104 MICSELLANIES. 



The Yelllow -nosed Albatross a British Bird. — On November, 1836, a 

 beautiful specimen of the Yellow-nosed Albatross (Diomedea chlororhynchus, 

 Lath. ) was observed sailing above the river Trent, at Stockwith, near Gainsbo- 

 rough, and was shot nearly opposite the Chesterfield canal basin. Thus, 

 according to the rule generally agreed on by naturalists, this bird may now be 

 included in the British fauna. There are four species of Albatross ; the Diomedea 

 exulans, or Common Albatross (and not the Yellow-nosed species, as erroneously 

 supposed by the newspapers) being the largest. — Analyst, No. XIX., April, 1837. 



The Song of the Sky Lark. — In walking out in some fields, near here, towards 

 the close of October, I was surprised to see great numbers of Sky Larks flying about 

 over the fields on every side. I may almost say in flocks, the greaternumber of them 

 singing all the while. They neither soared very high, nor remained so long in the air 

 as they are wont to do in spring. I had not heard the song of this bird for several 

 weeks previously, and it is worthy of remark that the day was rather cold and 

 windy. In autumn the Sky Lark often rises perpendicularly into the air, and then 

 descends in a slanting direction, performing all the other spring manoeuvres, 

 without singing, but occasionally giving a twitter, as if congratulating itself on 

 the progress it is making. The same may be said of the Wood Lark at that season. 

 If you consider the above worth inserting in your " Chapter of Miscellanies" — 

 by no means the least interesting portion of the Naturalist — it is perfectly at 

 your service. — Charles Liverpool, M.D., Bristol, March 23, 1837- 



Chace of the Wild Boar. — The chase of the Wild Boar has always been 

 considered as a sport presenting the highest interest and excitement ; and it is 

 certainly one of the most dangerous- The old males are preferred to those of a 

 less advanced age, as being less swift in their flight, both on account of their 

 greater obesity, and the confidence they feel in their own strength ; they are also 

 less dangerous, as their tusks are much more curved, and are thus less capable of 

 inflicting severe and well-directed wounds. When once at bay, the Boar becomes 

 indiscriminately furious. He turns on his persecutors, and strikes at the nearest, 

 often ripping open the belly of a Horse or a Dog ; and the hunter is himself in 

 no little jeopardy if he be on foot, or his Horse have thus been disabled. 



At the period when Britain was covered with forests, the Wild Boar was found 

 in them as a native, and probably once in some considerable numbers. About the 

 year 940, the laws of Hoel Dha direct that it shall be lawful for the chief of his 

 huntsmen to chase the Boar of the wood, from the 5th of the Ides of Nov. (9th), 

 until the Calends of December (1st). — Cap. xxi. s. 14. In the next century the 

 numbers had perhaps begun to diminish, since a forest law of William I, estab- 

 lished in A.D. 1087, ordained that any who were found guilty of killing the Stag, 

 the Roebuck, or the Wild Boar, should have their eyes put out ; and sometimes 

 the penalty appears to have been a painful death. It appears, indeed, that 

 Charles the First, turned out some old swine in the New Forest for the pur- 



