer and earlier, is taken in greater or lesser numbers in 
West Finmarken. The length is about 40 ft. It resembles in 
several respects the Finner, but is smaller, and makes its 
appearance on the coast of Finmarken, especially in the summer 
months. Since it is also observed by Bergen, and on the Dutch 
coast, there is every probability for the supposition that its range 
is more southerly than that of the Lesser Rorqual.” 

Lesser Rorqual (Balenoptera rostrata, Fabr.). — Norwegian 
name, Vaagehval. In sailing up the Norwegian coast during the 
summer months, on reaching Vest Fjord one usually sees a few 
small Finwhales, which are most probably of this species. They 
are often in company with “ Spring-hvale,” which I have no 
doubt are Bottle-nosed Dolphins (Delphinus tursio, Fabr.), whose 
gambols are very interesting to watch. Occasionally one sees 
somewhat larger Finwhales, and these latter may very possibly 
be Rudolphi’s Rorqual, but I cannot speak with any certainty. 

On returning south last autumn, at the end of September and 
beginning of October, I did not see a single whale all me the 


* Dr. Seldhers, ‘Vardo Posten,’ Aug. 19th, 1883. 


THE FINWHALE FISHERY OF FINMARK. 463 


coast ; whether this was in consequence of the lateness of the 
season, bad weather, or merely accidental, I do not know; but 
on my way home from Christiania, having to put in to Christian- 
sand on October 19th through stress of weather, we saw a small 
whale spouting just outside the entrance to the harbour, a little 
to the east of Oxé Light. It seems odd that in all the passages 
I have made past Christiansand I should never have seen a 
whale thereabouts until this time when I was returning from 
interviewing some members of this great family in Finmarken. 

This particular species does not seem to occur so far to the 
north as Finmarken. Dr. Guldberg (‘Vardé Posten,’ Aug. 19th, 
1883) says of it :—“‘It scarcely exceeds thirty-two or thirty-three 
feet. The back fin is high, with the point curved backwards. 
The colour is black above, lighter on the sides, and under the 
belly white. A point, however, very characteristic of it is 
that the flippers or pectoral fins are black, with a broad white 
band in the middle. The baleen-plates are yellow, and small. 
BN ss On the whole it seems to have a less northerly habitat 
than the other larger Finwhales....... Its food consists 
chiefly of small fish of the Capelan, Herring, and Cod families, 
which it pursues far up into the fjords. In the neighbourhood of 
Bergen it is hunted in fjords which have narrow inlets, where it 
is surrounded, and subsequently killed with harpoons or arrows 
discharged from large bows.* ..... It is supposed that the 
young is born in the middle of the winter; it is then six or seven 
feet long; there is seldom more than one at a time.” 

In the season of 1883 there were nineteen whalers (including 
tugs) off the East Finmarken Coast, and the total number of 
whales (Balenopteride) taken, was 406; to the eastward again 
was one Russian whaler, which took 20 whales; in West Fin- 
marken (i. ¢., west of the North Cape) I heard there were five 
whalers, but I learnt nothing for certain about them or the 
number of whales taken ; the majority of the whales killed here 
are, I believe, Rudolphi’s Rorqual (B. borealis). Of the 406 
taken off the Kast Finmarken coast, I was told on the best 
authority that about 50 would be Humpbacks, and the remainder 
—about half and half—Blue and Common Rorqual. The largest 


* Examples of these somewhat primitive weapons were exhibited in the 
Norwegian Court of the Fisheries Exhibition in London, 1883. 


464 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


number killed by one ship was 40; she, however, was attended 
by a tug (to tow home whales as captured, leaving the whaler 
herself free to continue hunting). Her managing owner told me 
that 19 of these were Blue Whales, 8 Humpbacks, and the 
remainder (18) Finners. The whaler I was out in took 387 
(unattended by a tug), while the other ship belonging to the 
same company only took 8. In 1882 Herr Svend Foyn took, 
I was told, 107 whales, while this season he went off in one of his 
whalers to Iceland, with a view to establishing a factory on that 
coast ;* he was ‘‘ prospecting” rather than fishing, and only took 
two whales there; his other ship off Vadsé took 20. 


Synopsis of Balenopteride in North European Seas. 


Humppackep Waate.—Colour of body, whole upper part jet- 
black, including under side of the head; under side, towards tail 
end, black; throat, with the furrows and nearly the whole of under 
side, may be white, including part of under side of flukes; or 
may be more or less marked with white, or may be almost . 
entirely black. Flippers very long, = 15 ft. (male about 44 ft.) 
to end of humerus; narrow; paddle or broad-sword shaped (not 
scimitar-shaped, as the Rorquals) ; deeply serrated along anterior 
margin; outer side may be black, or black only to extent of 
proximal quarter ; under side cream-white. Baleen quite short, 
and entirely black; bristles a shade lighter, or whiter than the 
faded brown of under side of a hedgehog. Remarks:—Numerous 
tubercles round nose and under jaw; is always infested with 
Conchoderma auritum, L., growing on Diadema coronula L., and 
numberless Cyami. Very thick and robust. 

Common Rorquau.—Colour of body grey-blue, or greyish slate- 
colour on the back; the whole under side white, including the 
under side of the flukes; the white is only a few inches in width 
along the small tail part—the last few feet in front of the flukes; 
all the furrows included in the white, except about the uppermost 
row; under jaw also white; upper side of flukes dull black; 
width (in male rather over 40 ft.) 12 ft. Flippers remarkably 
short, light slate-colour, tipped with white at the extreme distal 
edge (but not along the side edge). Baleen black on the outer 


* Vads6 is practically ‘used up,” and Herr Foyn is removing his factory 
thence. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 465 


edge, then slate-colour, gradually striping to yellow on the inner; 
bristles light yellow, almost buff. Remarks :—Extremely thin 
and elongated, looking apparently emaciated. 

SrppaLp’s Rorquan.—Colour of body, upper side dark slate- 
blue; no white about the body, the under side being merely a 
shade lighter in colour than the upper. Flippers longer than 
Common Rorqual’s, light slate-blue outer side, and white on the 
inner side. Baleen rather broader than Common Rorqual’s ; - 
coal-black, including the bristles. Remarks :—LHlongated, but 
still robust, compared with the Common Rorqual. 

Rupourar’s Rorquat. — Colour of body, [Upper part black, 
under side white.—Southwell]. Flippers, outer side black, under 
side white; more pointed than the Common Rorqual’s. Baleen 
black, the bristles white. Remarks :—Dorsal fin rather higher 
and more curved and pointed than the Common Rorqual’s. 

Lesser Rorquan.—Colour of body, [Upper part black, under 
side white. Flippers black, with broad band of white across. 
Baleen yellowish white. Remarks:—Dorsal fin high.—South- 
well]. : 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


MAMMALIA, 

Photographing a Tiger.—A correspondent to a Madras paper writes 
as follows :—* So far as I can ascertain, a photograph of a Tiger in the act 
of striking down a large animal was never taken until this week, when 
I secured a negative of a Tiger killing a Buffalo. I had focussed on the 
Buffalo, which was tied to the stump of a tree in the middle of a field, and 
had just put a dry plate in the camera, when a Tiger came up and struck 
down the Buffalo with a single blow of his paw. My camera was not ten 
yards from the Buffalo, and the Tiger might just as well have come at me, 
if he had chosen to do so, but fortunately he selected the Buffalo instead, 
and then I took advantage of my position and released the spring shutter 
just as he had given the Buffalo his knock-down blow. The negative, I am 
sorry to say, is not a good one, but it is nevertheless interesting, because it 
throws some light on that vexed question, ‘ How does a Tiger kill his prey ?’ 
In the photograph, which I have before me as I write, the Tiger is seen 
standing on his hind legs, which are bent ; his body is inclined to the ground 
at an angle of about 45 deg.; his tail is straight, except the tip, which is 
curled upwards; and the right fore paw is seen above and the left below 
the Buffalo’s neck. The head of the Buffalo covers the shoulder and heart 

ZOOLOGIST.—ocT. 1884. 2N 


466 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


of the Tiger, whose head appears above his horns; his back is nearly level, 
but his front legs are doubled up under him and he is just in the act of 
falling. The head is drooping and lifeless, and the whole appearance of the 
Buffalo tends to confirm the generally accepted opinion, that the Tiger with 
his knock-down blow dislocates the neck of his victim.” 


Porpoise in the Thames.—On the last day of September some excite- 
ment was caused among the watermen plying on the river and persons 
walking along its banks, by the appearance of a Porpoise, which was seen 
to be ascending with the tide near Westminster. A number of shots were 
fired at it, but ultimately the pursuit ceased with the disappearance of its 
object. Later in the day, however, a Porpoise, believed to have been the 
one shot at in the morning, was captured by a bargeman, who struck it with 
his boathook off the Sufferance and Providence Wharf, Lambeth. When 
taken ashore, it was found to be about five feet in length and to weigh 
three-quarters of a hundredweight. 


BIRDS. 


Ruffs and Reeves in Lincolnshire.—It is worth recording that on 
September 12th I saw a flock of Ruffs and Reeves in the Great Cotes 
marshes, the latter apparently being very considerably in excess of the 
males. ‘They rose from a large grass walk in company with eight young 
Curlews, but separated from them almost immediately, pitching alone in 
the next field. There must have been at least twenty, probably more, but 
they flew so closely—all in a lump—that I did not count them. On the 
18th I saw a Ruff and seven Reeves, and also a single Ruff. The young 
Curlews come over by hundreds, in parties of seven to ten, in the bare 
summer-eaten clover walks and grass marshes at dusk every evening to 
feed, returning, with much noisy clamour, just at daybreak. They find 
numerous small coleopterous insects in the dried-up dung, from which 
source in this dry season their main supply of food appears to be drawn. 
The recent strong east winds have brought several immigrants on to the 
coast, including Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts, also large flights of 
Linnets and Greenfinches.—Joun CorDEAux (Great Cotes, Ulceby). 


Breeding of the Ruff in Lancashire.—I wish to correct an erroneous 
impression originating in a statement made by Pennant (‘ British Zoology,’ 
vol. ii. p. 75, footnote), that Ruffs ‘ visit a place called Martin Mere, in 
Lancashire, the latter end of March or beginning of April, but do not 
continue there above three weeks.” I have, in my opinion, conclusive 
evidence that the Ruff bred on the Mere within the last fifty years. Several 
of the oldest Mere-men now living, who have been close observers of the 
birds of the district and are keen wildfowlers, say positively that they have 
seen birds during the whole of the summer, have noticed them assume and 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 467 


throw off the Ruff, and have often seen them at the “hill.” One, William 
Parker, of Crosuns, near Southport, caught—between thirty and forty years 
ago—a young Ruff which could not fly; this he kept for several days ina 
walled-in garden; it was then killed by a game-cock. I have now in my 
" possession two males which were taken on the Mere about forty years ago, 
by the late Henry Canner, gamekeeper to the late Sir Thomas Hesketh. 
Both birds have the ruffs and auricles fully developed, and one has the 
tubercles very prominent. Selby (Brit. Ornithology, vol. ii. p. 131) states that 
“The papill, or small fleshy tubercles, that cover the face and the region 
of the eyes during the height of the season (and which are ascertained by 
experiments on birds kept in confinement, to be only consequent on sexual 
connection) also disappear.” Montagu says, “it is evident that the bare 
papillous head is only attendant on venery.” According to these authorities, 
then, one of my birds must have paired, and as this takes place in the 
immediate vicinity of the future nesting-place, the evidence in support of 
my contention is conclusive.—Rogerr J. Howarp (Blackburn). 


Shearwaters on the Rock of Filfola.—Filfola is an islet between 
two and three miles from the S.W. coast of Malta; it is reached by hiring 
a small boat at a fishing village near Zurico, but landing is impossible with 
the slightest swell. It is a precipitous limestone, not covering more than 
perhaps half an acre, surrounded with débris, the fragments sometimes 
being of great size; amongst these fragments grows a coarse herbage, 
apparently of the nature somewhat of samphire, in great abundance. Filfola 
is the breeding haunt of the Mediterranean Shearwater (Puffinus Kuhli), 
thé Manx Shearwater (P. anglorum), the Storm Petrel (Procellaria pelagica), 
and the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia). I visited this rock with a friend on 
the 5th and 12th April last. We found P. anglorum breeding in some 
numbers; they appeared to breed in a colony of about ten or fifteen yards 
radius; immediately outside this radius we could find none, though if we 
had had opportunity to search further we might probably have found more, 
but on the occasion of both our visits circumstances prevented our longer 
stay on the islet; on the last occasion we had great difficulty in embarking 
on account of the heavy swell. We only found on one occasion a hole 
proper selected as a breeding-place, and this was about five feet from the 
ground in the face of the rock; it extended twelve or fifteen feet, and 
terminated in a small fissure, too small for egress. The egg was about 
three feet and a half from the entrance, and two birds, presumably male 
and female, were with it. The favourite position for the egg was in the 
natural recesses formed by the overhanging herbage, or in the roomy and 
cool chambers underneath the fragments. Sometimes a few dried stalks 
were used as a quasi-nest, but more often there was no pretence of one, not 
even a hollow. We took two birds from off their egg, both of which on 
dissection proved to be males. We also found a few Pufinus Kuhli asleep 


468 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


under rocks ; one of a pair we killed was a female with the ovaries very little 
developed. The bill of Puffinus anglorum does not do much damage, as 
I found by making the experiment; but, judging from the care which the 
Maltese boatmen took to keep their fingers out of reach of P. Kuhli, I fancy 
it is able to inflict a severe wound; we did not care to prove it. We found’ 
several empty egg-shells with a hole at the top—I expect the work of the 
Lizards, which swarm on the rock. The eggs we took on the 13th were 
very much incubated; in fact, some of them appeared within twenty-four 
hours of hatching. We found no newly-hatched young birds. There are 
a few rabbits on the islet, which I am told, as one would expect, are very 
inferior eating. How they obtain enough food to sustain life I do not 
know.—E. F’. Brcurr, Capt. R.A. 


Dipper’s Nest on the top of a Boulder—That many birds build 
their nests in what seem to us odd places is well known and perhaps in this 
respect the Dipper is one of the most eccentric. Not to mention cases of 
which I have heard and read, I have myself seen their nests in very 
extraordinary, nay almost incredible, places. In this I think the one I have 
now to notice will in a measure bear me out. In a river near here, and about 
midway in the stream, there lies, amongst others, a small boulder, which 
shows a foot or so above the usual current, and has a very slight depression 
on the top. Here a pair of Water Crows commenced their nest, and by 
some extraordinary means succeeded in rearing a home for themselves and 
their young. When finished, although it heightened the appearance of the 
boulder considerably, yet, from the shape and colour of the materials used, 
the nest could scarcely be distinguished from the boulder. It was dis- 
covered by the merest chance by a gentleman whilst fishing. The river at 
this spot is very bare, having no bank of any height, bush, nor tree near; 
yet the nest, although completely exposed to every gust of wind and rain, 
nevertheless withstood the fury of the elements for at least three months. 
By this time a family of four had been reared, and with their parents had 
departed elsewhere. The nest would have stood longer, but was removed 
to be preserved as a memorial of the strange place where built. The 
removal, however, proved a much more difficult matter than was anti- 
cipated. On the attempt being made, the nest was found to be so firmly 
attached, cemented on as it were to the stone, that it took some considerable 
time and trouble to detach it. On being minutely examined, it appeared 
from its construction to be impervious to rain.—Tuomas Epwarp (Banff). 


Wood Sandpiper in Nottinghamshire.— During the first week in 
August I heard that the Mansfield Reservoir was very low, and as this is 
the time Sandpipers visit us, I took a walk over, and found that nearly twenty 
acres were turned into mud-flats. I could see several waders about, so got 
the keeper to bring his gun, and after a drive or two he was fortunate 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 469 


enough to shoot a nice specimen of the Wood Sandpiper, a rare bird in 
this county, this being only the third authentic occurrence. I also saw 
Green and Common Sandpipers and Ringed Plovers, besides a lot of Coots 
and a few Tufted Ducks.—J. Wairaxer (Rainworth, Mansfield). 


Ruddy Sheldrake on Romney Marsh.— A Ruddy Sheldrake was 
killed on September 8th, by John Southerden, at the Midripps in Romney 
Marsh, Kent, about twelve miles from Rye. It was brought, for preservation, 
to Mr. Bristowe, naturalist, of Silchester Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea. I have 
seen the bird. Bristowe informed me that it was a male, but the black band 
round the neck is entirely absent, and it has the head of a light buff, which 
all point to its being a female. Can it be an immature male ?—THomas 
Parkin (The Vicarage, Halton, Hastings). 


Bittern, White-fronted Goose, and Black Tern in Berkshire.—I saw 
this summer at Sir R. F’. Sutton’s, at Benham Park, a Bittern obtained in 
November, 1883, under rather singular circumstances. When shooting 
the duck preserves at Kintbury,—about one hundred acres of reeds, willows, 
and alders, with intersecting streams, close to the Kennet, and called the 
«* Wilderness,”—the Bittern rose from a thick bed of reeds and dashed in 
the face of one of the beaters; the man, alarmed for his eyes, which he 
said the bird struck at, knocked it over with his stick, breaking its legs, 
and then succeeded in capturing it. A fine old male White-fronted Goose 
was shot in the same locality, by Sir R. F. Sutton, on December 24th, 1879, 
and more recently an immature Black Tern.—Joun Corpravx (Great 
Cotes, Ulceby). 


Black Pomatorhine Skua at Redcar.— One of my fisherman friends, 
Kit Dobson, brought mea Pomatorhine Skua on October 4th, which he had 
shot at sea off Redcar: it is the black melanistic variety, resembling those 
first recorded by me as having been obtained here in October, 1879. The 
plumage is sooty black on the back; breast a shade lighter; the neck is 
rather moulty and thin of feathers, but the new ones appearing are very 
deep black, and have no appearance of yellow, which I have noticed on one 
or two dark birds. The state of the bill and the obtuse projecting tail- 
feathers show that the bird is a mature specimen. Gannets have been 
very plentiful off Redcar this season, young ones predominating, and a 
considerable number were shot during September and the early part of 
October. An adult Sandwich Tern was obtained in August. Mr. Fox 
Chilton noticed the first Wigeon on Cowpen Marsh on August 28th, and 
early in September he shot a Spotted Crake in Saltholme. Three Pigmy 
Curlews were shot at the Tees mouth about the end of September. 
I noticed the first Hooded Crow on October 5th, when a flight came from 
seaward. Short-eared Owls, Woodcocks, and Goldcrests have been dropping 
in during the past few days. Ducks have been passing almost daily for the 


470 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


past month. On October 6th I noticed considerable flocks coming up from 
the East, and a solitary Goosander passed about a hundred yards away.— 
T. H. Netson (Redcar). 


Building Sites of the House Martin.—In looking over the last volume 
of ‘The Zoologist,’ I notice a paragraph with this heading, mentioning 
three nesting localities of the Martin among cliffs. May I add another? 
The high road from Conway to Bangor, soon after leaving Conway, passes 
under Pen-maen-bach, a bold headland of slate projecting into the sea. In 
September last I saw several Martins flying about the face of the cliff, 
which at this place overhangs the road, and, after a little watching, traced 
an old bird to its nest of young built far up under a ledge of rock.— 
Henry Canpier (Epsom, Surrey). 


