26 HULL SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB. 



eo-gs gathered each year. This statement however, as it 

 cannot 5 be accurately measured (most of the climbers being 

 unscientific observers, and most of them getting more and 

 more by the sale of rare eggs each year), is also open to 

 doubt. These varieties occur only very rarely, i abnormal 

 egg in 1000 being about the average per season, and if they 

 indicate a permanent departure from the normal type, the 

 movement can only be in its inception. Given a sufficient 

 number of eggs to select from, any species of bird will be 

 found to produce many abnormal eggs, but none so far 

 removed from the common type as those of the Guillemot. 

 The cause, however, to which this abnormal variation can be 

 assigned appears to be shrouded in mystery. 



A specimen of the Feathered Thorne {Himcra pennaria) 

 was caught on November 8th, on the tram stables at Stepney, 

 Hull. This specimen is an addition to the list of Macro- 

 lepidoptera occurring near Hull, published in the "Trans- 

 actions of the Hull "Scientific and Field Naturalists' Club " 

 for 1899.— J. W. Boult. 



Humber Saltmarsh Plants. — The areas reclaimed from 

 the Humber possess only a saltmarsh flora at the time of 

 enclosure, and few plants except cornfield weeds obtain a 

 footing afterwards. It is interesting, therefore, to note that 

 Listera ovata is well established on a drain bank on the 1850 

 enclosure on Sunk Island. The drain is still brackish, and 

 Scirpus maritimusy Suoeda maritima, and Salicornia herbacea 

 irrow at the foot of the bank. — T. Petch, B.A.. B.Sc. 



Plumatella rei'ENS in Holderness. — During August, 

 1902, whilst searching for marine species in the brackish 

 ditches and ponds near the Humber, I found the fresh-water 

 polyzoon, Plumatella repens, near Skeffling, in a ditch which, 

 although it runs up to the river bank, contains fresh water. 

 The zoophyte formed a semi-transparent, whitish mass, en- 

 crusting the roots and stem of Rumex, and in some respects 

 resembled the alcyonelled form, the zocecia being crowded 

 together. This is the first fresh-water polyzoon I have found 

 in Holderness, and the second in the Humber district ; the 

 other being Fredei-icella sultana, at Barton, Lines., August, 

 1901.— T. Petch, B.A., B.Sc. 



