^fOTES AND QUERIES. 373 



interesting. The Peregrine Falcon nests in the cliffs ; the Chough and 

 Raven were nesting on Worm's Head. Amongst more common birds the 

 Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Skua, Cormorant, Puffin, Razor- 

 bill, Guillemot and Kittiwake were observed ; Ojstercatchers were extremely 

 numerous. Several species of Plovers, Sandpipers, and other wading 

 birds were noted, besides the Spotted Crake and the Whimbrel ; Gannets 

 occasionally seen. Inland have been shot the Long-eared Owl, and some 

 few years ago a Bittern, on Sir H. Vivian's estate. There is a man who 

 lives by the Head, a great bird lover; but unfortunately he lacks sufficient 

 book-learning to be able to take valuable observations.— T. N. Postle- 

 THWAiTE (Hallthwaite, Millom, Cumberland.) 



Abnormal Eggs of Ring Ouzel. ~ Observing Mr. Buxton's note 



p. 227) on abnormal eggs of the Blackbird, I may state that I have a clutch 



of Ring Ouzel's eggs {Tardus torqiiatus), whicli have an uniform blue colour, 



with dark spots, closely assimilating to normal eggs of the Song Thrush.— 



J. A. Hakvie-Brown (Dunipace, Larbert, N.B.). 



Correction of Error. — Please make the following corrections in mv 

 note, "Abnormally coloured Sky Lark" (p. 230): — For Sky Lark read 

 Wood Lark, Alauda arhorea, and for " I have seen this plumage before," 

 read "I have not seen this plumage before." — E. F. Bechek (Southwell, 



Notts). 



PISHES. 



Basking Shark on the Cornish Coast.— I have to record the capture 

 of a Basking Shark, Selachus maximus. I have seen many at sea whilst 

 on boating excursions, and have passed close to them without alarming 

 them, but these have always been much too large for me to have attempted 

 their capture. This is the first specimen which I have seen on shoi'e ; it 

 is a small one, measuring only 9 ft. 4 in. over all, from the tip of the snout 

 to the extreme end of the upper lobe of the caudal fin, measured in a 

 straight hue ; from the eye to the fork of the caudal fin it measured 6 ft. 9 in. 

 Comparmg it with the illustrations given by Yarrell and Couch, it is quite 

 certain that Yarrell's figure misrepresents the fish, and that Couch does not 

 give a sufficiently rapid slope in the rear of the dorsal fin, and does give a 

 very exaggerated figure of the circular punctures around the snout. They 

 are more numerous and much smaller than his illustration shows them to 

 be; and when I first saw the specimen — about twenty-four hours after its 

 capture— there ran through them from the snout, radiating backwards, five 

 thin white lines, which had disappeared before I saw the specimen again, about 

 twenty-four hours afterwards. This specimen was a female. It was captured 

 in a very peculiar way: the S. S. 'Lady of the Isles' was on her voyage 

 from St. Mary's (Islands of Scilly] to Penzance, on June 12th, and when 

 about midchanuel she ran down something which proved to be this fish. 

 ZOOLOGIST. JULY, 1884. y 



