86 



THE NATURALIST. 



much more beautiful than the perfect 

 insect. On a piece of waste ground the 

 Dame's Violet Hesperis matronalis, was 

 found. The return home after a few honrs' 

 ramble was enlivened by a discussion on 

 the future existence of the lower animals. 

 — Hy. Ullyett, Hon. Sec. 



The Zoological Society of London have 

 just added to their living collection, a 

 young male African Elephant. This being 

 the first living example ever seen in Eng- 

 land its arrival ought not to pass over 

 without notice. W. J. "W. 



Variety of the Sparrow.— ^^xq other day 

 a flock of sparrows flew into my garden, 

 amongst which I noticed one which was 

 white or rather pale grey. I do not know 

 whether this is common amongst sparroAvs 

 or not, but in this case there was no doubt 

 of the fact. I sat quite close to them for 

 nearly a quarter of an hour, and had plenty 

 of opportunity for observation, unfortu- 

 nately I do not possess a gun or I might 

 have obtained the specimen. — Thomas 

 GkegsonPonton, Clifton, 2>Qth, 1865. 



Occurrence of the Norfolk Plover near 

 .Huddersfield. — A few weeks ago, two 

 examples of the Norfolk Plover were seen 

 at Dungeon Wood, near Huddersfield, one 

 of them was shot by the gamekeeper, and 

 is now in the possession of Mr. Armitage of 

 Milnsbridge. This is only the second 

 recorded instance of their occurrence in this 

 neighbourhood. — J. Williamson, Paddock, 

 near Huddersfield, July 10th, 1865. 



Gallinula crex. — The other day as Mr. 

 Briggs was walking from Cookham to 

 Maidenhead, by the side of the river, with 

 another man, he heard a Land Eail {Gal- 

 linula crex, Lath.), croaking in the grass a 

 short way before him. It is one of Mr. 

 Briggs' boasts that he can always "put up" 

 one of these birds, if he once heard its 

 note. He therefore walked along, beating 

 the grass as he went with his walking stick. 



He failed to find the bird, but had not pro- 

 ceeded far, when he heard its note again 

 behind him. He retraced his steps, and 

 at last the bird got up close to the path. 

 He threw his stick at it and had the good 

 fortune to bring it down. It fell within a 

 yard of the water's edge, and on Mr. Briggs 

 going to pick it up, jumped up, and plung- 

 ing into the river with a great spring, 

 swam straight across to the other bank. I 

 have sent this as it is new to me, and I 

 dare say some of the readers of the Natu- 

 ralist were not aware that the Landrail 

 was a good swimmer. The Thames at this 

 point is not less than seventy yards broad, 

 and as one of its wings was injured, it is 

 suprising how the bird managed to swim 

 the distance. 



I have lately enjoyed a week's stay at 

 Cookham, and collected the following birds 

 which I added to my collection : 

 Sylvia rubeta, Lath. Widbrook. Common. 

 Motacilla campestris. Pall. Widbrook. 



Common. 

 Sylvia sihilatrix, Bech. Formosa. 

 Totanus hypoleucos, Tem. Cockmarsh. 

 Sylvia curruca, Lath. Cockmarsh. 

 ColiLviba Turtur, Linn. Cockmarsh. 

 Paris palustris, Linn. Holly Lodge. 



The Ciii Bunting (^m5mm arZi^s, Linn.) 

 has been heard round Formosa. The 

 number of Cuckoos seen this year in the 

 neighbourhood of Cookham has been sur- 

 prising. — E. B. Sharpe, 186, Strand. 



Lacerta Agilis. — I shall be much obliged 

 if any one can inform me of a locality or 

 localities within thirty miles of London, 

 where the land lizard (either brown or 

 green) is to be found. — W. E. Tate, 

 4, Grove Place, Denmark Hill, London. 



Notes on British Mosses. 

 No. IV. 



By C. p. Hobkirk. 



Bartramia fontana, Brid. 

 This moss, commonly called Apple Moss, 

 from the apple-like form of its fruit, is one 



