361 
CHAPTER OF CRITICISM. 
On Faunas and Floras, in general and particular. 
Bewsey House^ Aug. 18, 1837* 
Dear Sir,—Y our talented correspondent, Mr. Dale, has set an example to 
zoologists, and Mr. Bloxam to botanists, which, I think, ought to be followed in 
as many cases as possible. The advantage of having local floras and faunas is 
universally acknowledged, and the manner in which they are published in The 
Naturalist to me much better than if, as in Loudon’s Magazine of 
Natural History^ the productions of the various counties were to be known by 
short notices of the capture of perhaps a dozen rare birds, or the discovery of a 
like number of rare plants, in different neighbourhoods, scattered here and there 
throughout the volume. In the “ Dorsetshire Fauna ” Mr. Dale mentions 
Fuligula rufina., to which it appears, by a note at the bottom of the page, he 
had affixed “ Tufted Pochard” as the English name. Is it not probable that he 
meant the Tufted Pochard, which is of common occurrence, and pretty generally 
distributed, while of Fuligula rufina^ Mr. Jenyns informs us, only four speci¬ 
mens have been met with ? This supposition is strengthened by the circumstance 
of F. cristata not being in his list. Of Mergus cucullatus^ according to Jenyns, 
only one specimen has been met with in Europe; if Mr. Dale has found it in 
Dorsetshire, the particular locality is, in my opinion, very desirable. Perhaps 
there may be some mistake. The same remarks will apply to his notice of 
Procellaria puffinus. Of course I only make these observations to elicit in¬ 
formation. It appears to me that the “ blue and green” species of Lizard, which, 
Mr. Dale informs us, he has found at Parley, is Lacerta siirpium. At all events 
this species ought to have a place in the Dorsetshire fauna, as, according to 
Jenyns, two specimens were taken by Mr. Yarrell near Poole, in Dorsetshire. 
Persons have informed me that they have seen green Lizards ” near Southport, 
in this county. I think it not improbable that these will be referable to the 
same species. 
Scarcity of the Garden Ouzel near Warringtoi-t. 
With regard to the Garden Ouzel (Merula hortensis)^ the fact that it is not 
common here has been remarked by others as well as myself, Considering its 
extreme abundance in other parts of the kingdom, it most certainly ‘‘ cannot be 
said to be common in this neighbourhood.” This statement is analogous to one 
made by Mr. Morris, in a preceding number of The Naturalist (No. ix., p. 166), 
respecting the House SpaiTow not being common near Doncaster. It is com- 
