Reptiles, fyc. 2881 



another attempt to disprove an extremely probable theory, more especially, as I believe, 

 that if my powers of vision have not again been too acute, I have during the past 

 spring seen several of these birds in another part of the Mediterranean. — W. Balfour 

 Baikie ; Khanid, Candia, June 3, 1850. 



Way in which Toads shed their Skins. — In a late number of the ' Gardener's Chro- 

 nicle,' is an account by Mr. Turner of the manner in which he saw a toad shed its 

 skin. This statement does not materially differ from that given in Bell's ' British 

 Reptiles,' except in one point. Bell describes the cuticle as pushed by the two hands 

 into the mouth in a little ball, and swallowed at a single gulp. I have this morning 

 witnessed an exhibition of this remarkable economy in the disposal of his old clothes, 

 by one of the large Jersey toads, of which I received two living specimens a few days 

 ago. Observing the back parts of the animal to be bright and moist, and seeing it 

 raise its hand, as if to scratch its back, I at once perceived what was going on, and 

 summoned my family to witness the process. The toad continued, at intervals of a 

 few seconds, to open its mouth wide, and at the same time to assist the removal of 

 the cuticle, by stretching its arm and contorting its body, much in the way we see our 

 amateur boatmen of the Cam divest themselves of those seamless knitted jackets, 

 which they pass over their heads. A great part of the cuticle had already disappeared 

 from the hinder quarters, and I observed a continuous and almost imperceptibly slow 

 progression of what remained round one of the corners of the mouth and down the 

 throat. In this way the cuticle became removed in proportion as it was detached. 

 The whole of the left side was cleared first, with the exception of a small tattered 

 fragment that adhered round the fingers, and which I did not observe to be removed 

 by the mouth. The right arm was then more successfully liberated, the cuticle slowly 

 disappearing round the right angle of the mouth, much as we might fancy a long 

 strip of ribbon maccaroni would descend if swallowed without a rupture. I did not 

 notice any direct pushing of the cuticle by the hands into the mouth ; nor yet any 

 pellet formed of it, to be bolted at a single gulp. Whether there has been any mis- 

 take in the description of the process adopted by our English toads I will not venture 

 to assert, but certainly my own pet swallowed his Jersey jacket in a very gradual and 

 deliberate manner. — Prof. Hensloiv, in Gardener's Chronicle, June 15, 1S50. 



Occurrence of the Sun-fish off Wei/mouth and Torquay. — I observe (Zool. 2856) 

 that a sun-fish was captured off Poole, June 13 : on the same day one was taken off 

 Weymouth. I was at Torquay a day or two afterwards, where they were also exhi- 

 biting one caught at Torbay a day or two previously. Here then are three of these 

 monsters caught at about the same time, and probably many more of which no record 

 has been made. — R. Damon ; Weymouth, July 6, 1850. 



