Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/356

326 non-nesters. Have seen no Terns, neither Black, Arctic, or Common. Hirundines rather numerous in adjacent villages. Cuckoos numerous; locally nesting Redshanks show no falling off this season; Common Sandpipers were fairly numerous last month. There may be nothing recorded above of any importance, but the bare summary of my observations will show how scanty has been the local record, and may serve for comparison with other districts.— (Ibis House, Great Yarmouth).

Rare English Ticks.—The study of Ticks (Ixodidæ) has been much neglected in England. Mr. E.G. Wheler, of Alnwick, has, however, recently taken up the subject, and has published, in 'Science Gossip,' a series of short papers upon some of our British species. In the hope of inducing others to take an interest in these parasites, I venture to put on record the occurrence in England of two species which have not, so far as I can ascertain, been previously recorded from this country, and of a third which is certainly not common. It is true that Mons. G. Neumann, in his recent monograph of this group, states that he has seen specimens of the first two, belonging to the Bureau of Animal Industry of Washington, that were taken off English Sheep; but whether the Ticks were collected off Sheep in England, or after their importation to America (which is a very different matter), I am unable to say. I may add that Mr. Wheler took up the study of these parasites on account of their connection with the malady known as "louping ill," which is so destructive to Sheep in some parts of England. It is known, too, that great havoc is wrought amongst cattle in the United States and our own colonies by these pestilent Arachnids; and, since there are some reasons for supposing that there may also be a causal connection between the bites of these parasites and that deadly tropical disease, "black-water fever," it is safe to predict that within the next few years there will be a boom in Ticks rivalling that in Mosquitoes at the present time. I should be grateful for any specimens readers of 'The Zoologist' may come across. They should be preserved in alcohol.

1. Dermacentor reticulatus, Fabr.—Specimens of this Tick were sent to the British Museum for determination by Mr. Richardson, of Stoke House, Revelstoke, Devon. Mr. Richardson writes:—"These Ticks are a pest of this immediate neighbourhood. They do not bite human beings, but punish Sheep and Dogs like the ordinary Tick. A farmer tells me they were not known here fifteen years ago, and that they appear about January, and disappear about May, being very plentiful in March and April. It is strange that they should not be known a few miles away."

2. Hæmaphysalis punctata, Can. and Fanz.—Specimens of this species