22 



THE NATURALIST. 



to particular families, and it is to be 

 desired that others should do the same. 

 Horticulturists might then apply to these 

 botanists for information, &c. Professor 

 Koch then points out several instances 

 where he has succeeded in carrying out the 

 proposed reforms. 



Hare Eggs in Norfolk. — As I am just 

 completing a work on * ' the Birds of Nor- 

 folk" I am particularly interested in ascer- 

 taining the grounds upon which Mr. "W. 

 B. Sharpe considers his latest Oological 

 rarities from this county (?) genuine. At 

 present I must own, although I have 

 worked pretty hard at my hobby for some 

 years, I am unaware that either the yellow- 

 billed cuckoo, Coccyzas americanus, or the 

 rock thrush, Turdus saxatilis, has occurred 

 in Norfolk, much less remained to breed. 

 The little bittern, Botarusminutus, occurs as 

 a rare straggler, though I never heard of 

 its nesting, the birds being invariably shot 

 on their first arrival. And the nesting 

 here of the golden oriole, Oriolvs galbula, 

 though more than once recorded, is 

 extremely doubtful. The eggs of this 

 species in the late Mr. Scale's collection, 

 referred to by Yarrell as laid in Norfolk, 

 actually came from Holland. The roseate 

 tern, Sterna Dougallii, on the authority of 

 Messrs. Paget of Yarmouth, is said to 

 have been killed once in this county, but 

 many years ago, and though the Sandwich 

 tern. Sterna cantiaca, is not unfrequently 

 met with ' in spring and autumn, Mr. 

 Sharpe's friend was fortunate indeed to 

 procure authentic eggs of such rare birds 

 in the same season, on our coast, where 

 from recent explorations I have reason to 

 believe the common tern, Sterna hirundo, 

 and the lesser tern, Sterna minuta, are the 

 only species that now remain to breed. 

 Surely Mr. Sharpe, having published so 

 important a statement will not hesitate to 



communicate the name of the gentleman 

 from whom he received these eggs and 

 obtain also from him every possible parti- 

 cular as to the date and locality. Should 

 these not be forthcoming the only inference 

 must be that Mr, Sharpe was extensively 

 hoaxed ; in which case the announcement 

 of such eggs as genuine cannot be too ex- 

 tensively contradicted. — Henry Steven- 

 son, Norwich, May 18th, 1866. 



Parasite on the Limpet. — Can any of 

 your readers inform me of the generic and 

 specific name of the small red parasite 

 found on the common limpet. It appears 

 to me to resemble a mite but it is not 

 described in Drige's Memoir, on the Acari- 

 njB in the Annales de Sciences Naturelles. — 

 Thomas Graham Ponton. 



Rare Eggs.—'lJn^&i: this heading a short 

 time ago I published a notice of some spe- 

 cimens of rare British Eggs, that I had 

 obtained. As I have since discovered that 

 the egg of Cuculus americanus, although 

 a genuine specimen, is not a genuine Bri' 

 tish one, I feel bound to off"er an explana- 

 tion. A short time back, I entered the 

 shop of a London dealer, with whom I 

 had some business, and I found him busily 

 engaged in unpacking some boxes of eggs, 

 to which he drew my attention. He told 

 me they were collected in Norfolk last 

 season by a gentleman, who was just sell- 

 ing off" his collection, previous to departing 

 for Norway on a bird nesting expedition. I 

 looked over the eggs, and selected those I 

 wanted, as I thought it was a good oppor- 

 tunity to add some rare ones to my collec- 

 tion. About the eggs of Coccygus america- 

 nus and Turdus saxat ilis, I was particularly 

 cautious, but was assured they were 

 genuine, as the gentleman who made the 

 collection was fully competent to know the 

 distinctive characters of each species. The 

 cuckoo's egg was labelled, which drew my 

 attention to it, but the Rock Thrush's had 

 no mark and I had to ask what egg it was. 

 It struck me that the former was only a 

 variety of the Song Thrush's, or Starling's 



