OCCASIONAL NOTES. 451 
small depth of water, the icebergs shed from it are comparatively 
small. We put the dredge over in front of the glacier, in a depth 
of seven fathoms and a half, with a bottom temperature of 28° F, 
The bottom consisted of rounded limestone pebbles dropped by 
the bergs. Very little living material was brought up; two 
examples of Trochus umbilicalis, and an Astarte, two annelids, 
and a star-fish being the result of the haul. Dovekies were nesting 
in the cliffs, and several Eider Ducks, one with a brood of downy 
young ones, were seen. I landed with Lieutenant Parr on the 
north side of Bessels Bay; the cliffs rise perpendicularly from 
the shore, but in some spots a talus stretches to a height ot 
300 feet; we scrambled up this, and looked out over Hall Basin. 
To the northward and towards Polaris Bay, the ice was tightly 
packed; but a lead showed to the westward in the direction of 
Lady Franklin Sound. A southerly wind blew strong and very 
cold, though the thermometer marked 27° F. We returned to the 
ship with a small collection of plants and fossils. 
(To be continued.) 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
WEASEL sTEALING Heas.—A friend of mine, Mr. William Trousdale, on 
whose veracity I can implicitly rely, lately supplied me with the following 
anecdote :—During the time he occupied a farm at Ryton, in the North 
Riding, in the spring of a certain year, he had a hen sitting, and noticed 
that one of her eggs disappeared daily. He was quite unable to account 
for this, until one day he saw a Weasel come out of a cart-shed, where the 
- hen was sitting, with an egg in front of him. He immediately gave chase, 
when the animal made for a hedge-bank some forty yards distant from the 
shed. My friend overtook it just as it was trying to get the egg intoa 
hole, into which, on his near approach, the animal disappeared. My 
informant, who on taking up the egg saw the Weasel look out from its hiding- 
place, states that the egg was rolled along the ground in front of the 
animal, and he was surprised at the rapidity with which it moved.— WALTER 
Stamper (Highfield, Oswaldkirk, York). 
SrarLines DEsTRoYING Larxs’ Eees.—In reply to the Editorial query 
(p. 427), I may state that I have no direct evidence to offer against the 
Starlings, so far as Larks’ eggs are concerned; and in saying that the 
