Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/212

184 rare union between Lagopus scoticus and Lyrurus tetrix. It was therefore with great pleasure that I recently identified no fewer than four birds of this curious cross." These birds were secured at Shalloch, Kirkcudbrightshire—a moor of less than 3000 acres—and included a beautiful female hybrid. Two of these birds, male and female, were exhibited before the British Ornithologists' Club in November of last year, and their identification as hybrids between the Red and Black Grouse was accepted by all the members present.

the March meeting of the Zoological Society of London Mr. Sclater called attention to the two specimens of Otters now living in the Society's Gardens, which had been received from Co. Down, Ireland, last year, and pointed out that they differed in several respects from the Common Otter. The Irish Otter had been separated specifically from Lutra vulgaris by Ogilby in 1834, under the name of Lutra roensis, and Mr. Sclater thought it was worthy of enquiry whether Ogilby was not right in his views.

a February meeting of the Zoological Society of London Mr. G.A. Boulenger, F.R.S., read a paper entitled "A Catalogue of the Reptiles and Batrachians of Celebes, with special reference to the collections made by Drs. P. and F. Sarasin in 1893-1896." This memoir gave a complete list (with descriptions) of all the Reptiles and Batrachians, with the exception of the marine species, known to occur in the Celebes. The number of species of Reptiles enumerated was 83, and of Batrachians 21.

the 'Irish Naturalist' for February, Mr. H. Lyster Jameson has written a paper on the "Bats of Ireland," giving as far as possible a complete range of the species.

"Seven species of Bats are known to inhabit Ireland, six of which belong to the family Vespertilionidæ, represented by three genera, Plecotus, Vespertilio, and Vesperugo, the seventh to the family Rhinolophidæ."

the 'Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club,' vol. xii. part 1, is an interesting paper, by Mr. E.B. Wethered, on "The Depths of the Sea in Past Epochs." This is not so purely geological as its title might imply, and refers more to the organic life that then ensued and to the remains now found in the then sea bottoms. As the author remarks: —

"Generally speaking, geologists have been content with fossils which could be detected without the aid of the microscope." The preliminary summary of results relates to the Silurian, Carboniferous, and Jurassic limestones:—