924 The Zoologist — October, 1867. 



valuable work. The writer of an ' Account of Buclian,' which is 

 believed to have been written about 1680, refers to the occurrence of 

 a mermaiden on the Scotch coast, in June, 1635. Fortunately an 

 account of this mermaid has been preserved by Spalding, who de- 

 scribes it as follows : — " There was seen in the water of Don a 

 monster-like beast, having the head like to one great mastiff-dog or 

 swine, and hands, arms and paps (breasts) like to a man. The paps 

 seemed to be white. It had hair on the head ; and the hind parts, 

 seen sometimes above the water, seemed clubbish, short-legged and 

 short-footed, with one tail." (It escaped all the efforts made to 

 capture it.) Here, then, we have a distinct instance of the trans- 

 formation of a marine quadruped into a mermaiden ; what was only a 

 "monster-like beast" in 163-3 had been developed into a supernatural 

 creature by 1680. The description of the animal is also interesting in 

 itself; it seems possible that it may have been some species of seal, 

 but several features, particularly the mention of human-like breasts, 

 seem to point to the manatee (Manatus borealis), which has not since 

 been recorded as visiting our shores, although its dead body has been 

 thrown up by the tide in two instances (Bell, Brit. Quad., p. 525). 

 So late as 1817, when a walrus was killed on one of the Hebrides, not 

 a little superstitious feeling and even fear was evinced by the ignorant 

 islanders (Macyillivray, ' Nal ura list's Library,' xvii.) 



Narwhal. — The tusk of the narwhal was commonly sold in the 

 middle-ages as that of the fabulous unicorn, and was believed to have 

 the power of neutralizing and detecting poisons : for this purpose it was 

 commonly carved into cups ; the horn of the rhinoceros was also 



often used. 



Edwakd R. Alston. 

 SlockbrigfRs, Lesmahagow, N. B., 

 September, 1867. 



(To be continued.) 



A Day among the Bird-breeders at the Point of Air. 

 By Henry Ecroyd Smith, Esq.* 



Accompanied by two brother-naturalists, the writer lately accom- 

 plished a long-desired examination of the angular and low-lying 

 district situate southward of the mouth of the River Dee, and 

 stretching in the direction of Rhyl, the object being to ascertain, if 



* Reprinted from the ' Liverpool Naturalists' Journal' for August, 1866. 