Kingfisher in London.—On Sunday, October 5th, while standing on 
the bridge over the Regent’s Canal, close to St. Mark’s Church, Regent’s 
Park, I saw to my astonishment a Kingfisher dart up the water. It flew 
on until it reached the bridge in the Zoological Gardens, when it swerved 
in amongst the overhanging trees, and I did not see it again. As viewed 
against the dark olive-green surface of the water it looked beautiful. I have 
since ascertained that some five and twenty years ago, when the sewage 
from the Zoological Gardens drained out into the canal by a clump of sedge, 
Kingfishers used to come there to feed on the numerous small fish which 
were attracted by the sewage. Since then the sedge has been cut and 
cleared away, and the Kingfishers have deserted this former haunt.— 
Cuartes WuymPer (55, Fitzroy Road, Regent’s Park). 


Breeding of Fratercula arctica on the Burlings.—In ‘The Ibis,’ 
1871, p. 402, Mr. Howard Saunders, in his valuable paper on the Birds of 
Southern Spain, writes with reference to the Puffin, ‘‘ The most southern 
breeding-place with which I am acquainted is at the Berlengas, or Farallones, 
a group of rocks in the Atlantic, a trifle to the north of the latitude of 
Lisbon.” I find the following reference to these rocks and their fauna in 
Captain Boteler’s ‘ Recollections from 1808 to 1830’ (London, 1833). In 
1826 Captain (then Lieutenant) Boteler, R.N., was in command of H.M.S. 
‘Syra,’ belonging to the squadron in the Tagus. At p. 171 he writes ;— 
* Another time I was sent to survey the Burlings, four or five islands of 
rock, three or four miles off Cape Peniche. There was a remarkable cave 
that I entered with my gig, disturbing myriads of sea pigeons, puffin, and 
bats, and I found to my surprise that the cavern went right through that 
point of the island.”"—H. W. Frirpen. 


Reported Occurrence of Cranes near Clitheroe.—Two of these birds 
have been seen near Clitheroe by Mr. R. Milne-Redhead, Bolton-by- 
Bowland, who has kindly furnished me with the following particulars :— 
On the 25th August last, about 4 p.m., he saw from his window, with the 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 471 


naked eye, a Crane, Grus communis, flying §.8.E., and on looking through 
his glass he distinctly saw a second travelling in the same direction. He 
made a note at the time, and entered the weather as “ brilliantly fine and 
clear, air cooler; bar. 29°55.” We had a prevalence of easterly winds for 
some time previously. He further states that he is perfectly familiar with 
the appearance of the bird, having often seen it in Germany, Alsace, &c. 
Although the Cranes, when seen by Mr. Milne-Redhead, were not actually 
in Lancashire, their line of fight would in a few minutes have taken them 
over the boundary, and I think we may now consider Lancashire as one of 
the counties visited by this bird during the present century.—Rosert J. 
Howarp (Blackburn). 


Early appearance of Wild Geese in Ireland.—On October 10th we 
had a cold north wind and hail showers—a sudden change from the recent 
genial weather. Being out on an upland district near this, about 4 p.m., 
with a friend well acquainted with Anser albifrons, and my keeper, we all 
recognised and watched eight Geese, which came from a northerly inland 
direction, flying about 200 or 300 feet high, and passed near us. They 
were unquestionably Wild Geese, probably the above species. I also saw 
on the same day a flock of Golden Plover, for the first time this autumn. 
Though the same bitter wind continued, Swallows, Hirundo rustica, were 
still to be seen on October 11th. Some usually stay with us until the end 
of this month.—R. J. Ussazr (Cappagh, Co. Waterford). 


Spoonbills in Suffolk.—EHarly in August four Spoonbills were seen to 
pitch on a marsh at Hollesley, Suffolk. A local gunner named Langmaid 
went in pursuit, and was fortunate enough to shoot two of them; these 
were sold to a gentleman in London. On September 9th a Grey Phalarope 
was killed at Felixstowe. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was obtained near 
this town on October 7th. On the same day I saw a Woodcock exposed 
for sale, and on making enquiry as to where it had been killed, I was 
informed that it was seen to fly from an apple tree into some cabbages in a 
garden in this town, where it was afterwards flushed and shot.—J. H. H. 
Knicuts (Ipswich). 


Dipper in Sussex.—A Dipper was shot, on September 138th, on the 
Salts at Bopeep, St. Leonards-on-Sea, an unusual place for a bird of this 
species; and a Dotterel was obtained at Lydd at the end of August.— 
Tuomas Parkin (The Vicarage, Halton, Hastings). 


Grey form of the Tawny Owl in Buckinghamshire.—A specimen of 
the grey form of Syrnium aluco was shot at Great Horwood, near Winslow, 
Bucks, in July last, and sent to Mr. Wyatt, taxidermist, Banbury. The 
bird is small, with a decidedly long tail, and is extremely grey, with the 
white markings conspicuous and no trace of rufous or tawny. A keeper 
from Yeovil noticed it in Mr. Wyatt's shop, and remarked that only similar 


472 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


grey birds were found there, whereas neither Mr. Wyatt nor I have ever 
seen an entirely grey bird from this neighbourhood. The males of the 
common rufous form are all more or less greyish brown.—F. C. APLIN 
(Bodicote, Banbury, Oxon). 


FISHES. 


Balistes capriscus off Folkestone.— Two species of the genus 
Balistes common in the Atlantic are occasionally met with on the British 
coasts, B. capriscus and B. maculatus. Their popular names “ File-fish” and 
“'Trigger-fish” are derived from peculiarities thus described by Dr. Giinther 
in the ‘Encyclopedia Britannica’ (9th ed.), under the name “ File-fish”:— 
“Their body is compressed and not covered with ordinary scales, but with 
small juxtaposed scutes. Their other principal characteristics consist in the 
structure of their first dorsal fin (which consists of three spines) and in their 
peculiar dentition. ‘The first of the three dorsal spines is very strong, 
roughened in front like a file, and hollowed out behind to receive the second 
much smaller spine, which besides has a projection in front at its base, 
fitting into a notch of the first. Thus these two spines can only be raised 
or depressed simultaneously, in such a manner that the first cannot be 
forced down unless the second has been previously depressed. The latter 
has been compared to a trigger, hence the name of “ Trigger-fish.” The 
generic name Balistes and the Italian name Pesce balistra also refer to this 
structure. Both jaws are armed with strong incisor-like and sometimes 
pointed teeth, by which these fishes are enabled not only to break off pieces 
of madrepores and other corals on which they feed, but also to chisel a hole 
into the hard shells of Mollusca in order to extract the soft parts. In this 
way they destroy an immense number of mollusks, and become most 
injurious to the pearl-fisheries. The specimen of Balistes capriscus to 
which this note refers was captured in a trawl on the 27th September last 
in the bay between Folkestone and Dungeness Point. When fresh it was 
of a dull slate-colour, and measured 10} inches in length and 43 inches in 
depth, excluding the fins. 1t was forwarded from Folkestone to Mr. Teget- 
meier, who in ‘ The Field’ of the 4th October last has given a brief account 
of it—J. E, Harrine. 


Ray swallowing a Crayfish.—At Sennen Cove, near the Land’s End, 
one day in September, a large Ray of some sort was captured. Its belly 
was unusually distended, so much so that Mr. James B. Coulson, my 
informant (a seine owner there) caused the fish to be opened, and in its 
stomach was found a Crayfish, or Common Spiny Lobster, Palinurus vulgaris, 
of considerable size. I have no doubt of the accuracy of this information, 
and those who know the capacity of the mouth of the Rays for lateral 
extension (or gape) will not doubt their ability to swallow Crayfish, but 
surely this cannot be of common oceurrence.—THos. CornisH (Penzance). 


THE ZOOLOGIST. 


THIRD SERIES. 


Vou. VIII.] DECEMBER, 1884. [No. 96. 


IRISH BREEDING-STATIONS OF THE GANNET, 
SULA BASSANA. 


Kwnowine that the Gannet was reported to breed on the Bull 
Rock, about three miles W.N.W. of Dursey Head, Co. Cork,* 
in addition to its long recognized Irish breeding-station on the 
Little Skellig, I made arrangements to visit it early in the 
month of June last. 

Before giving a brief account of my excursion, it may be 
interesting to refer to some statements regarding the breeding 
of the Gannet in Ireland. Thompson in his ‘ Natural History 
of Ireland’ (vol. iii., p. 268), quotes the ‘History of Kerry,’ by 
Smith, who, describing the “‘ second or middle Skellig,” which ig 
no doubt identical with the ‘‘ Skellig Rock little,” or Little Skellig 
of the Ordnance Map, says:—‘’Tis remarkable the Gannet 
nestles nowhere else on the south coast of Ireland, and though 
multitudes of them are daily seen on all parts of our coast, 
upon the wing, and in the sea, yet they were never known 
to alight on any other land or rock hereabouts, except on this 
island.” 

Smith’s ‘Kerry’ was published in 1766, and, though I have no 
copy beside me, it is probable the Lemon Rock (a small low rock 
much nearer land) was counted as one of the Skelligs by Smith, 


* See ‘ Zoologist,’ 1882, p. 110, and ‘ Migration of Birds at Lighthouses,’ 
5th Report, p. 89. 


ZOOLOGIST.—DECc. 1884. 20 


474 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


since he speaks of a middle Skellig, as if there were three. The 
Ordnance Map gives but two, the Great and Little Skellig,—the 
former being 714 feet and the latter 440 feet high; they are a 
mile and a quarter apart. It will thus be seen that Smith, 
writing one hundred and twenty years ago, confines the Gannet 
to the Little Skellig. Thompson, however, quotes Mr. Chute, 
who, in 1849, stated that ‘‘at the larger Skellig they used to 
abound,” until the lighthouse was erected there. Mr. Armstrong, 
the Secretary to the Irish Lights Board, informs me that this 
was in 1826. 

Michael Shea, of Dursey Island, contractor for attending the 
Calf Rock Lighthouse previous to its destruction in 1881, writes 
to me that he ‘‘ believes that the Gannet did not breed on the 
Bull until after the Skellig Light was erected.” 

If the Gannets ever nested on the Great Skellig, the erection 
of the lighthouse in 1826 would certainly have disturbed them, 
and probably caused them to desert the rock. It is noteworthy, 
however, that Smith makes no mention of the Great Skellig as 
a breeding-place, and that the Gannet is now confined to the 
Lesser Skellig as in his time. He refers to ‘‘ another rock on 
the north coast of Ireland, where they alight and breed in the 
same manner,” as on the Little Skellig. Thompson is unable to 
conjecture what rock is meant. 

The Stags of Broadhaven, off Mayo, are subsequently 
mentioned by the last-named author as a reported breeding- 
place of the Gannet on the Irish coast, his authority being 
Mr. Townsend, who, it appears, visited that part of Mayo in 
July, 1836. Mr. Townsend describes the Gannets and the Stags, 
and says there ‘‘ cannot be a doubt the Gannet breeds at Broad- 
haven.” Michael Duffy, keeper at the lighthouse there, which 
is some miles distant from the Stags, wrote to me in 1882 that 
‘the Gannet does not breed on the Stags, but is to be seen after 
herring” (see ‘Report on the Migration of Birds,’ 1882). It would 
be interesting, if it were possible, to reconcile these conflicting 
statements. 

The Calf, Cow, and Bull Rocks are generally the first land 
sighted by the American liners on this side of the Atlantic. 
The Calf is three quarters of a mile $.W. of Dursey Head; a 
mile and three quarters N.W. of the Calf is the Cow; and 
another mile further out lies the Bull. They are almost ina 


IRISH BREEDING-STATIONS OF THE GANNET. 475 


line. The height and size of these rocks, compared with the 
Skelligs, is as follows :— 


Height in feet. Area. Miles from 
Ae eRe P, shore. 
Calf °°: ae 78 eo es 3 
Cow... ays 215 1 lle 13 
Bare 22 te. 302 Oe bela 3 
Little Skellig ... 440 16 3 18 v 
Great Skellig ... 714 44 1 28 83 


The Bull, Cow, and Calf are about sixteen miles §.E. of the 
Skelligs. The lighthouse on the Calf Rock was destroyed by a 
great storm in November, 1881, and it was decided to erect the 
new lighthouse on the Bull Rock. The works were com- 
menced this year, and a steamer was stationed at Castletown 
Berehayven, in April, to convey the workmen to and from the 
Rock. These men are engaged blasting and quarrying away the 
summit of the Bull, to make a foundation for the new lighthouse. 

Owing to my connection with the British Association Com- 
mittee on the Migration of Birds at Lighthouses, permission 
was obtained to go out in the steamer—a concession not readily 
granted. The landing is so difficult in bad weather that the 
workmen had only been on the rocks fourteen days in two 
months. I asked my friend Mr. R. J. Ussher to accompany me, 
and Mr. J. N. White, of Waterford, and my nephew completed 
the party. 

Until we were quite near the Bull, comparatively few birds 
were visible, but thousands filled the air as we anchored about 
150 yards from the rock. The firing of a shot was followed by 
the appearance of a greater number of birds than I remember 
to have seen, except at St. Kilda. I spent three weeks on St. Kilda 
in 1883, living in a tent on the main island, and running some 
risk of spending three months there, or perhaps a whole winter 
had the weather proved boisterous. At St. Kilda, also, I was 
much struck by the scarcity of birds a little way out at sea. 
When approaching this remote group of islands, at a distance of 
two or three miles, one could scarcely suppose he was near the 
greatest breeding-place of sea-fowl in the British Isles. 

To climb the Bull at the present landing-place would be 
difficult, were it not for the rope ladder-used by the workmen. 


476 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


A lofty arch runs right through the rock. Its direction in tae 
Ordnance Sheet is due N. and §S., and it is over this arch, at 
both ends, that the Gannet breeds in greatest numbers. Over 
the southern entrance they are most numerous, occupying every 
shelf and ledge on the cliff, from the top of the arch to within 
thirty feet of the top of the Bull. Atleast 150 feet of the cliff 
is here literally white with Gannets. I estimate the number 
breeding on this, the southern face, at 1200 to 1500. Some 
two hundred feet over the northern entrance to the arch the 
blasting operations are in progress, and far fewer Gannets breed. 
Indications are not wanting, however, to show that here also 
they must have had a large colony; but the showers of stones 
falling down the cliff from the top of the island have banished 
all but a few courageous birds, which still cling to their nests, and 
sit hatching as the rocks and débris fly past and even over them. 
No Gannets breed on the east side, but on the western face there 
are several nests. Altogether perhaps 2000 breed on the Bull. 
In ‘The Zoologist’ for 1876, p. 5048, Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., 
put a query about the materials of Gannets’ nests, quoting 
from H. Boece (1526), Willughby (1678), and others. Mr. 
Gurney found all the Gannets’ nests he examined on the Bass 
Rock to be composed of seaweed mixed with grass. At the Bull, 
seaweed predominated, but a few nests had some grass mixed 
with it. The island of Borrera (1072 feet), at St Kilda, has in 
the breeding season a flock of Gannets frequently on its grassy 
top, pulling materials for their nests. Martin, who visited 
St. Kilda in 1697, in his ‘ Voyage’ to that island, says (at page 8), 
that two Gannets “ confirmed the truth of what has been 
frequently reported, of their stealing from one another grass 
wherewith to make their nests, by affording us the following very 
agreeable diversion, and it was thus: one of them finding his 
neighbour's nest without the fowl, lays hold on the opportunity 
and steals from it as much grass as he could conveniently carry 
off, taking his flight towards the ocean; from thence he pre- 
sently returns as if he had made a foreign purchase, but it does 
not pass for such, for the owner had discovered the fact before 
the thief had got out of sight, and, too nimble for his cunning, 
waits his return, all armed with fury, and engages him des- 
perately ; this bloody battle was fought above our heads, and 
proved fatal to the thief, who fell dead so near our boat that our 


. 


IRISH BREEDING-STATIONS OF THE GANNET. 477 


men took him up, and presently dressed and eat him, which they 
reckoned as a good omen of success on the voyage.” 

Whether this account of Martin’s can be credited or not, it 
may be evidence to show that the Gannets at St. Kilda desire to 
have grass in their nests, and do not rely altogether on seaweed. 

The natives of St. Kilda told me they frequently got bits of 
candle in the nest of the Gannet! When at the Bull I saw the 
semi-digested remains of what I believe was once a squid, close 
to a Gannet’s nest. It was just disgorged, and, with the cuttle- 
fish bone inside, bore a strong resemblance to a candle covered 
with slime ! 

In the ‘ Proceedings of the Belfast Natural History Society,’ 
1873-4, there is a paper on the swimming-birds of Belfast 
Lough. At page 110, on the authority of Mr. M‘Donald, com- 
mander of H.M. cruiser ‘ Vigilant,’ the following estimate is 
given of the Gannets breeding at the five Scotch stations :— 
Ailsa Craig, 12,000; Bass Rock, 12,000; St. Kilda, 50,000; the 
Stack, 50,000; Sula S’Geir (or Sulisker), 300,000. It is not 
easy to take a census of birds with the eye, but I should 
think 20,000 Gannets at St. Kilda would be more accurate. 
They have three breeding-places there: Stack-a-Lii, Stack-a- 
Narmin, and the island of Borrera; and all are inhabited, like 
every other British breeding-station. Sulisker is thirty-three 
miles north of the Butt of Lewis, and must be well worth a visit. 
The Stack is twenty-three miles N.E. of Cape Wrath, in Suther- 
landshire. Next year, if possible, it is my intention to see both 
these stations. 

In 1880 I was on both the Great and Little Skellig, and the 
number of Gannets then breeding on the latter seemed very few— 
scarcely thirty pairs—I thought; so that the Bull is now the 
greatest Irish breeding-place. It is possible I may not have 
seen all the Gannets on the Little Skellig in 1880, for although 
I have climbed the Matterhorn, Jungfrau, and many other peaks, 
I was baffled by a chasm on this rock, and failed to see the 
Gannets at close quarters. My guide crossed it, but would 
probably have fallen as he returned, had I not remained behind 
to pull him up. We had not time to choose an easier way. 

This year we started for the Skelligs, after visiting the Bull, 
but bad weather compelled us to return when scarcely half way. 
The boatman who attends the lighthouse was with us, and said 


478 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


he never saw so many Gannets breeding on {the Little Skillig 
as this year. This would lead one to suspect that when driven 
from the Bull by the blasting, they migrated to the Skilligs. 
' The reverse process has probably been going on for several 
years. That the Gannets will completely desert the Bull in two 
or three years I have little doubt. Some may establish them- 
selves on the Cow, a mile distant. Michael Shea, of Dursey 
Island, states that a few already breed there. We did not land 
on the Cow, but passing close in the steamer no Gannets were 
visible. The young speckled birds of a year old must keep away 
from the breeding-stations, for at the Bull scarcely two Gannets 
in a hundred were speckled, and at St. Kilda about the same 
proportion. 

The birds breeding on the Bull Rock, in order of numbers, 
are :—- 


Razorbill, Alea torda, Iuinn. ... .. 5000 
Gannet, Sula bassana, Linn. ... is 2000 
Guillemot, Uria troile, Linn. ee 1000 
Ringed Guillemot, Uria troile var. ... 20 
Puffin, Fratercula arctica, Linn. ... 500 
Kittiwake, Larus tridactylus, Linn. ... 800 
Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, Gm. 100 ? 


No nest of the last-named species was seen; only the birds. 

