1899.] Patten. — Nest 0/ Little Tern. 197 



" contortion " or " telescoping " which so frequently is seen in 

 a photograph illustrating a cavity. At the same time the 

 picture is as good as could be obtained in the field, and my 

 best thanks are due to my friend, Mr. W. D. Latimer, for the 

 care and trouble he has bestowed upon the subject. 



There is little to add, except that the conclusions which I 

 have drawn are only based on the results of a limited number of 

 observations, and these have been confined to a narrow 

 district, and are therefore of a rather local nature. 



It is therefore not improbable that the Little Tern's nest, in 

 some other localities, may not altogether conform with the 

 type which I have endeavoured to describe. One would 

 expect this all the more where gravel or weeds replace the 

 sand and shingle. However, speaking generally, I think it 

 may be said, that in suitable localities where sand and shingle 

 are obtainable the Little Tern constructs a nest which in its 

 formation displays more care and skill than it has hitherto 

 been credited with by most observers. 



Trinity College, Dublin. 



OBITUARY. 



PROFESSOR SIR FREDERICK M'COY, K.C.M.G., D.SC., F.R.S. 



Irish naturalists will not forget the debt they owe to M'Coy, though 

 he has lived at the other side of the world for the last 40 years. Born 

 at Dublin in 1823, he studied medicine in his native city and at Cam- 

 bridge ; but was drawn off when quite young to the pursuit of natural 

 science. In conjunction with Sir R. Griffith he investigated the fossils 

 of the Irish rakeozoic rocks, his monograph on the Carboniferous 

 fossils being published in 1844, and that on the Silurian in 1846. After 

 a few years of Survey work he was appointed Professor of Geology and 

 Mineralogy in the Queen's University, and he lectured in the Belfast 

 College. In 1852 a large book on British Palaeozoic fossils was published 

 by him, under the auspices of the Cambridge University. He was then 

 appointed to the Chair of Natural Science in the University of Melbourne, 

 where he also founded and directed the National Museum of Victoria. 

 He published numerous papers on the zoology and geology of Australia, 

 and in the museum under his care he adopted, at a very early date, some 

 striking and original features in the arrangement of the collections. At 

 this congenial work he continued almost till his death, which took place 

 on May 16th of this year. We are indebted to a notice in the Geological 

 Magazine for June for the facts and dates here given. 



