361 



CHAPTER OF CRITICISM. 



On Faunas and Floras, in general and particular. 



Beicsey House, Aug. 18, 1837« 

 Dear Sir, — Your talented correspondent, Mr. DALE„has set an example to 

 zoologists, and Mr. Bloxam to botanists, which, L think, ought to be followed in 

 as many cases as possible. The advantage of having local floras and faunas is 

 universally acknowledged, and the manner in which they are published in The 

 Naturalist appears to me much better than if, as in Loudon's Magazine of 

 Natural History, the productions of the various counties were to be known by 

 short notices of the capture of perhaps a dozen rare birds, or the discovery of a 

 like number of rare plants, in different neighbourhoods, scattered here and there 

 throughout the volume. In the " Dorsetshire Fauna " Mr. Dale mentions 

 Fuligula rufina, to which it appears, by a note at the bottom of the page, he 

 had affixed " Tufted Pochard " as the English name. Is it not probable that he 

 meant the Tufted Pochard, which is of common occurrence, and pretty generally 

 distributed, while of Fuligula rufina, Mr. Jenyns informs us, only four speci- 

 mens have been met with ? This supposition is strengthened by the circumstance 

 of F. cristata not being in his list. Of Mergus cucullatus, according to Jenyns, 

 only one specimen has been met with in Europe ; if Mr. Dale has found it in 

 Dorsetshire, the particular locality is, in my opinion, very desirable. Perhaps 

 there may be some mistake. The same remarks will apply to his notice of 

 Procellaria puffinus. Of course I only make these observations to elicit in- 

 formation. It appears to me that the " blue and green " species of Lizard, which, 

 Mr. Dale informs us, he has found at Parley, is Lacerta stirpium. At all events 

 this species ought to have a place in the Dorsetshire fauna, as, according to 

 Jenyns, two specimens were taken by Mr. Yarrell near Poole, in Dorsetshire. 

 Persons have informed me that they have seen '• green Lizards " near Southport, 

 in this county. I think it not improbable that these will be referable to the 

 same species. 



Scarcity of the Garden Ouzel near Warrington. 



With regard to the Garden Ouzel (Merula hortensis), the fact that it is not 

 common here has been remarked by others as well as myself. Considering its 

 extreme abundance in other parts of the kingdom, it most certainly " cannot be 

 said to be common in this neighbourhood." This statement is analogous to one 

 made by Mr. Morris, in a preceding number of The Naturalist (No. ix., p. 166), 

 respecting the House Sparrow not being common near Doncaster. It is com- 



