[103] 
INTELLIGENCE. 
ZOOLOGICAL INFORMATION. 
Habits of a common Seal (Phoca vitulina) kept in confinement The animal, 
of which the following is a short account, was received in June 1835, having been 
brought from Scotland to Holyhead in a collier. He had with two others been 
caught in a fishing net in the north of Scotland, and from the time be began 
his journey until he arrived at his destination, a period of fourteen days, he had 
no nourishment whatever except two spoonfuls of milk, he had been forced to 
swallow ; nevertheless, he did not appear to have suffered from his fast. When 
turned into a small pool surrounded with iron railings, in which some roach and 
dace had been previously placed, he was highly delighted at his comparative li- 
berty, diving after the fish, which he caught very readily so long as the water 
remained clear. After catching a fish he did not swallow it immediately, but 
bit and mumbled it a good deal to break the bones, played with it, and when dead 
and floating on the surface of the water, would dive, come up under it, and put it 
under. He appears to have no idea of fear while in the water, but while out of 
it, and suddenly alarmed, immediately began to scramble towards it. If a dog 
approached the railings, he would follow it round and round the pool, not, how- 
ever, venturing out of the water. His time of sleep was always during the day, 
when he delighted to bask in the sun, sometimes reclining on his back, sometimes 
on his sides and belly. Towards evening he became very lively, catching his 
meals, and diving about the pool in all directions. I never knew a fish eaten 
that he did not catch and kill himself, not even one that was caught and thrown 
towards him alive, while he was on land. I was sometimes allowed to scratch 
or tickle him, but if any sudden noise or movement was made, he snapped at 
the fingers, though he did not continue to hold like an otter or badger T. C. 
Eyton. February 11, 1836. 
Sitta Europea. In the " Illustrations of British Ornithology," article Nut- 
hatch, the author, relying upon the authority of Montagu, has stated that this bird 
is not met with in Cornwall ; this he finds from a correspondent is not correct, 
he having frequently seen and killed it near Liskeard in that county P. J. S. 
Loxia curvirostra Crossbills in great numbers have been very common 
in various districts of England and Scotland during the last autumn and winter, 
and, what is worthy of note, many remain with us up to the present date, viz. 
March 25, 1 836. * This is at variance with M. Temminck's account of the bird, and 
its usual period of nidification, which in his Manual he states to be during the 
winter months, and whose authority is relied upon, in the Illustrations of Bri- 
* May 3d A pair were shot at Twizel in the red plumage. The male fre- 
quently uttered his love note, and the eggs in the female were larger than peas 
P. J S. 
