168 NOTES, CORRESPONDENCE, &c. 
WILD SwANs IN BUCKINGHAM- 
SHIRE.—An unusual capture was | 
made in the parish of Little Brick- 
hill, Bucks, about ten a.m., on 
Wednesday, Dec. 22. There was_ 
a slight covering of snow, and the 
atmosphere was very misty. A 
labourer on the farm of Mr. 
Gregory perceived three wild 
swaus flying towards him, not 
more than ten or fifteen yards 
from the ground. He threw a 
stone and broke the wing of one 
of them, which, of covrse, fell an 
easy victim. ‘lhe field in which 
this took place is a grass fleld 
called ‘the Fishpond Close,’ but 
there is no pond or other water 
within a considerable distance. 
The labourer, delighted with his 
booty, presently set to work to 
pluck it, with an eye to his Christ- 
mas dinner. Had he been better 
advised, he might probably have 
obtained a good sum for the bird, 
as a specimen to be stuffed. 
J. W. WILLIAMSON (Bletchley), 
Field, San. 1, 1870. 
From a letter in the ued 
Herald of Jan. 15, it appears tha’ 
the remaining two went on to 
Fenny Stratford, where they were 
seen on rhe same day. “On 
Monday, the 27th, they came down 
again ; and when flying near the 
railway bridge one was shot by a 
man employed on the railway. 
The other flew on towards Simp- 
son,-and was shot there. ‘The 
swans probably came from Wo- 
burn Park, and were young birds, 
as their feathers indicated. It 
appears to be a common thing for 
the young birds to take fiight the 
first winter from their homes, and 
in this case it resulted fatally to 
them.” When will the happy | 
time arrive when the noticing and | 
the shooting of a rare bird shall 
be no longer synonymous terms? 
Curious CAPTURE OF A TENCH. 
—“] was fishing here, near the 
Quarry Wood, on the 13th Nov., 
with Rockel, fisherman, using 4 
fine paternoster line, baited with 
two minnows, for perch. Feeling 
a bite, I struck, and after about 
five minutes’ play secured a fine 
tench, weighing 3lb,, with the 
Ghula 
Ab 
Joye, 
bottom hook fixed in its tail— 
C, A. C. (Great Marlow). --Licld 
Nov. 23, 1870. 
CATS TAKING THE WATER.— 
“That cats will take the water is 
on record ; there was a cat, or 
rather a family of cats, if I re- 
member aright, at the ‘Complete 
Anglers, Marlow, that used to 
swim after the dead fish thrown 
out of the punt wells by the 
fisherman. This could, no doubt, 
be corroborated. —C.C.C.,” in 
Science Gossip, Sept., 1869. Can 
any of our readers substantiate 
this ? 
PLANT NEW TO THE CoUNTY.— 
Mr. Henry Taylor, of Aylesbury, 
has forwarded us a specimen of 
Senecio (Cineraria) campestris L, 
which he discovered in June last 
on the chalk hill above Aston 
Clinton, called Aston Hill. It has 
bh before been recorded for the 
s i) oS oF ANIMALS.—Reynard, 
ing. ibert, Partlet and Chanti- 
ei} as}equivalents for Fox, Bear, 
fy, Xen, and Cock owe their 
Jitsas proper names to the in- 
6 genius of the middle 
they were coined by the 
of that beast-epic the 
Reineke Fuchs, which enjoyed such 
a wide popularity at that time that 
it was translated into most of the 
Janguages of the Europe. Whilst 
only synonyms with us, in several 
tongues they have supplanted the 
older forms. Forinstance, Renard 
in French is the general name for 
Fox, to the exclusion of the older 
name Volpils: Bjérn is the gene- 
tal name for a Bear in the Norse, 
as Péro, a he-bear, and Pirinn,a 
she-tear, in the Old German. 
Tibert still survives in Tabby-cat, 
and is the Tybalt of “ Romeo and 
Juliet” ii. 4, and iii. 1; the 
Tybartof Decker’s ‘Satiromastix;” 
the Tibalt of Nash’s “ Have with 
you to Saffron Walden;” and in 
the Romauntde Renart V. '* Then 
the King called for Sir Tibert the 
cat.” If some of your subscribers 
could enlighten me as to puss, 
the poetical soubriquet for a hare, 
I should feel much obliged.— 
SAMUEL DYER, 
4, 
