108 OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
until August, when they again undergo a gradual change towards their own 
richly-coloured plumage, which is fully re-assumed about the second week 
in October. The bird in question, therefore, ought to have been in the full 
plumage of the drake at the date named, and it must accordingly be 
regarded as an abnormal variety, if our correspondent has satisfied himself 
that it is not a hybrid, or an escaped wanderer from some poultry 
yard.— Eb. | 
Herons NEAR Lonpon-—One morning in December, 1876, a Heron 
was seen by Mr. F. W. Denny fishing in his piece of water in Hanover 
Park, Peckham.—Henry F. Batney. 
[The spot indicated is about four miles from Hyde Park Corner. On 
the 10th February last we saw a solitary Heron at Kingsbury Reservoir, 
which is about six miles from Hyde Park Corner as the bird flies. —Ep.] 
Giavcous Gut on THE Exe anp Tricn.—An immature specimen of 
the Glaucous Gull (Larus glaucus) was shot on the Exe on the 20th 
January. It had been seen for a fortnight previously, and had been fre- 
quently fired at. Another specimen, also immature, occurred on the 
Teign about the same time. The legs and feet and base of the bill were 
light pink in the first-named specimen, which is now in this Museum.— 
W. 5S. M. D’Urpan (Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter). 
Sincutar Nest or tHe Brackprrp.—On the 13th May, 1875, I came 
across a Blackbird’s nest, on the ground, that must have wasted the time 
and tested the patience of the builders very considerably. It was in the 
bottom of an old lime quarry, placed on a sloping bank, with too little solid 
foundation, and the materials of the nest kept slipping down the side of the 
bank with their own weight, till a queue nearly two feet long and five inches 
wide was made. At the head of this it was at lergth triumphantly com- 
pleted, and on the 17th May contained three eggs.—F. S. MircHELu 
(Clitheroe). 
OccURRENCE oF THE Spinous SHark orr Prymovry.—On January 
25th a Spinous Shark (Squalus spinosus), seven feet six inches in length, 
was captured in a trawl-net off Plymouth, and on being opened the stomach 
was found to contain four Picked Dogfish (Acanthias vulgaris). Although 
considered a rare fish this is the third obtained off Plymouth within the 
last eight years—Joun GarcomBe (8, Lower Durnford Street, Stonehouse, 
Plymouth). 
Sprnous Sark 1x Movunv’s Bay.—On the 17th January a Spinous 
Shark was taken on a hook and line off Mousehole Island, in Mount’s Bay, 
just where I observed the first specimen was captured about eight years 
ago in a similar way. The present specimen was eight feet long, but I had 
no time to take details. It was too much hacked about the head and gills 
for preservation. This makes the fourth Mount’s Bay specimen that I 
have seen in eight years.—Taomas Cornisu (Penzance). 
