Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/375

Rh —I heard the other day that a nest had been found in a clump of whins, and from the description given of the bird and nest I surmised it was a Willow Wren. Wishing to ascertain whether this was the case I went, July 9th, to the place, which is about a mile distant, and found my surmise correct. It was built about two feet from the ground, and contained four eggs. This is the second instance in which I have found the nest of this species at some height from the ground. I found one in July, 1876, bnilt between two rocks at a distance of three feet from the grouud ; and what was a re- markable coincidence both were built near the Goit-stock Waterfall. Whilst rambling in Upper Wharfedale, last Whitsuntide, I met with the nest of a Cole Tit in an abnormal situation. It was built in a hole in a steep bank, a few yards from an old moss-covered wall, in a fir plantation, and contained young ones nearly fledged. What inducement had operated to determine the bird to select such an unusual site I am at a loss to imagine. The immediate neighbourhood offered far more apparently suitable breeding places. — (Wilsden).

— Mr. A.O. Michell, of Chvmowak, on Thursday last, August 15th, captured a swordfish, Xiphias gladius, in Mount's Bay. It was seen, and deliberately fished for, and taken on a hook and line. Mr. Michell very kindly sent the specimen to me, and I am therefore able to give you its measurements : — -Length, including sword, 8 feet 7 inches ; without sword, 6 feet 4 inches ; from nostril to tip of 6Word, 2 feet 8 inches ; greatest girth, 3 feet ; from tip to tip of caudal fin, 2 feet. Weight, 138 fbs. — (Penzance).

— On the 9th July a fine female swordfish, Xiphias gladius, nine feet six inches long, including the sword or snout, and weighing three and a half hundredweight, was captured near the Eddystone in the drift-net of the fishing lugger 'Dewdrop,' and brought into Plymouth for exhibition. Upon examination I found several remarkable parasites, about ten inches long, adhering to the body just under the pectoral and other fins, which had pierced through the skin so deep that it required a very strong pull to get them out. Mr. Couch, in his account of the swordfish says : — "This fish shows itself as one of the most active of our visitors, occasionally springing above the surface, an action supposed to be caused by the irritation it suffers from the torment inflicted by a parasitic animal that sometimes pierces through the skin beneath the pectoral fins." Adding, "It is probable, however, that this leaping above the surface which has been witnessed by our fishermen is frequently to be attributed to a wanton exuberance of spirits, and although many instances are recorded of the capture of this fish in Britain we are not acquainted with one in which the attention of observers has been drawn to