THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 63 



NOTES. 



An Uncommon Seal. — In January, 1894. a seal was caught at 

 Portland and presented to the National Museum by Mr. G. M. 

 Snowball. The skeleton and stuffed skin have been mounted, 

 and have been on view for some time, and the species has been 

 identified as Lobodon carcinophaga by Sir Frederick M'Coy. A 

 specimen of the same specirs came ashore at St. Kilda, near 

 Kenney's Baths, last week ; but instead of an attempt biing 

 made to capture it alive, it was knocked on the head and killed. 

 The Museum specimen is white, with a very faint tinge of yellow, 

 while the present specimen is a beautiful glossy pure white. Its 

 length from snout to tail is 7 feet 4 inches. The body is marked 

 on each side by a long, deep scar, running upwards and forwards 

 from the tip of the manus. Mr. Borchegrevink lays stress on 

 the occurrence of scars on the seals which he noticed far south, 

 and seems inclined to ascribe them to an unknown carnivorous 

 foe. Is it not possible for seals to injure one another in this way 

 when fighting? In the description of the genus in Gray's 

 "British Museum Catalogue" the whiskers are stated to be 

 waved. This is, however, not the case in either of the specimens 

 mentioned, though on a superficial examination it might be 

 thought to be so. In reality the hairs are much flattened and 

 spirally twisted (not coded) on their own axis, and a wavy 

 appearance is thus produced. This species, the Crab-eating Seal, 

 or White Antarctic Seal, is said to be very common in the pack 

 ice, but does not seem to have been noticed as far north as 

 Australia before 1894, and perhaps the occurrence of a second 

 specimen is worth recording. — T. S. Hall. 12th July, 1897. 



Longevity of the Butcher Bird. — An interesting Natural 

 History item came under my notice recently, in connection with 

 the life in captivity of a Butcher Bird, Cracticus torqaatus, Lath., 

 commonly referred to as the " Whistling Jackass." As far back 

 as 1868 or 1869 (a record of the exact date not having been kept, 

 it is only certain that it was before 1870), two young birds were 

 taken from the nest on the Currup Currup Pre-emptive Right, 

 near Mornington Junction railway station. Great care was taken 

 of them, and they thrived well in captivity, becoming great pets, 

 on account of the readiness with which they learned to talk and 

 to whistle tunes. One of the birds turned out to be a male and 

 the other a female ; the latter layed her eggs fairly regularly as the 

 season came round, the usual number of eggs being four, though 

 occasionally she laid five, and rarely six. After the latter event 

 she was, as a rule, a little seedy, owing, no doubt, to the extra tax 

 upon her strength. Both the birds did extremely well in captivity, 

 as is evidenced by the fact that the male bird lived until the 12th 

 of June last (1897). It can thus be seen that this bird was 28 

 or 29 years of age. It is Anther interesting to note that the 

 female bird is still alive and well. The known age of these birds 



