390 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



natural enemies, on the part of animals and birds. That this is an 

 acquired feature, so to speak, is shown by the entire absence of such fear 

 in islands where birds, &c., have never seen man ; but is that knowledge of 

 danger in inhabited countries imparted by the parent birds or not ? This 

 will help somewhat to show that it is. A few days ago I visited a friend of 

 mine, who said, as soon as I entered the house, "Oh! I have something 

 fresh to show you," and he left the room and returned with a young, but 

 nearly full-grown. Starling perched on his shoulder. This bird he had 

 picked up when very young, it having evidently dropped from a nest, and 

 had reared it successfully. Though a perfect stranger the bird allowed 

 me to take it up, and it perched on my finger, and nothing that I did in 

 the way of a sudden noise seemed to disturb its serenity in the least ; in 

 short, I never saw a bird so devoid of fear. I\Iy friend keeps a cat, but 

 its first introduction to the Starling was by the latter flying in its face, 

 which has evidently so upset the calculations of the cat that it never 

 attempts even a hostile demonstration. This bird has free run, or rather 

 " flv," of not only the house but the garden ; in fact, it is free to go 

 altogether, but it never does go far, and, so far from being a "shy pet," 

 it is the most obtrusive, impertinent bird I ever saw, and if its " lame- 

 ness " and utter want of fear increases with age it is likely to become a 

 somewhat troublesome Starling. I think this is worth recording, as I was 

 able to judge the case myself, and it seems to support the idea that many 

 characteristics of birds and animals that are regarded as innate are really 

 not so, but that the information is imparted by the parents. — Edwabd 

 LovETT (Addiscombe, Croydon). 



FISHES. 



Long Sun-fish near Penzance. — On June 21st a specimen of that rare 

 species, the Long Sun-fish (Orthagoriscus ohlongus), was observed by Mr. 

 F. W. Millett lying dead on the beach at Marazion. I saw it two days 

 afterwards. It measured, to the extremity of the caudal fin, 2 ft. ; its 

 greatest depth was 1 ft., the pectoral fins were 4 in. long, the dorsal 7 in., 

 and the anal 6 in. ; the eyes had been eaten out, but their sockets measured 

 1 J in. in diameter, being certainly large for tlie size of the fish ; the caudal 

 fin was well defined and rayed, and extended from the dorsal fln straight 

 down to the anal. The fish had a very small mouth (from which the teeth 

 had rotted out), and had no scales but a placoidal skin not so rough as the 

 skins of the smaller Sharks. This specimen must have been dead for 

 some time, for when I saw it it was too far decomposed to be set up. Its 

 colour was of a uniform dull leaden blue, but a specimen captured alive at 

 Looe last year (^Zool. 1883, p. 342), and of which my friend Mr. Stephen 

 Clof" advised me at the time, showed brilliant colours on its sides. — Thomas 

 Cornish (Penzance). 



