4 



NOTES— MOLLUSCA. 



Octopus on the Cleveland Coast.— On Sunday, 29th July 1900, a small 

 Octopus was found stranded on the beach at Redcap, and considerable 

 interest was attached to its capture, the creature being 1 generally a native 

 of warmer climates, and seldom found so far north. — J. W. FAWCETT, Satley, 

 Darlington, 21st September 1900. 



Testacella scutulum in Leeds City. -On the esI of November the 

 atmosphere and the ground were completely saturated with moisture, so much 

 so that numbers of slugs were forced out of the ground to perambulate in 

 open air. Mr. Oliver Marsden observed a number of Tcstacellce crawling 

 about on the pavement and garden walls in Hyde Park Road, between the 

 Woodhouse Moor Wesleyan Chapel and the corner of Moorland Road. 

 He sent me two, which proved to be T. scutulum, Mr. John W. Taylor con- 

 firming the determination. — W. Denison ROEBUCK, 259, Hyde Park Road, 

 Leeds, 10th November 1900. 



Helix virgata in the Louth District.— As Mr. 11. W. Kew mentions 

 Helix virgata (with H. cantiana) as being 4 altogether absent from the 

 Louth neighbourhood' (' Naturalist,' June 1896, p. 174), it may be of interest 

 to note that H. virgata is to be found plentifully at Red Hill, near Goulceby. 

 Specimens of varieties collected there I sent to Mr. J. W. Taylor, Leeds, 

 who kindly identified them as var. alba, which I found fairly common with 

 and without translucent bands ; 'an approach to subalbida' j 'a dark form 

 of the var. subdeleta' ; and 'an approach to var. minor.' It may also be of 

 further interest that on 1st September I found the following in copulation: — 

 H. virgata type and var. subdeleta ; var. subdeleta and var. alba (with 

 translucent bands) ; var. alba (translucent banded form) and type. — C. S. 

 Carter, 172, Eastgate, Louth, Lincolnshire, 7th November 1900. 



Plague of Dew Slugs at Bottesford. On the 25th of September 

 1890, I sowed the fishpond field at the Warp Farm, Bottesford, N.W. 

 Lincolnshire, with Scholey's wheat. The seed germinated well and came 

 up an excellent crop, braiding well. During the following winter my 

 friends often remarked on the healthy look of the plant. This continued to 

 be the case until the middle of March, when all at once I noticed a great 

 change for the worse on the eastern side of the field. This soon spread 

 across the whole extent of the piece. On examination we found a vast 

 army of Dew Slugs {Agriolituax agrestis) cutting off the young plant near 

 the ground. We tried rolling the field, but this did not seem to do muc h 

 good, although thousands were killed. For one that perished beneath the 

 rings of a Cambridge roller a thousand more seemed to spring out of the 

 ground. During the day the host of the enemy retired into worm holes or 

 under small clots of earth. It was in the early morning and evening when 

 the dew was on the plant that the enemy came forth to slay my crop. 

 However, I had neighbours at hand who could master the pest. The 

 Black-headed Gulls, or, I suppose I ought to say, Brown-headed Gulls 

 (Lanes ridibuudus), came to my aid and soon cleared away the noxious 

 marauders. These birds came in thousands from the gull-ponds at Twig- 

 moor, Scotton Common, and Crosby Black Rabbit Warren. So heartily 

 did some of my neighbours feed that they were unable to fly. The field at 

 that time looked as if it had been eaten down with sheep — only a few 

 withered blades were to be seen. I made up my mind to plough it up and 

 drill oats in its place, but gave it a few days' grace to see if the plant would 

 shoot again. In a few days from the gulls coming I could see a vast 

 improvement, and in ten days the field was again green, so I let it stand. At 

 harvest time this field produced by far the best crop. I had six quarters 

 per acre on it against five, or even less, in my other fields. The sample of 

 corn was out and out the best I saw that season shown at our local 

 markets. — Max Peacock, The Manor, Bottesford, Lincolnshire, 7th July 

 1900. 



Naturalist, 



