NOTES AND QUERIES. 221 



numbers of Blackbirds, Thrushes, and Redwings lying dead under the 

 evergreens, evidently frozen to the boughs at night and brought down by 

 the thaw. On Jan. 10th, saw six Sheldrakes close to the shore, and a 

 Bernacle Goose shot the previous day out of a flock of eight ; it was in fair 

 condition and in good plumage. Several Smews were shot, and a man from 

 Brighton shot a Little Gull, Larus minutus. On the 22nd two Greylags* 

 Anser ferus, were shot up the river, and weighed 7 lbs. and 6^ lbs. 

 respectively ; they were very good eating. The thaw then set in thoroughly, 

 and the Rooks returned to roost in the Park, after an absence of nearly two 

 months. Dead birds were then lying about everywhere, and I am afraid 

 our garden will have but few nests this year. — F. Head (Buckenham, 

 Shoreham). 



FISHES. 



Large Trout in the Thames. — At Medraenham lately Mr. Clare 

 Sturgess took two Trout weighing respectively llfbs. and 7 lbs. These 

 are fine weights for the Thames, and the capture is the more remarkable 

 since they were both landed on the same day. 



BATRACHIA. 



Homing Instinct of Hyla arborea (Linn.).— Two and a half years 

 ago I put a small green frog (Hyla arborea) that my daughter brought from 

 the South of France into my conservatory. In the following spring he 

 began to croak, and, contriving to make his escape, found his way to the 

 pond where his strident voice awoke the echoes every summer evening. 

 He always remained about the same spot, which was about 800 yards from 

 the conservatory. Now comes the extraordinary part of his history. When 

 the winter came on, he found his way back to the conservatory. This 

 performance he repeated last year, and now again he has found his voice. 

 That so small a creature should remember where he had been comfortable 

 in winter, and find his way back to the conservatory across an open lawn, 

 seems to me very extraordinary. — E. N. Buxton (Knighton, Buckhurst Hill.) 



INSECTS. 



Locusts in India and Egypt. — Papers received by recent mails from 

 India report a plague of Locusts in Northern India, and they are present 

 in such swarms in the Jhelum district that the civil authorities are hard 

 at work having them destroyed. Bad though matters are in the neighbour- 

 hood of Jhelum and Pind Dadan Khan, the damage caused by Locusts is 

 even greater in the " teshils" of Chucknal and Tallagung. During the last 

 week in April the railway between Jhelum and Demali was again so covered 

 with Locusts that on several occasions the trains had to be taken on iu 

 sections along the line to avoid accident. These insects are said now to be 

 leaving Lahore, though a few may still be seen about, but they soon fall 



