Tue ZooLocist—Novemnenr, 1875. 4705 
in the cinnamon gardens near Fort Colombo, and saw a violent, but partial, 
shower descend at no great distance from me. On coming to the spot 
I found a multitude of small fishes leaping on the gravel of the high road. 
The water was half a mile from the sea, and unconnected with any water- 
course or pool.” Such statements at first sight appear very conclusive, but 
in reality they do not at all go to show that the fishes have fallen with the 
rain. The facts are these, that the first burst of the rains the creatures 
commence their migrations, Quitting the large and turbid rivers, they 
seek the smaller streams and ponds that are rapidly formed in all low 
situations. In such places they generally breed, remaining until the close 
of the rains, when they begin to drop down again into the larger streams. 
There are, of course, fishes that bury themselves in the mud, but these are 
not of them; they are bright silvery creatures that delight in clear water. 
The showers at the first burst of the monsoons are always partial, and of 
extreme violence, so much so as to cover the level fields in a few minutes 
with a depth of water sufficient to enable even large fish to make their way 
with ease anywhere over ordinary fields. The slightest depression, hardly 
noticeable when the rain is over, is usually covered with a broad stream of 
water eight inches or twelve inches deep, and on such occasions it is usual 
to find, not only the water tables of roads, but the roads themselves covered 
with water; and it happens, as might be expected from the rapidity with 
which the waters pass off, that fish in their passage to and fro are often 
suddenly stranded, so to speak. This simple explanation of the above 
unaccountable phenomenon is, in my opinion, the correct one, and it derives 
additional support from the following facts, viz., no observer has stated that 
he has seen the fish actually fall; they are, moreover, never found in water- 
barrels or reservoirs that collect water from the roofs of houses; and the 
creatures are always said to be alive when first seen—a fact which in itself 
is conclusive proof that they have not fallen from the clouds, for the velocity 
with which they would have reached the ground from such a height would 
to a certainty have killed them; even though they fell on the surface of 
water deep enough to prevent their reaching the ground, they would of 
necessity be killed by concussion. Bearing ‘these facts in mind, there is no 
need to resort to theories of fish being taken up in water-spouts to account 
for the supposed phenomenon in question, for if so taken up, which is 
doubtful, they could not afterwards be found on dry land alive; if conveyed 
to earth in this way, they would be found, if not bruised and mangled, at 
least quite dead.—IV. Sharpe ; Bombay, July 6, 1875. (From the ‘ Field’ 
Newspaper.) 
Colour of the Shell in Helix pomatia—In the September number of 
the ‘ Zoologist’ (S. S. 4627), the Editor, in criticising my recently published 
‘ Rambles in Search of Shells,’ and referring to the coloured plates therein, 
