NOTES AND QUERIES. 



A HoLiBUT or Halibut was 

 caught oflE" our shore on the 

 20th of April, and was doubt- 

 less seen by many of our readers, 

 in the shop of Mr. Baker, High 

 Street. This creature belongs to 

 the curious family of the Flat 

 Fishes (Pleuronectidce i.e. swim- 

 mers on the side). From the 

 appearance of these fishes (soles 

 and plaice are included in the 

 family), and the different colours 

 presented by the supposed upper 

 and under surfaces, they are 

 commonly thought to lie with the 

 back uppermost : this however is 

 a mistake, they are much com- 

 pressed in form, and actually lie 

 upon the ground on the side, and 

 when they move they glide over 

 the bed of the sea by a series of 

 graceful undulations. What we 

 take for the sides or rather edges, 

 are in fact the back and abdomen. 

 The bones of the head are 

 curiously modified to allow of the 

 eyes being both placed on one 

 side of the head, viz. that which 

 'is ■ uppermost. The specimen 

 caught weighed 94 lbs., which, 

 large as it may seem for a flat 

 fish, is not a great weight for the 

 Holibut, as the creature has been 

 known to reach a length of seven 

 feet, and to weigh 300 lbs. 



The term Holibut is a compound 

 of Jioly and hut or hot a Dutch 

 name for the Flounder ; in the 

 ISTorse languages the fish has a 

 similar name. 



Viper Abroad in Winter. — 

 A viper was killed in this neigh- 

 bourhood on the ninth of January 

 last. As vipers are not generally 

 out at all in winter, I suppose we 

 must attribute the appearance of 

 this one to the mildness of the 

 season. — S. Greenst: 



Cheriton. 



n t-EB lo86 



NSTEE^T, 



Early Flowers — On the thir.~ 

 teenth of February, in company 

 with one or two friends, I found 

 Viola hirta, and Chrysospleniwrn 

 oppositifoUum out in flower and a 

 profusion of primroses. By-the- 

 bye, I would recommend to the 

 notice of the Society some charm- 

 ing little spots in the neighbour, 

 hood of Cheriton and Newington, 

 on the south side of the Eailway, 

 as admirably suited for the scene 

 of one of their rambles. There 

 is a great diversity of surface, hill 

 and vale, dingle and dell ; there 

 are rocks for the geologist to 

 hammer at, sand martins' per- 

 forations for the ornithologist, 

 woods and low thickets, that 

 swarm with lepidoptera in the 

 summer, while many a little 

 babbling brook and still pond 

 await the nets and bottles of those 

 who delight in aquatic life. — Q. 



Cabbage Butterflies — These 

 app ear to me to be scarce this 

 season. At this time last year 

 the gardens swarmed with them, 

 and now scarcely one is to be seen. 

 This is good for the gardener, but 

 does it foretell a bad season for 

 the entomologist ? T. S. 



Tae Striped Hawk Moth 

 (DeilepJiila lineata). A very good 

 specimen of this rare moth was 

 brought to me from the Warren, 

 on the 8th of May. It was found 

 by a boy resting on the grass. A 

 Death's Head Moth was taken in a 

 Similar position on the Warren 

 last year. — Hy. Ullyett- 



Clouded Yellow (CoUas 

 Edusa). — On 28th April, I took a 

 beautiful specimen of C. Edusa 

 (female), apparently fresh from 

 the chrysalis, in the Warren. It 

 is the smallest I have seen, 

 measuring only one inch nine lines 

 vfrom tip to tip.— A. H. Taylor. 





