A MARINE MONSTER IN MOUNT’S BAY, CORNWALL. 207 
the others, the young Cuckoo would be too feeble to perform the 
operation of lifting the young of its foster-parents over the edge 
of the nest. 
In concluding these observations, I cannot help pointing out 
that the recent provisions of the Wild Birds Protection Act 
prevent, at present, in England, any further investigations on 
these and other important points in bird-life, which require to be 
made during the breeding season, in order to complete our know- 
ledge and perfect the history of our British bird-fauna. 
A MARINE MONSTER IN MOUNT’S BAY, CORNWALL. 
By F. W. Mitzerr. 
From an early hour on Saturday, January 28rd, a large 
creature was observed swimming about Mount’s Bay, and was 
watched by many persons who supposed it to be a Whale. 
About midday my attention was called to the animal, then distant 
about a mile and a half, and, with the aid of a good telescope, I 
observed it carefully for more than an hour, the sea being quite 
smooth and the air clear, but unfortunately the creature was 
situated so near the glare of the sun that little more than its 
outline could be made out. That it was not a Whale was evident 
at the first glance, the portion showing above water being rugged 
and irregular, and only by its motion distinguishable from a 
ledge of rock. The creature appeared languid in its motions, 
there was no plunging or darting, it simply rose or sank in the 
water, showing at the surface for a few minutes and disappearing 
for about the same length of time, and moving along slowly and 
steadily. Generally nothing more was visible than the longer 
portion represented in fig. 1, but now and then the head appeared 
above the surface. This was about six feet long, oblong in form, 
with a large lobe at each angle, as shown in fig. 2. At no time 
was the whole of the head visible above the surface, although 
light could be seen under the neck close behind the head ; it was 
therefore impossible to observe any trunk, tentacles, or tusks 
that may have been attached to the lower part of the head. 
Once, whilst the remainder of the animal was submerged, the 
portion represented in fig. 4 appeared above the surface; this 
