1724 The Zoologist— June, 1869. 



night he would fly to meet me, often knocking the candle out of my hand and 

 seitling on my shoulder, whimpering and pretending to bile ; but often in settling on 

 iny head, my cap slipping off, he would siick his sharp claws into my ear, causing me 

 to utter a very undignified squall. He had a most odd way of wriggling his head 

 about from side to side, and up and down, and being so very tame we took him out 

 in the garden, where he did not offer to fly away. One day my brother took him in 

 the garden in the evening, when be flew straight ofi" and could not be recovered : 

 three days after, at seven o'clock in the morning, he came to my brother's bed-room 

 window and knocked and flapped against the glass, when he caught it, but how he 

 found his way back among so many houses I cannot imagine. The tawny owl, being 

 an adult bird, never was so tame, but by kind treatment it let one put one's finj^er in 

 its nionih, ruffle its feathers np and pull it about without anger, occasionally snap- 

 ping its beak when extra-excited : it would never let any one see it feeding, and lived 

 on good terms with the while owl and the kestrel hawks: on its first admission the white 

 owl flew at it, and they dug their claws into each other's feel and screeched, but the 

 tawny owl gaining the mastery ; tliey ever after lived very amicably together : with the 

 exception of that one screech and the usual snap))ing of its bill, I never heard it utter 

 a snund.— Theodore C. Walker. 



The Green Lizard at Torquay. — Having read in Mr. Newman's interesting 

 ariic'.f on British Reptiles in the ' Zoologist' for April (S.S. 1(!19) that the green 

 liiard (Laceria viridin) is of di)iilnful occurrence in Gieat Britain, I have the pleasure 

 of sending to you for inspection a lizard which I suppose to be the above-named 

 animal, together with the following data concerning it. It was brought to Mr. Shop- 

 land, the naturalist at Torre (Timiuay), having been captured on the Rock Walk in 

 the same town in July, 1860, in which locality several have been caught (two of which 

 are in the Museum of Natural History in this town), and their occurrence is vaguely 

 accounted lor by their having beeu placed there by a gentleman many years ago. It 

 was kept in confinement for four or five months by the same man. When alive its 

 colours were far brighter, its back being of a vivid green shading oS" into dull yellow. 

 I bought the specimen of Mr. Shopland, and should be much obliged if, on returning 

 it, you will give me your opinion concerning it. — A. de Hugel ; Torquay. 



[I believe the specimen courteously sent for ray inspection to be one of Lacerta 

 viridis, but the distinguishing colour has entirely faded, and its place is supplied by a 

 uniform olive^green. After the very candid manner in which Baron de Hiigel has 

 expressed his doubts as to the claim of this specimen to be considered indigenous I 

 need add no opinion of my own. — E. N"] 



Early Appearance of Reptiles.— I see in the ' Zoologist' for March (S. S. 1593), 

 you have commenced " Observations on British Reptiles," so perhaps it may not be 

 uninteresting to you to know that, on the 13th of February, I saw two blind-worms 

 basking in the sun, and that on touching them with my stick they immediately started 

 off with as much activity as they usually show during the warmer months of the year. 

 On the following Thursday (the I8ih) I saw and killed, near the same spot, an adder 

 of about the average length ; it had apparently recently shed its skin, as it was the 

 most vivid in colouring I ever saw, and perfectly active in its movements. On the 

 same day, and also at the same spot where I saw the first blind-worms, there was 

 another, or rather part of another, for oq taking it up I found that on some former 