Taking the same area of rock surface, more Razorbills breed 
on the Bull than at any other locality I have visited (St. Kilda not 
excepted). The Doon at St. Kilda, and the Tearaght Rock, one 
of the Blasket group off Dingle in Kerry, are the greatest 
breeding-places of the Puffin I have seen. The Great Skellig, 
perhaps, comes next; then Tory Island, N.W. of Donegal. The 
surface of the Bull is too rocky for the Puffin, which prefers to 
burrow in soft turfy cliffs. From experience I can state that the 
Puffin is excellent eating ; plucked, split in two, and roast, it is 
quite equal to duck. 

Botanically speaking there is one point of interest about the 
Bull, i.e., the occurrence of Lavatera arborea, Linn., growing 
luxuriantly on its summit. This plant is only admitted into the 
Irish list of phanerogams as a doubtful native (‘Cybele Hiber- 
nica,’ p. 54). I have also gathered it on Innishnabro, and on 
the Tearaght Rock, but nowhere have I seen it more likely to be 
indigenous than on the Bull Rock. 


oS eo 


IRISH BREEDING-STATIONS OF THE GANNET. 479 


Since writing the above I have received a letter from 
Mr. Robert Warren, of Ballina, Co. Mayo, in which he says :— 
“T have no authentic record of the Gannet beeeding on the 
Stags of Broadhaven. Dr. Darling sent his brother there in the 
summer of 1882, but there was no trace of them, nor did a 
young cliff-climber whom they employed know of their breeding 
within his memory. Sir R. Payne-Gallwey (‘The Fowler in 
Ireland,’ p. 261) must have mistaken what I wrote to him. 
Mr. Townsend’s account to Thompson dates back to July, 1836. 
Is it possible young Gannets fly in that month?” Mr. A. E. 
Knox said, January 3rd, 1851 (see Thompson, vol. iii., Appendix, 
p. 451), that Gannets used to breed on the Stags of Broadhaven 
when he was a boy, ‘‘but not in numbers.” My cautious friend Mr. 
Warren adds, ‘“‘neither Mr. Knox nor Mr. Townsend saw nests.” 

The Fastnet Rock, eight miles §.W. of Cape Clear, Co. Cork, is 
inaccurately given as a breeding-place in Sir R. Payne-Gallwey’s 
book (p. 136), for neither the Gannet nor any other bird breeds 
on the Fastnet. The light-keeper there has just written to me, 
—‘‘The Gannet does not breed on the rock, nor never did; in 
fact, no bird could breed there, as the rock is too small.”” Anyone 
who has seen the model of the Fastnet in the Irish Lights Office 
can appreciate the truth of this remark. The lighthouse was 
erected in 1848, and the rock is only 52 feet above the sea-level. 

Ricoarp M. Barrineron. 


Karty in June last, in company with Messrs. R. M. Barrington 
and J. N. White, I visited the coasts of West Cork and Kerry, 
with a view to Ornithology. Leaving Berehaven at 4-a.m., 
we coasted along the rock-bound peninsula of which Dursey 
Island forms a continuation. We then struck out into the 
Atlantic, towards those last fragments of land, the Cow, the 
Calf, and the Bull Rocks. On the latter (our special destination) 
a lighthouse is about to be erected. As we approached the Bull, 
which rises 298 feet out of the Atlantic, we were impressed by 
its appearance. The front presented to us is conical, like the 
front of a saddle, with slightly bulging sides, terminating below 
in cliffs. The island is pierced from end to end with a huge 
arch, through which the sea flows. The eastern and western 
ends are precipitous, and on the lofty ledges above the arch we 


480 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


saw multitudes of Gannets, while numbers of these and of the 
Alcide swarmed around and above. On the whistle of the 
steamer being sounded, the Gannets on the rock took flight, 
launching themselves forth from their lofty breeding-shelves, 
with outstretched necks and lengthy wings, in such numbers as 
exceeded anything we had anticipated. This surprise was 
heightened when, on rowing round the island, we found quite as 
many, if not more, Gannets breeding on similar elevated ledges, 
their nests being always placed high out of reach of the ocean 
breakers, at the western end and above the north-west corner. The 
lower rocks, especially some large detached ones near that 
corner, were thickly covered with Gannets, probably the males 
and more breeding birds. All these were in the white adult 
plumage, but we saw during the day an occasional grey im- 
mature Gannet on the wing, assuming the white on its head and 
shoulders. After comparing our estimates and cutting them 
down, we concluded that there were probably from a thousand to 
two thousand of these birds breeding on the Bull Rock. About 
twenty-five years ago, Mr. G. H. Kinahan, who was then at 
Castletown, Berehayen, on the Geological Survey, was well 
assured that no Gannets bred on this rock, for the clergyman 
of Berehaven, having then visited it, asked him after the visit 
why it was that Gannets bred on the Skelligs and not on the Bull 
Rock? ‘‘Many hundreds,’ however, were found breeding there 
in 1868, by Mr. 8. N. Hutchins, as appears by a note from the 
Rev. W. W. Flemyng (‘ Zoologist,’ 1882, p. 110.) 

On ascending the rock we found we could get to some of the 
Gannets’ building-ledges, both at the east and west ends, and a 
few of the birds remained on their nests till we approached within 
a pace of them. The nests were invariably of seaweed, with 
occasionally a little grass, not so well built as those of Cor- 
morants. Each usually contained one egg or young bird, but in 
two instances I saw nests containing two eggs each. On 
emptying one of these pairs I found one egg fresh, the other 
decidedly sat upon, so that they may have been laid by different 
birds. Most of the eggs, from their soiled appearance, must 
have been sat upon some time. The naked black young, newly- 
hatched, contrasted quaintly with those which had assumed the 
white downy covering which added greatly to their apparent 
growth. One nest contained a half-digested fish about the size 


IRISH BREEDING-STATIONS OF THE GANNET. 481 


of a mackerel. The harsh croaking cry of the Gannets was 
very striking. They are courageous birds: numbers of them 
sat while blasting took place close by, the splinters falling in 
showers around them, while Razorbills might be seen looking 
out of their nooks from under the very avalanche of débris. 
These quarrying operations have desolated a large portion of the 
rock, which is strewn with broken eggs of Razorbills and 
Guillemots. The former species is far the most numerous on 
the Bull Rock. Comparatively few Puffins breed, the rocky 
nature of the island and the absence of vegetable soil obliging 
them to lay under rock fragments and in fissures. Kittiwakes 
have garnished the lower cliffs with their numerous nests, but 
very few Herring Gulls or Lesser Black-backs breed on the Bull. 
There was also an absence of Cormorants, Shags, Oyster- 
catchers and Terns ; although on the Cow, another lofty rock 
about a mile and a quarter distant and 215 feet in height, we 
noticed a colony of Cormorants and many Herring Gulls, but no 
Gannets. The most striking plant on the Bull Rock is the 
Lavatera arborea, which grows on its summit to a height of four 
feet. During our subsequent coasting voyage we noticed a pair 
of Black Guillemots at Cod’s Head, Co. Cork, and others in 
Ballinskelligs Bay. 

On the 11th June we left Port Magee for the Skelligs, but 
after rowing an hour a heavy sea deterred our boatmen. We 
were then off the north side of Puffin Island, whose knife- 
backed ridge rose to our left against a sky covered with swarms 
of birds that breed in these cliffs. Manx Shearwaters, with 
their light flight, were skimming the sea around us. 

We then rowed round the eastern extremity of Puffin Island, 
which is the lowest and nearest the mainland, from which it is 
distant only a furlong. Here a colony of Terns took wing. 
These from their slaty colour appeared to be Arctic Terns. On 
landing we found the surface where they breed composed of 
laminated rock on edge, in the interstices of which were several 
pairs of their eggs slightly incubated. Oystercatchers and Wheat- 
ears were breeding close by, and Rock Pipits numerous. 

We then proceeded along the island, which is about a mile 
in length, but uninhabited. The northern side is a series of 
precipices 474 feet high, but the southern side, though steep, is 
clothed with thrift, forming a peat soil beneath it. Along this 


482 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


steep surface one can creep rather than walk. It is pierced by 
innumerable rabbit and puffin-holes. Our conductor examined 
these, and where he found a slight trace of white dung at the 
mouth of one he tore up the peat, inserted his arm, and drew 
forth a Shearwater, then her egg. On searching another hole, 
near which he pointed out a similar white speck on the thrift, he 
pulled out a Storm Petrel and her egg. After a long search we 
procured a few of each species. We found these Shearwaters 
and Petrels breeding in a steep slope overlooking the sea, though 
at avery considerable height. On being liberated the Petrels 
always went with a zigzag flight down the cliffs. Their eggs 
were fresh, but those of the Manx Shearwaters were hard sat 
upon. Two Shearwaters, on being put into a basket containing 
cotton-wool, continued to burrow in the latter till they reduced it 
to rags, while two Petrels, also put into this basket, kept dancing 
about on the top of the wool. The burrow inhabited by a Puffin 
may be generally distinguished from that which a Shearwater 
frequents by the quantity of dung at its orifice. The latter, bird 
being nocturnal in its habits, does not so frequently enter and leave. 
the hole as the busy Puffin, and leaves fewer traces after her. 

On enquiring for the Great Black-backed Gull, our guide took 
us to the narrow western extremity of the island, where the 
ridge is lower and exclusively rocky. Here, on the very top, 
we found a nest of this species, composed of tufts of thrift and 
some withered stems. It contained three handsomely-marked 
eggs. Our guide had previously this year taken another set 
of eggs of the Great Saddle-back from this spot, to eat. Lower 
down among the rocks, Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-backs 
had their nests. Mr. Barrington pointed out a rocky islet rising 
to a height of 50 or 60 feet, where from his experience in 
St. Kilda he expected to find, and accordingly did find, on the 
very summit, another nest of the Great Black-backed Gull with 
three eggs. We saw some pairs of Choughs frequenting Puffin 
Island, which appeared to have nests in the lower cliffs. A 
deserted nest of the Hooded Crow in the cavity of a projecting 
spur, was easily accessible from the slope above which it rose, 
and strikingly contrasted with the inaccessible positions in 
which I have found this species breeding in more frequented 


places. 
R. J. Usswer. 


( 488 ) 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


MAMMALIA. 


Greater Horse-shoe Bat at Oxford.—A friend of mine one evening in 
October, about ten years ago,—he thinks in 1875,—shot a specimen of this 
bat as it was flying over the reservoir here, and kept it some days in his 
house, but did not have it preserved. He was able to compare it, however, 
with a figure of the species, and he says it was very large, so that I have 
no doubt as to its identity. Like the specimen of Bechstein’s Bat obtained 
at Godstow, as recorded in the ‘ Midland Naturalist,’ it may, I suppose, be 
considered a native of Berkshire, the reservoir being on the south side of 
the river. Is not this the most northern English (perhaps European ?) 
locality known for the species? For, excepting the counties of the south 
coast, it seems only to have been reported from Swansea, Bristol, Clifton, and 
Weston-super-Mare (from which place there is a specimen in the Oxford 
Museum), the Colchester record being considered a mistake.—J. EK. KeELSALL 
(Balliol College, Oxford). 

[We have a note of one taken at Carperley, Wensleydale, by Mr. Carter, 
of Burton House, Bedale, which would place the range of this species in 
England considerably to the north of Oxford.—Eb.] 


Rudolphi’s Rorqual at Goole.—The article on the Finwhale Fishery 
by Mr. Cocks, in your last number, proved very interesting to me, inasmuch 
as we had shortly before captured a young male Rorqual, and I will, with 
your permission, give a short description of it. It was seen in the Humber 
and Ouse on September Sth, and shortly after high water that evening was 
observed by some boys trying to get into the Barge Lock, attracted, in all 
probability, by the clear water escaping from the docks. The boys, with 
assistance, opened the lock-gates, and the animal at once entered; the gates 
were closed, and the capture was complete. After a very severe struggle it 
was killed, lashed to a vessel, and in the morning lifted out of the water by 
a large crane. It was carefully weighed and measured, with the intention 
of getting it properly identified. The length was 32 ft. 6 in.; greatest 
girth, 15 ft. 6 in., least (near the tail), 4 ft.; height at the flippers, 4 ft. 8 in. ; 
length of flipper, 4 ft. 1 in.; length of dorsal fin, 2 ft. 4 in.; length from 
that fin to the tail, 9 ft. 8 in.; flukes of tail, 7 ft. 2 in.; across, breadth of 
fluke, 2 ft. 8 in. ; from tip of jaw to blowholes, 4 ft. 5 in.; from end of jaw 
to eye (situated near the angle of the mouth), 5 ft. 6 in.; exposed portion of 
eyeball, 3 in. Weight nearly 9} tons. The colour was black and smooth 
above, white on the under parts; the curious plaits or folds extended 
longitudinally from the under jaw to the middle of the body. The flippers 
were black on both sides. The baleen tapered in length from fifteen to 


484 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


two or three inches, the palate being almost covered with the fringe, which 
was of a dirty white colour. The blubber was stripped off on Sept. 8th, 
and varied from three to seven inches in thickness. As this was the first 
visit of any of the Balenopteride to Goole we were very anxious to have it 
properly recorded, and my friend Mr Birks wrote to Mr. Southwell, of 
Norwich, who expressed an opinion that it was Rudolphi’s Rorqual. 
Balenoptera borealis, and was kind enough to bring the capture to the 
notice of Dr. Giinther, of the British Museum. An agent came to examine 
the bones, confirmed Mr. Southwell's opinion, and bought them for the 
British Museum. The money, together with that obtained by exhibiting 
the body at Goole, was presented to the Sailors’ Institute. — Tuomas 
Bunker (Goole). 


Errata. —In the article on the Finwhale Fishery in Finmarken, 
p- 368, line 6, for “‘ sand” read ** Sound”; p- 369, lines 15 and 16, between 
“piping” and “which” insert “and containing a liquid”; same page, 
line 25, for “ three-side” read “ three-sided”; p- 419, line 5, insert comma 
after “who,” and dele comma after “ Norwegians”; p. 420, line 26, for 
“multiplier” read “accumulator”; p. 421, line 11, for *tompions” read 
“bitts”; same page, line 22, between “west” and “centre” insert 
“of the”. 


BIRDS. 


Probable occurrence of the Lapp Bunting near Grimsby—When 
walking home from Grimsby, on November 8th, through the west marshes,— 
a locality where I used formerly to shoot Snipe, and have stalked Wild 
Geese, but now in great part covered with houses and the new dock works 
and coaling of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincoln Railway,—I disturbed 
a small bird from a swampy patch in a grown-up and disused drain. At 
the first glance I thought it was an unusually large Reed Bunting in 
summer plumage, but on alighting on a rail-fence within a few yards I at 
once saw it was a very fine adult male Lapp Bunting; from the rails it 
flew to some coal-trucks standing in the siding near the dock. The curious 
thing was that it was in nearly full summer plumage, the black portions 
only being somewhat (but very little) flecked or broken. The black of the 
head separated from the cheeks and breast by a very conspicuous light 
streak, the gorget seemed to cover much more of the breast than in the 
Reed Bunting, and it had not the white collar of that bird. In flight it 
showed some white on the tail. Altogether it was a stronger and more 
robust bird than the male Reed Bunting, nearly, if not quite, equal in size to 
a Snow Bunting. Reed Buntings have been very numerous this autumn, 
and much in excess of what we usually see, and I have recently heard that 
there has been a large migration across Heligoland. It is disappointing to 
see anything which cannot with certainty be identified; this, however, 


ia 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 485 


happened to me early in October, when I saw a bird as large as a Snow 
Bunting running over the mown masses of floating weeds collected near 
the mouth of our main outfall-sluice. In colour it resembled the female 
Lapp Bunting, and may have belonged to that species; in flight it showed 
a dull white patch on the upper part of the wing near the bend. Its note, 
which had a sharp metallic ring, was quite new to me. I saw a Wheatear 
here on November 7th. No Snow Buntings up to this date (Nov. 10th). 
Altogether this has been a very remarkable season, quite a host of rare 
immigrants having turned up on the east coast.—Joun CorpDEaux (Great 
Cotes, Ulceby). 


Lesser Black-backed Gull on the Yorkshire Coast.—Mr. Carter's 
graphically written and interesting paper on ‘‘ Egging on the Coast of 
Yorkshire,” in the last number, has recalled very vividly to my mind the 
grand Yorkshire cliffs along which I enjoyed many delightful rambles in 
the summer of 1875, 1876, and 1877. I have little doubt that the hawk’s 
eggs referred to by Mr. Carter (p. 447) were the eggs of the identical Pere- 
grine mentioned by me in ‘ The Zoologist’ for 1876 (p. 5040), as follows :— 
“Speaking to me on the subject of the young Peregrines .. . . Mr. Brown 
told me he had four Peregrine’s eggs brought him in the spring of 1875, 
taken on the Filey cliffs.” If the Lesser Black-backed Gull can be satis- 
factorily identified as having bred on the Yorkshire cliffs, it will be a matter 
of great interest to many naturalists. I never saw the bird in the breeding 
season either at Filey or along the Bempton and Speeton cliffs; certainly 
eggs said to be those of this gull have been offered me on the Yorkshire 
coast, but I have always been very doubtful about them, especially as the 
would-be vendor (not a “climmer ”) professed to be able easily to distinguish 
the eggs from those of the Herring Gull, which I do not believe any one 
can do. Mr. W. E. Clarke, in his valuable ‘ Handbook of the Vertebrate 
Fauna of Yorkshire,’ does not mention this bird as breeding in Yorkshire, 
neither does Mr. Hewitson, nor the Editor of the new edition of “ Yarrell.” 
I hope Mr. Carter will make another expedition to the Yorkshire cliffs 
next summer, and give the readers of ‘ The Zoologist’ the result of fresh 
enquiries on this point.—Juzran G. Tuck (St. Mary’s Clergy House, 
Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent). 


A Supplemental List of the Birds of Breconshire.—In 1882 I 
republished a ‘‘ List of the Birds of Breconshire,” which had appeared from 
time to time in the pages of ‘The Zoologist.’ Since then, through the 
courtesy of one or two ornithologists in this county, I have been enabled 
to add the following birds to my list, which, though making it far from 
complete, at least swells it to a very respectable total. 

Black Redstart, Ruticilla tithys—One seen some years since, resting 
for a short time on the leads on the roof of Llanthomas, near Hay, in this 


486 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


county. As far as can be remembered, it was in the month of November. 
It is most rare with us, and I have never seen it, but my informant is such 
an excellent ornithologist that I have no doubt of its occurrence. 

Bearded Titmouse, Panarus biarmicus.—My last informant also reports 
that ‘‘ what were believed to be one or two specimens of this bird were seen 
in the bog wood near Tregoya Hay, on the 28th of May in this year,” which 
bears out the statement of one of my boys (which I confess I passed by), 
who accurately described the bird to me from a specimen he said he had 
seen at Llanthew, near Brecon, in August, 1883. I have also another 
report from Carmarthenshire, close to the edge of the county, and am 
inclined from the above to think it very rarely occurs here. 

Snow Bunting, Hmberiza nivalis——Some were seen near Llauthomas 
Hay, in the month of January, 1879, and were easily recognised by their 
colour and size. 

Turnstone, Strepsilas interpres.—One of these birds was killed at 
Llangorse Lake. Mr. Crawshay, who gave me this information, saw the 
bird, but unfortunately has forgotten the date. 

Green Sandpiper, Totanus ochropus.—I have seen three of these 
elegant waders, that were killed at Talybont, on the River Usk. They 
occur every year in the spring, on a wet place there, but are seldom seen 
elsewhere in the county. 

