196 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



has continued to do so for over a fortnight. Is not the blue colour rare? — 

 J. H. Buxton (Hunsdon Bury, Ware). 



Notes from N.W. Yorkshire. — When I stated (p. 139) that the Common 

 Gull, Lartis canus, breeds on Punchard Head, in Arkengarth Dale, I was cer- 

 tainly under the impression that it did so ; but on making further enquiries 

 I find that I had entirely misunderstood my informant, who tells me that it is 

 many years since any gulls bred there, owing to their nests being destroyed 

 and the birds shot. He is unable to recollect the colour of their plumage, 

 but most probably they were a small colony of the Black-headed Gull, Larus 

 ridihundus. The Common Gull, L. canus, is, however, an occasional visitor, 

 and I have myself several times observed it on the moors during the months 

 of May and June. — J. E. Tinkler (Chetham's Hospital, Manchester). 



FISHES. 



Greater Forkbeard in Devon. — Passing by a fishmonger's shop in 

 Exeter on the 19th March last, amongst a lot of small Whitings, only 

 seven or eight inches in length, I espied a specimen of the Greater Fork- 

 beard, Phycis hlennioides, Briinn., 8'75 inches in length. The proprietor 

 of the shop obligingly made me a present of the specimen, and informed 

 me that it was taken near the shore in Torbay, not far from Brixham. 

 Bellamy, in his useful little work called ' The Housekeeper's Guide to the 

 Fish-market,' published at Plymouth in 1843, speaks of this fish as "not 

 uncommon." There is a specimen in the British Museum collected at 

 Plymouth by Lieut. H. F. Spence, R.N. Mr. Gatcombc met with it once 

 at Scaton. It, however, appears to be a rare species on the South Devon 

 coast.— W. S. M. D'Urban (Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter). 



[In ' The Field' of April 5th a correspondent reports the capture of a 

 fish of this species in the Firth of Forth on March 28th, and states that it 

 is almost unknown in Scottish waters. — Ed.] 



A R C H .i: L G y. 

 Origin of the name "Oystercatcher."— The name " Oystercatcher " 

 seems to have been unknown to English writers on Ornithology till Catesby, 

 in 1731, made use of it (Nat. Hist. Carolina, i. p. 85), and so far as I can 

 make out it was not until 1776, when Pennant brought out the so-called 

 4th edition of his ' British Zoology,' that this name replaced the customary 

 " Sea-Pie." Yet I do not profess to declare that the name " Oystercatcher" 

 was a colonial invention. It may have been one of the many English 

 phrases that were common enough at home, but yet did not, as it were, 

 come to the surfoce until after crossing the Atlantic; and one reason 

 for thinking this possible is that it has its equivalents in the Frisian 

 Oestervisscher, the German Austermann, and so forth. But, on the other 

 hand, I have no evidence to show how old these names really are ; and they 



