Reptiles. 2393 



is well known, and bears its proper name ; but the mute swan is a ' wild swan,' and 

 Bewick's swan the ' tame swan.' I have been very particular in ascertaining the cor- 

 rectness of this, as it seemed to me extraordinary for a ' tame ' swan to be a genuine 

 Cygnus ' ferus ; ' yet such is the case : my informants describe the head and bill of 

 each very correctly. The white-fronted goose is the ' speckled-belly goose.' The 

 gray-legged, bean and thick-footed geese are all ' gray geese.' The brent goose is 

 either a ' crocker, black, Scotch, or Seaford parson goose,' but most commonly the 

 1 crocker' (Zool. 1501). The Egyptian goose is the 'horse-shoe goose.' The spur- 

 winged goose is a ' ferret-eye.' The Canada, bernicle and red-breasted geese are un- 

 known here. The sheldrake is a ' bar-gander.' The gadwall a ' bastard,' (considered 

 a hybrid between the wild duck and wigeon by wild-fowl shooters). The shoveller is 

 a * spoonbill.' The common and surf scoters are ' black ducks ; ' the velvet scoter 

 being a ' white-winged black duck.' The wigeon is a ' cock winder.' The pochard 

 is a ' snuff-headed wigeon.' The scaup duck is a ' sea wigeon.' The tufted duck the 

 ' least wigeon.' The golden-eye is a ' wigeon,' ' spectacle duck,' or ' pudding ass 

 duck.' The smew is a ' small herring-bar.' The red-breasted merganser a ' saw-bill 

 duck.' The black cormorant an ' Isle of Wight parson.' The tern is a ' kip.' The 

 lesser tern a ' scurrit.' The black tern a ' black kip.' The ' crocker kip ' is, I be- 

 lieve, applicable to the Sandwich tern ; and the ' screecher' I take to be the Caspian 

 or gull-billed tern. The black-headed gull is a ' crocker.' The kittiwake a ' sprat 

 mew ' or * cackareer,' so called from its note. The two black-backed gulls are * par- 

 son mews.' All other gulls are ' cobs.' The common skua is a ' wease-alley ;' — what 

 can this mean ? The petrels are ' storm petrels,' in contradistinction to the godwits. 

 The little grebe is a ' spider diver.' The three divers are ' herring-bars.' The com- 

 mon guillemot is a ' willy,' and the thick-billed guillemot is a ' puffin.' There are a 

 few more names which as yet I cannot classify, owing to the extraordinary terms used 

 here. I shall devote some time to provincialism, and may at some future period give 

 a more lucid account. With reference to the ' crocker goose,' I trust I may be par- 

 doned in expressing my opinion that Dr. Plomley is under a mistake in taking it to 

 refer to the Egyptian goose : as before stated, that is the ' horse-shoe,' — a self-evident 

 name. The brent goose is more applicable, when we consider that on all occasions 

 when the term ' crocker ' is used the bird has a black head. — /. B. Ellman ; Rye, 

 February 16, 1849. 



An American Marvel. — A dead alligator, as newspaper readers may remember, 

 which was lately found floating in the bay of New York, awakened much speculation 

 among naturalists : the recent discovery of the skeleton of another, almost as far north, 

 in New Jersey, is therefore not a novelty of wonder in these regions, except from the 

 immense size of the latter, and from a matter of most curious antiquarian interest 

 connected with its exhumation. This last alligator or crocodile, measuring thirty feet 

 in length, was found in Eaton-town, New Jersey, about ten miles from Long Branch, 

 while digging for marl. The skeleton lay about six feet beneath the surface in a 

 stratum of green sand ; and underneath this skeleton, as if it had dropped from the 

 mouldering stomach of the monster, was found an ancient coin. This coin is described 

 to us by an intelligent correspondent, who has handled it, as about the size of a dol- 

 lar ; its composition, in which there is a large share of silver, being probably Corin- 

 thian brass. On the face of it is the figure of a lion, with the date " 6 — 48 " in 



