OCCASIONAL NOTES. 145 
December 5th. From these two statements it might be inferred that two 
Great Bustards had been recently obtained in Essex. It appears, however, 
from the report of a paper read by Mr. R. M. Christy, of Chigual, near 
Chelmsford, at the first meeting of the recently-formed Essex Naturalists’ 
Field Club, that this is not the case. Both the communications above 
meutioned refer to one and the same bird, which was shot on December dth 
by Mr. Albert Pertwee, of Woodham Ferrers, at Hull Bridge, which is 
some ten or twelve miles from Chelmsford.—J. IX. Harrine. 
Erratum.—Tain is not in Sutherlandshire (p. 111, line 27); it is the 
county town of Ross-shire. 
Banks’ OarR-FISH NEAR Wuirsy.—Mr. C. W. Elliott, in ‘ The Field’ of 
the 7th February last, announced the capture, at Staithes, near Whitby, 
of a singular fish, which was at first supposed to be the Vaagmaer, or 
Deal-fish, Trachypterus arcticus, but which, from the description given, is 
doubtless Banks’ Oar-fish, Regalicus Banksti. Mr. KE. W. Holdsworth, 
writing in a subsequent number of ‘ The Field,’ remarks :—‘‘ The characters 
given of the specimen by Mr. Elliott all agree with those of the Oar-fish, 
and its dimensions, with their peculiar proportions, are found in no other 
species met with on our coast. Dr. Giinther, in his ‘ Catalogue of Fishes,’ 
refers to fourteen examples of this species, or which appear to belong to it ; 
for the record of captures, extending from 1759 to 1852, is in many cases 
very imperfect in details of specific character, in which the length ranges 
from eight to eighteen feet. One specimen, said to have been caught in 
1845, is stated to have been twenty-four feet long; but there is some 
reasonable doubt about the accuracy of the statement. Perfect specimens 
are rarely obtained, and restorations of form and length are generally open 
to question. The most complete and trustworthy description of the species 
was given by Hancock, in the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ 
(1849, iv., p. 1), from a specimen obtained on the Northumberland coast, 
and is reproduced in the third edition of Yarrell’s ‘ British Fishes,’ the 
figure and description of this fish in the first edition of that work being 
very imperfect, owing to the scanty materials then within reach. Among 
the peculiarities of this Oar-fish may be mentioned the curious prolongation 
of the first twelve spines or rays of the dorsal fin, extending to a length of 
more than twelve inches in the anterior six or seven, and diminishing in 
length as they proceed backwards. It appears that these rays are very 
liable to be broken off; but it would be interesting to know whether 
Mr. Elliott observed anything like them. ‘The ventral fins, described by 
him as two bone-like protuberances, have here the character so often 
noticed; but really they are only the remains of two long spines, said by 
U 
