482 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
The Green-backed Porphyrio near Norwich. — A good specimen of 
this species was shot by the river-side at Horning on October 16th, and 
was brought to me the following day, This makes the fourth example out 
of five killed in Norfolk that has passed through my hands. The present 
specimen proved to be a female, and weighed one pound five ounces and a 
half. The gizzard contained a quantity of small white stones and grit, 
together with some small brown seeds of a species of rush. — T. E. Gunn 
N orwich). 
Night Heron and Pied Flycatcher in Clackmannanshire.—The Night 
Heron killed in Clackmannanshire, referred to by Mr. Erskine (p. 4384), is 
evidently the same as that recorded in ‘ The Zoologist’ for 1879 (p. 382), 
and by Mr. R. Gray, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., vol. v., p. 855. The Pied 
Flycatcher has been found in several places in Scotland this season, and 
even breeding.—Joun J. Dateietsu (Athole Crescent, Edinburgh). 
Uncommon Birds in the Isle of Wight.—I am glad to be able to 
state that in the Freshwater cliffs, this year, the Peregrine reared its young 
in safety, which it is seldom allowed to do. A Green Woodpecker (an un- 
common bird in the Isle of Wight) has been recently obtained, and the Black 
Redstart, Grey Phalarope, and Pied Flycatcher (not an infrequent visitant 
of late years) have all occurred during the past autumn.—Henry HaprieLp 
(High Cliff, Ventnor, Isle of Wight). 
Redshanks nesting in Notts. — I am glad to be able to state that five 
or six pairs of Redshanks nested in some low rushy meadows in the north of 
this county last spring. I never came across them before in Notts, and 
need hardly say how delighted I was at this discovery. The exact locality 
is best kept a secret, though, from what I heard, they reared their young in 
safety.—J. Wairaker (Rainworth Lodge, Notts). 
Wood Sandpiper on Hackney Marsh.—On the 31st August last I 
received, for preservation, a Wood Sandpiper (Totanus glareola), which was 
shot on Hackney Marsh, near Temple Mills, and had been seen about there 
for eight or ten days previously—B. Hussx (Chisenhale Road, Old Ford). 
FISHES. 
The Young of the Garfish.—In your last issue, at page 439, is a 
communication from Mr. Cornish “ On the Young of the Gar-fish,” wherein 
he claims that the observations he adduced “have disposed of the ‘ Half- 
beak’ Fish, in which Yarrell apparently had no faith.” The history of this 
fish is as follows:—Mr. Couch, in 1818, obtained a young Garfish, about 
one inch long, in the Polperro Harbour; this he noticed in the Linnean 
Transactions,’ vol. xiv., p. 85, suggesting that it might be the EHsox 
Brasiliensis, Linn. Fleming, in his ‘ History of British Animals,’ 1828, 
p- 184, observed, under the head of Gar or Belone, ‘The fish to which 
