NOTES AND QUERIES. 381 



sitting on one of its young, the age of which appeared to be about three 

 days, a cracked egg from which it had proceeded lying beside it. The 

 young bird was on the bare ground, in quite an exposed situation, its 

 colour resembling very closely the ground on which it was placed. As the 

 date named is unusually late for this species to have young, I should like 

 to know whether any similar case has been observed. — W. Hewett (York). 



Blackbird building in a Waterspout. — On April 24th a nest of the 

 Blackbird was taken out of a waterspout under the eaves of my good vicar's 

 house, at an elevation of about 17 feet from the ground. It had success- 

 fully plugged the waste-pipe, and was full of water. The four eggs were of 

 a normal coloration. The house stands in an old garden, with hedges and 

 thick shrubs on every side. Nevertheless the male bird had for some weeks 

 sung continuously on the housetop, as did another Blackbird this spring at 

 Stannix. — H. A. Macpherson (Carlisle). 



Sparrow imitating a Canary's Note. — I saw in a cage the other day 

 a cock Sparrow, Passer domesticus, which during the winter had been 

 rescued from starvation by an old woman of humane disposition, with the 

 intention of letting it go when the winter was over. It had as a com- 

 panion a Canary in another cage. It has now imitated so well the note 

 and song of the Canary that it has sacrificed its liberty, for on account of 

 its accomplishment the owner has altered her intention of freeing it. — 

 E. F. Becher (Southwell, Notts). 



FISHES. 



On the Occurrence of Paralepis coregonoides in Cornwall. — Mr. 

 Dunn, of Mevagissey, as I have mentioned in my work on British Fishes, 

 intormed me that in 1869 he had obtained a fish which Mr. Couch con- 

 sidered to be Paralepis coregonoides, but as no detailed description could 

 be found I waited to hear of another specimen before admitting it into 

 the British Fauna. Having unexpectedly been permitted access to the 

 late Mr. Couch's journals, through the kindness of his son, I have found 

 the following entry, which 1 think affords a conclusive proof that this fish 

 has been taken in Cornwall: — "June 2nd, 1869. I have received from 

 Mr. Matthias Dunn a fish which appears certainly the species of which a 

 figure is given in Griffiths' edition of Cuvier's ' Animal Kingdom,' p. 131, 

 pi. xi. f. 3, Paralepis coregonoides, referring to Risso. I have taken a 

 figure. The length of this example was ten inches, slender and moderately 

 compressed, a mere edge along the lower portion of the body, six-eighths of 

 an inch in depth ; the upper jaw projecting an inch from the anterior 

 border of the eye ; the gape long ; the lower jaw a little advanced beyond 

 the upper ; a conspicuous row of teeth along each jaw ; the tongue long 

 and narrow ; eye large ; from the point of the lower jaw to the border of 



