84» Natural History in Scotland. 



,the Tippet Grebe, Col;^mbus urinator Lin. ; and the Tufted Duck, le petk 

 Morillon, Briss. Several rare birds were seen about Sunderland at the 

 same time. {Tyne Mercuru.) 



A black Hare was lately shot at Combe, near Coventry, {Morn. Chron , 

 Feb.) 



Art. IV. Natural History in Scotland* 



WernERIAN Natural History Society. — Meetings were held on January 

 the 12th and 26th, and February the 9th, and some interesting papers 

 read ; one by Dr. Grant on the anatomy of Perameles nasuta, a rare mar- 

 supial animal from New Holland ; a notice of the Cursorius isabellinus, or 

 Swift-foot, a rare bird, having been seen in Leicestershire ; and another 

 notice respecting the Ouistiti, which the secretary, Mr. Neill, has kindly 

 transmitted to us. In some future Number we hope to give a short history 

 of this Society. 



Edinburgh Botanic Garden^ March, 1828. — Among the rare plants which 

 have flowered here during the last three months are — iEginetia capitata, 

 iJubiaceae, a herbaceous climbing plant, from Rio Janeiro ; Artocarpus in- 

 tegrifolia, the Entire-leaved Bread-fruit tree, produced several spadices of 

 jnale flowers, but none of female flowers; Dodonae^a attenuata, Terebin- 

 taceae, a shrub from New South Wales ; Heteropteris fulgens, Malpighi- 

 dcc(B, a climbing stove shrub, the native country of which is unknown ; 

 Lobelia racemosa, from the West Indies ; Mintha pumila, from Nepal; 

 primula verticillata. {Jam. Jour., April, p. 394.) 



Neiu Localities of rare Plants. — Eriophorum pubescens is found in 

 abundance in a boggy field three miles north of Berwick ; Rhodiola rosea 

 on Fast Castle, and on rocks near Berwick ; and iScilla verna plentifully on 

 the sea banks at Gun's Green, near Eyemouth. {Jam. Journ., April, p. 404.) 



The Sago Palm. — Cjcas (name given by the ancients to a little palm 

 which grew in Ethiopia) revoluta is now in flower in the garden of Cally, 

 near Gatehouse, Kirkudbrightshire. The same plant flowered in the stove 

 at Cally for the first time in June, 1826; it has been at Cally upwards of 

 thirty years, and measures in circumference at the tips of the leaves 27 ft. 

 The spike, or cone, it produced in 1826 measured 10 ft. in height, and 

 appears to have been the male flower- — J. N. Cally Gardens, March 14. 



Large JEagle. — A very fine eagle was entrapped last week by Captain 

 Ramsay's game-keeper, on the hills above Balnakettle, in Kincardineshire. 

 This magnificent bird measures 7 ft. 2 in. between the tips of the wings, and 

 weighs lO^lbs. ; that part of his leg commonly called the drumstick, is 

 larger than a man can grasp with his hand. He is not at all injured by the 

 trap, having been caught by one of the toes, and has been placed in a large 

 cage, to keep company with another fine bird of the same species, which 

 was taken from the nest in the Clova hills, about four years ago, and is not 

 inferior in beauty of plumage, and not much inferior in size. {Edmburgh 

 Courant, Feb.) 



A Halibut, 5 ft. 6 in. in breadth, 7 ft. 6 in. in length, and weighing 

 320 lbs., was taken, off" the Isle of Man, and brought to Edinburgh fish- 

 market on April the 5th, being the largest of that species ever seen there. 

 {Scotsman, April 9.) This fish, the Pleuron^ctes hippoglossus Linn., belongs 

 to the same family as the turbot. It inhabits the European and North 

 American seas, and is the largest of all aquatic animals except the whale 

 tribe, frequently weighing 400 lbs. The body is mucous, with oblong 

 scales sticking firmly to the skin, which is liver-coloured above and white 

 beneath. The flesh is fat and coarse, except the part which adheres to the 

 side fins. 



