5608 Fishes. 



in full plumage. In Barbary it is quite as much as a man's life is 

 worth to shoot either a flamingo or stork. 



Charles W. Watki^s. 

 Budby House, near Daventry, 



Occurrence of the Butterfly Blenny (Blennius ocellaris) in Weymouth Bay. — This 

 pretty fish was formerly, and until the severe winter some three or four years since, 

 tolerably plentiful in this bay ; since then it has totally disappeared: I have the last 

 week, however, obtained two specimens. I hope we shall have them again plentiful. 

 — William Thompson; Weymouth, February 22, 1857. 



The Blackbellied Flounder. — Yesterday I obtained two specimens of the Plalessa 

 melanogaster? considerably larger than any I have previously seen. The same 

 characters, described by me in the 'Zoologist' (Zool. 4596), are again present. 

 I have examined the notch carefully with a powerful lens, and cannot detect the 

 smallest sign of a cicatrix, which assuredly would exist if the notch had been 

 artificially formed. — Edmund Thomas Higgins ; 1, Brook Terrace, Birkenhead, 

 March 11, 1857. 



Occurrence of the Little Gurnard on the Coast of Lancashire. — On the 7th of 

 August, 1856, while staying on the shores of Morecombe Bay, I obtained a small fish 

 which corresponded in many points with the description given by Mr. Yarrell of the 

 little gurnard ; it was not much more than an inch in length, and was captured by some 

 shrimpers whom I noticed working with hand-nets in shallow water, as the tide was 

 coming in. I kept it alive for several hours in a vase of sea-water, and before death 

 the colours were very brilliant, but after being immersed in spirits of wine they rapidly 

 faded. I neglected to note down the tints at the time, and did not happen to have 

 YarreU's work with me, but on looking over his description, after my return home, the 

 colours appeared to correspond with it: I could not find, however, the white spots 

 mentioned by him on the inner surface of the pectoral fins. The form and arming of 

 the head resemble those of the figure given in his work. As I have but little know- 

 ledge of Ichthyology, I forward the specimen with this notice, and shall be obliged if 

 the learned editor of the 'Zoologist' will give his opinion regarding the species to 

 which it belongs : should my surmise turn out to be correct, and it prove to be the 

 Trigla poeciloptera of Cuvier and Valenciennes, its capture will be worth recording, 

 as at the date of the publication of Mr. YarreU's second edition of the ' British Fishes' 

 it had only once been noticed on the shores of the British islands, viz. at Youghal, in 

 Ireland, in the year 1815, and I am not aware that there is any record of its appearance 

 since. — R. H. Meade ; Bradford. 



[As Mr. Meade wishes for my opinion on this little fish I am quite willing to give 

 it, but I cannot think it of much value, seeing that no British specimen of the same 

 species is accessible for comparison : the colour described by Yarrell has entirely 

 vanished, — there remains not a trace ; the armature of the head is figured but not 

 described by Yarrell, and the specimen placed in my hands agrees sufficiently well 

 with the figure to induce a belief in the identity of the species. It should be 

 observed, however, that the figure is not made from the only British specimen ever 

 recorded, but is copied from a drawing sent to Mr. Yarrell by M. Valencienues. — 

 Edward Newman.'] 



