Soology. 147 
its note is much shorter, quite distinct from that which it makes in the evening. One morning, 
when on the look-out for these birds, I shot the pipit lark of Bewick, imitating the note of the 
grasshopper warbler, and exactly in the attitude described by him, ‘* gaping and shivering with 
its wings on the top of a branch.” —W. Farrar, M.D. Aug. 5. 1829. 
A Species of Alcédo, or Kingfisher. — There is another bird in this country which has often 
excited my surprise and curiosity, and which, 1 believe, is peculiar to this place. Every day are to 
be seen numerous flocks of birds, not quite so large as pigeons, with dark backs and white bellies, 
passing up and down the Bosphorus with great rapidity. When they arrive either at the Black Sea, 
or the Sea of Marmora, they again wheel about, and return up the channel ; and this course they 
continue, without a moment’s intermission, the whole of the day. ‘They are never seen to alight, 
either on land or water; they never, for a moment, deviate from their course, or slack their 
speed ; they are never known to search for or take any food; and no visible cause can be assigned 
for the extraordinary and restless instinct by which they are haunted. The French call them des 
ames damnées ; and certainly, if being allowed no cessation or repose be included in the idea, it is 
not misapplied. They fly very near the surface of the water ; and, if a boat meets a flock of them 
transversely, they rise a few feet over it; if directly, it divides them likea wedge. ‘Their flight 
is remarkably silent; and though so numerous and so close, the whirr of their wings is scarcely 
ever heard. They are so abundant in this particular spot, that I have reckoned fifteen large 
flocks in my passage from Pera to Therapia. I have often wished to shoot one, to examine it ; 
but the Turks have such a tender and conscientious regard for the life of every animal but man, 
that no person is permitted to kill any bird upon the Bosphorus, without incurring their displea- 
sure. The only work in which I have seen it mentioned is, Andreoss?s sur le Bosphore. He calls 
it Alcyon voyageur, to distinguish it from the Halcyon of the ancients, which was supposed to 
build its nest upon the waters. (MWalsh’s Journey from Constantinople to England.) 
The Throstle. —1 agree with Mr. Jennings, that the throstle (7trdus 
musicus) does not line its nest with mud, but generally with some compost 
of which cow dung forms a part, although I have found them lined entirely 
with rotten wood. It is a fact also that it invariably lays the first egg 
whilst the lining is wet.— 7. G.  Clithero, April 17. 1829. 
Distinction of Sex in the Woodcock. — Having been taught by an old 
sportsman the following ready method of distinguishing the sexes of wood- 
cocks by the plumage, | offer it to your notice, in the hope that some one who 
may have better opportunities for observation than myself may beable to decide 
whether it is to be depended upon as a sure criterion of the sex : — The front 
or outer edge of the first quill feather of the cock bird is marked alternately 
with dark and light spots, of a somewhat triangular shape ; while in the hen 
the corresponding feather is without spots, and in lieu of them presents a 
uniform light-coloured stripe, extending the whole length of the feather 
The difference will be immediately apparent on examining the accompany- 
ing specimens, which are the first quill feathers, plucked respectively from 
two different birds shot at the same time ; the two birds, it may be remarked, 
in other respects varied sufficiently in plumage to warrant the supposition 
of their being of different sexes. — W. T. Bree. 
Voice of Fishes. —1 have often heard it remarked that fish have no 
voices. Some tench, which I caught in ponds, made a croaking like a frog 
for a full half hour whilst in the basket at my shoulder. — John Thompson. 
Hull, July 20. 1829. 
Extraordinary Growth of a Pike. — If you think the following account of 
extraordinary growth in a pike worthy of being inserted in your entertaining 
and instructive Magazine, you may depend upon the authenticity of it from 
an eye-witness :— Four years and a half ago, some jack were turned into a 
pond belonging to W. R. Cartwright, Esq.,in Northamptonshire, the biggest 
of which weighed 24 lbs. In October last the pond was let off, and one jack 
of 194 lbs. was taken out, together with five more, from 11 to 15 lbs. each, 
the largest having grown not quite 4 lbs. every year since its benmgin. The 
pond is about two acres and a half, with a small rill running through it, 
and there was a good stock of carp in it at the time of its being let off! — 
A Constant Reader. Nov. 5. 1829. 
Remarkable Flight of Spiders —On the 19th of July a number of acronautic 
spiders (at any rate small black spiders capable of flight) by some means 
found their way into St. John’s church, and, though not a proper place 
for observations on natural history, there were so many, that, without 
shutting my eyes, I could not fail noticing them. The tops of ladies’ bon- 
nets were generally the places whence they commenced their flight, and 
in it they seemed not to be confined to any particular direction : some flew 
upwards at a slight angle, some north, some south, some east, some west ; 
ON 
