24 Field Notes. 



So far as I am aware, no attempt has hitherto been made 

 to present a general review of the whole range of his Con- 

 tributions to science. Such a review I have endeavoured to 

 give in outline in the present Address. Michell was assuredly 

 a man whose name merits a prominent niche in the temple 

 of British science, and in Yorkshire where he lived so long, 

 and where most of his work was done, his memory deserves 

 to be cherished as that of one of the most notable scientific 

 worthies of whom the coimtv can boast. 



Thrush Feeding on Limnxa stagnalis. — Although it is 

 on record, and generally known, that the Thrush feeds on 

 Land Snails/ obtaining the mollusc by means of breaking the 

 shells, I have so far failed to find any record of this bird feeding 

 on aquatic mollusca. It may therefore be of interest to place 

 on record that on August 21st, 1904, while ' naturalising ' at 

 ■ a pond near ' Skirbeck ' in ]\Iaidenwell parish, near Haugham 

 Church, I observed a thrush step into the water and fetch out 

 large specimens of Limncsa stagnalis that were at the surface 

 of the water near the edge of the pond, and take them to a 

 stone to break the shells and then proceed to eat the molluscs. 

 I afterwards went to see the slaughter-stone and was surprised 

 to find a quantity of broken L. sfa.o^nalis shells. — C. S. Carter, 

 Louth. 



Bean Geese as 'Gabriel's Hounds.' — I have no doubt 

 that some of j^our readers will have heard of the legend of 

 Gabriel and his hounds, who may be heard at long intervals 

 of many years driving his pack at full cry through the skies. 

 I know a gamekeeper who, on the 28th November, this year, 

 witnessed this occurrence. He was standing, a little after 

 sunset, at the side of a pond and was much surprised to hear 

 what he took to be a pack of hounds in full cry, and, on looking 

 up, saw passing overhead a flock of bean geese, about 20 to 

 30 in number, making a noise which exactly resembles the cry 

 of a pack of hounds. It would be interesting to know if any 

 of your readers observed or heard the same thing on the same 

 date. The flock was flying low and struggling hard against a 

 strong head wind. One can quite understand that many who 

 have heard this sound, and not seen the cause of it,, would put 

 it down to supernatural agency. The last occasion on which 

 the same gamekeeper had a similar experience was thirty 

 years ago, when he heard the noise but could not make out 

 the cause of it. — Anon., Lines., November 30th, 1917. 



[This is a very popular superstition and was prevalent all 

 over the country. Nelson mentions it in his ' Birds of York- 

 shire.' It would be interesting to know how our correspondent 

 was able to identify the birds as Bean Geese ?] — ^Ed. 



Naturalist, 