Bernicle Goose, Anser leucopsis.—One killed at Talybont on the Usk, 
by Mr. A. Crawshay, 1882. 

Gadwall, Anas strepera.— Half a dozen seen on a small pool at 
Llandilo Graban, near Aberedw, close to this county, in August, 1880, as 
recorded by Mr. H. N. Ridley, ‘ Zoologist,’ 1882, p. 431. 

Leach’s Petrel, Procellaria leachii, or as my correspondent calls it, the 
Fork-tailed Petrel. A specimen of this, to us, rare sea-bird, was shot on 
the banks of the River Wye, Breconshire, by Mr. Wood's keeper, on 
October 15th, 1877. The previous night and morning were remarkable 
for one of the severest south-westerly gales this country had experienced 
for many years.—E. CamBripGE Puiturps (Brecon). 


Hooded Crow and Grey Phalarope at Malta.— In the Valetta 
University Museum there are specimens of both these birds, which I think 
have not been previously recorded as having visited Malta. I cannot 
ascertain the exact date when the Hooded Crow was preserved; Dr. Gulia, 
Professor of Natural History at the University, says ‘‘a year or two ago.” 
The Phalarope is labelled as shot at Malta, October 13th, 1879.—E. F. 
Becuer, Capt. R.A. 


Hobby in Oxfordshire.—I have a fine male specimen of Falco subbuteo, 
which was taken alive, entangled in some pea-sticks at Great Bourton on 
the 21st July last. The bird was in perfect adult plumage. I purchased 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 487 


another, also a male, from Mr. Darby, of Oxford, which was shot close to 
the city, and stuffed by him. Mr. Darby informs me that he has a young 
one which was killed at Waterperry, near Oxford, in the middle of 
September. On Sept. 2nd, while shooting at Bloxham Grove, near here, 
my brother and I saw a pair of these birds; one was flying rapidly round 
a clump of chestnut trees, apparently hawking for insects; the flight was 
peculiarly easy and graceful. We were able to get near enough to dis- 
tinguish the colours, and the long pointed wings were very conspicuous.— 
F. C. Apxin (Bodicote, Banbury). 


Breeding of the Hawfinch in North Yorkshire-—On the 22nd 
of May last my brother found a nest of the Hawfinch here, containing five 
beautifully marked eggs. The nest was about six feet from the ground, in 
a hawthorn bush growing by the river-side; it was built of twigs and lined 
with fine roots, but so loosely that, when standing below, the contents 
could be seen through the structure. The hen bird, which was sitting 
on the nest when it was discovered, sat very close, and when she left her 
eggs the male bird flew towards her, and both circled round in an 
agitated manner. In the same bush was another nest, constructed in the 
same way as the one described above, from which it was not a yard 
distant, and a brood of young had evidently been reared in this last year. 
In July, 1883, finding that much havoc was being wrought among the 
peas in the garden by some strong-billed birds, nets were thrown over the 
rows, and the following day a young male Hawfinch was found entangled in 
the meshes. After this no more damage was committed in our garden, but 
some of our neighbours complained that their green peas were being 
plundered in a wholesale fashion. I may mention that some years since 
an adult male Hawfinch was captured in the gardens at Swinton Park, in a 
net thrown over some rows of peas.—T. Carrer (Burton House, Masham). 


White Wood Pigeon and other Varieties.—Wheu walking up the 
meadows here on September 8th three Wood Pigeons flew past at about 
eighty yards, and I was surprised to see one of them was nearly white. 
This must have been the bird which has been about during the last three 
years, and how it has escaped so long is a wonder. A birdstuffer in 
Nottingham informs me that he has seen two white Sand Martins and a 
cream Redpoll lately, and we have a white Sparrow, a white Lark, and 
eream-coloured Wagtail about here. A cream-coloured Rook was picked up 
dead at Popplewick Hall last spring.—J. WurrakEr (Rainworth Lodge, 
Mansfield, Notts). 


Notes on the Birds of Berkshire.—Our summer migrants were all 
early this year in arriving, with the exception of the Cuckoo, which I did 
not hear till April 29th. The Nightjar arrived either that date or the day 
following; a keeper saw young Nightjars newly hatched about June dth, 


488 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


but the greater number of eggs were found between June 20th and 30th ; 
one clutch of eggs I found in a thick pine plantation; the others were 
under isolated trees, either small pines or Spanish chestnuts (see p. 91). 
Young House Martins were flying about June 22nd. On July Ist I came 
across two or three Crossbills, Lowxia curvirostra, but could not accurately 
determine the number, because of the density of the pine foliage; they 
haunted the same spot for several days, and I picked up a pine-cone par- 
tially stripped of its seeds, which one of them was surprised in dissecting ; 
they were all in the green plumage. The date seems rather an unusual 
one for these birds; I have failed to find any during the autumn. The last 
of our Nightjars I saw flying at 6.30 p.m. on October 2nd. Great numbers 
of Goldcrests appeared at the end of September and beginning of October, 
but they have now considerably diminished. The season, with its number 
of acorns, has been most favourable for the Jays; the woods here (the 
outskirts of Windsor Forest) are full of these birds and Green Woodpeckers. 
The latter birds seem to alter their habits in accordance with circumstances ; 
in quite the borders of the forest, where the old timber has been cleared 
and young trees have sprung up, they occasionally nest in holes in the 
ground, generally by a rotten tree-root or post; they hunt their insects on 
the ground, digging quite deep holes in their eagerness after their prey. 
I have noticed that when flushed off the ground they seldom, if ever, utter 
the cry which they generally employ when startled—a shortened form of 
the “laugh” used in the breeding season. Peewits, of which in spring and 
summer there are great numbers, entirely disappear from the district in 
early autumn. Swallows and House Martins I last saw on October 20th. 
On November Ist, seeing two dark masses overhead at a great height, with 
the aid of field-glasses I made out two flocks of Wild Ducks; each flock 
consisted of between fifty and sixty birds; they were flying S.W., with a 
favourable wind.—T. N. PosrLerawattsx (Hallthwaite, Millom, Cumberland). 


Eared Grebe and Velvet Scoter at Hunstanton.—On November 3rd 
I received from Hunstanton a fresh specimen of the Eared Grebe, in the 
first year's plumage. The boatman who forwarded it to me, in a letter dated 
October 20th, told me that on the 16th he shot two fine Velvet Scoters, 
adding, “It is very early yet for wildfowl.” He is a very intelligent 
observer, and knows the two species of Scoter perfectly well—Jutian G. 
Tuck (St. Mary’s Clergy House, Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent). 


Ornithological Notes from Oxfordshire —The Crested Grebes on the 
Reservoir had good-sized young following them by June 19th: the latter 
have a very shrill and rather loud piping cry, which they utter incessantly 
when following the old birds for food. As the Green Sandpiper has been 
mentioned several times in ‘ The Zoologist’ and ‘ Field,’ it may be well to 
state that Oxfordshire was visited by some numbers of these birds during 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 489 


August: I noticed them first on the mud at Clattercutt Reservoir on the 
2nd, when three birds were busy feeding at the very edge of the water near 
to some Common Sandpipers, with which, however, they do not associate. 
Mr. W. W. Fowler, writing to me from Kingham on the 11th, mentioned 
that they were there in unusual numbers. On the 21st I purchased an 
adult bird which was shot at Astrop, Northamptonshire, that morning; and 
a week later another—a bird of the year, I think—was shot on the Cher- 
well below Bodicote, and given to me. It is very rarely that the Green 
Sandpiper visits us in spring, but I saw one this year at the Reservoir on 
March 15th (the same day that the Chiffchaff arrived), and one on the river 
the year before, on the 25th of that month. With regard to the musky 
odour of this species, observed by some writers (vide Yarrell, 4th edition), 
I may mention that in the Bodicote bird it was very strong, while the 
Astrop bird had not a trace of it, and the man who skinned it said he 
ate the body and found it very good. A Black Tern (probably in its second 
year), changing to winter plumage, was shot at Barton on August 2Ist, and 
Mr. Darbey tells me he had an adult bird in May, which was killed on the 
Isis near Letchlade. On August 2nd and 4th I saw six Teal on the 
Reservoir—evidently a brood, but all full grown; they were probably 
hatched there or in the immediate neighbourhood. ‘This is the first 
instance of Teal nesting in North Oxon that has come under my notice, 
although in 1880 I put up a pair from an osier-bed early in April. On 
September 7th two Gulls, apparently immature Larus argentatus, flew over 
Bodicote village within gunshot.—O river V. Aprin (Gt. Bourton, Oxon). 


Barred Warbler in Yorkshire.—An immature example of the Barred 
Warbler, Sylvia nisoria, was obtained by me on the Yorkshire coast on 
the 28th August last, and was exhibited at the evening meeting of the 
Zoological Society on November 4th. The bird is a female of the year; 
the wings and tail are much like those of the adult in markings, but a shade 
duller in tints; the rump is barred with white, and the faintest traces of 
dark bars appear on the flanks, back, and rest of under parts uubarred : 
irides brownish yellow; feet and legs horn-colour. It is much like an 
example shot in Sweden about the same time of year, and now in the British 
Museum. This makes the second occurrence of Sylvia nisoria in the 
British Islands. For the first record, near Cambridge, see Proc. Zool. Soe. 
1879, p. 219.—H. H. Starer (Irchester Vicarage, Wellingborough). 

[A third specimen has been obtained in Norfolk. See p. 493.—Ep.] 


White Stork at Pevensey.—Mr. Vidler, of Pevensey, near Hastings, 
has kindly sent mea specimen of the White Stork, Ciconia alba, killed 
during the latter part of August last. Mr. Vidler writes :—‘‘ There were 
two of the Storks, and they remained about the sea-shore for several days, 
but seemed very shy: at last one was shot by a coastguard; the other flew 
away inland, and was seen no more.—T. H. Nertson (Redcar). 


ZOOLOGIST.—DEc. 1884. 2P 


490 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Sabine’s Gull in Dublin Bay.—On Wednesday, the 5th November last, 
I had the good fortune to shoot, at Clontarf, a specimen of the rare Gull, 
Larus Sabinii, in the first year’s plumage, and very similar to an example 
in the same state of plumage in the Museum of Science and Art. I have 
presented my specimen to the National Collection of Irish Birds, and I may 
add that I have had the advantage of Mr. A. G. More’s opinion in its 
identification.—J. J. Downe (1, Fingal Terrace, Howth Road, Clontarf). 


Note on the Hooded Crow.—The Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix, some- 
times sits very closely. The first nest I got this season was found by a 
boy in. April last. He thought the nest looked rather new, climbed the 
bush in which it was placed, and put his hand on the back of the bird 
sitting on the eggs. From his account to me, it was difficult to know 
whether he or the sitting bird was the most frightened.—Wi.itram W. 
Friemyne (Clonegam Rectory, Portlaw, Co. Waterford). 

Breeding of the Ruff in Lancashire: Correction of Errors.—In my 
note on the breeding of the Ruff in Lancashire (pp. 466, 467) kindly make 
the following corrections:—line 11, for ‘‘Crosuns” read “ Crossens”’; 
line 15, for ‘‘Canner” read “* Caunce.”—Rosertr J. Howarp (Blackburn). 


MOLLUSCA. 


Abnormal Shell of Buccinium undatum.—Through the kindness of 
Mr. Sibert Saunders, of Whitstable, I have received a very curious shell of 


the Common Whelk, which had been found amongst a lot of others by a 
fisherman. I have made a sketch of it, from which it will be seen that 
the growth has gone on regularly down to the fifth whorl, but at that point, 
owing to some interference from without, the animal appears to have been 
compelled to forsake its old anterior canal and to carry out a new one at a 


== SE «““€ + ee ae 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 491] 


considerable angle from the central spire; this movement, in consequence 
of the size of the animal itself, caused the outer wall of the body-whorl 
also to leave its normal course and to bulge out to the extent of twice its 
usual diameter. Judging by the appearance of the new dcparture, the 
animal was healthy and vigorous, and had it been allowed to grow to its 
full size would have evidently developed into a most remarkable specimen, 
the extraneous cause of its curious growth having apparently disappeared. 
The shell is altogether an exceedingly interesting one.—Epwarp Lovet? 
(Addiscombe, Croydon). 


CRUSTACEA. 


Scyllarus arctus at the Land’s End.—I have received from Mr. 
Stephen Bond, of Sennen Cove, a specimen of Scyllarus arctus, which was 
captured off the Land’s End. It is a small specimen with nothing special 
to note about it except that it comes from a new locality.—THomas 
CornisuH (Penzance). 

[This more or less uncommon species is figured in ‘ The Zoologist’ for 
1879, p. 473.—Ep.] 


Abnormal Colour of Common Lobster.—Messrs. Sinel & Co., marine 
zoologists, of Jersey, have sent me a specimen of the Common Lobster, 
Homarus marinus, the colour of which is a pale lavender; upon the back of 
the cephalo-thorax, however, there is a patch of mauve, and the large claws 
are of a bright pale blue; the usual mottled marking of the sides of the 
thorax are rather indistinct. This specimen reached me alive, so that I can 
vouch for the colours being quite natural. It was a full-grown female, 
carrying ova which was nearly mature. I remember having observed a 
mottled variety, and another which was a dull pink, both alive at the time 
I noted them ; the pale blue variety is, however, less rare, I believe, though 
my specimen is particularly beautiful in tint—Epwarp Loverr (Addis- 
combe, Croydon). 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


Linnean Society or Lonpon. 


November 6, 1884.—Sir Joun Lupsock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

A letter was read intimating that the late President, Mr. George 
Bentham, had bequeathed by his will a legacy of £1000 to the Society. 
A notice of invitation for the Fellows to attend the forthcoming Centenary 
(4th December) of the Royal Bohemian Society of Natural History in 
Prague, was also read from the chair. 


492 THE ZOOLOGISY. 


Mr. R. A. Rolfe, of Kew, exhibited examples of British oak-gall produced 
by Cynipideau insects of the genus Neuroterus. These were the silk-button 
gall formed by N. numismatis, the globose gall produced by N. ostreus ; 
the smooth spangle gall formed by N. fumipennis; the scarce spangle 
gall formed by N. leviusculus; and the common spangle gall produced 
by N. lenticularis, as also a purple variety of the latter gall. He stated 
that the plan and details of the galls depend on the nature of the irritating 
fluid deposited by the insect; but, on the other hand, the different species 
of oak seem to have an influence in determining certain variations, as to 
colour, and it may be of the general growth of the galls. 

Mr. Geo. Brook read a paper “ On the Development of the Five-bearded 
Rockling, Motella mustela,” in which the following points were enunciated : 
—(1). While there is only one large oil-globule in the normal egg of Motella, 
this is sometimes subdivided into from two to eight or even more, but in 
these cases there is always an abnormal development which often results in 
the death of the embryo. In those that survive the small oil-globules 
always coalesce to form one large one before the embryo hatches. (2) In 
the further development of the newly-hatched embryo there is a cranial 
flexure produced which is analogous to that so characteristic of Elasmo- 
branchs. ‘This is caused by the rapid development of the dorsal portion of 
the head, while the ventral portion remains comparatively quiescent. Later 
the ventral portion plays its part, and with the development of the jaws the 
brain is pushed back to its normal position. (3). As in other pelagic 
teleostean eggs, there is no circulation observable either in the embryo as 
in the vitellus up to the time of hatching, nor indeed for some time after- 
wards. (4). In Motella, the anal gut does not open on the ventral surface 
for at least a week after hatching. Ryder has shown the same to be the 
ease with the Cod-fish, so that the voung Gadide would appear to be not 
in a position to take solid food at nearly so early a period of their existence 
us is usual with teleostans. Mr. Brook also called attention to the influence 
of temperature on the rate of development of pelagic eggs, and suggested 
that until we know the temperature at which the various observations are 
made on these forms no true comparison can be established. 

A paper, by Mr. Thomas Henry Potts, entitled ‘“ Notes on some New 
Zealand Birds,” was afterwards read. It contained chiefly memoranda and 
field observations on the Quail-hawk (Hieracidea Nova-Zealandia), the 
Harrier (Circus assimilis), the Owl (Athene Nova-Zealandia), the Kaka 
(Nestor meridionalis), the Sheep-killer (NV. notabilis), the Long-tailed Cuckoo 
(Eudynamis taitiensis), the Bronze-wing Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus), 
the Kingfisher (Haleyon vagans}, the Huia-bird (Heteralocha acutirostris, 
Anthornis melanocephala, the Wren (Acanthisitta chloris), and Gerygone 
albofrontata.—J. Munir. 


eS SDC Ue... 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 493 


ZooLocicaAL Sociwry oF Lonpon. 


November 4, 1884.—Prof. W. H. Frowrr, LL.D., F.R.S., President, 
in the chair. 

The Secretary made a report on the additions that had been made to 
the Society’s Menagerie during the months of June, July, August, and 
September, 1884, and called attention to certain interesting accessions 
which had been received during that period. Amongst these were specially 
noted two Red-cheeked Colies, Colius erythromelon, purchased June 12th ; 
two Chaplain Crows, Corvus capellanus, from Fao, Persian Gulf, presented 
June 25th by Mr. B. Ffinch; a second specimen of the Heloderm Lizard, 
Heloderma suspectum, received in exchange from the Central-Park 
Menagerie, New York, U.S.A., July 3rd; a collection of Snakes from 
Japan and North America, brought home and presented to the Society by 
Mr. Gerald Walker, July 22nd, amongst which were representatives of five 
species new to the Collection; a young female Cape Sea-Lion, Otaria pusilla, 
from South Africa, presented to the Society by Capt. John Hewat, Super- 
intendent of the Docks, Cape Town, July 25th; and a Fringed Gecko, 
Platydactylus homalocephalus, aud six Black-spotted Toads, Bufo melano- 
stictus, from Java, presented to the Society by Dr. F. H. Bauer. 

Mr. Sclater exhibited and made remarks on the skin of a Woolly 
Cheetah, Felis lanea, obtained at Beaufort West, South Africa, sent to him 
by the Rev. G. H. R. Fisk. 

The Secretary exhibited, on behalf of Major W. Brydon, an egg of 
Blyth’s Tragopon ; and on behalf of Mr. J.C. Parr, a specimen of the chick 
of the Vulturine Guinea-fowl, Nwmida vulturina, hatched in Lancashire. 

The Rev. H. H. Slater exhibited a specimen of the Barred Warbler, 
Sylvia nisoria, obtained on the Yorkshire coast. 

Mr. H. E. Dresser exhibited specimens of the Barred Warbler, Sylvia 
nisoria, and of the Icterine Warbler, Hypolais icterina, killed in Norfolk. 

Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier exhibited a specimen of the File-fish (Balistes 
capriscus), which had been recently caught off Folkestone. 

Mr. F. E. Beddard read a paper on the anatomy of a gigantic Earth- 
worm, Microcheta rappii, and pointed out its systematic position. For this 
very interesting specimen the author was indebted to the Rev. G. H. R. 
Fisk, of Cape Town. 

Mr. A. G. Butler gave an account of a collection of Lepidoptera made 
by Major J. W. Yerbury at or near Aden. The author looked upon this 
collection as one of the greatest interest, since it not only contained a fine 
series of the beautiful species of Teracolus recently described by Colonel 
Swinhoe, but also many remarkable intergrades between certain long- 
established species, tending to prove either that hybrids between allied 
species are fertile, or that in Aden a condition of things still exists which in 
Asia proper and in Africa has long passed away. 


