64 



Northern Neii^s. 



Mr. W. P. Pycraft records the occurrence of a fine male Pacific Eider- 

 duck {Soniateria v-nigriim)^ killed at Scarborough on i6th December. This 

 is the first record of this species on our shores. 



Mr. W. Eagle Clarke contributes a paper ' On the Vole and Shrew of 

 the Orkney Islands,' and another on ' The Birds of the Flannan Islands,' 

 to the ' Annals of Scottish Natural History ' for January. 



A valuable addition has recently been made to the botanical collection 

 in the Hull Municipal Museum in the form of a collection of 100 specimens 

 of British Hepaticse, carefulh' mounted and named by Mr. W. H. Pearson, 

 jM an Chester. 



The Rev. W. J. Wingate, of Bishop Auckland, informs us that in ex- 

 amining some papers of Mr. Backhouse, of St. John's, Walsingham, dated 

 about 60 or 70 3'ears ag'o, he finds a record of Uroceriis \Sirex\ jiive7icus , 

 on the top of York Minster. 



Mr. J. Cosmo Melvill has written a brief account of the General 

 Herbarium formed by himself and presented recently to the Manchester 

 Museum. The collection contains some exceedingly valuable sets of 

 plants. (Manchester Museum Handbook, No. 54.) 



The North Staffordshire Field Club is establishing a Reference Library 

 — the ' Daltry ' Library — in memory of the services to the club of the late 

 Rev. T. W. Daltry, M.A., F.L.S., F.E.S., who had been Honorary Secretary 

 to the Club for 38 years. Daltry was born at Hull in 1832. 



The York and District Field Naturalists' Society has issued an attractive 

 * ^lember's Card,' which contains a list of the officers, syllabus of lectures, 

 catalogue of the library, copy of the Society's rules, library rules, and four 

 blank leaves for notes. Mr. G. Benson is the President, and Mr. Harwood 

 Brierley the Hon. Secretary. 



The ' Annual Report of the Leeds Naturalists' Club and Scientific 

 Association' for 1904, recently presented, showed a good record of work 

 done. Fortnightly meetings were held during the session, when many 

 interesting specimens were exhibited and discussed. The president for 

 1905 is Dr. E. Octavius Croft, and the hon. secretary Mr. J. M. Butler, 

 214, Tempest Road, Leeds. 



The frontispiece to the January 'Journal of Conchology' is a repro- 

 duction of a photograph of the members of the Conchological Society, 

 taken at the last annual meeting. Many prominent workers— contributors 

 to this journal — were present. The same journal contains Mr. Scharff's 

 Presidential Address, entitled, ' The Origin of the Land and Freshwater 

 jMollusca at present living in the British Isles.' 



The Scarborough Corporation has decided to prevent as far as possible 

 the erosion of the coast on the north side, by the erection of groynes, and 

 by extending the toe of the existing apron of the sea-wall down to shale- 

 level by means of steps. The Borough Engineer estimates a loss of 18,000 

 or 20,000 tons of shale from the front of the sea-wall of tlie Albert Drive 

 since 1887-8, when the wall was built. 



In a paper entitled 'Ten Years' Captures of New British Beetles' 

 (Trans. Leicester Lit. and Phil. Soc, Vol. 8, Part 2), Mr. H. St. J. 

 Donisthoi-pe includes a record of a capture of a sing-le specimen of 

 Agathidiuni hadiuin at Patterdale, on Lake Ullswater, in September 

 <? 1903). In the same publication Mr. A. Bruce Jackson has some interest- 

 ing 'Notes on Leicestershire Eyebrights.' 



From a reprint of an article in a local paper, we learn that the Deadly 

 Niglitshade [Atropa hclla(to)uia), whicli has been known to grow on 

 Nottingham Castle during the past 40 years, has at last been identified — 

 and b\- a Hull man ! ' Its real character was proved a few days ag^o by 

 comjiaring its black glossy fruit with that pictured in Hume's coloured 

 plates, illustrating his work on wild flowers.' Can it possibly be that this 



]-)lant has been ' known but unidentified for 40 years ' ? 



Naturiilist, 



4FEB.1905 



