18 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Other interesting items worth noting are as follow : — 

 "According to the estimate given by the local Fishery Officers, 

 979,000 Crabs and 38,100 Lobsters were landed in the district 

 this year to date " (Eeport for half-year to September 30th). 

 Most of these were taken off Norfolk. Oysters — English and 

 American — did well at Hunstanton. No less than 102,000 cwt. 

 of Cockles were landed at King's Lynn for the twelve months 

 ended August 31st last. He also writes : " Some of the Flemish 

 Eefugees, for whom homes have been found on the Norfolk 

 coast, at once took to Mussels as a part of the food-supply to 

 which they were accustomed in Belgium." 



Only one jarring note finds a place in the Eeport, a wail 

 from the Blakeney fishermen who, I think unjustly, accuse the 

 increasing, well-protected Terns on Blakeney Point of seriously 

 damaging the Smelt and Shrimp fishery. Unfortunately this 

 class of men, like African witch doctors, must make some 

 accusation against something, when natural causes, which they 

 do not allow their intelligence to rightly fathom, make against 

 their usual success. To the falling off among the Shrimps and 

 Prawns I have already alluded. 



On one or two occasions late in November a large shoal of 

 Codlings up to 7 lb. and 9 lb. in weight afforded our few long- 

 liners a little remunerative sport, while the numbers of Whitings 

 had almost entirely vanished. I was interested in the frequent 

 stunted Cods captured, and saw four on as many days, the head 

 being disproportionately large for the size of the body, as shown 

 in Yarrell's drawing ('British Fishes,' vol. i., p. 533). 



The most curious Crab claw met with came to hand on 

 April 3rd. In a small edible Crab I found the right pincer 

 claw had been recently injured, a healing process having covered 

 the fracture (no doubt, temporarily) with a shelly process : the 

 left pincer claw never possessed but one chela — the upper free 

 one — and even this was slightly distorted in shape, although 

 it worked freely enough. The under fixed chela had never been 

 present, so that the Crab had been quite incapable of nipping or 

 tearing its prey, and I was not surprised at the starved and 

 emaciated condition of the hapless crustacean. 



A Bib (Gadus luscus) captured off the Suffolk coast early in 

 December was found to have its tail damaged by the parasite 



