364 THE ZOOLOOIST. 



whether this fish is distinct from the Spanish Bream, but, having now 

 lalven several specimens, T am convinced, from its shape, its peculiar 

 dentition, its lustrous colours when alive, and, above all, from the quality of 

 its flesh, that it is distinct, I do not regard the " Becker " as a rare fish. 

 Every summer I see some hawked round our streets and sold as common 

 Sea Bream, but any one who is offered a short Sea Bream, with a red-bronze 

 back and a yellow-brouze belly, and with no spot over the pectorals, will do 

 well to buy it at the fishwoman's price. He will have secured the 

 " Becker " ; and, when he has stewed it in milk with shreds of parsley, he 

 will eat a fish superior to Turbot. — T. Cornish (Penzance). 



MOLLUSCA. 

 Middlesex Mollusca. — The following Mollusca were taken by me in 

 the neighbourhood of West Drayton, Middlesex, on the 30th May last: — 

 SphcBriuin corneum, S. rivicola, Plsidium fontinale, P. jnisilluin, Unio 

 pictorwni, A7ioclonta anatina [and var. radiata),Neritina flumatilis, Paludina 

 vivipara, Bythinia tentaculata, B. Leachii, Valvata crlstata, Planorbis 

 vortex, P. complanatus, P. corneiis, P. coiUortus, Phijsafontinalis, Limncca 

 j^eregra (and var. ovata), L. stagnalls, L. pahistris (and var. tincta), L. 

 truncatula, Ancylus fluviatilis, Arion ater, A. hortensis, Limax agrestis, 

 L. lavis, Succinea Pfeifferi, S. jmtris, Zonites nitidus, Z. ciijstallinus, 

 Z. J'ulvus, Helix aspersa, H. neinoralis, H. hortensis, H. arbustoruin, 

 H. cantiana, H. rufescens, H. concinna, H. sericea, H. rotundata, Cochli- 

 copa lubrica (and var. alba), Carychium minimum, and Vertigo 2)yg»i<Ba. — 

 S. C. CocKEEKLL (Bedford Park, Chiswick). 



CEPHALOPODA. 



Hawaiian mode of fishing for Octopus. — The United States Fish 

 Commission in one of their Bulletins furuish an excellent report by 

 Mrs. Emma M. Beckley, Curator of the Hawaiian National Museum, on 

 " Hawaiian Fishing Implements and Methods of Fishing." The writer gives 

 some curious details about Octopus-fishing. The smaller kinds of Octopus, 

 which live in shallow water, are caught by women, who do their work with 

 remarkable skill. They can tell whether an Octopus is in a hole whose 

 entrance is no larger than a silver dollar, and, plunging their spears in, 

 they invariably draw one out. The larger kinds of Octopus, which are 

 always found in deep water, are caught liy men with cowries, generally of 

 the Mauritiana, but sometimes of the tiger species. An Octopus will not 

 rise to a large-spotted or ugly cowry, so the fishermen have to take care 

 that the spots on the back of the shell are very small and red, breaking 

 through a reddish-browu ground. Cowries with suitable spots, but objec- 

 tionable otherwise, are slightly steamed over a fire of sugar-caue husks, 

 a process which gives them the desired hue. The fisherman, having 



