Birds — Fishes, 



6097 



above, upper tail-coverts, upper surface of the tail-feathers and of the wings dull 

 sooty-black: the feaihers of the back, including the scapulars, dark shining greenish 

 black, each feather hordered by a very iniuule darker edging: the chin, throat, sides 

 of the head below the eyes and including a narrowed rim over each eye pure white ; 

 as also the breast, belly and the under wing and tail-feathers : on the sides of the 

 neck and passing downwards in front of the pinions, light grayish bars shading off into 

 the while of the breast. Not having seen the bird in the flesh, I cannot speak as to 

 the true colour of the beak and feet ; the former is now dull black and the latter as 

 to the webs yellowish brown. — H. Stevenson ; Norwich^ April 29, 1858. 



Occurrence of the Kentish Plover near Penzance. — A female specimen of this 

 little plover was killed on our flat sands to-day, and I have had an opportunity of ex- 

 amining it minutely in the flesh. 1 have a male specimen, killed here, but I never 

 saw a female before, and I was somewhat perplexed in determining whether it was 

 a female little plover at first. The following are a few particulars I have noted: 

 weight 1^ oz. : length from the beak to the end of the tail 6f in. : beak black: legs 

 lead-blue: feel black: forehead pure white, extending partly over the eye, the purity 

 then giving way to a reddish while passing over and behind the eye; the whole of the 

 under parts unsullied white, the sides of the upper breast excepted, which have 

 a patch of hair-brown, which in the male are black: the whole upper plumage from 

 the top of the head to the centre of the tail pale ash-colour, the remainder of the tail 

 nearly black: the shaft of the first quill-feather nearly while, the rest of the quill- 

 feathers having the distal portion white, the remainder darker. — Edivard Hearle 

 Rodd ; Penzance, April \7, 1858. 



Occurrence of Wild Geese in the Isle of Wight. — A fortnight ago last Thursday, 

 Mr. Murrow shot four Canada geese and two bernicle geese: a flock of eight came 

 in Freshwater Bay ; he went ofi" in a boat, and in six successive shots killed six 

 out of the eight. I have sluff"ed three of them: one of the bernicles will be sent to 

 the British Museum by Captain Cockburn : I tried to buy the others, but he would 

 not part with them. — F. Rogers ; Royal Hotel, Freshwater Gale, Isle of Wight. 



Supposed New Ammoccetes. — I beg to send you for insertion in the' Zoologist' the 

 following description of what I take to be a new species of a Petromyzidce, perhaps 

 an Ammocaetes. Should it prove so, that is if no one points out that I am wrung, I 

 will name it and give its locality in a future number of the ' Zoologist.' In length it 

 is about 6^ inches ; in girih, where thickest, |ths of an inch. In general form it 

 is rather compressed than round, being only slightly so for about two inches of 

 its length, where it then appears flattish, gradually narrowing towards the tail ; but on 

 the top of the head, and immediately above the eye, which is remarkably small, and 

 almost hid in the centre of a small groove, there is an opening or orifice surrounded with 

 a sort of lip of a beautiful yellow colour, beyond which and extending backward there is 

 a small depression. Dorsals two, about half an inch apart ; the first commences near 

 the middle of the back, and is only a little over an inch in length ; the other reaches 

 to the caudal, to which it is united, and extends without intermission to about an 

 inch on the underside, forming a sort of anal fin : the vent, which is about two iuches 

 from the end of the tail, has, like the orifice on the head, a kind of lip or fringe round 



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