494 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


A communication was read from Lieut.-Col. C. Swinhoe, containing 
an account of the Lepidoptera collected by him at Kurrachee between the 
years 1878 and 1880. 

A communication was read from Mr. Thomas H. Potts, of Ohinitaki, 
New Zealand, in which he described a case of hybridism between two 
species of Flycatchers of the genus hipidura.—P. L. Sciarer, Secretary. 


Elementary Text-Book of Zoology. General Part and Special 
Part: Protozoa to Insecta. By Dr. C. Cuaus; Translated 
and Edited by Apam Srepewick, M.A. Pp. 615, figs. 491. 
London: W. Swan Sonnenschein & Co. 1884. 


Ir is with much satisfaction that we are able to announce the 
publication of the first volume of Mr. Sedgwick’s translation of 
Prof. Claus’ valuable ‘Text-book of Zoology. It has for some time 
been known that the translation was in course of preparation, and 
teachers and students alike have been anxiously waiting for its 
appearance: teachers, because they have so often had to make 
statements at variance with or in advance of what are to be found 
in the text-books already published in English; and students, 
because they have been sighing for a work which should not be 
too difficult of comprehension, and which should be really well 
illustrated. 

It is, for Englishmen, a matter of painful reflection that the 
best work yet known in the English language is that of Prof. 
Gegenbaur, which is, as we all know, a translation from the 
German, and is, moreover, a work on Comparative Anatomy, and 
by no means on Zoology, as that term is ordinarily understood. 
We are convinced ourselves that Comparative Anatomy, as taught 
by Prof. Gegenbaur, is the best introduction to the study of the 
phenomena of animal life; on the other hand, man’s suscepti- 
bilities have to be considered, and, if of orderly disposition, a man 
often wants to know something of how animals are grouped, and 
is often desirous of learning some details as to creatures which, 
interesting in themselves and their habits, are not always the most 
appropriate objects of morphological demonstrations. 

For this numerous class the work of Prof. Claus is in all 
respects to be recommended; it is more easy of comprehension, 


NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 495 


and it is much more fully illustrated than that of Professor 
Gegenbaur. 

We would lay especial weight on the illustrations of this work 
for two reasons; first, because correct figures are of enormous 
assistance to the student,—we need not quote the well-worn 
Horatian axiom, but all teachers know that good figures do sink 
into men’s minds, and leave an impress far beyond that of the most 
lucid explanations of the best teachers; and secondly, because 
the text-books of Prof. Claus best known to zoologists are without 
illustrations: the subject of this translation was published last 
year, and is of somewhat smaller size than the well-known 
‘Grundziige der Zoologie, which reached its fourth edition two 
or three years ago. With regard to the work just mentioned, we 
may say that it is within our knowledge that serious proposals 
were made some seven years ago in Oxford as to its translation 
into English, and that, only a little later, the same idea was 
mooted in London; and we may say, further, that one of the 
chief reasons which led to the dropping of these proposals was 
the fact that the work was without illustrations. 

We do not know what kind of representations, if indeed any, 
were made to Dr. Claus with regard to the preparation of a well- 
illustrated work; but we must say that, proposals or no proposals, 
the volume before us contains as rich a supply of well-drawn, 
well-engraved, and well-selected figures as ever man could desire. 
The volume is admirably printed, and the whole enterprise reflects 
the greatest credit on the publishers. 

The translation runs very smoothly, and is such that it will 
be read with ease and pleasure. ‘hat there are numerous faults 
in the style we cannot deny, but these are for the most part those 
of the author, and not of the translator. Indeed, if we use the 
term style in the correct French sense, there is no style in the 
_ book at all; literary execution has been sacrificed to carefulness 
of statement—that is much truly in a scientific text-book; but 
there is something to be said on the other side. Anatomical and 
zoological works do want a little salt of good literary taste, and 
the student of Prof. Huxley’s anatomical—or of Prof. Foster’s 
physiological—text-books will have our sympathy, at any rate, 
when he laments the absence from this book of the charm of 
attraction that well-balanced sentences and _ well-constructed 
paragraphs always have. 


496 THE ZOOLOGIST. 


Having said this much, we can say further that, knowing the 
character of Prof. Claus’ “style,” we looked with some anxiety as 
to the results of Mr. Sedgwick’s attempt to do the work into 
English; though we note some sentences that we should like to 
have seen differently arranged, he has, on the whole, succeeded 
beyond even our best hopes for his victory: in the present 
condition of things, we may think ourselves lucky to get a truthful 
and clear account of a subject which, confessedly, it is difficult to 
describe to a commencing student. 

There is only one fault that we must find with the translation, 
and this is that after the systematic names of some of the insects 
we have the German popular name; eé.g. (p. 568), “ Panorpide 
(Schnabelfliegen)”’; now ‘‘ Schnabelfliegen” is no translation, but 
“ Scorpion-Flies,” which is the English equivalent, would have 
been; so again the Coccide might have been called the Scale 
Insects, or Mealy Bugs, the Fulgoride the Lantern-Flies, and the 
(Estride the Bot-Flies. 

The first volume, which is alone now before us, has a most 
masterly general introduction to the study of Zoology, which, 
imter alia, is very properly regarded from its historical aspect; 
the Protozoa, Ceelenterata, Echinodermata, Vermes, and Arthro- 
poda are dealt with. 

What little we shall dare to say in the way of criticism of the 
contents of the book will be best postponed till the second volume 
is also before us. When that is published the English zoologist 
will have no cause to complain of the want of an admirable intro- 
duction to his favourite study, however much he may lament that 
an Englishman is not the author of his handbook. Perhaps 
Mr. Sedgwick may sometime find leisure to give us himself a work 
which may take a place on our shelves beside that text-book on 
Comparative Embryology which we owe to his lamented teacher, 
the founder of that morphological school in Cambridge which 
is so rapidly restoring to our nation the honourable place in 
zoological activity of which various causes have conspired to 
deprive it; the countrymen of John Hunter and Charles Darwin 
must never rest till our schools and studies of biology are not only 
on a level with, but in advance of, those of other nations. 


WEST, NEWMAN AND CO., PRINTERS, 54, HATTON GARDEN, LONDON, E.C, 


b 


ee ee 


JANUARY, 1884. 


wr 


[Von. VIL, No. 85. |. 


Oty 


THE ZOOLOGIST | 


A Monthly Journal a6 : S 


NATURAL HISTORY. — | 


EDITED BY 


J. E. HARTING, F.L.S..-F.Z-S. 


MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 


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Price ONE SHILLING. 


Rae eee epee ie o¥e en tes is 
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Me J.C. STEVENS will SELL BY AUCTION, at 
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past 12 precisely, the EXTENSIVE and VALUABLE CO I F 

BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA formed by E. R. Surpparp, ‘Esq., late o 

Lewisham, Kent, comprising named series arranged in three excellent mahogany 

Cabinets, and fifty-eight double Store-Boxes containing a large number of — 

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consisting of upwards of twenty-five thousand examples, including many rarities, — 

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AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 38, King Street, Covent Garden,” 


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Further particulars in future Advertisements. 

7 


Just published, 


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A. KRICHELDORFF, Naturalist, 8. Oranmn-Srr., 135, Bern. 


THOMAS COOKE & SON, 


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tation, ore petals worthy attention, and we recommend them strongly.”—Gardeners’. 
urmers’ Journa 


Price Eight Shillings and Sixpence. 


ONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW, 


pi leet eo Se ¥ , Aen “oe 


various departments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the ~ 
| Granp Resvris or Screntiric Researcu, discussing the most recent scientific 


PSairion, Christchurch, N.Z.; or E. A. Persrricx, F.R.G.S,, 17, Warwick - 


<< 


Every Thursday, price 6d.—Yearly, Q8s.; Half- yearly, 14s. 6d.; Quarterly, “a 


CONTENTS. 


Wayside Notes in Switzerland, Edward Hamilton, M.D., F. zZ. sy 


Aplin, 50. 
Ornithological Notes from Devon and Cornwall, John Gatcombe, 53. 
Habits of the Harvest Mouse, G. T. Rope, 56. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 

Wanton destruction of Animal Life in Shetland, 60. Method of recording 
Observations, J. A. Harvie Brown, F.R.S.E., F.Z.8., 60. Prosector of the 
Zoological Society, 62. g 
Mammatra.—The Burmese Elephant at the Zoological Gardens, 62. Badger in ~ 
North Yorkshire, Thomas Carter, 63. The Depredations of Squirrels, 4. D. 
Webster, 64. Black Rat in avon. John Gatcombe, 64. Destruction of 4 
Trees by Hares and Rabbits, 61. Bottle-nosed Dolphins at Plymouth, Johns 
Gatcombe, 65. : 
Brrps.— Mr. Gunn's Lesser Terns at the Fisheries Exhibition, Henry Sloensingas 
F.L.S., 65. Wildfowl at Aldeburgh, Theo. Lister,67. Pale-coloured Kestrel — 
from Skye, Oliver V. Aplin, 67. Food of the Stone Curlew, Capt. E. F. 
Becher, R.A., 68. Great Grey Shrike at York, J. Backhouse, jun., 68. 
American Bitters ‘| in Sussex, W. Borrer, M.A., 68. Records of the on Be 

in Hampshire, Oliver V. Aplin, 68. Lapwing. perching, J. 2. Palmer, 69. — 
Little Bustard in Co. Cork, C. Donovan, jun., 69. Great Grey Shrike in © 
Somersetshire, Roger Ford, 69. Curious Variety of the Blue Tit, J. R. 
Earle, 69. The Plumage of the young Kestrel, Hugh Turner, 70. Scaup _ 
Duck in Notts, J. Whitaker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 70. Strange behaviour of 
Starlings, W. Becher, 70. Hybrid Pheasants, Philip Crowley, F.L.S8., 70. — 
Rare Birds in Lincolnshire, J. F. Masham, 70. Curious Variety of thee 
Guillemot, William Pengelly, 71. Curious Nesting-place of the Sand Martin, 

J. R. Earle, 71. Kite and Marsh Titmouse in the Pyrenees, J. H. Gurney, 
jun., F.Z.8., 71. Unusual Variety of the Common Sandpiper, J. Whitaker, 72. 
atti occurrence of the Crane in Co. Mayo, R. J. Ussher, 72. Breeding 0 of 
Redshank in North Yorkshire, Thomas Carter, 72. Snow Bunting in 
Somersetshire, Roger Ford, 73. Common Sandpiper in Winter, William E” 
Beckwith, 78. Common Buzzard in Nottinghamshire, J. Whitaker, 32] 
Hybrid Canary and Serin Finch, Rev. H. A, Macpherson, B.A., 74. Wry-_ 
neck in Winter, A. H. Upcher, 74. Night Heron in Kent, J. E. i 
F.L.S., F.Z.S., 74. Little Gull and Hawfinch at Penzance, Thomas 
Cornish, 74. Gulls in the Isle of Wight, Capt. H, Hadfield, 74. co 
Fisues.—Sharks on the Coasts of Devon and Cornwall, John Gatcombe, ‘ 
Ray's Bream in Cornwall, Thomas Cornish, 75. Ie 
Crustacea.—Dwarf Swimming Crab at Penzance, Thomas Cornish, 75. 


Memoir of the late Professor Schlegel, 75. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. ; 
Linnean Society of London, 78. Zoological Society of London, 78. 


All articles and communications intended for publication in ‘Tue ZooLoc 
and books and pamphlets for review, may be forwarded direct to the Ed 
Mr. J. E. Hartine, 24, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, London. 

Advertisements and Subscriptions should be sent to West, Newnan & 
54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C. 


West, Newman & Co., Printers, 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


es ae : Paty 
ae eo, 8 : a rae eae 


ra 


(THE zooLocist | 


4 Monthly Journal 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


EDITED BY 


J, E. HARTING, F.LS.. F.Z.8. 


MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ Union; 


DELECTANDO PARITERQUE MONENDO. 


“ ry 5 
Stat ie 
ee J 
Fei if} 
- . a 7 - “oh j 
Rs 


~ “HONDON: 


Pe ee ae « 
ee ay ELS ce Re eee enn SEE 


INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITIO 


E. GUNN, Naturatist, Norwice (who receeived the ‘Highest - 

. at the above Exhibition, viz., SIX GOLD AND SILVER ME! 
and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 
TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his Collection of — 
BRITISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, &c, consisting of nearly 500— 
Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. For price apply - 


as above. , 
Detailed Catalogue of the Collection, post free, 3d. 


Rh te eS a eee eee 
H. W. MARSDEN, 
37, MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER, 


Has for Sale one of the largest Stocks of BRITISH and EUROPEAN 
BIRD-SKINS and BIRDS’ EGGS in Europe, regular supplies being received — 
from some of the best working Collectors, and including many very rare species. — 
Also AMERICAN and other EXOTIC SKINS and EGGS. a 
APPARATUS of all kinds and Taxidermists’ Tools.—CABINETS ’ 

for BIRDS’ EGGS, INSECTS, &c., &c. ; 
- BUROPEAN AND. EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, COLEOPTERA, — 
-ORTHOPTERA, &c.: and also the best BOOKS on ENTOMOLOGY, — 
ORNITHOLOGY and OOLOGY. 


te Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


THOMAS COOKE & SON, 


Naturalists, Dealers in Entomological Apparatus, &c. — 
(Late of 513, NEW OXFORD STREET), qj 


30, MUSEUM STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.C. 
A RE ly es ON a 

doer CHEAPEST DEALER in BRITISH and FOREIGN BIRDS’ © 
SKINS and EGGS, BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS, &c., 18 ee. 
JOHN EGGLESTON, 


8, PARK PLACE, SUNDERLAND. 
ge Foreion SKINS FROM 5d. wach. Prics Lists FREE. 


Oia hep ae ror JANUARY asp FEBRUARY, 1881, WANTED. 
J. E. Pavuer, Lyons Mill, Straffan, Co. Kildare. ma 


In the Press, 8vo, sd. 7s. 6d., cloth 9s., ae 
LIS! OF THE DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY, with References 
and Annotations; also, a Record of Specimens preserved in the Norfolk | 


and Norwich Museum. 
By JOHN HENRY GURNEY. 


Joun Van Voorst, 1, Paternoster Row. 


"Daay 8 cS cloth ora hs price’ is. aes 
BES Soe ISSUE. OF NEWMAN'S 


DICTIONARY OF BRITISH BIRDS. 


is work embraces Col. Mow'racu’s ORNITHOLOGICAL DICTIONARY, 
th Additions bringing it up to date of publication from the works of Yarrell 
I Selby. It eaniaine a full account of the Plumage, Weight, Habits, Food, 
rations, Nest, and Eggs of every Bird found in Great Britain and Ireland. 


~The whole Edited by EDWARD NEWMAN, F.LS., F.Z.S., &e. 


R ‘A work which will very deservedly constitute an essential occupant of every zoological 
brary.”—dtheneum. : 
3 ae work which must be regarded as indispensable to all British ornithologists.” — 


WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, HATTON GARDEN, 


TTERS OF RUSTICUS ON NATURAL HISTORY. Containing 
a great number of Miscellaneous Observations, after the manner of White's 
borne.” By Epwarp Newnan, F.L.S.,; &e. 


‘The most charming contribution to Natural History since the days of good old 
rt White. ‘These letters are well worthy of consultation by all gardeners and 
ulturists, since the descriptions of these facts are perfectly trustworthy, being in all 
ases the result of observation.”—Westminster Review. 

--*The collection of facts and observations respecting blights, or insects injurious to 
getation, are especially worthy attention, and we recommend them strongly.”—Gardeners’ 
d Farmers’ Journal. 

P Price Eight Shillings and Sixpence. 


Be _ LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW. 


: 20a the Ist of every Month, price One Shilling and Threepence, 


THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 


BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
Epirep sy JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S. 


edings of Societies, and Botanical News. Especial attention is now given 
itish Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a w ell-known 
tanical artist. 

Subscription for the year 1884, payable in advance, TWELVE SHILLincs, 
st free. Terms for Advertisements may be had on application to the Publishers. 


London: West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


NATURE: 
| A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF. SCIENCE, 


of the leading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind 
re lively interest in Science. With this end in view it provides original 
nd Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction in their 
partments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the 
D Resutrs or Screntiric Researcu, discussing the most recent scientific 
ies, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress 
‘claims to more general recognition, as well as to a higher place in the 
al system of the country. 
Thursday, price 6d.— Yearly, 28s.; Half- yearly, 14s. 6d.; Quarterly, 
P. O. Orders to be made payable at King Street, Covent Garden. 


Macmintan & Co., London. 


Contains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, — 


Co 0? N , B N = e 
The Red-deer of Exmoor, 81. ms 
The Nightjar, Frank Norgate, 86. ; 

‘The Ornithology of Riding Mill on “Tyne and Nsighihourhobé Raw He 


H. Slater, F.Z.S., 92. 
American Ornithologists’ Union: Bird Migration, 106. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 

Method of recording Observations, J. H, Palmer, 109. Supplement _ to ” 
Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire, 109. 
Mammatta.—The Burmese Elephant at the Zoological Gardens, Balm 
Squire, 110. Stoats acquiring the Ermine Dress in Mild Seasons, Oliv 

V. Aplin, 112. Note on the Harvest Mouse, J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S., T1234 
Brrps.—Rough-legged Buzzard in Shetland, T. Edmondston, 1138. Waxwin 
in Shetland, 118. Food of the Stone Curlew; Capt. E. F. Becher, R.A., i 
Wildfowl in North Oxfordshire, Oliver V. Aplin, 113. Grey Shrike ne 
Carlisle, Rev. H. A. Macpherson, B.A. 114. Variety of the Yellowhammet 

J. H. Gurney, jun., F.Z.S., 114. Little Gull at Rainham, Kent, Walte 
Prentis, 114. Snow Bunting in Somersetshire, Roger Ford, 115. Oceu 
rence of the Common Sandpiper in Winter, C. Donovan, jun., 115. Gree 

land Falcon in Co. Donegal, H. Becher, 115. Long-tailed Duck i 
Cumberland, Rev. H. A. Macpherson, 115. ; 
FisHes.—Turbot coloured on both Surfaces, Thomas Cornish, 115. Spawning. 
Fish, Matthias Dunn, 116. Greater Pipe-fish in Mount's Bay, Thome 
Cornish, 116. : 
CrusraceaA.—Floating Crabs at Penzance, 7, Cornish, 116. a 
ANNELIDES.—Phosphorescence of Syllis, W. S. M. D’'Urban, F.L.S., 117. 
ArcH£oLocy.— The Sea-blue Bird Bird of March,” Henry T. ibe: M.. 
F.E.S.,117. a . 
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. | 
Linnean, 118. Zoological, 119. Entomological, 119. 


Communications signed C. Donovan, jun., W. S. M. D'Urban, J. Rolles 


Earle, Edmund A. S. Elliot, H. A. Macpherson, J. E. Masham, T. H. ‘Nelse 
J. E, Palmer, H. H. Slater, Robert Warren, &c., unavoidably stand over. a 


All articles and communications intended for publication in ‘ THe Zooros IE 
and books and pamphlets for review, may be forwarded direct to the Edi ) 
Mr. J. BE. Hartine, 24, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, London. 

Advertisements and Subscriptions should be sent to Wesr, N EWMAN & “% 
54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C. a 


Important Sale of Lepidoptera, &c. 


