4594 Birds, fyc. 



so incessant is his music that the small recording voices of his progeny are unheard. 

 In conclusion, the swallow left us on the 5th of October; but uearly three weeks' after- 

 wards, on the 22nd of the same month, I saw a single swallow flying briskly about at 

 Auchincruive, four miles from Ayr, N. B., at 5 in the afternoon, the weather being 

 cold, wet and inclement. — Cuthbert Collingwood ; Parley Park, Berks, December, 

 1854. 



Occurrence of the Snowy Owl (Strix nyctea) in Sutherlandshire. — About theI5th of 

 October, 1853, the forester at Altneharrow, in Sutherlandshire, observed a very remark- 

 able bird on Knock Stack, a high rock in the forest. He had his rifle with him, and 

 killed what turned out to be a very fine adult specimen of the snowy owl, which is 

 now in my collection. He says he has never seen or heard of any bird like it during 

 the whole time he has lived at Altneharrow. It is the largest British specimen I have 

 ever seen. — W. M. E. Milner ; Nunapplelon, December 30, 1854. 



Singular Conduct in a Robin. — Some few weeks ago I was amusing myself with a 

 common snake (Coluber natrix), and in order more perfectly to observe its beautiful 

 and graceful motions I placed it on the lower branches of an apple tree. This ar- 

 rangement had evidently been watched by a robin, for immediately the snake com- 

 menced climbing towards the top of the tree the robin perched himself about a yard 

 distant from his head, and followed him closely wherever he went, occasionally ven- 

 turing even within a few inches. The snake did not regard the presence of the bird, 

 but appeared quite indifferent, while the inquisitiveness and daring of the latter were 

 really very interesting. All this took place within a few feet of where I was standing, 

 and, although the tree was shaken rather violently at times, the robin seemed so ab- 

 sorbed in the contemplation of his strange neighbour that he took no notice of my 

 presence. May not similar occurrences have been observed in other countries, and 

 thus have given rise to the absurd tales told of the power of fascination possessed by 

 reptiles ? — G. Norman ; Hull, December 20, 1854. 



Notice of a Tunny stranded in the Estuary of the Tees. — I beg to send the follow- 

 ing account of a very large fish, which two fishermen of Stockton found on a sand- 

 bank in the estuary of the river Tees, in September last, and which has proved to 

 be a fine specimen of the Thynnus vulgaris of Cuvier: — In October, 1854, I was in- 

 formed that two fishermen had found a remarkably large fish, which was to them quite 

 unknown, on a sand-bank of the Tees, where it had very recently been stranded. The 

 description of this strange fish, as given by these men, was as follows: it had a head 

 much like that of a salmon; the large back-fin was spiny and erect, like that of a 

 perch ; the tail was curved and spreading. The colour on the back was nearly black, 

 but that on the under part light. I at this time received a large bony scale, which 

 had been taken from the front of the fish, as well as a portion of the thick and smooth 

 skin of the back, containing numerous imbedded smaller scales. From this account 

 it occurred to me that this unknown fish was most probably a tunny, which, in its pur- 

 suit of herrings and other small fishes, had run itself upon a sand-bank, where it was 

 left by the receding tide. Again, in the latter part of December, 1854, I obtained 

 the following further information, from the same source in Stockton, respecting this 



