320 Miscellaneous. 



Occurrence of the Yellow Rail {Porzana novehoracensis) in the 

 vicinity of Quebec. 

 Although this handsome little bird is mentionned by Swainson 

 in the " Fauna Boreali Americana " on the authority of Mr. Hut- 

 chins who resided on the coast of Hudson's Bay, near the eflflux 

 of Severn River, I am not aware that it has appeared in any of 

 the published lists of Canadian birds. It is extremely rare in this 

 latitude, only two specimens have been procured during two years 5 

 both were shot by Mr. G. Campbell of the Quebec Customs ; one 

 is in his possession, and the other he presented to me, which I 

 atuflfed, and is now in the collection of S. Derbishire, Esq. 



Wm. Coupbr, Quebec. 



(From proceedings of the Geological Society of London.) 



On the Geology of the Gold-fields of Nova Scotia. By the 

 Rev. David Honeyman. (Communicated by the President.) 



The author, at the request of the Provincial Government Com- 

 mission for the International Exhibition, made some observations 

 on the auriferous rocks at Allen's and Laidlow's farms, near the 

 junction of the Halifax and Windsor and the Halifax and Truro 

 railways. He found chloritic schist, with vertical auriferous 

 quartz-veins, and a gold-bearing horizontal quartz- vein (the "bar- 

 rels" of the miners) lying on the schist and overlaid by quartzite 

 and gravel. By the neighbouring railway sections the chlorite- 

 schist is seen to alternate in broad bands with quartzite, and to 

 be associated with granite. The author thinks there is reason to 

 believe that the quartzite may be of Lower Silurian age. 



" On some Fossil Crustacea from the Coal-measures and De- 

 vonian Rocks of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton." 

 By J. W. Salter, Esq., F.G.S., ofthe Geol. Surv. Great Britain. 

 One of the Devonian fossils is apparently allied to the Stomapods, 

 and is named Amphiioeltis paradoxus by Mr. Salter ; it was ob- 

 tained by Mr. Hartt and Dr. Dawson near St. John's, where it 

 occurred with plant-remains ; another Crustacean fossil from the 

 same locality collected by Mr. Payne, is a new Eurypterus^ E. 

 pulicaris. Other remains of Eury2)teri have been sent also by 

 Dr. Dawson, from the coal-measares of Port Hood and the Jog- 

 gins ; and with these a new Amphipod, DiplostT/lus, having some 

 characters of alliance with Typhis and Brachyocelus, 



