AND OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



Nisus, Cuv F. Minullus, Vail!. 



Cymindis, Cuv. — F. hamatus, Illig. 



Cerchneis. — F. rupicola, Lichi. 



Hierofalco, Cuv F. Canarius, Gm. 



Elanus, Savig F. Melanopterus, Baud. 



Milvus, Savig F. Riocurii, Vaill. 



Circus, Bechst. — F. ranivorus, Slmw. 

 Fam. IV. Strigidte, Leach Strix, Linn. 



Strix, Linn. — Strix brasiliensis, Licht. 



Syrnium, Savig. — St. nebulosa, Gmel. 



Bubo, Cuv St. Africana, Temm. 



Scops, Savig St- pulchella, Pall. 



Glaucidium St. nana, Temm. — St. passerina, Linn. 



Athene St. nudipes, Daud. 



Surnia, Dumeril St. choucon, Vaill. 



Fam. V. Caprimulgidse, Vigors — Caprimulgus, Linn. 



Podargus, Cuv P- javanicus, Horsf. — P. cornutus, Temr, 



Caprimulgus, Linn C. europsus, Linn. 



( To be continued.) 



SINGULAR DEVELOPMENT OF A ROOK'S BILL. 



There was killed on the morning of the 17th current, in the vicinity 

 of Paisley, a Rook, the bill of which exhibited the extraordinary develop- 

 ment delineated on the accompanying sketch. This singular conformation 

 does not appear to have been the effect either of disease or of accident. 

 It is rather to be accounted for from a tendency in the mandibles to grow 

 beyond their natural limits. The points of these tending in opposite di- 

 rections, it followed that the curvature of the upper proceeeding down- 

 ward, and coming in contact with the lower mandible proceeding upward, 

 caused the latter to divide, and to extend on each side of the upper 

 mandible in the shape of two elastic processes in the manner delineated, 

 which completes the singularity. The bird was in good condition, and 

 as the frost was keen, it had been feeding on the roads, as the contents 

 of the gizzard testified. The skin is in my possession. 

 Paisley. 1, Stevenson Street, William Drew. 



mh January 1839. 



SKETCH OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF NORWICH. 



BY J. M. 



i {Abridged from a Paper read before the Cuvierian Society of Edinburgh.') 



Having had occasion to spend last summer and autumn in the city of 



■ Wor w:ch, and a small village in its vicinity, I took the opportunity to 



devote the greater part of my spare time to making myself acquainted 



w 'th the natural productions of that singularly interesting neighbourhood. 



Whether we consider its Geology, its Botany, or its Natural History in 

 general, it holds out many inducements to the student of nature ; and, to 

 a stranger, as I then was, comparing it with the environs of Edinburgh, 

 as the place best known to me, all was novelty. 



The general aspect of the county of Norfolk is such as might be ex- 

 pected to be presented by most districts where chalk abounds, modified, 

 however, by various circumstances, and by none more so than the high 

 state of cultivation to which the land, otherwise unfertile, has been brought. 

 The surface of the county presents little variety, being generally a level 

 plain with few elevations, except in the neighbourhood of Norwich, the dis- 

 trict more under consideration. The soil is generally a light sand, or sandy 

 loam. Within a few miles of Norwich may be observed many diversities, 

 however, of surface, not merely arable lands and pastures, but woods, 

 or rather plantations, heaths, fens, and water in its different forms of 

 lakes, rivers, and ponds. In the fenny districts especially, and even in 

 Norwich itself, intermittent fevers are endemic, and usually attack 

 strangers during the first week or two of their residence, on which occa- 

 sion a person is quaintly said to be ' arrested by the bailiff of marsh land.' 

 With respect to the climate, the summer is generally very hot, with fre- 

 quent and violent storms, on account of its eastern exposure, and the 

 ■ winters are said to be usually severe. The county exhibits most of the 

 signs of rural prosperity, but we do not view it in that light, but proceed 

 to give a short account of its Geology. 



