256 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



by lantern light the great Eed-underwings thrusting their long 

 probosces into the sugar, with their sparkling eyes and quivering 

 scarlet under wings. But still more enthralling is it to find, as 

 I did at Benacre, on the 24th of August, 1901, a " Clifden non- 

 pareil " amongst them. 



On the 31st of July, 1888, the day after the great storm, one 

 end of the " Cedars" pond resembled a small waterfall. Num- 

 bers of Eels were washed ashore, and amongst them one four 

 feet long, eleven inches round, and seven pounds in weight. A 

 still more extraordinary take, in the same water, was a Eudd 

 that weighed four pounds four ounces. I caught it myself in 

 July, 1874, with paste soaked in honey, during a sharp thunder- 



Ringed Snake (Tropidonotus natrix) 



storm ; and also at the same time two Carp, five pounds each. 

 This pond contains Carp, Bream, Perch, Boach, Budd, Dace, 

 and Eels. I remember once catching in this pond a two-pound 

 Perch, which I had stuffed, but now cannot find. The history 

 of this piece of water is obscure, and its volume inconstant. 

 A few years ago it rapidly diminished, without our discovering 

 the reason ; so much so, that we offered the great Carp to the 

 "Zoo." Luckily they declined them, for the water all came 

 back, and is now higher than ever. Kingfishers and Moorhens 

 have nested on the banks as long as I can remember, and Wild 

 Duck, Herons, and Sandpipers pay occasional visits. An uncle 



