8934 Mollusks— Birds. 
the gastric juice, instead of being allowed to remain in that organ to its prejudice, is 
diverted to the foot, and is thus made the means of procuring shelter ?— Henry J. B. 
Hancock ; 37, Hanley Street, September 18, 1863.— Field, 
[Where is a description of Helix saxicava to be found? The writer mentions 
three modes whereby these snails may possibly make their burrows—Ist, by mechani- 
cal means (trituration of the stone is probably intended) ; 2ud, chemical, z.e., the dis- 
solution of the stone by means of an acid given out by the snail; and 3rd, suction, 
z.e., by sucking the rock away in the form of a cup. A fourth solution has, I confess, 
occurred to me. Does the snail make the holes which are described ? or dves it find 
them ready made, and merely ayail itself of them, as do all other snails of all similar . 
cavities? Will my valued correspondent Mr. Merle Norman express ap opinion on 
this subject >— Edward Newman.] 
Hidden Shells, and the Tracks they make.—These long, winding marks, sometimes 
extending several yards, are formed by three species of Littorine, viz., L. littorea, L. 
rudis and L, littoralis: they are generally made in the soft mud or sand, and are 
usually met with where Fuci are abundant. The very small tracks, varying from a 
few inches to a foot long, are furmed by Risso, nearly all belonging to one species, 
viz., R, Ulve; these are terminated by a small raised dot of sand. Some openings, as 
if cut with a blunt instrument, with a raised button at the end, are produced by the 
Tellina solidula; the animal buries itself edgeways in the sand. The one close by, 
with a small perforation in the raised portion, is made by the common cockle (Car- 
dium edule). On the sands between West Kirby and Hilbre, small tracks, very similar 
to those of the Rissoa, may be seen; these belong to a small white shell of the Bulla 
tribe—Cylichna obtusa. The two Mactre, namely, stultorum and solida, may be 
observed coming to the surface as the tide rises over the sand in which they are 
buried. Sometimes the animal may be seen leaping like the Pecten. At the verge of 
low water, at spring tides, a curious hole, contracted in the middle and somewhat like 
a key-hole, may be found; this is the burrow of the Solen, but it is generally too deep 
to be dug out, and, as it bores very rapidly, cannot be obtained. Donax anatinus 
bores about two inches beneath the surface of the sand near low water: I have not 
seen any traces left above ground. Pholas candida is imbedded in stiff clay, and may 
be obtained between New Brighton and Leasowe (I would advise persons shell-hunting 
in this locality to put on waterproof boots). Pholas erispata bores into the sandstone 
rock at Hilbre : they must be extracted with a small pickaxe or a hammer and chisel, 
and occasionally another shell is obtained when searching for these, viz., Tapes pul- 
lastra.a— F. P. Marrat; 2, Peveril Terrace, Edye Lane, Liverpool. —‘ Naturalist’s 
Scrap-Book, Part 8, p. 126. 
Pallas’ Sand Grouse in Ireland. — I have before me a specimen of Pallas’ sand 
grouse, the capture of which has not, so far as I am aware, appeared in the * Zoolo- 
gist.” It was shot at Ross, in the county of Fermanagh, on the 8th of June, 1863. 
This and another were seen flying about together in the evening by a labouring man 
who thought they were a curious kind of swallow. He got a musket, and when one 
of them alighted on the ground shot it.—Clermont ; Ravensdale Park, January 15. 
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