NOTES AND QUERIES. 357 



Mr. Workman's monster. I am strongly inclined to the opinion that 

 the creature seen was a Basking Shark (Selache maxima), with which, 

 making a slight allowance for imperfect rendering of the fins in the 

 drawing, they would fairly agree. Day says this animal attains the 

 length of forty feet (we know how deceptive the dimensions of creatures 

 in the water appear, and your correspondent, not seeing the whole of 

 the animal, might easily have over-estimated its length), and that the 

 dorsal fin in a twenty- eight foot specimen was four feet high. The 

 fact of its lying motionless at the surface for so long a time, and the 

 dark colour of the back (especially where wet), also accord with the 

 habits and appearance of this Shark. I think, therefore, that its 

 description as a " fish" is correct, and that it is most probable it was 

 a Basking Shark as suggested. — T. Southwell (Norwich). 



INSECTA. 



Notes ou the Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa vulgaris). — Though 

 generally regarded as a somewhat rare insect, the Mole Cricket is 

 more plentiful in some parts of England than I had supposed it was. 

 Some four years ago I was shown a pair by a well-known London 

 dealer taken in Surrey, who was asking ten shillings each for them. 

 This year the same dealer showed me two or three store-boxes literally 

 crammed full of Mole Crickets, asking this time one shilling per 

 specimen ! I was told these were taken in Hampshire. It seems a 

 pity that such a fine and curious insect as this should be thus ruth- 

 lessly exterminated. In the Island of Guernsey, Mole Crickets are 

 very common, so much so in some parts as to become a perfect pest 

 to the tomato growers, as they bite off the young plants at the stem 

 close to the ground. I listened to the jarring of them one evening, 

 and their noise closely resembled the summer song of the Nightjar. 

 In a female specimen sent me this year (in July) from Guernsey, I 

 found a number of eggs, yellowish in colour and rather tough in 

 texture. Above ground I have always found them rather active in 

 their movements, running with some swiftness, and not at all sluggish. 

 In some of the river-banks in Bengal a Mole Cricket is common, and 

 is often used as bait by native fishermen. I have taken them at 

 5000 feet in the Himalayas. — Gordon Dalgliesh (Brook, Witley, 

 Surrey). 



The Mole Cricket is probably rather overlooked than rare ; it 

 seems to be still fairly common in the New Forest, but its nocturnal 

 and subterranean habits protect it from discovery. It may be taken 



