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THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[February 



Irish MSS,'" " Lapidanum Walliae," "Book of Kells," and other 

 works, are monuments of his extraordinary knowledge and ability. 

 His acquaintance with ivories and inscribed stones was great, and he 

 was employed to make the catalogues of ivories at South Kensington. 

 He received a gold medal from the Royal Society, was a Fellow of 

 the Linnsean Society from 1829, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, 

 and an honorary or corresponding member of many other learned 

 bodies both at home and abroad. 



He was married in 1839 to Miss Richardson, and was buried on 

 Friday, January 6th, in the same grave, at St. Sepulchre's Cemetery, 

 Oxford. 



General Notes. 



Bird Notes from London. — About Christmas time, when the 

 cold weather began, vast quantities of gulls appeared on the Thames 

 above Blackfriars Bridge, and the thaw does not seem to have appre- 

 ciably diminished their numbers, for I saw some hundreds yesterday 

 morning close to Westminster Bridge. It is to be hoped that some 

 at least of the birds will get accustomed to their present surroundings, 

 and spend the year, with the exception of the breeding season, on 

 what is evidently such a good feeding ground. I do not know much 

 about the different species of gulls, but I believe the flocks consist of 

 common gulls, herring gulls, and kittiwakes, with a few black-headed 

 gulls. — About a fortnight ago, I several times heard a magpie in St. 

 James's Park, and saw it once in the dusk of the evening. I do not 

 know whether it was an escaped tame bird, or a wild one which had 

 strayed into London. It seemed to be able to fly quite well. — -The 

 geese on the ornamental water at St. James's Park appear to have a 

 strong objection to frozen ground. Before Christmas, I always saw 

 a lot of them at the Horse Guards' end of the water strutting about 

 or pruning their feathers when I walked by, about 10.45 * n the morn- 

 ing ; but while the ground was hard frozen they were always on the 

 ice at that time. When the ground got soft again, which it did long 

 before the ice got too thin to bear them, many of them left the ice' 

 again for the grass. — F. E. Prescott-Decie, 14, Kensington Gate, 

 London, W., January 22nd, 1893. 



Bittern in Herefordshire. — One ot these birds, a male, in very 

 good plumage, was shot the end of last month near a little brook on 

 the eastern side of the county. The cold was very severe here at the 

 time. It is the first record we have of a bittern having been seen 

 anywhere in this neighbourhood. — Norah Prescott-Decie, Bockleton 

 Court, Tenbury, January 30th. 



