Fishes. 795 



undisturbed, thinking that to shoot it would be a poor return for my lesson in Orni- 

 thology. — Henry T. Frere ; Corpus Chris ti College, Cambridge, October 24, 1844. 



Note on the Great Northern Diver. An example of this bird was brought to me 

 this afternoon, in its adult summer plumage, and previous to the assumption, or rather 

 development of any portion of its winter plumage. In the former state of plumage 

 this bird is seldom met with on our southern shores, but in its winter plumage, it is of 

 much more frequent occurrence : this remark applies to the two other species of 

 Colymbus, especially the C. septentrionalis. I am much inclined to think that the 

 various authors who designate the summer livery of this bird as the adult, without 

 reference to the season, have come to their conclusion, from the circumstance of the 

 birds not having changed their plumage at a period of the autumn when most birds 

 have completed their moult, and have consequently, and very naturally concluded, that 

 the summer adult plumage is retained by the old birds perennially. It may be worth 

 recording, that on examining the under plumage of the above specimen throughout, a 

 mass of new feathers presented themselves from the head to the tail, which would, in 

 all probability, have eclipsed its present plumage iu one week. All these feathers pre- 

 sented the same cinereous hue as characterizes the young and the winter plumage, and 

 not a single white tip or spot was discernible on any of the new feathers. Thus, it 

 appears most probable, that in this, as well as in the other two Colymbi, the general 

 moult takes place at a late period of the autumn. The birds that I have repeatedly 

 had occasion to examine in the early part of the autumn, and which were without the 

 white dorsal spots, have always shown unequivocal marks of their being young birds 

 of the year. On dissection, the specimen above described proved to be a female ; the 

 ovary was full of eggs, from the size of a pin's head downwards. — Edward Hearle 

 Rodd ; Penzance, October 21, 1S44. 



Note on the occurrence of Richardson's Skua at Great Yarmouth. A specimen of 

 this bird, in that state of immature plumage in which it is known as the black-toed 

 gull, has just occurred here. — William R. Fisher ; Great Yarmouth, October 24, 1844. 



Notes on the Nidijication of Fishes. 

 By R. Q. Couch, Esq., M.R.C.S.L. 



The subject of the following communication, though not of great 

 importance, may be regarded as at least remarkably curious, being in 

 a great measure hitherto unsuspected. We have been accustomed to 

 look on the inhabitants of the deep as devoid of any thing like intel- 

 ligence or affection ; as beings guided solely by insatiable appetites, 

 which lead them indiscriminately to prey on each other, and to aban- 

 don their offspring to the mercy of the sea and their predatory com- 

 panions, from the instant that the ova are shed. Any attempt to 

 dispel this opinion will probably be received with distrust ; for taken 

 as a whole, fish are certainly the most universally predacious of any 

 class of animals in existence ; being checked only by want of power. 

 But notwithstanding this, some, at least, have a redeeming quality. 



