Fishes. 



6731 



flagstaff at Bournemouth, Hampshire,— the habitat of the larger heath lizard (Lacerla 

 sterpium). These species are found together not uncommonly, and generally dis- 

 tributed over Europe. The snake is said to live on the lizard. This is one of the most 

 interesting additions to the British Fauna which has been made for many years, as it 

 is not common to find a new vertebrate animal, except occasional visitants. This 

 snake has small scales, is brown, with two lines of darker spots down the sides of the 

 back, a dark blotch on the shoulder and head, and a blackish streak under the eyes. 

 It is like a viper in size and general appearance, but wants the dark lozenge-shaped 

 spots on the back.— John Edward Gray ; British Museum. 



[The following brief description of this interesting addition to our Fauna may 

 possibly be acceptable to my readers : my authority is Lord Clermont's admirable 

 little work intituled * Quadrupeds and Keptiles of Europe,' — a work that I am very- 

 glad to have this opportunity of heartily recommending. " The Coluber austriacus 

 is identical with Coronella austriaca of Dumeril and Bibron, vol. vii. p. 610, and it is 

 also the Coluber laevis of Schinz, vol. ii. p. 45. It never attains a very large size, its 

 entire length being about two feet. The head is but slightly distinct from the body ; 

 the tail short, and strong at the base ; the eyes small ; the rostral plate presses much 

 upon the muzzle, and is of a triangular form, with its top pointed ; there are seven 

 labial plates on the upper lip on each side, the third and fourth of which touch upon 

 the eye ; scales of the body smooth, rhomboid, in nineteen longitudinal rows ; ventral 

 plate6 160 to 164 ; subcaudal 60 to 64 pairs ; one anal plate divided ; the upper maxil- 

 lary teeth are on the same line with the others, and longer; the upper parts are 

 greenish brown, with two parallel rows of black markings along the back, more dis- 

 tinct towards the head than in the hinder portion ; sometimes the spots on the back 

 are small and few in number ; the lower parts have a lighter ground colour, but are 

 often much darkened by black marblings. It inhabits central and southern Europe, 

 is found in various parts of France, but is not very common in the south of that 

 country : it occurs iu Sicily, and in the whole of Italy and its islands, but is more fre- 

 quent in the north than in the south of that peninsula ; it is included in the Fauna 

 of Gallicia and the Bukovina, Silesia and Carniola : it is common in Switzerland 

 near Zurich ; but rare in Belgium, where it has been met with near Louvain, and on 

 the right bank of the Moselle : Schinz states that it has been found in Sweden, but 

 it is everywhere less abundant than our common snake {Coluber natrix). v — E. N.~] 



Occurrence of the Plain Bonito (Auxis vulgaris) in the Moray Firth. — A very fine 

 male specimen of the above rare fish was captured off Cullen, Banffshire, on the 7th 

 inst. It was taken in a herring-net. It measured over 20 inches in length and 12 

 in circumference behind the first dorsal. One very peculiar feature connected with it 

 was that if stroked down when wet it gave the hand all the appearance of having come 

 across a piece of metal newly black-leaded. I am not aware of this peculiarity being 

 mentioned in Yarrell or elsewhere.— Thomas Edward ; Banff", September 17, 1859. 



