1982 The Zoologist— January, 1870. 



fresh enough for stuffing:— a fine male gadwall.an adult female shoveller, a goldeneye 

 and a smew (both adult females). I regret not lo be ;ible to give the localities where 

 these birds were shot. — A. de H'litjrl ; Fnrian, Tonjnaij. 



Great Norlhern Diver at JJiiylo>i-on-Tr/)il. — On the 2!)il) of November a fine speci- 

 men of ihe noiibein diver found iis way fiom the Trent and Dove up our small brook 

 into the cenlre of our village, wlieie of course it met wiili n speedy death, and is now 

 in the hands of Mr. Fruuklin, a birdsluffer at Birmingham: 1"'" preservation, to be 

 placed in my museum. — Oswald Moslcy ; RoUesion Hall, Bv.rlon-on-Trenl. 



The iMummij Specimen of AIca iinpeiDiis at Halifax, Nova. Scotia. — In the 

 'Zoologist' for Octolier (S. S. ISO.i) I read with surprise, in a foot-note appended to 

 JNIr. H. Eeeks' account of the IJirds of Newfoundland, the announcement that the 

 mummy specimen of Alca impennis presented to me l)y the Bishop of Newfoundland 

 in 1864 "was originally intended to have been sent to Professor Newton." As this 

 statement is incorrect, 1 should feel obliged by your allowing me to insert an extract 

 from the Bishop's letter accompanying his generous and highly valued present, which 

 afifords sufficient explanation of the circumstance: — "I have the pleasure of sending 

 you by Dr. Gilpin a verj perfect skeleton of the great auk or norlhern penguin. I had 

 intended it for Professor Owen, as it is a much better specimen than the one I sent to 

 Mr. Newton ; but I willingly leave the disposal of it to you, as you judge best for the 

 gratification and edification of naturalists, and osleologisis iu particular." la com- 

 pliance with his lordship's wishes I immediately forwarded it to the national collection, 

 where I trust it will prove none the less serviceable to Science than if had been 

 presented to Prof. Newton. — J. A/all/iew Jones, Piesideiil Iiisiitule of Natural Science ; 

 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Nov.uber 5, ISi'9. 



Tlie Great 4uk. — I am obli-ed to Mr. Pieeks for seltiiig me riglit about the Funk 

 Island great auk. The mistake was not exactly of my making : the sentence " Found 

 by the Bishop of Newfoundland while on a missionary cruise at Funk Island," was 

 inserted by a friend who was kind enough to look over my MS. — J. H. Gurney,jun. ; 

 14, Alpha Road, Rege.ii's Park. 



Great Auk's Lygs in Edinburgh.— On visiting the Museum of Science and Art in 

 Edinburgh, some short time ago, I was mucli surprised to find, amongst numerous 

 others, two fine eggs of Alca impennis. This note may be of interest to some of the 

 readers of the -Zoologist,' as, so far as I know, these eggs have not been inserted in 

 any published list. J see these eggs have been noticed in the July number of the 

 'Ibis' for 1869 (p. 358), by Capt. H. VV. Feilden.— ^. de tlYigel; November 22, 

 1869. 



Voracili/ of the Cormorant. — A cormorant, shot in Torbay, on the 24 ih of November 

 last, was found, on being skinned by Mr. Shopland, the Tor naturalist, lo contain in 

 its throat a conger eel, which I measured, and found to be no less than two feet and a 

 half in length. Except that its head was much bruised, ])robably by the cormorant in 

 killing it, the fish was not otherwise hurt. — Id. 



Little Gull on the Norfolk Coast.— Two examples of the little gull, in immature 

 plumage, were shot on the coast near Salthouse on the 22nd of October: one of the 

 above, which I preserved, proved on dissection to be a female : it weighed three ounces 

 and a quarter. — T. E. Gunn. 



Fulmar Petrel, Little Auk and Gray Phalarope in Somersetshire. — A fulmar petrel 

 was shot on our coast, near Siolford, on the 26th of October : the skin was brought to 



