Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/92

70 stragglers only having been shot here within the memory of middleaged sportsmen" (p. 288).

The Heron is frequently seen at Down Park, sometimes in parties of five or six, but they are no doubt stragglers from the heronry at Parham Park. Two instances at least of the discovery of a Heron's nest—one in the fir clump on West Heath, the other on a tree at the pond-tail—are well authenticated, but the nests and eggs were unfortunately destroyed.

The Wild-duck and Teal both breed regularly in the parish, as do also the Moorhen, Coot, Water Rail, and Little Grebe. A particular description of the curious nest of the last-named bird is given on page 294.

We observe that, in giving the scientific names of the birds mentioned in his list, Mr. Weaver has adopted the nomenclature of Macgillivray. This is to be regretted, as the names bestowed by this accomplished naturalist never have been, and never will be, generally adopted. At the present day such names as Pyrrhula pileata, Picus pipra and Picus striolatus are quite unfamiliar even to practised ornithologists.

The chapter on Reptiles calls for no particular comment, unless it be to remark that Mr. Weaver has no evidence to offer on the much vexed question of vipers swallowing their young.

The indigenous fishes are too limited in the number of species to justify a lengthened notice of them; but we take it that any angler of moderate views would be satisfied to find in his parish Trout, Perch, Carp, Tench, Pike and Eels. In the autumn of 1858 nine hundred fine Carp were taken out of Harting Great Pond, one of which was of the extraordinary weight of twenty-four pounds and a half. This remarkable fish, of which an engraving is given (p. 304), from an oil painting made at the time of its capture, measured thirty-four inches in length, exclusive of the caudal fin, and many of the scales on its flanks behind the pectoral fins were larger than half-crown pieces. Harting, we believe, has long been celebrated for its fine carp, and doubtless, says Mr. Weaver, "a goodly number found their way to the refectory of the holy fathers of Durford Abbey in the sixteenth century, when the Great Pond extended over an area of probably thirty acres. It was reserved for the present age, however, to make the grand discovery that Harting was capable of producing a finer specimen of the genus than any other taken in British waters of which we have