MISCELLANY. 47 



Btone, &c, in great plenty, 1795." As regards " Mergus cucullatus (258) 263," 

 I cannot explain without seeing my MS. Qu., " M. castor, Dun Diver (?), 

 common near Poole and Wareham," and " several near Blandford, 1776." — 

 J. C. Dale, Glanville's Wootton, Dorsetshire, Nov. 3, 1837. 



Rough-legged Buzzard (Falco lagopus) near Scarborough. — We now and 

 then receive a visit from this very able forager. A few specimens have 

 recently been entrapped in the Rabbit-warrens about Hackness. The keepers 

 find it destructive amongst game. It also seems to possess a very lickerish 

 tooth, preferring the young game. — Patrick Hawkridge, Scarborough, Aug. 7, 

 1837. 



White Variety op the Garden Ouzel (Merula hortensis). — Mr. John 

 Turle, animal-preserver of this town, has in his possession a curious species 

 [variety. — Ed. Nat.] of the Blackbird, the plumage of which is perfectly white. 

 The bird had been seen in the neighbourhood of Churchingford for the last two 

 or three weeks ; various arts were in vain tried to take it alive, and it was at 

 last shot. It is a remarkably fine male, with beautiful yellow bill and legs. — 

 Taunton Courier. — [We are, in law-phrase, much indebted to the "person or 

 persons unknown," who forwarded us the newspaper containing the above notice ; 

 but probably the said individuals are not aware that a fine is imposed for making 

 crosses or marks of any kind inside a newspaper transmitted by post. No fear 

 need be entertained that we shall overlook these paragraphs in the papers we 

 receive. — Ed. NatJ2 



On Toads being found imbedded in Stone. — In looking over your last 

 number (Vol. II., p. 450), I noticed an account of a Toad being found alive 

 imbedded in a quantity of dislodged limestone. By the term dislodged lime- 

 stone I suppose is understood fragments of stone lying together, and the Toad 

 found in the middle or at the bottom. Taking this to be the case, I do not 

 think it very extraordinary, considering the habits of the animal. I have a lime- 

 stone quarry in the lower green sand at Maidstone, worked to the depth of eighty 

 feet, and in the lowest strata are many cracks and fissures, in which I have 

 frequently seen several young Toads, and a small species of Lizard or Eft. 

 The Toads are very little larger than a shilling, and seem to live entirely in the 

 situation mentioned. There is no communication upwards for air, as the beds 

 of stone are covered with loam and gravel ; but as some of these cracks are old 

 water-courses, there is most likely a circulation of air through them. I think 

 they are a different species from the Common Toad. Their colour is chocolate 

 brown. I believe no authentic instance of a Toad imbedded in solid stone is 

 known, at least in any of the old formations containing fossils of a marine ori- 

 gin ; but that they have been found enveloped in dislodged fragments with sand, 

 &c, hardened around into a substance like stone, is probable. My opinion is, that 



