NOTES AND QUERIES. 431 



A few Magpies were seen near the Nordenskiold river " [a tributary of the 

 Lewes river], "and a few White-headed Eagles were noticed. During the 

 winter, near the boundary, numbers of small birds, somewhat resembling 

 the ' Chick-adee,' were seen, but they were much larger, and had not the 

 same note. Of Owls, not a specimen was met with anywhere. Partridges 

 were very scarce, only half a dozen or so of the ordinary kind being noticed ; 

 but at the head of the Tat-on-duc and Porcupine rivers Ptarmigan were 

 abundant. Wild Geese and Ducks are plentiful, and of Ducks there are 

 many more species than I have seen in any other part of the territory. A 

 very beautiful species of Loon or Diver was met with on the Porcupiue. It 

 is smaller than the Great Northern Diver, but marked much the same on 

 the body, the difference being principally in the head and neck ; the bill is 

 sharper and finer, and the head smaller, but its chief distinguishing feature 

 is the neck, which is covered with long beautiful dun-coloured down for 

 more than half its length from the head downwards." [This bird was 

 probably (?) the Red-throated Loon, Urinator lumme.]— Basil W. Mahtin 

 (39, Victoria Street, Westmiuster). 



REPTILIA. 



Smooth Snake (Coronella laevis) in the New Forest. — The late Canon 

 Kingsley centred a peculiar interest on the probable occurrence of this 

 reptile within the forest boundary, and often asked questions on that 

 particular point, as he knew I had seen and taken it on the heaths on the 

 other side of the river, near the spot where it was first discovered as an 

 inhabitant of Britain; but it was only a short time before his lamented 

 death that I could positively say I had seen it in the forest; then I was 

 fortunate enough to catch one in the neighbourhood of Minstead, not far 

 from the well-known Rufus stone. Since that time I have seen or known 

 of a number of specimeus from the district, especially during the great and 

 continued heat of the summer of 1896. Two were seen — but not taken — 

 near Sway ; three specimens, an old female and two immature individuals, 

 were taken very late in the season on the heaths between Beaulieu and 

 Brockenhurst ; and in August a nephew of mine whilst entomologiziug 

 caught one near Boldre Wood, and brought it to me thinking it was an Adder 

 (Pelias berus). Strange to say, the same lad caught another, almost on the 

 same spot, this season, at the end of July, but so mutilated it that it was 

 worthless to preserve. It seems a pity to destroy the poor little harm- 

 less creature whose movements amongst the heather are so graceful and 

 interesting, and whose body, especially the under parts, shine with an 

 iridescent gloss in the hot sun, and when taken in the hand the keelless 

 scales which envelope its body make it feel cold and smooth to the touch, 

 like an eel. My comparatively limited experience of this particular species 



