, 
176 NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 
covers, running to the tail and then returning to the gill-covers. l 
He found this to be the young state, and this the manner in which — 
a dark, solid band was formed and became perfect when the fish 
reached the adult state. Another species forms a band which dis- 
appears, leaving only one spot at the head and another at the tail. 
A third species begins with a band and ends with cross striæ, 
the band disappearing. These examples, he said, show the neces- 
sity of studying fishes in all stages of their growth. 
CARDINAL GrosBEAK.—On the 31st of January last, a day to 
be remembered as one of the coldest of this very cold winter, à 
specimen of the female Cardinal Grosbeak (Cardinalis Virginia- 
nus Bonap.) was shot in the spruce woods at Point Pleasant, about 
one mile from Halifax. The plumage of the bird forbade the idea 
of its having escaped from confinement, while its shyness, coupled 
with the fact of its being found on skinning to be actually fat and 
in good condition, precluded the possibility of its being a storm- 
blown waif, brought by a revolving gale from the south. Its crop 
contained a few partially digested seeds, cereal in appearance. —4J. 
Matruew Jones, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 
ARRIVAL oF Birps.—On March 9th the first Bluebirds and 
Robins made their appearance in Salem, and on March 10th two 
flocks of geese passed over the city on their northern journey. 
The White-bellied Swallow was not noticed before April 2d. 
Tue Currons.—Dr. P. P. Carpenter, of Montreal, made a ver- 
bal communication to the Boston Society on the family of Chitons ; 
but, as his Monograph of the group is now in the press, and will 
shortly be published by the Smithsonian Institution, it is not nec 
essary to anticipate his results. If any naturalists have species 
which they wish reported on, he will be happy to name them from — 
the typical series, which (with his other collections) he has pre 
sented to the Museum of McGill College. 
Carrie Tick in tHe Human Ear. — Enclosed you will find a tick 
the history of which is this: — A young man applied to Dr. Bou- 
cher, of Iowa City, for a trouble of the ear. Four months before 
he had been in New Mexico and had slept out of doors many 
times. The trouble of the ear commenced about that time. His 
ear pained him many times but not severely. On looking into his 
ear foreign material was seen, and on removal proved to be the 
