NOTES AND QUERIES. 1"95 



and the catcher, having marked his bird (or birds), goes down immediately 

 below the first bend in the stream, and there fixes his net across the usual 

 line of flight. Meanwhile, his companion has made a tour round, and the 

 victim is flushed down stream, and eventually taken in the net. This plan. 

 I believe, is considered to be superior to any other, and half-a-dozen King- 

 fishers may be taken in the course of a morning's walk. Owing to this 

 wholesale destruction the Kingfisher has, of late years, so greatly diminished 

 in numbers about Bolton, that I am afraid a sight of this elegant little 

 bird will, in the near future, be of comparatively rare occurrence. — C. E. 

 Stott (Bolton-le-Moors). 



Rare Birds in Gloucestershire. — During the severe weather at 

 Christmas the following rare birds were shot in close proximity to the 

 Severn : — Cygnus musicus, a very old pair ; the female only being shot. 

 Mergus albellus : some very fine specimens were obtained, both male and 

 female ; this is the first time, I believe, that this bird has been shot in 

 Gloucestershire. — A. Lionel Clarke (Gloucester). 



FISHES. 



Large catches of Mullet and Mackerel on the Cornish Coast- 

 On the 18th March last no less than 12,000 Grey Mullet, Mugil capito, 

 were captured, by means of a draw-seine, by the fishermen of Sennen 

 Cove, at Whitsand Bay, Land's End. The fish were of remarkably fine 

 quality, one being brought to me which measured 2 ft. in length, 1 ft. 3 in. 

 in girth, and weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz.: the fish realised 18s. a score. On the 

 31st of the same month a Lowestoft mackerel driver, fishing some leagues 

 S.W. of the Lizard, took 48,000 mackerel. No such a catch of mackerel, 

 for one night's fishing, has ever been heard of here before, and what makes 

 it more extraordinary is that it should have taken place in March, when 

 the catches usually average a few hundreds only. Later on in the season, 

 when fishing west of Scilly, 20,000 to 25,000 is regarded as a heavy catch. 

 The catch sold for £360. — T. H. Cornish (Penzance). 



The Fishes of Northumberland and Durham.— I should like to draw 

 the attention of your readers to the excellent " Catalogue of the Fishes of 

 the Rivers and Coast of Northumberland and Durham," drawn up by Mr. 

 Richard Howse for the * Natural History of Northumberland, Durham, 

 and Newcastle.' This list, of 64 pages, includes no fewer than 142 species, 

 and has been prepared with evident care. Taken with Mr. Clarke's List 

 of the Fishes of the Yorkshire Coast, and the Lists of Fishes published by 

 the Norfolk and Norwich Natural History Society, Mr. Howse's Catalogue 

 fairly covers the greater part of our east coast, and deserves careful perusal. 

 — H. A. Macpherson (Carlisle). 



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