Fishes, S^c. 2955 



Voracity of the Cuttle-fish.— In fishing to-day with baited lines for whiting, off 

 Weymouth Bay, I saw an instance of the voracity of the cuttle-fish, which appeared 

 to be very familiar to the fishermen, but which was new to me, and may probably be 

 also new to some of the readers of tbe ' Zoologist.' A small whiting, of about five 

 or six inches long, having taken the bait, and been hooked in doing so, was being 

 drawn up into the boat, when he was seized by a cuttle-fish of the square-tailed 

 species, about eighteen inches in length, which immediately bit off the head of the 

 whiting, but in doing this was caught by the hook in one of its arms, and was itself 

 thus captured. After this, the line was again being drawn up with two small whitings 

 on the hooks, when a cuttle-fish rose up after it ; and when so near the surface as to 

 be clearly visible, threw its arms over the two whitings and drew them off the hooks 

 without any injury to itself. In another instance, a whiting while being drawn up 

 received a wound on the head, which the fishermen said was caused by a cuttle-fish. 

 The picture is sometimes reversed, by the cuttle-fish being cut into pieces to serve as 

 bait for the whitings, which seize the portions eagerly when so divided. — /. H. 

 Gurrvey ; Easton, Norfolk, October 2, 1850. 



Curious Habit of Epeira diadenia.— Some time since, while reading Darwin's 

 • Naturalist's Voyage,' I came across the following passage ; speaking of a spider, he 

 says, " This Epeira, when still further disturbed, practises a most curious manoeuvre; 

 standing in the middle it violently jerks the web, which is attached to elastic twigs, 

 till at last the whole acquires such a rapid vibratory movement, that even the outline 

 of the spider's body becomes indistinct" (page 37) ; this brought to my recollection 

 that I had frequently observed a similar habit in one of our British species, and I de- 

 termined to secure the next specimen I discovered disporting himself in this manner, 

 with a view to ascertain the species. The enclosed specimen was arrested in the act ; 

 I believe it to be Epeira diadema, but not being learned in the Arachnida, I send it 

 up for examination. It is commonly observed in gardens and woods, posted in the 

 centre of its web, and if blown upon wiih a slight puff of the breath will commence 

 oscillating, in the manner of the above-mentioned foreign species, to the extent of 

 about three-quarters of an inch ; the distance probably depending on the size of the 

 web, or rather the length of the principal threads. I can hardly suppose that this 

 habit has been hitherto unnoticed, but as I have never seen it mentioned, it may, per- 

 haps, be worth recording. — George Guyon; Richmond, Surrey, October 17, 1850. 



Capture of Lepidoptera at Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, not reported in the ' Zoo- 

 logist' for August. — 



Tortrix Sorbiana. July 8th, flying at dusk round nut-bushes in rough pasture 

 near Patchway, called Stoke rough ground, mentioned frequently in the following 

 lines. It abounds with Genista tinctoria, Scabiosa arvensis and other similar plants, 

 being nearly uncultivated. The soil is clay, in common with the rest of the fields, 

 with which it forms an extensive tract of poor bitter land. 