R. J. C. STEVENS _ has received instructions to offer for SALE 
AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 88, King Street, Covent Gar 
on Thursday and Friday, 20th and 21st of March, at half-past 12 precise 

day, the first portion of the Valuable and Extensive COLLECTION ~ 
LEPIDOPTERA and OTHER INSECTS formed, regardless of e: i 
by the late Paitre H. Harper, Esq., F.R.C.S., including the unique _ 
specimen of Nyssia Lapponaria, and most of the rarer species of Bri he 
und Micro-Lepidoptera, also a large number of exceedingly ie varie 
local forms; together with the Library of Books, &e. 


On view Mornings of Sale, and Catalogues had. — 


West, Newman & Co., Printers, 54, Hatton Garden, E. 


A Monthly Journal 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


EDITED BY 


‘J. E. HARTING, F.L.S.. F.Z.S. 


MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 


DELECTANDO PARITERQUE MONENDO. 


Ww, 


LONDON : 


JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW. 


Price ONE SHILLING. 


88, King Street, Covent Garden on Thursday and Piday, M 
9th, at half-past 12 precisely each day, the concluding portion of the valu 
and extensive COLLECTION OF LEPIDOPTERA, formed regardless 
expense by the late Puitirp H. Harper, Esq., F.R.C.S., comprising the Mi 
Lepidoptera, British Coleoptera, Natural History Books, ‘&e. be 


May be viewed the day prior and Mornings of Sale, aud Catalogues had. 


Exotic Lepidoptera, Minerals, Shells, Books, &c. 


R. J.C. STEVENS has received instructions to offer for SALE BY- 
AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 38, King Street, Covent Garden, about — 

the beginning of May, the extensive Collection of EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, © 
also Cabinets of Shells, Minerals and other objects of Natural History, forma 
by Gxorce P. Suearwoop, Esgq., together with Library of Books, &e. 


Day of Sale will be announced in next Advertisement. 


Natural History Specimens. 


R. J. C. STEVENS has received instructions from the Executor to 
SELL BY AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 38, King Street, Covent 
Garden, about the end of April, the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 
formed by the late Dr. Crisp, of Chelsea. = 


Date of Sale will shortly be announced. 


INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION, 1883. 


E. GUNN, Naruratist, Norwicr (who receeived the Highest Awards 

at the above Exhibition, viz, SIX GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, 

and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 

TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his Collection of 

BRIVISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, ke., consisting of nearly 500- 

Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. For price ey 
as above. 

Detailed Cataloque of the Collection, post free, 3d. 


H. W. MARSDEN, 
37, MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER, 


Has for Sale one of the largest Stocks of BRITISH and KUROPEAN 
BIRD-SKINS and BIRDS’ EGGS in Europe, regular supplies being received 
from some of the best working Collectors, and including many very rare sn : 
Also AMERICAN and other EXOTIC SKINS and EGGS, 


APPARATUS of all kinds and Taxidermists’ Tools. —CABINETS 
for BIRDS’ EGGS, INSECTS, &c., &c. ne 


EUROPEAN AND EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, COLEOPTE 
ORTHOPTERA, &c.: and also the best BOOKS on ENTOMOL 
ORNITHOLOGY and OOLOGY. 


gee Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


Prete AN Ree Bd Spee ea Pe SO ere Se ys Oy be 
oa a In the Press, 8¥0, < : ; 
OF. THE DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY, with References 
and Annotations; also, a Record of ay hn prepress in the Norfolk 
Norwich Museum. . 


By JOHN ‘HENRY GURNEY. 
oun Van Voorst, 1, Paternoster Row. 


Now ready ; in 8 fasciculi, 208 pp., 4to, 


PHE LAND AND FRESHWATER NEMATOIDEA OF THE 
_* NETHERLAND FAUNA: a systematic Faunal Monograph (in the — 
_ German Language). By Dr. J. G. pz Man, of Middleburg, Netherlands ; late 
Carator of the Zoological Museum, Leiden. With 34 lithographed plates. 


Price 40 marks (40 shillings). 
I peed Britt, Leiden, Netherlands. 


ETTERS OF RUSTICUS ON NATURAL HISTORY. Containing ~ 
a great number of Miscellaneous Observations, after the manner of White’s 
Selborne.’ By Epwarp Newman, F.L.S., ke. 
' . The most charming contribution to Natural History since the days of good old 
& Gilbert White. ‘These letters are well worthy of consultation by all gardeners and 
_ agriculturists, since the descriptions of these facts are perfectly trustworthy, being in all 
_ cases the result of observation.”—Westminster Review. 
_  ~ “The collection of facts and observations respecting blights, or insects injurious to 
_ vegetation, are especially worthy attention, and we recommend them strongly -’—Gardeners’ 
* a Farmers’ Journal. 


Price Eight Shillings and Sixpence. _ ¢ 
LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW. 


< NATURE: 
~A& WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
One of the leading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind _ 


rticles and Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction in their — 
various departments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the 
Granp Rusvwi's or Screntiric Researcu, discussing the most recent scientific — 
scoveries, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress _ 
d its claims to more general recognition, as well as to a higher place in the ~ 
ucational system of the country. fey 
Every Thursday, price 6d.—Yearly, 28s.: Half-yearly, 14s. 6d. ; Quarterly, 
s. 6d. P. O. Orders to be made payable at King Street, Covent Garden. 


Macmitian & Co., London. 


—_—— 


On the 1st of every Month, price One Shilling and Threepence, 


‘THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 
z BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
Epirep By JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S. 


ntains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
ings of Societies, and Botanical News. Especial attention is now given _ 
British Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a well-known 
anical artist. * 
Subseription for the year 1884, payable in advance, TWELVE SHILLINGS, 


London: West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


more lively interest in Science. With this end in view it provides original 


ee. ‘Terms for Advertisements may be had on application to the Publishers. 


nil 
3, 
. 
f 
4 


CONTENTS, "= ) yee 


Notes on the Seal and Whale Fishery of 1882, Thomas Southwell, FZS. 
Ornithological Notes from Carlisle, Rev. H. A. Macpherson, B.A.,.127. 
epee Notes from N.W. Yorkshire, John E. Tinkler, 131. 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


The Ornithological Congress and Exhibition at Vienna, 139. Method of recording a 
Observations, J. A. Harvie Brown, F.Z.S., 140. 

Manmarta.—Bi-dental Skulls of the Narwhal, 7. Southwell, 141. 

Brrps.—The last Great Auk, J. E. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 141. ‘The Auk; — 
a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology,’ 142. Ornithology of Riding Mill on 
Tyne, Rev. Henry H. Slater, F.Z.S., 142. Spotted Redshank and Long- 
tailed Duck in the Moy Estuary, Robert Warren, 143. Velvet Scoter near 4 
Manchester, 7’. H. Nelson, 143. Ornithological Notes from Breconshire, 
E. Cambridge Phillips, F.L.S., 144. Provincial Name for the Black Tern, 
T. Southwell, 144. Hybrid Canary and Serin Finch, J. F. Masham, 144, 
Breeding of the Lesser Redpoll in Northamptonshire, Rev. H. H. Slater, 144. 
Habits of Parrots, Lord Clermont, 145. Fulmar Petrel in Bolsucetiaieers 
Cecil Smith, F.Z.S.,145. Leach’s Petrel in Somersetshire, Roger Ford, 145. 
Occurrence of the Swallow-tailed Kite in Europe, Capt. E. F. Becher, R. N., 
145. Hybrids between Blackbird and Thrush, 146. Tufted Duck in Co. 
Kildare, J. E. Palmer, 146. Great Grey Shrike in Devonshire, Edmund 
A. 8. Elliot,147. Sooty Shearwater at Redcar, T. H. Nelson, 147. Kestrel a 
nesting in Holes in Trees, J. Rolleston Earle, 148. Habits of Woodcock — 
aud Snipe, C. Donovan, jun., 148. Birds hovering over dead Companions, ~ ‘4 
J. Whitaker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 149. Siskin and Great Snipe in Co. Cork, © 
C. Donovan, jun., 149. Great Grey Shrike and Snow Bunting in Somerset- 
shire, Cecil Smith, 149. Woodcock in Captivity, V. H. Coates, 150. 


FisuEes.— Spinous Shark on the Coast of Cornwall, Thomas Cornish, 150.. 
Greater Weaver in Devon, W. S. M. D'Urban, E.L.S., F.Z.8., 150. Occur-~ 
rence of the Argentine near Penzance, Thomas Cornish, 151. 


Crusracea.—Crustacea on the South Coast of Devon, W. S. M. D’Urban, 151. 
AnnetipEs.—Subcutaneous Worms in Short-eared Owl, Oliver V. Aplin, 153. 


ArcHxoLocy.— Origin of the name “Lobster” applied to the Stoat, J. H. ce 
Gurney, F.Z.S., Edward J. Gibbins, 153. a 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
Linnean, 155. Zoological, 156. Entomological, 158. 


a 


Y 


All articles and communications intended for publication in ‘ Tar Zoovoarst,” 4 
and books and pamphlets for review, may be forwarded direct to the adi 
Mr. J. E. Harrina, 24, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, London. 


Advertisements and Subscriptions should be sent to West, Newman & Co, 
54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C. a 


THOMAS COOKE & SON, 


Naturalists, Dealers in Entomological Apparatus, é&ec. 
(Late of 518, NEW OXFORD STREET), 


30, MUSEUM STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.C 


West, Newman & Co., Printers, 54, Hatton Garden, B.C. 9 ne 


THE ZOOLOGIST 


SB Maounthly Journal 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


EDITED BY 


J. E. HARTING, F.L.S.. F.Z.S. 


MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION, 


a 


DELECTANDO PARITERQUE MONENDO. 


LONDON: 


me 
‘- 


"| JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW. 


Price ONE SHILLING. 


PR eee St Ces ele ay eee ek ee geen en 
M ee ae } 


i Ae 


é Natural History Specimens. — Rea 
R. J. C. STEVENS has received instructions from the Executor to” 

SELL BY AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 38, King Street, Covent — 
: Garden, on Monday, May 12th, the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY - 
' formed by the late Dr. Crisp, of Chelsea. 
On view the Saturday prior from 10 till 3 and morning of Sale, and ~ 
_ @atalogues had. 


British and Foreign Insects. 


R. J. C. STEVENS will SELL BY AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, ~ 

38, King Street, Covent Garden, on Wednesday, May 14th, at half-past 12 — 

_ precisely, the Collection of BRITISH MOTHS, SPHINGES, BOMBYCKES, — 
NOCTUA, and GEOMETRA, belonging to Dr. Lane, who is giving up 
collecting British Insects, together with the CABINET of 30 drawers, besides 
some large drawers for Boxes, &c., black-ebonized with panelled doors, well - 
painted with flowers and moths. Also the Collection of FOREIGN and other 
INSECTS, formed by the late Samurt Hanson, Esq., and the Collections of 
BRITISH INSECTS formed by the late Georcu Waxes, Esq., of Newcastle- 
on-T'yne, together with the Cabinets, &c. 


On view after Two the day prior and morning of Sale, and Catalogues had. 


Exotic Lepidoptera, Minerals, Shells, Books, &c. 4 
M* J.C. STEVENS. has received instructions to offer for SALE BY 

AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 38, King Street, Covent Garden, on — 
Monday, May 19th, the extensive Collection of EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, ~ 
also Cabinets of Shells, Minerals and other objects of Natural History, formed © 
by Greorce P. Suearwoop, Esq., together with Library of Books, c. By 


H. W. MARSDEN, 
37, MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER, . 
Has for Sale one of the largest Stocks of BRITISH and EUROPEAN -— 
BIRD-SKINS and BIRDS’ EGGS in Europe, regular supplies being received — 
from some of the best working Collectors, and including many very rare species. ~ 
Also AMERICAN and other EXOTIC SKINS and EGGS. . 


APPARATUS of all kinds and Taxidermists’ Tools—CABINETS 
for BIRDS’ EGGS, INSECTS, &c., &c. : 


EUROPEAN AND > EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, COLEOPTERA, © 
ORTHOPTERA, &c.; and also the best BOOKS on ENTOMOLOGY, 
ORNITHOLOGY and OOLOGY. 7 


ge Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


THOMAS COOKE & SON, 


Naturalists, Dealers in Entomological Apparatus, &c. 
(Late of 5183, NEW OXFORD STREET), a 


30, MUSEUM STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.C. 


Pw) 


INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION, 1883. 


TY. B. GUNN, Narvurartsr, Norwicw (who receeived the Highest Awards 
' 4. at the above Exhibition, viz, SIX GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, 
' and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 
- TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his Collection of 
- BRITISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, &c:., consisting of nearly 500 
_ Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. For price apply 
~ as above. 


Detailed Catalogue of the Collection, post free, 3d. 


NATURE: 
‘A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


One of theleading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind 
- a more lively ‘interest in Science. With this end in view it provides original 
_ Articles and Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction m their 
' various departments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the 
- GraxD Resviys or Scizentiric Researcu, discussing the most recent scientific 
' discoveries, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress 
_ and its claims to more general recognition, as well as to a higher place in the 
educational system of the country. 


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THE JOURNAL OF BO TANY, 
BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
Epwep sy JAMES BRITTEN, F.LS. 


| Contains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
_ Proceedings of Societies, and» Botanical News. Especial attention is now given 

to British Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a well-known 

botanical artist. 

'  Subseription for the year 1884, payable in advance, Twetve SHituies, 

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London: West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


& -ETTERS OF RUSTICUS ON NATURAL HISTORY. Containing 
2 a great number of Miscellaneous Observations, after the manner of White's 
‘Selborne.’ By Enpwarp Newmay, F.L.S., &c. 
_ “The most charming contribution to Natural History since the days of good old 
bert White. ‘These letters are well worthy of consultation by all gardeners and 
iculturists, since the descriptions of these facts are perfectly trustworthy, being in all » 
es the result of observation.” —Westminster Review. 

“The collection of facts and observations respecting blights, or insects injurious to 
etation, are especially worthy attention, and we recommend them strongly.”—Gardeners’ 

| Farmers’ Journal. 


aS Price Eight Shillings and Sixpence. 
_ LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW. 


“CONTENTS, 


The proposed Establishment of an English Biological Station, 161. 
The Asiatic Elephant in Freedom and Captivity, ‘166. 
Notes on the Vertebrate Fauna of Yorkshire, W. Eagle Clarke, F. Le S., and 
W. Denison Roebuck, 171. 3 
Ornithological Notes from North Lincolnshire in the Autumn and Winter of 1883, 
John Cordeaux, 184. ; 
Remarks on the Fundamental Distribution of Colour in a living Eohoriois: Leon 
Vaillant, 186. 4 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 4 
Proposed Supplement to Thompson’s ‘ Natural History of Ireland,’ 187. The © 
Ornithological Congress at Vienna, 188. British Animals at the British — 
Museum, “188. 
Mammaria.—Polecat in Devonshire, W. 8. M. D'Urban, F. L.S., F.Z.8., 189. 
Nest of the Harvest Mouse, HE. Charles Moor, 190. a 
Brrps.—Migratory Birds on the Yorkshire Moors, Isaac Harding, 192. Great — 
Grey Shrike in Suffolk, H.C. Moor, 191. arly nesting of the Common — 
Heron, J. Young, F.Z.S., 191. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker near Stock- 
bridge, John H. Willmore, 192. Red-throated Pipit at Brighton, J.H. © 
Gurney, jun., F'.Z.8,,192. Notes on the Ornithology of Northamptonshire, — 
Rt. Hon. Lord Lilford, F.L.S., 192. Uncommon Birds in Hertfordshire, 
J. Littleboy, 194. Grey Wagtail nesting in Kast Devon, J. R. Karle, 195. 
Abnormal Eggs of Blackbird, eae H. Buxton, 195. Notes from N.W. York- 
shire, J. E. 7 ‘inkler, 196. 
FisHes.—Greater Forkbeard i in Devon, W. S. M. D’ Urban, 196. 
ArcH&oLocy.—Origin of the name “ Oystercatcher,” Prof. A. Newton, M.d., 
F.R.S., 196. ‘The Sea-blue Bird of March,” Montague Brown, 197. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
Linnean Society of London, 197. Zoological Society of London, 199. 


Communications with the following signatures unavoidably stand over;— 
O. V. Aplin, J. Backhouse, jun., R. M. Barrington, E. F. Becher, E. A. Butler, 
J. Cordeaux, F. Day, J. R. Earle, H. A. Evans, H.W. Feilden, L. P. Fisher, — 
H. A. Macpherson, M. A. Mathew, J. F. Musham, ‘I. H. Nelson, T. Potts, | 
H. Rogers, ‘I’. Southwell, W. E. Ward, . Warren, J. Whitaker, J. H. Willmore, © 
J. Young. a 


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Connnertox or Error.—tIn the last number of ‘The Zoologist’ (p. 143) 
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be 14th November, instead of 14th June.—Roperr Warren. 


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By JOHN HENRY GURNEY. | 


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West, Newman & Co., Printers, 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


JUNE, 1884. _[Vor.. VIIT., No. 90. i 


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INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION, 1883. 


» ']’ E. GUNN, Narvrazis?, Norwicu (who receeived the Highest Awards 
a at the above Exhibition, viz., SIX GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, 
and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 
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' THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 
| BRITISH AND FOREIGN, 

Epirep sy JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S, 


_ Contains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
Proceedings of Societies, and Botanical News. Especial attention is now given 
to British Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a well-known 
botanical artist. 

_. Subscription for the year 1884, payable in advance, TwELvE SHILLINGS, 
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London: West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


NATURE: 


A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


_ One of the leading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind 
more lively interest in Science. With this end in view it provides original 
Articles and Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction in their 
us departments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the 
ND Resuris or Scimntiric Resarcu, discussing the most recent scientific 

ries, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress 

claims to more general recognition, as well as to a higher place in the 

onal system of the country. 

very Thursday, price 6d.—Yearly, 28s. ; Half-yearly, 14s. 6d.; Quarterly, 

P.O. Orders to be made payable at King Street, Covent Garden. 


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eit. 2 


1 hy hoe k ABA ng UN TEAN “2 Sein SNe aan 
’ eR o es EM gare Te 


CONTENTS. 
Three unpublished Papers on Ornithology, The late Edward Blyth, 201. 


The Birds of Pembrokeshire, Rev. Murray A. Mathew, M.dA., F.L.S., Q11, 


On the Existence of Two Species of Aquatic Frogs in North Germany, G. A. a 
Boulenger, 220. } i 


NOTES AND QUERIES. i 
‘ 


Sir Edwin Landseer’s Red-deer, 222. Bewick’s Engravings of Animals, 223. 
The Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 223. The Davis Lectures 1884, 223. “4 
A Carnivorous Plant preying on Vertebrata, Prof. H. N. Moseley, if, 

' F.R.S., 224. é 

Mammatra.—Cupture of a White Whale on the Coast of Caithness, J. #. Harting go 
F.L.S., F.Z.S., 225. Albino Field Mouse, Alfred it Cocks, M.A., F.Z.S8., 
226. 

