NOTES ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Dg 



response to further inquiries Mr. Hawkins adds; — "The nests were photo- 

 graphed in situ, and were in the same boat as those last year. I have no 

 doubt that the same birds chose the boat each year, as the eggs were of the 

 same variety. On the marsh where the photographs were taken I am glad 

 to say that there is a very marked increase in the number of nests. In one 

 place on one of the larger " fleets " I could have covered three nests at one 

 time with an ordinary bath towel; in fact, where there were 17 nests last year, 

 I should say that there are more than 70 now. I noticed a rather curious 

 thing, that where eggs had been taken from a nest, a fresh pair of birds will 

 secure it at once." On the 27th of June Mr. Hawkins wrote : — " I was on the 

 same marsh last Sunday and found the young gulls hatched out in the boat. 

 Then I suppose they will have to stay for the present, unless the old birds 

 carry them, moorhen fashion." 



BATRACHIA. 

 A " Happy Family " of Batrachians.— Having occasion to underpin 

 and spur a gate-post in an old garden, at a foot below the ground, I came 



across a happy hibernating family which may be worth recording. I have 

 seen large families in various situations but never so mixed a colony — three 

 frogs, two toads, three snails, and six or seven common smooth newt or eft 

 {Molgc vulgaris). The wood of the post had rotted below the surface line and 

 the mixture of soil with decayed wood probably afforded suitable bedding for 

 a long sleep. The frogs were a few inches apart from one another, as were 

 the toads, but ttie efts were curled up in close proximity, pretty much as one 

 may occasionally see snakes hibernating in an old manure heap. One of the 

 frogs was of the brightest yellow, with brown markings, more brilliant in 

 appearance than any specimen I have noticed. The toads and newts 

 showed no activity when unearthed but the frogs appeared rapidly to recover 

 from their torpid condition. The remarks made by the workmen were 

 illustrative of the common misconception as to innocent reptiles. The digger 

 handed out the frogs, whereupon his companion remarked, "I wouldn't do 



