OCCASIONAL NOTES. 183 
winged Crossbill is included, though only “ supposed to have once occurred.” 
As to that mysterious bird the Great Black Woodpecker, shot at Shanklin, 
I should hke to know what became of it. Latham, if I mistake not, 
was the first to note its appearance in Britain, having heard of its being 
“occasionally seen.” But Yarrell cites no less thau twelve instances of its 
being killed—pour encowrager les autres? A Hoopoe, shot by my father 
(the first recorded instance of its occurrence in the Isle of Wight) at 
Bonchurch sixty-five years ago, and which I saw in the flesh, can be traced 
and seen, too, having been—on the sale of Mr. Bullock's fine collection— 
transferred to the British Museum.—Hernry Hapriexp (High Cliff, 
Ventnor, Isle of Wight). 
CoRONELLA L&vIs IN DorsEetsHIRE.—I do not think this snake is likely 
to be found in any part of the Vale of Blackmore (Zool. 1878, p. 462), where 
the cold clayey soil is unsuitable to its habits. It has hitherto only been 
observed on the sandy heaths of our coast, and there only rarely, although 
its resemblance to the Viper may have led to its being unnoticed as a 
distinct species. It is distinguished from that reptile, not only by the 
absence of poisonous fangs, but by a different ornamentation on the neck, 
having two longitudinal rows of dark spots instead of the costal lozenge- 
shaped streak.—J. C. Manset-PLEYDELL (Whatcombe, Dorsetshire). 
OccURRENCE OF THE Rep Banp-Fisn, Cepola rubescens (Linn.), at 
ExmoutH.—On February 22nd a fisherman brought me a nice specimen 
of this rare and curious fish, which he had captured the previous day close 
to the shore at Exmouth, near the bathing-machines. He says it was in 
pursuit of sprats. Its gape is very wide for the size of the head, but the 
slender curved teeth do not seem fitted for the capture of such prey as 
fishes, and the abdominal cavity does not occupy more than three inches in 
length of the body, which is only an inch wide at its deepest part. The 
large swimming-bladder is quite visible through the sides when the fish is 
held between the eye and the light. The general colour of the fish is 
orange-red, deepest on the head and back, very pale on the sides, and almost 
white on the belly. There is a red spot on the dorsal fin at its widest 
part, an inch behind the head. The pectoral fins are quite colourless and 
trausparent. ‘here is an irregular black spot concealed between the inter- 
maxillary and the maxillary on each side. The total length of the specimen 
is nineteen inches and a half. The caudal fin terminates in a delicate 
filament. Colonel Montagu made this fish known as a British species, he 
having obtained two specimens in Salcombe Bay, Devon; one in February 
and the other in March, 1808. The late Mr. F. W. L. Ross mentions an 
individual having been taken at Powderham, on the Exe, on March 6th, 