The chalk formation is seen around Norwich, and, indeed, extends over 

 the whole county, as well as the greater part of the south-east and east- 

 ern counties of England. In many places the chalk is of great thickness, 

 with frequent layers of flints interposed. The flint, which may be pro- 

 cured in almost any quantity, is extensively employed for mending the 

 roads, for which purpose it is admirably adapted, and although the masses 

 of flint are in general of small size, yet from the want of any other stone, 

 the}- are much used in building, and most of the churches, the Town Hall, 

 and many other buildings, are in a great measure constructed of flint, 

 forming objects of considerable interest to such as have been accustomed 

 to the sight of more seemly structures. Many of the nodules contain 

 fossils of different kinds, as spatangi, &c. 



That interesting formation, known by the name of Norfolk Crag, is 

 exposed in the neighbourhood of the city, from which it extends to the 

 sea, a distance of eighteen miles. It is almost entirely composed of fossil 

 organic remains, including extinct species of zoophytes, sponges, and al- 

 cyonites ; Crustacea and coprolites; along with myriads of marine shells, 

 some allied to those found in the neighbouring seas, and others, again, 

 which have no analogues either in recent species or in those of any other 

 formation. 



Numerous relics of large fossil mammalia have been found on the 

 eastern coast of Norfolk : remains of the Elephant, Hippopotamus, and 

 Rhinoceros. Mr Woodward has established the existence of two species 

 of Mastodon, the grinder of one of which I had the pleasure of seeing in 

 the Norwich Museum. This is the only part of the country where fossil 

 remains of the Mastodon have hitherto been found, and some years ago 

 an entire skeleton of the M. latidens was discovered, but only a single 

 grinder was preserved, the rest having been burnt for lime. 



From the high state of cultivation to which so much of the county of 

 Norfolk has been brought, it may be supposed that the number of plants 

 must be very limited. But it is otherwise. Along the rivers, and by the 

 edges of the pools, there is a profuse vegetation, while the road-sides, and 

 the numerous chalk pits interspersed over the country, have their peculiar 

 species. The corn fields, themselves, the woods and heaths, afford 

 habitats for many others much prized by the botanist. 



In many places the beautiful Nymphaa alba, so often the theme of ad- 

 miration, raises its large flowers above the water, or, covering with its 

 broad leaves the surface of some still pool, presents a tapestry of green 

 alternating with the purest white. Nuphar lutea is exceedingly abundant 

 in all the rivers and ponds ; and in more shallow water the Sagittaria sa- 

 gittifolia grows plentifully. The larger ditches teem with a profusion of 

 Butomus umbellatus and Stratiotes aloides, Bidens tripartita and cernua, He- 

 leiciadum nodifiorum and repens, while their surface is in some places 

 covered with the interesting Hottonia palustris and Hydrocharis Morsus 

 Ranas, with abundance of Lemna polyrrhiza, and by the margin of one 

 ditch near the city, I saw Apium graveolens, or wild celery. Lyihrum 

 salicaria is there a common, and, at the same time, a very showy plant. 

 Different species of Mentlw., among others M. Piperita and viridis, both 

 undoubtedly wild, and M. gentitis and rubra, along with Scutellaria galeri- 

 culata, Lysimachia vulgaris, Cineraria palustris, Carex Pseudo- Cyperus, are 

 found in similar localities, and in one place I observed the rare Scirpus 

 carinatus growing in abundance. That rare plant the Acorus Calamus was 

 formerly abundant on the Yare below Norwich, and the roots, when 

 dried, are used to give a peculiar flavour to gin, or at least to some kinds 

 of that spirit. In moist meadows there is abundance of Thalictrum 

 flavum, and in marshy ground Lysimachia Nummularia often covers a 

 large extent of surface with its trailing shoots, loaded with a profusion of 

 yellow blossoms, and I have seen associated with it the beautiful and 



