Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/459

Rh A few Magpies were seen near the Nordenskiold river" [a tributary of the Lewes river], "and a few White-headed Eagles were noticed. During the winter, near the boundary, numbers of small birds, somewhat resembling the 'Chick-adee,' were seen, but they were much larger, and had not the same note. Of Owls, not a specimen was met with anywhere. Partridges were very scarce, only half a dozen or so of the ordinary kind being noticed; but at the head of the Tat-on-duc and Porcupine rivers Ptarmigan were abundant. Wild Geese and Ducks are plentiful, and of Ducks there are many more species than I have seen in any other part of the territory. A very beautiful species of Loon or Diver was met with on the Porcupine. It is smaller than the Great Northern Diver, but marked much the same on the body, the difference being principally in the head and neck; the bill is sharper and finer, and the head smaller, but its chief distinguishing feature is the neck, which is covered with long beautiful dun-coloured down for more than half its length from the head downwards." [This bird was probably (?) the Red-throated Loon, Urinator lumme.]— (39, Victoria Street, Westminster).

Smooth Snake (Coronella lævis) in the New Forest.—The late Canon Kingsley centred a peculiar interest on the probable occurrence of this reptile within the forest boundary, and often asked questions on that particular point, as he knew I had seen and taken it on the heaths on the other side of the river, near the spot where it was first discovered as an inhabitant of Britain; but it was only a short time before his lamented death that I could positively say I had seen it in the forest; then I was fortunate enough to catch one in the neighbourhood of Minstead, not far from the well-known Rufus stone. Since that time I have seen or known of a number of specimens from the district, especially during the great and continued heat of the summer of 1896. Two were seen—but not taken—near Sway; three specimens, an old female and two immature individuals, were taken very late in the season on the heaths between Beaulieu and Brockenhurst; and in August a nephew of mine whilst entomologizing caught one near Boldre Wood, and brought it to me thinking it was an Adder (Pelias berus). Strange to say, the same lad caught another, almost on the same spot, this season, at the end of July, but so mutilated it that it was worthless to preserve. It seems a pity to destroy the poor little harmless creature whose movements amongst the heather are so graceful and interesting, and whose body, especially the under parts, shine with an iridescent gloss in the hot sun, and when taken in the hand the keelless scales which envelope its body make it feel cold and smooth to the touch, like an eel. My comparatively limited experience of this particular species