144 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



great surprise a Sea Serpent appeared on the surface of the water in his wake, 

 which laid hold of the rudder by its mouth, and stretched out its vast length so 

 far to windward that he could not see the termination; he seized his telescope, 

 but could not even then discern the extremity of this wonderful animal. I 

 felt inclined to inquire into the genealogy of this bold narrator, not doubting 

 that he was lineally descended from the famous Baron Munchausen ! But I 

 satisfied myself with a smile." 



William Fothergill to Charles Fotheugill. 



Fishing Cats. — "When at Masham on my last journey to York, having a 

 little time to spare, I went to chat an hour with Julius Caesar Ibbetson, the 

 painter, who is known as an artist rising in fame; he has been in most parts 

 of the world, and is both intelligent and communicative. In the course of 

 conversation, he said, if I stopped all night, I might see a great natural 

 curiosity, which was. Cats catching fish for themselves. There is a mill near 

 the town, which, when stopped in the evening, the water being turned off, 

 leaves a shallow stream abounding with small fish; at which time, several 

 Cats regularly attend, boldly pushing into the water and fishing till they are 

 satiated; and often kill more than they eat. This practice has been long 

 continued by a succession of Cats." 



The following was published anonymously in a provincial paper of rather 

 limited circulation, and is consequently not well known. 



^'In my garden, at Carr End in Wensleydale, there is an Alcove, in which 

 a seat is fixed, and which is the most public and most frequented part of 

 the garden. In this recess, in the spring of the year 1809, the imp of a 

 bee-hive happened accidentally to be suspended; on the upper rim of which 

 a pair of Flycatchers, (Muscicapa grisola,) built their nests and reared their 

 young, apparently regardless of frequent interruptions by the family. The imp 

 being suffered to remain, and the old nest taken away, in 1810 a pair of 

 the same species again made their nest, and succeeded in rearing their young, 

 and have continued to do so in each successive year; and at the time of writing 

 this, July 2nd., 1813, there is a half-fledged brood in the nest. This sit- 

 uation being apparently so unlikely to be selected as a place for incubation, 

 is it not improbable that it should be annually chosen, except by the individual 

 birds which first made use of it, or their immediate descendants. 



Will not the above fact excite in the mind of the experienced ornithologist, 

 the following, or similar queries? Do all birds of passage annually return to 

 precisely the same situation which they oqcupied the preceding year. Or, is 

 it peculiar to this species, and perhaps some of the Ilirundince? If these 

 interesting little travellers do annually return to the same place, by what beacons, 

 by what way-marks are they guided? Instinct, a term too often resorted to 



