NOTES AND QUERIES. 435 



the morning about that date ; and on the 26th two Hooded Crows 

 flew up from the lower pond, and settled in the Pond Plantation. — 

 L. B. Mouritz. 



PISCES. 



Anchovy at Yarmouth. — On Oct. 24th I obtained, through the kind 

 offices of Mr. E. Beazor, one of our local fish merchants, a very fine and 

 plump example of the Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus), that had been 

 taken in the drift-net of a Scotch boat fishing out of this port. It 

 measured 6f in. in length, and could hardly fail to attract the notice of 

 the fishermen, when shaking out the nets, by its short length as com- 

 pared with the Herrings, in whose company it had perished. But for 

 its plumpness it would certainly never have been held in the meshes. 

 Placed in formalin, it exuded so much grease as to discolour the water, 

 and top it with such a layer of oil, that in four days it could hardly be 

 distinguished in the bottle. The skin of this fish is remarkably tender, 

 and peels off most easily, and the scales are soon removed. — A. H. 

 Patteeson (Great Yarmouth). 



Large Chub (Leuciscus cephalus) in the Hampshire Avon. — A 

 very fine specimen of this fish has recently been caught a few miles 

 from Bingwood. Its weight was nearly seven and a half pounds — or, 

 to be correct, 7 lb. 6£ oz. — after it had bled considerably from a "gaff" 

 wound. It is said to be a " record " weight for this river, if not for 

 others, and it is somewhat remarkable that it is not a native species in 

 this river. The older anglers in this neighbourhood were entirely 

 unacquainted with it, not from lack of observation, or its close 

 resemblance to allied species, for I understand even the young fry are 

 easily recognized in the water amongst other fish — as Roach and Dace 

 — by their darker fins. The late Mr. Mills, of Bisterne Manor (to 

 whom several miles of the river belonged), once told me of the manner 

 in which the species was introduced some thirty or more years ago. A 

 Pike-fisher, having obtained permission to try his fortune, brought a 

 number of small Chub for bait, but, being unsuccessful, one very cold 

 day he grew disgusted with his ill-luck, and threw the whole contents 

 of his bait-kettle over a bridge into the stream, and from that time the 

 fish grew and multiplied, much to the annoyance of many anglers, for, 

 although it sometimes gives fair sport, and will take almost any kind 

 of bait (either for surface or bottom fishing), it is a " coarse " fish in 

 the truest sense of the word, and has been described as having many 

 bones in its woolly flesh; it also has the reputation of preying upon 

 the small fry of other fish. I cannot speak with certainty of its having 



