64 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



short straight beak, I take to be Podiceps auritus. This specimen was ob- 

 tained in a trammel-net at Derby Laver, also toward the end of December. 

 It is a very pure dark and white plumage, with no trace of tufts about the 

 head. The Goldfinch, Carduelis elegans, a bird which, though twenty or 

 thirty years ago abundant, has lately been very scarce, is again showing 

 itself more commonly n various districts this winter. On Christmas-day I 

 saw at Tromoole, one mile from here, a flock of some seven or eight Long" 

 tailed Tits, Acredula rosea. This appears to be only an occasional visitor 

 to this island. — P. Ralfe (4, Queen's Terrace, Douglas, I.M.). 



Wildfowl on the Norfolk Coast. — On Jan. 12th I received in the flesh 

 from Hunstanton, Norfolk, a female Eider and a Black Guillemot, and, a 

 few days later, a fine mature male Long-tailed Duck, the first fully adult 

 drake I ever saw in the flesh, though females and young males are common 

 enough. All these birds were shot off Hunstanton during the severe 

 weather, and I am indebted for them to the kindness of Dr. Whitby, of 

 Hunstanton, St. Edmunds. In addition to locally-shot examples of the 

 birds mentioned above, that gentleman's interesting collection contains, 

 among other rarities, examples of the King Eider, Gull-billed Tern, Iceland 

 Gull, and Sand Grouse shot in 1 863 and 1S88, all obtained within a few miles 

 of Hunstanton. — Julian G. Tuck (Tostock Rectory, Bury St. Edmunds). 



Little Auk in Co. Sligo. — On the 27th of December last I received 

 a fresh specimen of the Little Auk, Mergulus alle, which was found alive 

 about four miles from the sea, but died shortly after capture. Another 

 specimen was shot on Lough Gill, Co. Sligo, and is now in the possession 

 of Mr. Owen Wynne, Hazelwood, Co. Sligo. — R. M. Clellon (Castle St., 

 Sligo). 



Turtle Dove Breeding with Common Dove in Confinement.— 

 A propos of the note on Ring Dove pairing with Domestic Pigeon (p. 23), 

 I may state that a male Common Dove, which I have had in my aviary for 

 some time, paired with a female Turtle Dove, and successfully reared two 

 hybrids. I would like to know if it is a common occurrence. The Dove 

 which I have called the Common Dove is the ordinary cream-coloured bird 

 with black ring round neck, which is commonly kept in confinement. The 

 female is the wild Turtle Dove, Turtur communis. — W. Williams (19, 

 Garville Road, Rathgar, Dublin). 



REPTILES. 



Curious Accident to an Adder.— A few years ago I killed an Adder, 

 Pelias her us, under singular circumstances. I was walking down a hedge- 

 row in the company of two of my brothers, when we saw an Adder glide 

 over a bank a few yards in front of us. When we got to the spot we 

 were surprised to see it hauging by the throat to the spike of a male bramble. 

 We watched it for some time making frantic efforts to escape ; it was, how- 



