50 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Blue Titmouse, Parus cceruleus. — Equally common with the . 

 last named, and one of the boldest and most attractive little birds 

 we have. 



Cole Titmouse, Parus ater. — Fairly common, as also is the 

 closely allied Marsh Tit, P. 2^alnstris. I have often observed 

 them both, and several specimens of each have been brought 

 to me from time to time for identification. 



Long-tailed Titmouse, Parus caudatus. — Plentiful. It some- 

 times leaves the woods and comes to our gardens for a very brief 

 visit, always in small flocks, and always with the same eager and 

 impatient movements, the same quick and restless flight, and 

 uttering all the while its somewhat weak and plaintive note. 

 Although the plumage of the bird is very loose, it seems to bear 

 the cold here as well as the rest of the Tit family. 



Of the British species of Wagtails, viz., the Pied Wagtail, 

 Motacilla Yarrellii, the Grey Wagtail, M. sulphurea, and the 

 Yellow Wagtail, M.flava, all are very common here. The Usk 

 being a good trout river, whenever there is a rise of the fly 

 on, the Wagtails may be seen in numbers actively running along 

 its banks, flying and hovering in the most graceful way over the 

 water, and constantly seizing a fly, whilst the plash of the heavy 

 trout, as they, too, take their share, complete a picture most 

 pleasing to the eye of a naturalist. 



Meadow Pipit, Anthus jyratensis. — Not very abundant in the 

 county, and certainly not about Brecon. 



Tree Pipit, Anthus arboreus. — Very scarce. 



(To be continued.) 



THE DESQUAMATION AND DIGESTION OF SERPENTS, 

 FROM A NEW POINT OF VIEW. 



By Arthur Stradling, C.M.Z.S. 



Ix these days of zoological gardens, travelling menageries, 

 and private vivaria containing living reptiles, there can be few 

 people who are not familiar to some extent with the phenonema 

 incidental to a snake's "shedding its skin." Everyone knows 

 that, at intervals varying from one to three months in a state of 

 health, a serpent becomes partially lethargic, refuses to feed, 

 drinks and bathes but little or not at all, is impatient of 



