Miscellaneous. 



395 



wild, that it is with difficulty one can obtain proximity to it when 

 disturbed in its avocations among the crooked roots of the man- 

 groves. — R. A. Bankier, Acting Surgeon, Port Essington. 



Freshwater shells collected in Wexford. — As our catalogue of the 

 land and freshwater shells of Ireland is far from complete, perhaps 

 the following list of a few species, collected by myself in Wexford, 

 may prove not unworthy of insertion in your valuable Magazine, as 

 tending to show the distribution of species, and adding several to 

 those mentioned by Mr. Gray in his excellent tabular arrangement 

 of localities in Turton's Manual. 



Limax maximus. Zua lubrica. 



Vitrina pellucida. Pupa utnbilicata. 



Helix pulchella. Ciausilia nigricans. 



aculeata. Limnaeus pereger. 



hispida. truncatulus. 



virgata. Ancylus fluviatilis. 



Zonites rotundatus. Physa fontinalis. 



alliarius. Variety figured 1 10* Gray 's Manual. 



Bulimus acutus. 



Sylvanus Hanley. 



Newington Green, November 30th, 1840. 



Capture of some Rare Birds on the Cotswold Hills. — June 1839. 

 I had sent me a male and female Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus), 

 and, about three weeks afterwards, another female was killed. The 

 pair would no doubt have bred here, had they not been destroyed. 

 The female had nearly the whole inside of her mouth diseased, being 

 covered with a tough leathery substance, of a pale colour, and which 

 I had considerable difficulty in removing. This matter had begun 

 to extend itself down the throat, where, however, it was less firm in 

 its texture. The bird was thin. 



The other birds obtained here, were three specimens of the 

 Rough-legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) ; two were taken in Decem- 

 ber 1839, and the other in January 1840. 



24th October, 1840, was shot, near Cheltenham, the Black Red- 

 start (Sylvia Tithys). 



In January 1840 the Fire-crested Wren was shot near Chelten- 

 ham (S. ignicapilla, Brehm.). 



The last two birds are in the possession of N. Skelton, bird- 

 preserver at Cheltenham. — J. Brown. 



Cotswold Hills, December 4, 1840. 



Remarkable Habit in a Fish. — While at San Joaquim, on the Rio 

 Bremeo, I was frequently warned by the inhabitants to be cautious 

 while bathing of a small fish called Cancliru, which they said entered 

 the urethra and rectum, chiefly if one, while in the water, should 

 satisfy nature ; that the greatest difficulty attended the extraction 

 of this little fish, which often caused most dangerous inflammation, 

 and even death. Although these accounts were given to me by 

 persons whom I had no reason to disbelieve, I could not find any 

 one who had been an eye-witness of such an uncommon event, and I 



