﻿NOTES 
  AND 
  QUERIES. 
  147 
  

  

  end 
  foremost, 
  like 
  a 
  round 
  wedge, 
  with 
  obvious 
  reference 
  to 
  ease 
  of 
  

   parturition." 
  I 
  should 
  have 
  accepted 
  this 
  very 
  natural 
  deduction 
  of 
  

   the 
  process 
  of 
  egg-laying 
  as 
  indisputable 
  had 
  it 
  not 
  been 
  for 
  the 
  fact 
  

   that 
  some 
  eight 
  years 
  ago 
  I 
  was 
  much 
  exercised 
  in 
  my 
  own 
  mind 
  

   regarding 
  the 
  subject, 
  and 
  made 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  observations 
  thereon. 
  

   Possessing 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  hens, 
  and 
  noticing 
  they 
  always 
  stood 
  up 
  in 
  

   the 
  nest 
  just 
  previous 
  to 
  dropping 
  their 
  eggs, 
  I 
  used 
  to 
  slip 
  under 
  them 
  

   a 
  small 
  tin 
  vessel, 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  had 
  previously 
  put 
  some 
  clay 
  worked 
  up 
  

   in 
  water 
  to 
  the 
  consistency 
  of 
  soft 
  butter 
  ; 
  the 
  egg 
  was 
  always 
  em- 
  

   bedded 
  "big" 
  end 
  downwards. 
  I 
  also 
  had 
  nesting-boxes 
  fixed 
  at 
  a 
  

   height 
  of 
  about 
  five 
  feet 
  nine 
  inches 
  from 
  the 
  ground, 
  and, 
  on 
  noticing 
  

   a 
  hen 
  about 
  to 
  deposit 
  her 
  egg, 
  I 
  placed 
  my 
  hand 
  under 
  her 
  crissum, 
  

   and 
  was 
  thus 
  enabled 
  to 
  watch 
  the 
  presentation 
  of 
  the 
  egg, 
  which 
  was 
  

   invariably 
  '• 
  blunt 
  " 
  end 
  first. 
  And 
  surely, 
  considering 
  that 
  in 
  nature 
  

   it 
  is 
  ever 
  "unity 
  in 
  variety," 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  so 
  ; 
  mammalian 
  births, 
  when 
  

   normal, 
  are 
  head 
  ones, 
  and 
  the 
  larger 
  end 
  of 
  an 
  egg 
  contains 
  the 
  head 
  

   of 
  the 
  chick. 
  — 
  G. 
  H. 
  Paddock 
  (Mill 
  Bank, 
  Wellington, 
  Salop). 
  

  

  Old 
  or 
  Local 
  Name. 
  — 
  The 
  Tydie, 
  which 
  Drayton 
  mentions 
  in 
  the 
  

   passage 
  quoted 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Aplin 
  (ante, 
  p. 
  117), 
  is 
  probably 
  the 
  Titmouse. 
  

   Halhwell 
  (-Dictionary 
  of 
  Archaic 
  and 
  Provincial 
  Words') 
  identifies 
  

   the 
  Tydie 
  of 
  Drayton 
  with 
  the 
  Tydif 
  or 
  Tidif 
  of 
  Chaucer 
  (" 
  Legend 
  of 
  

   Good 
  Women," 
  194; 
  " 
  Squire's 
  Tale," 
  648,; 
  and 
  the 
  Tydif 
  or 
  Tidif 
  

   of 
  Chaucer 
  is 
  both 
  by 
  Skinner 
  ('Etymologicon 
  Anglicanum') 
  and 
  

   Skeat 
  ( 
  ; 
  Glossarial 
  Index 
  to 
  the 
  Student's 
  Chaucer') 
  identified 
  with 
  

   the 
  Titmouse. 
  The 
  name 
  Tidife 
  appears 
  in 
  Swainson 
  ('Provincial 
  

   Names,' 
  34) 
  as 
  a 
  variant 
  for 
  the 
  Blue 
  Titmouse. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  spring- 
  

   notes 
  of 
  the 
  Blue 
  Titmouse 
  deserve 
  the 
  epithet 
  "delicate." 
  — 
  J. 
  E. 
  V. 
  

   Maechant 
  (Harrow). 
  

  

  PISCES. 
  

  

  Montagu's 
  Sucker 
  at 
  Scarborough. 
  — 
  While 
  poking 
  about 
  in 
  rock- 
  

   pools 
  in 
  the 
  South 
  Bay 
  at 
  Scarborough, 
  on 
  Feb. 
  24th, 
  I 
  found, 
  under 
  

   stones, 
  two 
  examples 
  of 
  Montagu's 
  Sucker 
  (Lijiaris 
  montagui). 
  Again, 
  

   on 
  the 
  north 
  shore, 
  on 
  March 
  6th, 
  I 
  found 
  two 
  other 
  specimens. 
  The 
  

   fish 
  is 
  apparently 
  not 
  uncommon, 
  for 
  I 
  am 
  sure 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  it 
  before, 
  

   but 
  did 
  not 
  recognize 
  the 
  distinction 
  between 
  it 
  and 
  the 
  Common 
  Sea- 
  

   Snail. 
  It 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  recorded 
  for 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   coast, 
  and 
  is 
  not 
  mentioned 
  in 
  Clarke 
  and 
  Roebuck's 
  ' 
  Vertebrate 
  Fauna 
  

   of 
  Yorkshire.' 
  — 
  W. 
  J. 
  Clabke 
  (44, 
  Huntriss 
  Bow, 
  Scarborough). 
  

  

  [This 
  fish 
  is 
  included 
  in 
  Dr. 
  Johnston's 
  List 
  of 
  Berwick 
  Fishes. 
  — 
  

   Ed.] 
  

  

  