2954 Birds, tyc. 



Norfolk, was the mate of my bird. This is the first time it has ever occurred in Sus- 

 sex. — J.B. Ellman; Lewes, October 18, 1850. 



Nests of the Colymbus arcticus and Charadrius Morinellus. — Mr. C. Hubbard, a 

 collector of Dickleborough, Norfolk, in a recent tour in the north of Scotland, met 

 with the nest of Colymbus arcticus ; and the eggs, two in number, I have added to 

 my collection. He shot the male bird in Sutherlandshire, about thirteeu miles from 

 Loch Invar. He also found the eggs of Anser ferus, A. segetum and A. albifrons, on 

 Lewis Island. He also met with the nest of Charadrius Morinellus on the top of 

 Hoy, in the Orkneys, with three eggs, one of which I obtained from him. — C. R. 

 Bree ; Stowmarket, October, 1850. 



Inquiry respecting the Food of a Freshwater Turtle. — A friend has given me a 

 living specimen of a freshwater turtle, from Australia ; its scientific designation I do 

 not know. Its shell is only about three inches in length ; it has a long serpent-like 

 head and neck, and I fancy is the young of some species. I am at a loss how to feed 

 it, and as a subscriber to the ' Zoologist,' take the liberty of asking whether you can 

 suggest a suitable diet. The party from whom I received it, says it has been fed 

 since its arrival in England, about two months ago, on grass and flies. I fancy it was 

 on very short commons during its voyage. It certainly eats flies, but not apparently 

 with any great appetite, and this food seems hardly substantial enough, and may be 

 difficult to procure during the winter. — Edwin Birchall, Jun.; Roscmount, near 

 Leeds, October 22, 1850. 



Note on the Long-horned Cottus. — The following little incident respecting the 

 above fish, which came under my notice to-day, may perhaps be worth recording. 

 Happening to be spending the day at Sidmouth, I procured a few small fish of dif- 

 ferent species from among the rocks, which were exposed at low tide, and put them 

 into a vessel of sea-water for the purpose of watching their movements. Amongst 

 them were three specimens of the lesser sand-launce, about three inches in length ; and 

 two specimens of (he long-horned cottus, about two and a half inches long ; almost 

 immediately upon the fishes being placed in the vessel of sea-water, into which they 

 were put on being brought from the rocks, one of the specimens of the long-horned 

 cottus attacked a sand-launce, and seizing it by the nape of the neck, held it firmly in 

 that position for about two minutes, when it commenced swallowing its victim, head 

 foremost, and continuing the deglutition very rapidly till about half the sand-launce 

 had disappeared ; the cottus then retired under the shelter of a stone, which had 

 been placed in the vessel, with the remainder of the sand-launce protruding from its 

 mouth, but continuing gradually to suck it down, and completing the operation in 

 about an hour and a half from the time of the first attack.— J. H. Gurney ; Easton, 

 Norfolk, October 4, 1850. 