Brrps.—The British Ornithologists’ Union, 226. Wingless Birds, 226. Ab 
normal Eggs of Blackbird, J. H. Buaton, 227. Habits of Parrots, Rev. M. A. 
Mathew, M.A., F.L.S., 227. Varieties near Carlisle, Rev. H. A. Maepheronla 
B.A., 228, Scarcity of Fieldfares and Redwings during the past Winter, — 
J. Young, #.Z.8., 228. Snipe perching, Henry Rogers, 228. Great Grey _ 
Shrike in Nor thamptonshire and Oxfordshire, Oliver V. Aplin, 229. Curious 
nesting-place of the Great Tit, J. R. Earle, 229. Wild Dick laying in a — 
Rook’s Nest, John H. Willmore, 22. Wild Duck laying in Rook's Nest, ; 
John Cordeaua, 230. Abnormally coloured Sky Lark, Capt. EH. F. Becher, . 
R.A, 230. Variety of the Sky Lark, J. Whitaker, F.L.S., 280... The 
American Kestrel in Yorkshire, J. Backhouse, jun., 230. Early nesting of 
the Golderest, J. R. Earle, 230. Wood Pigeon coving at Night, Richard M. 
Barrington, M.A., 231. Siskin and Snow Bunting in North Devon, Herbert | 

A, Evans, 231. Variety of the Yellowhammer, ¥. A, Gurney, jun; F.Z.8., 
$i. The Avi-Fauna of Spitzbergen, Alfred Heneaye Cocks, M.A., FZ. , 
231. Song of the Tree Sparrow, J. Whitaker, 232. Blue-headed - Yellow. A 
Wagtail in Confinement, Capt. E. F’. Becher, R.A., 232. 

FisHus.—Cyclopterus lumpus at Razer, Large Sainuliet in Mount’s Bay, 
Thomas Cornish, 234. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
Linnean, 235. Zoological, 236. Entomological, 238. 


All articles and communications intended for publication in ‘ Tar Zooxoarst, © 
and books and pamphlets for review, may be forwarded direct to the Editor, | 
Mr. J. E. Hartine, 24, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, London. , 

Advertisements and Subscriptions should be sent to Wessv, Newaran & Co. ” | 
54, Hatton Garden, London, E. C.0 


Valuable Birds’ Eggs. 


Mt J. C. STEVENS has received instructions from Mr. Epwarp BipweLL oa 
to SELL BY AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 38, King Street, Covent? 
Garden, on Monday, June 28rd, at half-past 12 precisely, a LARGE NUMBER 

ee | 


of BIRDS’ EGGS, many of them taken by Wolley, Whelan Tristra 
and other well-known Collectors. 


On view the Saturday prior and morning of Sale, aud Catal gael 


West, N EWMAN & Co., Printers. 54. Hatton Garden, E.C, 


7.1y. 


THE ZOOLOGIST - 


s 


a Monthly Journal 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


EDITED BY 


E. HARTING, F.L.S.. F.Z.S. 


MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTs’ UNION. 


LONDON: 


: JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW.. 


Price ONE SHILLING. 


RE OUR PN eee ee = Tey PE +N fie” ae 
ers at), ‘A i Poa te BALD si" 


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x pe Valuable Shells and Books. Wren 

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38, King Street, Covent Garden, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, 

July 7th, 8th, and 9th, at half-past 12 precisely each day, a valuable Collection 

_ of SHELLS, comprising many rare and valuable Species, many of which are 
| unique, and the library of Conchological and other Natural History works, the ~ 
property of a well-known Collector. + 


On view the Saturday prior and morning of Sale, and Catalogues had. 


Valuable Insects, Books, &c. 


R. J. C. STEVENS will SELL BY AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, 

38, King Street, Covent Garden, on Tuesday, July 15th, at half-past 12 
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(Late of 518, NEW OXFORD STREET), 


30, MUSEUM STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.C. 


i es Dia a a 
or PHYTOLOGIST, OnicinaL Serres.—A few copies of the First 

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WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C. 


i 


Now published, 8vo, sewed, 4s. 6d.; cloth, 5s., 


LIST OF THE DIURNAL BIRDS OF PREY, with References — 
and Annotations; also, a Record of Specimens preserved in the Norfolk ~ 
and Norwich Museum. 


By JOHN HENRY GURNEY. 
‘oun Van Voorst, 1, Paternoster Row. 


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REPORT ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS 


IN THE SPRING AND AUTUMN OF 1883. 
By Joan A. Harviz Brown. Joun Corpgavx, and R. M. Barrineton. 
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PTS e he a ae ewe Ah ep ed ee® 
aes, “A 


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THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 
Se _ BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 

Epirep sy JAMES BRITTEN, F.LS. 


__., Contains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
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_ to British Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a well-known 
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'  Subseription for the year 1884, payable in advance, TweLve SHILLINGS, 
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NATURE: 
A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF. SCIENCE. 


One of the leading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind 
a more lively interest.in Science. With this end in view it provides original 
Articles and Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction im their 
' various departments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the 
_Granp Resvrts oF ScientiFic ResEarcH, discussing the most recent scientific 
| discoveries, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress 
and its claims to more general recognition, as well as to a higher place in the 
educational system of the country. : 
Every Thursday, price 6d.—Yearly, 28s.: Half-yearly, 14s. 6d.; Quarterly, 
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' Has for Sale one of the largest Stocks of BRITISH and EUROPEAN 
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_ from some of the best working Collectors, and including many very rare species. 
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' APPARATUS of all kinds and Taxidermists’ Tools—CABINETS 
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| . EUROPEAN AND EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, COLEOPTERA, 
) ORTHOPTERA, &c.; and also the best BOOKS on ENTOMOLOGY, 
| ORNITHOLOGY and OOLOGY. f 
ge Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION, 1883. 


TT. E. GUNN, Narvrattst, Norwica (who receeived the Highest Awards 
“at the above Exhibition, viz., SIX GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, 
d the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 
“TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his Collection of 
BRITISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, &c., consisting of nearly 500 
Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. For price apply 
‘as above. 
t Detailed Catalogue of the Collection, post free, 3d. _ 


CONTENTS. 


On the Application of Trinomial Nomenclature to Zoology, Dr. Elliot Cove, 2 a41. 3 
Three unpublished Papers on Ornithology, The late Edward Blyth, 247. . } 
On the Origin of the Edible Frog in England, G. A. Boulenger, 265, 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 
The proposed new Biological Station, 270. An Austrian Game Bug, 270. | 
Mammatia.—Badger anid Polecat in Leicestershire; An amber-coloured Wide . 
Rev. A. Matthews, M.A., 271. . 
Brrps.— Note on a Gyr Falcon obtained in Sussex in 1851, J. H. Cernts Ys 
F.ZS., 271. Falco or Hierofalco, 271. Stock Dove in Perthshire, Thomas 
Marshall, 272. Red-throated Pipit in Kent, Walter Prentis, 272. Yellow 
Wastail in Confinement, J. H. Gurney, jun., F.Z.S., 272. Sabine’s Snipe 
near Waterford, J. H. Harting, F.LS., F.Z.S., 272. Birds of South Wales, 
T. N. Postlethwaite, 272. Abuormal Eggs of Ring Ouzel, John A. Harvie- 
Brown, F.Z.S., 278. 
Fisues.—Basking Shark on the Cornish Coast, Thomas Cornish, 273.. Greater 
Forked-beard on the Banffshire Coast, Thomas Edward, 274. 
Motxusca.—Lutraria oblonga in Jersey, Edward Lovett, 274. 
Crustacea.—Large Crayfish, Edward Lovett, 274. 
Arcu£oLocy.—Mementoes of Hawking and Hunting in the last Century, 275. 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
Linnean, 276.. Zoological, 277. 
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. | 
‘The Birds of South Africa,’ by E. L. Layard, F.Z.S., &e.; a New Edition, 
thoroughly revised ahd augmented, by 1X. B. Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 278. 
‘A List of the Diurnal Birds of Prey, with references and annotatibies also'a 
Record of Specimens preserved in the Norfolk and Norwich Museum,’ by 
John Henry Gurney, 280. r 


DOUBLE NUMBER.-—-The ‘ZOOLOGIST”’ for AUGUST ; 
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Fcap. Svo, boards, price 1s., 


THE INSECT HUNTER’S COMPANION. 
By the Rev. JOSEPH GREENE, M.A. 


Being Instructions for Collecting, Rearing, Setting and Preserving Butterflies ands 
Moths, Beetles, Bees, flies, and other Insects. sa 
Tarrp Enron, Revised and Extended by A, B. Fany. The uenieg on 
Coleoptera by Hex ARD NEwMay. iy 


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7 -B, 


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NATURAL HISTORY. 


EDITED BY 


J. E. HARTING, F.L.S.. F.Z.S. 


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SRM RC ARUP Ce ee SD Ot Es eh Mee 


H. W. MARSDEN, 
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Has for! Sale one of the pears Stocks of BRITISH and EUROPEAN 
-BIRD-SKINS and BIRDS’ EGGS in Europe, regular supplies being received 


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Also AMERICAN and other EXOTIC SKINS and EGGS. 

- APPARATUS of all kinds and Taxidermists’ Tools—CABINETS 
for BIRDS’ EGGS, INSECTS, &c., &c. 

' EUROPEAN AND EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, COLEOPTERA, 
ORTHOPTERA, &c.; and also the best BOOKS on ENTOMOLOGY, 
ORNITHOLOGY and OOLOGY. 


Kee Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


Ry 


| INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION, 1883. 


_E. GUNN, Narurazisr, Norwicx (who receeived the Highest Awards 
; iy at the above Exhibition, viz., SIX GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, 
‘and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 
TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his Collection of 
| BRITISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, &e., consisting of nearly 500 
| Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. ‘FE or price apply 

as above. ; 
Bir Detailed Catalogue of the Collection, post free, 3d. 


NATURE: 
-A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


One of the leading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind 
a more lively interest in Science. With this end in view it provides original 
Articles and Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction in their 
}various departments,. expounding in a Popular and yet. Authentic Manner the 
FRAND Rusutts or Screnriric ResEarcH, discussing the most recent scientific 
discoveries, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress 
d its claims to more general recognition, as Ww as to a higher place in the 
educational system of the country. 
. Eyery Thursday, price 6d.— Yearly, 28s. ; Half: yearly, 14s. 6d.; Quarterly, 
.6d. P.O. Orders to be made payable at King Street, Covent Garden. 


Macmirnan & Co., London. 


On the Ist of every Month, price One Shilling and Threepence, 


| THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 
ba BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
Epirep sy JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S. 


ntains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
ings of Societies, and Botanical News. Especial attention is now given 
‘itish Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a well-known 
tanical artist. _ 

Subscription for the year 1884, payable in adyance, Twetve SHILLies, 
free. Terms for Advertisements may be had on application to the Publishers. 


» London: West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


J 


Hands and Feet, Prof. St. George Mivart, F.R.S., 281. Ro bavan sii 
Notes on the Seal and Whale Fishery of 1883, Thomas Southwell, F.Z.8., 29 
Three unpublished Papers on Ornithology, The late Edward Blyth, 300. 
On the Origin of the Domestic Cock, E. Cambridge Phillips, F.L.S., $27. Me 
On oF poe Spee of British Wren (with Figure), Henry Seebohm, F.L.S., 
Ley OOO. ; 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


Zoological Nomenclature, 335. Protection of Wild Birds in India, 836. The 
Hunterian Museum, 336. 
Mammatia.—Deer killed by Lightning, 836. Weasel swimming, G. 7. Rope, 
337. Grey Seal in the Channel Islands, J. E. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.8., 337. 
Birps.—Flamingo shot in Hampshire, Lord H. J. Scott, M.P., 338. Unusual 
Variety of the Snipe, J. H. Gurney, jun., F.Z.S., 339, Rose-coloured 
Pastor in Sutherlandshire, Rev. H. A: Macpherson, M.A., 339. ‘Curious 
Site for a Redstart’s Nest, J. Whitaker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 339. Fieldfares 
and Redwings, Oliver V. Aplin, 839. Note on the Nightjar, 7. N. Postle- 
thwaite, 340. Hen Harrier breeding in Dorsetshire, J. C. Mansel Pleydell, 
340. Montagu’s Harrier in Nottinghamshire, J. Whitaker, 341. Rare 
Visitors to North Oxfordshire, Oliver V. Aplin, 341. The Larder of the 
Red-backed Shrike, F’. Stansell, 341. Little Bittern at Colchester, Henry 
Laver, F.L.S., 842. Food of the House Sparrow, Capt. B. F’. Becher, R.A., 
842. Spoonbill in the South of Ireland, John N. White, 342. White 
Partridges, J. Brodie Innes, 342. An Albino Cormorant, Geo. Sim, 342. 
Hooded Crow wading, J. E. Palmer, 348. Terns and Gulls inland in 
Yorkshire, W. Hewett, 343. Great Reed Warbler at Ringwood, Hants, 
T. J. Mann, 343. Habits of the Magpie, Wm. Brown, 344. Instinet of 
Birds, James Graves, Duncan Stewart, John Rae, 344—346. Golden Plover 
with white Primaries, Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A., 346. International 
Ornithological Congress at Vienna, 346. 
Fisnrs.—Blackfish on the Devonshire Coast, J. Gatcombe, 847. Ichthyological 
Notes from Mevagissey, Cornwall, Mathias Dunn, 349. Opah-fish in Shet- 
land, 349. * 
Crustracea.—Abnormal Growth in Cancer pagurus, Thomas Cornish, 349. 
ArcuxoLocy.—Meaning of the word‘ Gaunt” applied to the Great Crested 
Grebe, J. E. Harting, 350. 4 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES, 
Zoological Society of London, 350. Entomological Society of London, 352. 


Communications with the following signatures unavoidably stand over:— 

O. V. Aplin, J. Backhouse, jun., R. M. Barrington, A. H. Cocks, J. Cordeaux, 
Thomas Cornish, H. W. Feilden, W. W. Fowler, J. Gatcombe, T. Holland, 
Herbert Langton, H. A. Macpherson, T. J. Mann, Murray A. Mathew, J. F, 
Musham, 'T. H. Nelson, 5. C, Phillips, O. Rushbrooke, T’. H. Potts, H. Stevenson, 
R. J. Ussher, R. Warren, J. Whitaker. 4 
Now ready, price 2s. 2d., post free, 


REPORT. ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS © 
IN THE SPRING AND AUTUMN OF 1883. # 
By J. A. Harvie Brown, J. Corpgaux, R. M. Baratxeton, and A. G. Morey 


A few copies of the Report (over and above those required for the Commi 
can be obtained of Wust, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, London. . A: 
number is limited an early application is desirable. 2 


West, Newman & Co., Printers, 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


AN ae 


Zo 


THE ZOOLOGIST 


3 Monthly Journal 


be 
Vv 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


KDITED BY 


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MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 


DELECTANDO PARITERQUE MONENDO. 


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(Late of 513, NEW OXFORD STREET), 


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sah _ INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION, 1883. 


TY. E. GUNN, Narturarist, Norwicn (who receeived the Highest Awards 
; - at the above Exhibition, viz., SIX GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, 
and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 

TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his, Collection of 
_ BRITISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, Xc., consisting of nearly 500 
_ Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. For price apply 
as above. 
BE Detaiied Cataloque of the Collection, post free, 3d. 


A ‘Sy 


H. W. MARSDEN, 
37, MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER, 


- Has for Sale one of the largest Stocks of BRITISH and EUROPEAN 
_ BIRD-SKINS and BIRDS’ EGGS in Europe, regular supplies being received 
from some of the best working Collectors, and including many very rare species. 
Also AMERICAN and other EXOTIC SKINS and EGGS. : 
APPARATUS of all kinds and Taxidermists’ Tools CABINETS 
- for BIRDS’ EGGS, INSECTS, &c., &c. 
EUROPEAN. AND EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, COLEOPTERA, 
ORTHOPTERA,: &c.; and also the best BOOKS on ENTOMOLOGY, 
ORNITHOLOGY and OOLOGY. 
| t= Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


| NATURE: 
A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


} , 

- One of the leading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind 
' a more lively interest in Science. With this end in view it provides original 
_ Articles and Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction in their 
_ various departments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the 
q GranD Rusuris or ScienTIFic REsEaRcH, discussing the most recent scientific 
_ discoveries, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress 
- and its claims to more general recognition, as well as to a higher place in the 


' educational system of the country. _ 


Every Thursday, price 6d.—Yearly, 28s.; Half-yearly, 14s. 6d.; Quarterly, 
7s. 6d. P.O. Orders to be made payable at King Street, Covent Garden. 


p 
Be cae Macmirtan & Co., London. 


On the Ist of every Month, price One Shilling and Threepence, 


_ THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 
aN ‘ f BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 
Epirep By JAMES BRITTEN, F.LS. 


_ Contains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
Proceedings of Societies, and Botanical News. Especial attention is now given ° 
to British Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a well-known 
botanical artist. 

_ Subscription for the year 1884, payable in advance, TWELVE SHILLINGS, 
post free. Terms for Advertisements may be had on application to the Publishers. 


London: West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Gaiden, E.C. 


i ie nt i Sep NE Fe faa ti etn Lk 


~ of oy apne Pah 


CONTENTS, ae 


On the Growth of Deer-Horns, with reference to some abnormal Antlers of the 
Roe, The Editor (with Illustrations), 353. 


The Finwhale Fishery on the Coast of Finmark, Alfred Heneage Cocks, M.A., 
F.Z.S., 366. 


Ornithological Notes from Norfolk, Henry Stevenson, F'.L.S., 370. 
Ornithological Notes from Switzerland, W. Warde Fowler, M.A., 374. 


. 
ai 
‘- 
ag 
foi 
¥ 
a 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


The proposed Marine Biological Laboratory, 378. 


Mammatia.—Wild Cat in Lincolnshire, John Cordeaua, 380. Weasel in Skye, 
Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A., 381. 

Birps.—The Birds of Pembrokeshire, EL. Cambridge Phillips, F'..8., 381. 
Greenland Falcon in Skye, Rev. H. A. Macpherson, 382.  Dotterel in 
Nottinghamshire, J. Whitaker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 383. Nesting of the Long- 

- tailed Titmouse, Rev. W. Becher, 383. The St. Kilda Wren, Richard M. 
Barrington, M.A., 383. Green Sandpiper at Farnborough, EH. T. White- 
hurst, 385. White Carrion Crow, E. Cambridge Phillips, 385. Habits of 
the Huia, 7. H. Potts, F.L.S., 386. Tit’s Nest in a Railway Carriage, 
H. Miller, O. Rushbrooke, 387. Common Domestic Duck diving for Food, 
John Rae, 388. Scarcity of Summer Birds in Co. Kildare, J. LE. Palmer, — 
389. Instinct in Birds, Hdward Lovett, 389. 


Fisors.—Long Sun-fish near Penzance, Thomas Cornish, 390, 


SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
rene pta aie) Pomviy of London, 391. 
eo a ot, See ING OR LSE Rw Aaa PE ks EE AA 
All articles and communications intended for publication in * lu ZooLoutst,’ 
and books and pamphlets for review, may be forwarded direct to the Editor, — 
Mr. J. E. Hanrine, 24, Lincoln’s-Iun Fields, London. y 
Advertisements and Subscriptions should be sent to West, Newman & Co.,. E 
54, Hatton Garden, aa E.C. 


es ee — 


BIRDS’ EGGS FOR. "SALE. 


SELL A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION of about 50 Clutches, with 4 
Eggs of Cuculus canorus in different colours. Ps 


H. B. MOSCHLER, Kronférstchen, near Bautzen, hing 


Now aig 


‘THE ENTOMOLOGIST’ 


SYNONYMIG LIST OF BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 


In duplicate; printed on one side only of the paper for Labels, and on both sid es 
for REFERENCE. Price 2s. 


