Repiiles. 4 1 



crop of 1836. The springs of 1837, 1838, 1839 and 1840 were cold 

 and frosty when the hornbeam was in flower, and I believe not a seed 

 was to be seen through the whole forest ; during this time I scarcely 

 saw any hawfinches, only a single bird now and then in gardens &c. 

 The spring of 1841 was fine and warm, and there was an immense 

 quantity of seed upon the hornbeams in the summer ; as I expected, 

 during the autumn of that year and the spring of 1842, hundreds of 

 hawfinches were to be seen wherever there was seed, and I saw many 

 nests in the summer. Now again there is little or no seed, and not a 

 hawfinch is to be met with in the forest, and I have seen only one or 

 two solitary individuals during the winter. What becomes of them 

 all ? Do they disperse over the country, or do they leave us altoge- 

 ther ? They will feed on the kernels of haws, yew-berries, laurel and 

 plum-stones, &c., but decidedly prefer the seed of the hornbeam to 

 anything else ; in the summer they are very destructive to green peas. 

 They become very tame in confinement, though extremely wild in a 

 state of nature. — Id. 



Note on Birds in February. — 



" On the 1st of the month partridge and pheasant-shooting end. At the end, wag- 

 tails and stonechats have usually assumed their summer or nuptial plumage, and the 

 stock-dove frequently has young: about this time, if the weather is mild, pied wagtails 

 stonechats and wood-larks, which had either left the country or retired to the coasts, 

 return inland and disperse themselves in pairs over the country." — Van Voorsfs Na- 

 turalists* Almanack^ for 1843.* 



Short Communication about Reptiles. 



Note on the occurrence of Alligators in East Florida, Alligators 

 are not very rare in East Florida. When I first took up my abode 

 abode on the St. John's I never saw them, and began to imagine there 

 were none ; but in about two months' time, that is, early in March, 

 they crept out from their winter abodes, looking pale and soddened, 

 and one fine day I found three big fellows in the marshes close to the 

 house, within a very short distance of each other. As the spring ad- 

 vanced I saw them much more often, and frequently have watched 

 them floating like huge pine-logs down the river, their crested backs 

 however easily distinguishing them when within a moderate distance. 

 When first I reached Jacksonville I was very much puzzled to make 



* This unpretending little almanack contains a diary of the scientific meetings, as 

 far as relates to Natural History ; a naturalists' calendar ; a succinct account of the 

 London scientific societies, ^c, together with the usual almanack information. 



