42 FISH. OWLS. 



the village, yield nothing but the bull's head, or miller's 

 thumb (goUusfluviatilis capitatus)* the trout (trutta fluma- 

 tilis'), the eel (anguilld)^ the lampern (lampcetra parva et 

 fluviatilis), and the stickle-back (jpisciculus aculeatus) .% 



We are twenty miles from the sea, and almost as many 

 from a great river, and therefore see but little of sea birds. 

 As to wild fowls, we have a few teams of ducks bred in the 

 moors where the snipes breed ; and multitudes of widgeons 

 and teals, in hard weather, frequent our lakes in the forest. 



Having some acquaintance with a tame brown owl, I find 

 that it casts up the fur of mice and the feathers of birds in 

 pellets, after the manner of hawks : when full, like a dog, it 

 hides what it cannot eat. 



The young of the barn-owl are not easily raised, as they 

 want a constant supply of fresh mice ; whereas the young of 

 the brown owl will eat indiscriminately all that is brought ; 

 snails, rats, kittens, puppies, magpies, and any kind of 

 carrion or offal. 



The house-martins have eggs still, and squab young. The 

 last swift I observed was about the 21st of August : it was 

 a straggler. 



Redstarts, fly-catchers, white-throats, and reguli non 

 cristati, still appear ; but I have seen no black-caps lately. 



I forgot to mention, that I once saw in Christ Church 

 College quadrangle, in Oxford, on a very sunny warm morn- 

 ing, a house-martin flying about and settling on the parapet, 

 so late as the 20th of November. 



* The miller's thumb is found in nearly every river and brook in England. 

 It harbours under stones, which the flatness of its head enables it to do. ED. 



)* Mr. Yarrel, a most accurate and observant naturalist, in a number 

 of the Zoological Journal, hints at the possibility of two species of eels 

 being natives of this country. In this I certainly think Mr. Yarrel correct, 

 their similarity rendering them easily confused. The species with which the 

 London markets are supplied from Holland, may also be discovered, as our 

 researches in the ichthyology of Great Britain, so long comparatively neglected, 

 become more frequent. The grig of Pennant, which seems to be Mr. Yarrel's 

 second species, appears in the Thames, at Oxford, at a different season from 

 the common eel. W. J. 



There are three species of Eels in our fresh waters the sharp and the 

 broad-nosed eels and the Snig, which the editor had the pleasure of introducing 

 to the notice of his friend, Mr. Yarrell. ED. 



There are six distinct kinds of sticklebacks. ED. 