For REFERENCE only. Price 64d. 
(In the press—Tuz EXCHANGE LIST. Paice 1d.) 


Wrst, Newman & Co., Printers, 54. Hatton Garden, E.C. 


ig Tarp Szrms.] OCTOBER, 1884. [Vot. VIII., No. 94. wen 


THE ZOOLOGIST 


gy Monthly Journal 


-NATURAL HISTORY. 


EDITED BY 


J. E. HARTING, F.L.S.. F.Z.S. 


MPMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ Uxion. 


DELECTANDO PARITERQUE MONENDO. 


LONDON : 


JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER LOW. 


Price ONE SHILLING. 


NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS. 


N R. J.C. STEVENS will SELL BY AUCTION, at his Great Rooms, ; 


38, King Street, Covent Garden, on Tuesday, October 14th, at half-past 
12 precisely, a small Collection of HORNS, SHELLS and MINERALS, 
STUFFED BIRDS IN CASES, ANIMAL SKINS, British and Foreign 
Insects, Corals from the Mauritius, and other Natural History Specimens, 
Cabinets, Show-Cases, &c., &c. 


On view after 2 the day prior and morning of Sale, and Catalogues had. 


MEMORY & SUCCESS. 


wrt contributes greatly to success? A good memory. 
wit always causes failure in life? A bad memory. 


Wear is indispensable to every Lady and Gentleman, Student, Chemist, 
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Waar can every one obtain from Pror. LOISETTE? A good memory— 
the Physiological Art of Never Forgetting—wholly unlike Mnemonics. 
Any book whatever mastered in one reading. 


Prospectuses Post FREE, giving opinions of Mr. RICHARD A. PROCTOR, | 


Dr. ANDREW WILSON, Clergymen, and others who have studied the system. 
Great inducements to Correspondence Classes in “ Never Forgetting” and 

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Day and Evening Classes—Lectures in Families of the Nobility and Gentry. 


Professor LOISETTE, 87, New Oxrorp Strrert, Lonpon. 


THOMAS COOKE & SON, 


Naturalists, Dealers in Entomological Apparatus, &c. 
(Late of 518, NEW OXFORD STREET), 


30, MUSEUM STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.C. 


Demy 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, price 7s. 6d., 


DICTIONARY OF BRITISH BIRDS. 


This work embraces Col. Monracu’s ORNITHOLOGICAL DICTIONARY, 
with Additions bringing it up to date of publication from the works of Yarrell 
and Selby. It contains a full account of the Plumage, Weight, Habits, Food, 
Migrations, Nest, and Eggs of every Bird found in Great Britain and Ireland. 


The whole Edited by EDWARD NEWMAN, F.LS., F.Z.S., &. 


“4 work which will very deservedly constitute an essential occupant of every zoologieal 


library.”—Atheneum. 


Field, - 
WEST, NEWMAN & CO., 54, HATTON GARDEN. . 


“A work which must be regarded as indispensable to all British ornithologists."— 


es H. W. MARSDEN, 
: 7 37, MIDLAND ROAD, GLOUCESTER, 
3 
. 
‘ 
4 


- Has for Sale one of the largest Stocks of BRITISH and EUROPEAN 
-BIRD-SKINS: and. BIRDS’ EGGS in Europe, regular supplies being received 
from some of the best working Collectors, and including many very rave species. 
Also AMERICAN and other EXOTIC SKINS and EGGS. 

_ APPARATUS of all kinds and Taxidermists’ Tools—CABINETS 
_ for BIRDS’ EGGS, INSECTS, &c., &e. 

'.  BUROPEAN AND EXOTIC LEPIDOPTERA, COLEOPTERA, 
' ORTHOPTERA, &c.; and also the best BOOKS: on ENTOMOLOGY, 

_ ORNITHOLOGY and OOLOGY. 


Ke Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


ra 
a 


F 


EEE 
4 INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHIBITION, 1883. 

: id E. GUNN, Narvurauist, Norwicu (who receeived the Highest Awards 
# - at the above Exhibition, viz., SIX GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS, 
| and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10. FOR BEST SPECIMENS OF 
a TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his Collection of 
% BRITISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, &c., consisting of nearly 500 
_ Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. For price apply 
3 as above. ae 
Br Detailed Catalogue of the Collection, post free, 8d. 


—— 


= z _ On the Ist of every Month, price One Shilling and ‘Threepence, 

THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 
ine _ BRITISH AND FOREIGN. 

Epitep sy JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S. 


5 - Contains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
Proceedings of Societies, and Botanical News. Especial attention is now given 
to British Botany. There is usually at least one plate, drawn. by a well-known 


botanical artist. 
_ Subscription for the year 1884, payable in advance, TweLvE SHILLincs, 
ost free. Terms for Advertisements may be had on application to the Publishers. 


~ London: West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


| NATURE: 
A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. - 


One of the leading objects of this periodical is to awaken in the public mind _ 
more lively interest in Science. With this end in view it provides original 
_ Articles and Reviews, written by scientific men of the highest distinction in their 
various departments, expounding in a Popular and yet Authentic Manner the 
Grand Resvtts or Screntiric REsEaRcH, discussing the most recent scientific 
overies, and pointing out the bearing of Science upon civilization and progress 
and its claims to more general recognition, as well as to a higher place in the 
ucational system of the country. 3 fe 

Every Thursday, price 6d.—Yearly, 28s.; Half-yearly, 14s. 6d.; Quarterly, 
d. P.-O. Orders to be made payable at King Street, Covent Garden. 


Macmitian-& Co., London. 


CONTENTS. 


Dogs: Ancient and Modern (with Illustrations), J. . Harting, F.L.S., F.ZS., (5 


393. 

Ornithological Notes from Norfolk, Henry Stevenson, F.L.S., 411. 

The Finwhale Fishery on the Coast of Finmark, Alfred Heneage Cocks, M.A., 
F. ZS8., 417. 

NOTES AND QUERIES. 

The Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 424. 

Mammatia.—The Growth of Deer-horns, Viscount Ebrington, M.P., 425. 
Growth of Deer-horns, Herbert Gow Stewart, 427. Notes on Mammalia of 
Northamptonshire, Rt. Hon. Lord Lilford, 428. 

Brrps.—Hoopoe in Sussex, J. EH. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.8., 428. Food of 
Sparrows, J. H. Gurney, F.Z.S., 428. Ruff and Green Sandpiper in 
Co. Sligo, Robert Warren, 429. Water Rail near Penzance, Thomas Cornish, 

429. Black Stork near Rainham, Walter Prentis, 429. Ornithological 
Notes from Dorsetshire, J. C. Mansel Pleydell, F’.L.S., 430. Blue-throated 
Warbler on Spurn Head, Theo. Fisher, 430. Nesting of the Black Redstart 
in Bavaria, Col. Michael Foster Ward, 480. Green Sandpiper in North 
Yorkshire, Thomas Carter, 431. ‘Manx Shearwater inland in Shropshire, 
F. Bond, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 481. Black Game in Pembrokeshire, EL. Cam- 
bridge Phillips, F.L.S., 481. 

Reptites.—Lizards on the Rock of Filfola, Capt. E. F, Becher, R.A., 431. 

FisHes.—Wreck-fish at Penzance; Ray’s Bream at Penzance, 7’. Cornish, 432. 

Motxusca.— The proposed adoption of Trinomial Nomenclature, Prof. B, B. 
Woodward, 482. 


Communications received with the following signatures:—E. F. Becher, 
I. Carter, J. Cordeaux, Thomas Edward, Theo. Fisher, E. Cambridge Phillips, 
J. Whitaker. 


All articles and communications intended for publication in ‘Tur Zooxoetst,’ 
and books and pamphlets for review, may be forwarded direct to the Editor, 
Mr. J. E. Harrine, 24, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, London. 

Advertisements and ate uate Paani be sent to West, Newman & Oy ay 
54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C. ee 


BIRDS’ EGGS FOR SALE. 


SELL A BEAUTIFUL COLLEGPION of about 50 Clutches, with 
Eggs of Cuculus eanorus in different colours. 


H. B. MOSCHLER, Kronfirstchen, near Bautzen, Saxony. 


Now ready, 
‘THE ENTOMOLOGIST’ 


SYNONYMIC LIST OF BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 


Tu duplicate; printed on one side only of fine cream-wove paper for LABELS, 
and on both sides for REFERENCE. Price 2s. 


For REFERENCE only. Price 6d. 
THE EXCHANGE LIST. Price ld.; post free, 13d. One halfpenny 


postage is sufficient for any number of copies. 
WEST, NEWMAN: & CO., 54, HATTON GARDEN, LONDON, &. C. 


Sete He nF a UE ge eee 
West, Newman & Co., Printers, 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. 


Rony OF 


Ct Ne eo 


St Mia T aN: 
a a et eee ae ee 


t 
Bi 
ahs ak 


OF 


= NATURAL HISTORY. 


EDITED BY 


| | J. B. HARTING, F.LS. F.Z.8. 


MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 


DELECTANDO PARITERQUE MONENDO. 


LONDON : 


JOHN VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW. 


°G 
x 
~) 


ye 


Price ONE SHILLING. 


ies 


EA. from the IMPORTERS. ig 
a BERTRAM | & CAE RTE R, oe 


a 


~ NOTICE T 
+ Communications received with the following signat res :—. 
_R. M. Barrington, E. F. Becher, A. J. Campbell, T. Carter, . 
digaaks Nelson, J.B. Palmer, E. Cambridge Phillips, T. H. Potts, E. Ri 
oe J. Ussher, J. Jenner ee Da Whitaker. So 


~All articles and'et communications intended for publican: in ‘Tue Zooocist,’ — 
and books and pamphlets for review, may be forwarded direct to. the Editor, a 
Mr. J. E. Hartine, 24, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, London. " 
Advertisements and Subscriptions should be sent to West, Newman & Co., 
_ 54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C. 


_ MEMORY & SUCCESS. 


Z si W HAT contributes greatly to success? A good memory. 


3 wat always causes failure in life? A bad-memory, _ 


wet is indispensable to every Lady and Gentleman, Student, Chemist, 
Physician, Merehant, Lawyer, Manufacturer, Farmer, Zoologist, &e.? | 

A good memory. 

HAT can. every one obtain from PRor. LOISETTE? A good memory— — 

the Physiological Art of Never Forgetting—wholly unlike Mnemonics. 

Any book whatever mastered in one reading. ae 

Prospectuses Post FREE, giving opinions of Mr. RICHARD A. PROCTOR, ~ 

Dr. ANDREW WILSON, Clergymen, and others who have studied the system. 
Great inducements to Correspondence Classes in ‘‘ Never Forgetting” and 
for Cure of ‘‘ Mind-Wandering” in all parts of the world.—Private Lessons— 

Day and Evening Classes—Lectures in Families of the Nobility and Gentry. 


Professor LOISETTE, 37, New Oxrorp Street, Lonpon. 


Pie a ee ok 


‘ utr ¥ 


Demy 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, price 7s. 6d., 


DICTIONARY OF BRITISH BIRDS. 


This work embraces Col. Monracu’s ORNITHOLOGICAL DICTIONARY, ~ 
with Additions bringing it up to date of publication from the works of Yarrell 
_ and Selby. It contains a full account of the Plumage, Weight, Habits, Food, 
Migrations, Nest, and Eggs of every Bird found in Great Britain and Ireland. | 


The whole Edited by EDWARD NEWMAN, F.L.S., F.Z.8., &. . 


“4 work which will very deservedly constitute an essential occupant of every noxloena! i 
library.”— Atheneum. es 

‘‘A work which must be regarded as indispensable to all British depitholopanes = 
Field. aS 


+» 
Sy 
yoo, 


Aged 


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THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 

an BRITISH AND FOREIGN. a 
. Epirep sy JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S. eee 
ontains original articles by our leading British Botanists, Notices of Books, 
edings of Societies, and Botanical News, Especial attention is now given 
itish Botany. -There is usually at least one plate, drawn by a well-known 
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NATURE: 
WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 


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a ee Send for new Catalogue, just published. 


A Visit to afoinet Island, ay. Rese A Waa: Ma F. LS. 
Egging on the Coast of Yorkshire, Thomas Carter,488. = 
On some Introduced Birds in New Zealand, T. H. Potts, F.L.S., sis. 
Notes on the Ornithology of N ortham ptonshire, Rt. Hon. Lord Lilford, FL. 8, 
The a ses Fishery on the Coast of Finmark, Alfred & deh Coie M. 
B.Z.S., 455. ae 


NOTES AND QUERIES. 


MamMatia. —Photographing a Tiger, 465. Porpoise in . the Thames, 466. % 

Brrps.—Ruffs and Reeves in Lincolnshire, John Cordeaux, 466. gree of 
the Ruff in Lancashire, Robert J. Howard, 466, Shearwaters on the Rock | 
of Filfola, Capt. H. F. Becher, RA., F.Z.S., 467. Dipper’s Nest on. the | 
Top of a Boulder, Thomas Edward, 468. Wood Sandpiper in Notting- 
hamshire, J. Whitaker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 468. Ruddy Sheldrake on Romney 
Marsh, Thomas Pas kiii: M.A., F.Z.8., 469. _ Bittern, White-fronted Goose, 
and Black Tern in Ber habire, Yoh Cor dbaiian: 469. Black Pomatorhine Skua_ 
at Redcar, 7. H. Nelson, 469. Building Sites of the House Martin, Henry 
Candler, 470. Kingfisher i in London, Charles Whymper, 470. Breeding of 
Bratercula arctica on n thé Burlings, Major H.W, Feilden, R.A.,C.M.Z.S8., 470. 
Reported Occurrence of Cranes neat Clitheroe, R. J. Howard, 470. Early 4 
appearance of Wild Geese in Ireland, R. J. Ussher, 471. ‘Spoonbills in 
Suffolk, J. H. H. Knights, 471. Dipper’ iv Sussex, Thomas Parkin, AT 
Grey form of the Tawny Owl in Buckinghamshire, ’. C, Aplin, 471. 

FisHEs.—-Balistes capriscus off Folkestone, J. B. Harting, #.D. 8., F.ZS8., a 
Ray swallowing a Crayfish, Thomas Cornish, 472. 


an 


Now ready, 
‘THE ENTOMOLOGIST’ 


SYNONYMIG LIST OF BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA 


By RiGee CUTE: 
In duplicate; printed on one side onlyof, 
and on both sides” ‘fo Ai. $: ny 


For REFERENOBS iyi, Prior 64. 


‘“On the whole, the sequence in Mr. § Souths-hist appears to me more natural than that 
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thing. But I am glad that the author has not allowed himself to think thaf attention 
accessories can be dispensed with. There is abundant evidence that Mr. South has vic 
his subject with an entomological and orthographic eye. * * * These mi 
blemishes detract little or nothing from the credit that is justly due for the preparation of 
the ‘new Doubleday’ ; and British Lepidopterists owe much to Mr. South for the pains — 
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of the Entomological Society of London, in ‘ The Entomologist. ig 


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INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES. EXHIBITION, 1883. 


Y KE GUNN, Naturauist, Norwicu (who receeived the Highest. iavwoiida © 
at the above Exhibition, viz., SIX GOLD AND: SILVER MEDALS, 
- and the SPECIAL PRIZE OF £10 FOR.BEST SPECIMENS OF 
_ TAXIDERMY, besides other Prizes), begs to announce that his Collection of — 
_ BRITISH FISH, FISH-EATING BIRDS, &c., consisting of nearly 500° 
_ Specimens, and contained in 135 Glazed Cases, is for Sale. For price APH 
_ as above. 
Mh Detailed Catalogue of the Collection, post Sree, 3a. sey 


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e-shoe Bat at Oxford, 
Rorqual at Goole, Thomas Bunker, 483. MF TS oie oe 

__ Brrps.—Probable otcurrence of the Lapp Bunting near Grimsby, J. Cordea 

_. 484. Lesser Black-backed Gull on the Yorkshire Coast, Rev. Julian G. 

_ Tuck; M.A., 485. A Supplemental List of the Birds of Breconshire, 

E. Cambridge Phillips, F.L.S., 485. . Hooded Crow and Grey Phalarope es 

Malta, Capt. E. F’. Becher, R.A., 486. Hobby in Oxfordshire, F’. C. Aplin, 

486. Breeding of the Hawfinch in North Yorkshire, 7. Carter, 487. - White 

re Wood Pigeon and other Varieties, .J. Whitaker, F.L.8., F.Z.S8., 487: Notes 

., on the Birds of Berkshire, T. N. Postlethwaite, 487. Eared Grebe and Velvet. 

~ tage Scoter at Hunstanton, Rev. Julian @. Tuck, 488. Ornithological Notes from’ 

Oxfordshire, Oliver V. Aplin, 488. Barred Warbler in Yorkshire, Rev. H. H.¥ 


Pi Slater, F.Z.S.,489. White Stork at Pevensey, T. H. Nelson, 489. ° Sabine’s ¥ 
_ Gull in Dublin Bay, J. J. Dowling, 490. " Note on the Hooded Crow, 
gee Rev. William W. Flemyng, M.A., 490. Breeding of the Ruff in Lancashire ; 
aa Correction of Errors, Robert J. Howard, 490. ae 


~ Motnusca.—Abnormal Shell of Buecinium undatum (with figure), Edward 
Lovett, 490. aie 
__- Crustacea.—Seyllarus aretus at the Land’s End, Thos. Cornish, 491. Abnormal 
Colour of Common Lobster, Edward Lovett, 491. 4% 
Se SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. . baa ; 
~ / Linnean Society of London, 491. Zoological Society of London, 493. ae, 
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. ei 

‘Elementary Text-Book of Zoology,’ Protozoa to Insecta, by Dr. C. Claus | 
Translated and Edited by Adam Sedgwick, M.A., 494. aS ce 


The Subscription to ‘THE ZOOLOGIST’ for 1884 has now 
expired; that for 1885 (Twelve Shillings, post free, including all 
Double Numbers) should be sent to WEST, NEWMAN & CO, 
54, Hatton Garden, London, E.C. P.O. Orders may be’ drawn 

on the Hatton Garden Office. ne 


Communications standing over from O. V: Aplin, Capt. E. P. Becher, R.A. 

W. Fitzherbert Brockholes, W. Eagle Clarke, T. D. A. Cockerell, J.J. Dalgleish, _ 

Edmund Elliot, Major H. W. Feilden, W. W. Flemyng, W. W. Fowler, Sir R. Pe 

Gallwey, J. Gatcombe, I. E. Gunn, T. H. Nelson, J. E. Palmer, T. N. Postle-— 
thwaite, T. H. Potts, EK. Rundle, Cecil Smith, Julian G. Tuck, Robert Warren. ~ 

To Secretaries of Local Natural History Societies.—The Editor des 

to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of odd parts of the ‘Transactions’ and — 

_ * Proceedings’ of various local Natural History Societies, which have been f - 
warded to him ‘for réview,” and to state that, owing to the large and increasing 

“number of such periodicals, it has been found impossible to notice any of them, 

The space available for reviews in this Journal is extremely limited, and it would 

be invidious to make selections where ‘all are striving towards the self-same en 

4 the promotion of the study of Zoology. ; ety 


RITISH BIRDS’ EGGS.—For Exchange, a large number-of duplic 
in clutches, with full particulars.—i. Rare, 9, Alergate, Durham. 


; Wrst, Newman & Co., Printers, 54, Hatton Garden, E.C. sa a 


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