396 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



obtained is uncertain ; it was captured in a drain by a workman, and 

 passed through two other hands before Dr. Cairnie obtained it. Stock- 

 port, though a Cheshire town, is on the Lancashire-Cheshire border, 

 and it may have been caught in either county. The outer web of the 

 first primary is white, and in all particulars its plumage agrees with 

 the description of the species in Dresser's ' Birds of Europe,' and with 

 specimens in the Dresser Collection in the Victoria University Museum, 

 Manchester. Dresser, however, says (op. cit. vol. vii. p. 276) that the 

 legs are " dirty greyish flesh," though Seebohm and Sharpe describe 

 them as olive. ' Dr. Cairnie, who saw the bird in the flesh, is certain 

 that they were green, and gave his taxidermist instructions to be care- 

 ful in this particular. Probably some descriptions and plates, for 

 Dresser is not the only one who describes them as other than greenish, 

 are taken from dried skins in which the colour has faded. — T. A. 

 Coward (Bowdon, Cheshire). 



Notes on the Dabchick (Podicipes fluviatilis). — Mr. Oldham's 

 notes on the Little Grebe {ante, pp. 351-353) appear to throw some 

 doubt on several of my observations regarding this bird. I do not think 

 that three eggs is an unusual clutch. I have frequently found nests with 

 three highly incubated eggs ; and on Sept. 8th this year I saw three 

 young birds just hatched on the nest, and this must surely be suffi- 

 cient proof that three eggs do sometimes constitute a clutch. I have 

 had several Dabchicks alive, and have never seen them walk on their 

 feet in the way Mr. Oldham describes, but, on the contrary, shuffled 

 along on the belly, and rested with the whole tarsi on the ground. 

 The captive Dabchick I mentioned in my paper was one which was 

 confined on a tank of clear water, and its every movement could be 

 closely observed when submerged, and, as before stated, I frequently 

 saw it use its wings. — Gordon Dalgldssh (Brook, Witley, Surrey). 



PISCES. 

 Loch Broom Sea Monster. — Kegarding the Loch Broom sea 

 monster and correspondence thereon (ante, pp. 355-357), I may say 

 by the way that it is refreshing in absence of the sea serpent and 

 mermaid tone. The evidence given is simply hasty impressions of the 

 observer, and, ceteris paribus, comparable with my note on Flamingo — 

 a passing record and not indisputable data. I strongly support Mr. 

 Southwell's conclusion of the likelihood of the Loch Broom animal 

 being a Basking Shark (Selache maxima). His reasoning is sound, 

 and very rightly he attaches importance to the habits shown ; ?. e., its 

 demeanour under the circumstances, as less likely to be deceptive than 



