SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



233 



sugar on a piece of paper soon engaged its 

 attention, the long disused haustellum was brought 

 into play, and I left it to the enjoyment of a hearty 

 meal. The next day, however, it was dead, having 

 apparently fallen a victim to the violence of its 

 appetite. — W. B.Jones, Laphroaig, I slay ; June 15/A, 

 1894. 



The Chough in Islav. — This interesting species 

 is gradually but certainly increasing in Islay, and 

 may again, if simply let alone, become a well- 

 established feature of the bird-life of the island. 

 We saw a pair early in January on the shore near 

 the village of Port Ellen, and a few weeks after- 

 wards we were shown a beautiful male bird, pro- 

 bably one of the same pair, which had been caught 

 in a garden and found to have one leg injured, 

 apparently from a trap. It soon died. Last sum- 

 mer we tried the experiment of rearing a young 

 chough ; but, though it had the range of a large 

 empty stable, and became very tame and quite a 

 pet, it only survived till October, dying suddenly 

 and unexpectedly. The egg collector seems to be, 

 at least in this district, the greatest enemy of the 

 chough. We were shown a pair of these rare eggs, 

 obtained with great difficulty from a nest deep in a 

 fissure of the rocks, in a cave near the Mull of 

 Oa, and the existence of such caves makes it 

 desirable to withhold the names of the breeding- 

 places of the bird, several of which are known to us. 

 — (Dr.) J. F. Gilmore, Port Ellen, Islay ; June 14th, 

 1894. 



An Inhabitant of Vaucheria. — Referring to 

 his article in Science-Gossip (ante page 201) on the 

 above subject, Mr. J. Lewton Brain will doubtless 

 ere this have received from ethers the information 

 necessary to enable him to identify the rotifer 

 causing and inhabiting galls in Vaucheria. If not, 

 a reference to "The Rotifera," by Hudson and 

 Gosse (Supplementary Vol., page 23), will put him 

 in possession of all that is known on the matter from 

 the zoological point of view, and a summary of the 

 botanists' knowledge of the subject will be found 

 published by Professor Bennett in " The Annals of 

 Botany" (vol. iv. of 1890, pages 172-4 and 300-1, 

 with 1 fig.). From the drawings given by Mr. 

 Lewton Brain it is impossible to form any opinion 

 as to his find, but as only one rotifer (Proales 

 ivcmeckii) is known to cause such galls it is possibly 

 that species. It has been known since the days of 

 Ehrenberg, and is tolerably common near London. 

 A very exhaustive paper on the subject, by Balbiani, 

 will be found translated in the "Journal of the Royal 

 Microscopical Society" (vol. ii., 1879, page 530, 

 with Plate xviii.) The figures are pretty good. — 

 George Western, 1, Schubert Road, Putney, S.W.; 

 November 3rd, 1894. 



Varieties of Birds' Eggs. — A pair of chaffinches 

 commenced building in a yew-tree by March 30th, 

 and the nest was completed the second week in 

 April, the first egg being laid on the 14th. With 

 us, here, this is unusually early for these birds to 

 nest. The eggs, which were five in number, were 

 quite spotless and of a pale blue colour. They were 

 paler than those of a hedge-sparrow and had not 

 such a glossy appearance. These birds afterwards 

 had a second nest very near the first one. The eggs, 

 of which there were only three, were exactly like 

 those in the first nest. I do not think that this 

 variety of chaffinches' eggs is very uncommon, as I 

 saw, in a friend's garden, a nest with eggs of a similar 

 colour to those I found. My friend also showed 



me a spotted fly-catcher's nest, containing five blue 

 eggs without any spots or markings whatever. If 

 I had not seen 'the bird fly from off the nest I 

 should have thought that the eggs were those of 

 the pied fly-catcher. A hedge-sparrow's nest I found 

 contained four very large eggs, the largest measured 

 just over seven-eighths of an inch in length, and they 

 were also quite cylindrical in shape. I also found a 

 blackbird's nest with three eggs, all of different sizes, 

 one of which was rather larger than usual. It was 

 very pale in colour, being almost white with very faint 

 spots, mostly at the larger end. At a distance it 

 somewhat resembled a small pigeon's egg. The 

 two other eggs were smaller and darker. I have 

 seen some hundreds of varieties of blackbirds' eggs, 

 but I have never seen one so light in colour before. 

 Several seasons ago I found a sedge-warbler's nest 

 from which I took two eggs, one of which was white 

 with a very few light and indistinct spots at the 

 larger end, and one glossy black streak. It was 

 rather rough in appearance, and contained only a 

 clear fluid which was full of air-bubbles. The 

 other egg was also white, but the spots were more 

 distinct and numerous and of an ash colour. It 

 merely contained a yolk which was almost dried 

 up, although it had not been laid more than two or 

 three days. I should imagine that these eggs were 

 laid by a young bird, being probably its two 

 first. — Edward Ransom, Sudbury, Suffolk; Nov. jth, 

 1894. 



Marine Zoology of the Irish Sea. — The 

 report of the Committee of the British Association 

 for the investigation of the Marine Zoology of the 

 Irish Sea has been issued in separate form. The 

 members are Professor A. C. Haddon, Professor 

 G. B. Howes, W. E. Hoyle, I. C. Thompson, 

 A. C. Walker, and Professor W. A. Herdman, as 

 Chairman and Reporter. It is accompanied by a 

 chart and some illustrations. The committee 

 acknowledge the assistance of the Liverpool 

 Marine Biology Committee, and the use of their 

 Port Erin Biological Station in the Isle of Man. 

 The work of the past year has consisted largely of 

 the determination of the submarine deposits spread 

 over the floor of the Irish Sea, their nature, 

 probable origin and their effect on the distribution 

 of the fauna. An examination of the large mass of 

 material dredged during these explorations has 

 produced many additions to the fauna list of the 

 region, including no less than nine molluscs. 

 Dredging in depths of over fifty fathoms in the 

 Irish Sea is by no means pleasant work. The 

 report says that the bottom consists of " a pure 

 dark bluish-grey mud which is very tenacious, and 

 sets, when dried, into a firm clay. This is 

 abominable stuff to dredge in and work with on 

 deck. It clings to everything that touches it ; it is 

 almost impossible to see what is in it, and to get 

 the animals out of it uninjured : it is too solid for 

 sieves, and the hose can be played upon masses of 

 it almost indefinitely without dissolving it." Still 

 this zone has quite a peculiar and characteristic 

 fauna, one member being the little red sea-anemone, 

 Sagartia hcrdmani, of Haddon. Fortunately this 

 character of bottom extends only in a comparatively 

 narrow strip some distance off and along the Irish 

 coast. Samples of the various materials dredged 

 from the floor of this sea were sent to- the museum 

 of the Geological Survey, in Jermyn Street, at the 

 request of Sir Archibald Geikie. The report upon 

 these by Mr. Clement Reid, F.G.S., is added to the 

 . committee's report, and with it form a whole of 

 very interesting character. — John T. Carrington. 



