NEWS NOTES 



(No 32. p. 259) : — "The specimens closely 

 resemble the P. lanceolatus of Reichen- 

 bach's Icones vii t. 31, which is certainly 

 not the P. lanceolatus of Smith and seems 

 almost equally certainly, a state of P. 

 nitens. 1. c. t. ZL"—{Eds. Nat.) 



Singular Death of a Sea-Ghill. — On Sun- 

 day last, Mr. Wales, butler to Mr. Dal- 

 rymple, Langlee, Galashiels, observed a 

 white object hanging on a paling, and on 

 approaching he found it to be a dead sea- 

 gull. The bird had been on a fishing ad- 

 venture, and had come across a fixed bait 

 with hooks attached. One of the hooks 

 had fastened in its tongue, and in endea- 

 vouring to get free, it carried away about two 

 feet of gut and another hook. In its flight 

 across the fields, the flying hook stuck fast 

 in the paling, and the poor bird, unable to 

 break loose a second time hung till it died. 

 — Scotsman. 



Sale of Rare Eggs.— Mr. Stevens sold 

 a few days since, at his rooms in King- 

 street, a collection of eggs and skins of 

 very rare birds. Included in the former 

 were four eggs of the Great Auk (now ex- 

 tinct. )(?) The prices fetched were asunder, 

 and go far to show how keen is the taste 

 for all relating to natural history : Egg of 

 Great Auk, £29 ; ditto, £33 ; ditto, £31 

 10s. ; ditto, £29— total £122 10s. One 

 egg of the Casarca, or Ruddy Shieldrake, 

 fetched £1 16s., which is rather remarkable 

 as specimens of the bird are, comparatively 

 speaking, in all ornithological collections. 

 — Gardener's Chronicle. 



Capture of a Gigantic Shark at Ilfra- 

 eomhe. — A gentleman, named Mr. G. P. 0. 

 Richardson writes to the Times on Monday 

 from Ilfracombe to announce the capture of 

 a very large specimen of the hammer-headed 

 shark Zygnoia malleus. He says : *' About 

 one p.m. yesterday, a large object was ob- 

 served floundering among the rocks near 

 the ladies' bathing cove by the boatmen on 

 the quay-head. With great difficulty and 



AND QUERIES. 117 



some risk it was secured by ropes, and tri- 

 umphantly towed into Ilfracombe harbour; 

 it was then placed on a cart and drawn 

 through the streets. For a small amount 

 I obtained the carcass, and had it placed 

 in the small garden behind our house. On 

 measurement it was found to be 13ft. 7 in. 

 in length, 7ft. 2in. in girth behind the 

 pectoral fins, 3ft. 3in. between the orbits 

 of the eyes, which were nearly covered by 

 crustacean parasites. On opening the 

 animal the remains of two Thombacks and 

 a Bass were found, together with a number 

 of intestinal worms of enormous size. 

 There is only one recorded appearance of 

 this remarkable fish on the British coast, 

 at Caiston, near Yarmouth, in the year 

 1825. Would any of your readers suggest 

 the best means of preserving this valuable 

 specimen for our magnificent national col- 

 lection." 



Capture of a neiv British Malthodes. — I 

 caught two specimens of a Malthodes at 

 Gibside in July last year, which I have 

 since determined to be Malthodes mysticus, 

 Kiesenw., Thomson, Skandinaviens Coleop- 

 tera, Yol. YI. 199, 3 ; and which is, I 

 believe, new to the British Fauna. It has 

 much the look of M. dispar ; but difii'ers 

 in being darker coloured, and in having 

 the thorax and elytra proportionately 

 shorter. The sub -quadrate thorax, also, is 

 distinctly margined, and the ventral seg- 

 ments in the male are very different. One 

 of the specimens has dark-coloured un- 

 spotted elytra, whilst the other has the 

 usual yellow tips. — Thos. Jno. Bold, 

 Long Benton, Newcastle-on-Tyne, June 21, 

 1865. — Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 



Corn Blight at Malton. — Will any of our 

 correspondents in the neighbourhood of 

 Malton, be kind enough to send us a few 

 examples of the straw and ears of the 

 blighted crops in their neighbourhood. — 

 Eds. Nat. 



