382 Miscellaneous . 



He considers it as hitherto confounded with the herring gull, and in 

 the plumage it agrees in every respect, except that it seems to be 

 more glossy. They differ however materially in size, the new bird 

 being about a pound heavier, about four inches longer, and in 

 the expanse of the wings exceeding the herring gull by nine 

 inches. In L. Jacksonii the bill is far stouter in proportion and 

 much paler ; the legs of a livid flesh colour, and the membrane of 

 the finest silky texture to feeling and sight. They seem equally 

 common with the herring gull. In a genus so nearly allied as the 

 gulls, this bird may have been overlooked, and we would suggest 

 that Mr. Couch should send specimens to Mr. Selby and Mr. Yarrell 

 for examination and comparison. — Couch, Fauna of Cornwall, p. 28. 



CYCLOPTERUS CORONATUS, CORONATED LUMP FISH, COUCH. 



Of this species, new to the British Fauna if not to science, I have 

 examined only one specimen ; the small size of which causes me to 

 suppose that it has hitherto been overlooked from its likeness to the 

 young of the common lump fish. The specimen was about eight 

 lines in length, of the same general proportions. About the centre 

 of gravity, near the summit of the back, is a wide and moderately 

 long fin, the extremity declining ; the second dorsal separated from 

 the first by an inten'al, and placed opposite the anal. Colour, a 

 dark green on the back, lighter on the sides, whitish below, a silvery 

 line across the head, uniting the posterior portion of the eyes, and 

 from this on each side a line running forward, approximating and 

 then receding at right angles, thus resembling the Greek ii, but 

 with a square instead of a circular summit. The specific name is 

 from this mark. The differences between this and the common lump 

 fish are, the entire want of tubercules, which in the latter give a 

 grotesque appearance to the back, the want of the flat space between 

 the termination of the ridge and the (only) dorsal fin ; and more 

 especially in the moderately elongated first dorsal fin, which bears no 

 resemblance to the vestige of fin described as possessed by the painted 

 lump fish. — Couch, Fauna of Cornwall, p. 48. 



FRENCH EXPEDITION OF DISCOVERY TO THE SOUTH POLAR SEAS. 



This expedition, undertaken by the French Government,, under 

 the command of M. D'Urville, has completely failed. The vessels. 

 Astrolabe and Zelee, were not able to penetrate beyond the 64" south, 

 being fully 10° short of the parallel reached by Weddel. They were 

 stopped by a compact barrier of ice, and found the whole sea in the 

 latitude we have mentioned completely frozen. 



