EDITORIAL GLEANINGS. 449 
Sometimes when a pack of Killers set out Whale-hunting they will be 
joined by a Thresher—the Fox Shark (Alopias vulpes), and then while the 
Killers bite and tear the unfortunate Cetacean, the Thresher deals him 
fearful blows with his scythe-like tail. The master of a whaling vessel 
told me that off the north end of New Caledonia there was a pack of nine 
Killers which were always attended by two Threshers and a Swordfish. 
Not only he but many other whaling skippers had seen this particular 
Swordfish year after year joining in attacks upon Whales. The cruising 
ground of this pack extended for thirty miles, and the nine creatures and 
their associates were individually known to hundreds of whalemen. And 
no doubt these combats, witnessed from a merchant ship, have led to many 
Sea Serpent stories; for when a Thresher stands his long twenty feet of 
slender body straight up on end like a pole, he presents a strange sight. 
But any American sperm-whaling captain will wink the other eye when 
you say “Sea Serpent.” 
Some Smelts have been caught in the Thames at Kew and Richmond. 
They were taken by anglers fishing with gentles for Roach and Dace. 
Last year Smelts worked as high up the Thames, and their presence there 
is of considerable interest, as it testifies to the increasing purity of the 
river.— Westminster Gazette, August 15th. 
A society with the title of the Zoological Society of Edinburgh is 
being formed for the purpose of establishing a zoological garden. A public 
meeting was to be held early in October. 
To protect the water-fowl and wild birds at Hampstead Heath some 
very pretty plantations have been made by the County Council near the 
ponds, and fenced in so as to keep the public from them. One result of 
this additional security is that there are now several broods of Cygnets, 
Wild Ducks, and Moorhens in the ponds. According to the keepers the 
wild fowl have trebled in number during the present year. 
Mr. Lionext E. Apams has contributed “A Plea for Owls and 
Kestrels ” in the ‘ Journ. Northamptonshire Nat. Hist. Soc.’ for June last. 
The author rightly observes :— 
The simple and direct test is the analysis of the ‘ pellets” which these 
birds cast up. Many people (including a keeper that a friend of mine 
recently interviewed) are not aware that Owls, Hawks, and many other 
Zool. 4th ser. vol. Ii., October, 1898. 2H 
