Wigeon, Anas Penelope. Sometimes appears in flocks during win ter, especially in long snows.

Garganey, Querquedula Circia. Resident, breeding near lakes. Teal, Querquedula Crecca. Resident, but not common.

Hooper, or wild swan, Cygnus ferus. Frequently rests in small flocks on our lakes, in the passage northward in spring, and southward in September and October.

Flocks sometimes appear in spring.

Grey goose, Anser palustris.
Bean goose, Anser segetum. A winter visitant.

An irregular winter visitant.

Brent goose, Anser Brenta. White-fronted goose, Anser albifrons. Stragglers sometimes occur during the winter months.

Goosander, Mergus Merganser. A winter visitant, breeding in Orkney.

Red-breasted goosander, Mergus serrator.

Common in sheltered

bays in winter, and a few pairs breed among the more sequestered islands.

Cormorant, Phalacrocorax Carbo. Common.

Common.

Shag or green cormorant, Phalacrocorax cristatus. Whether the "crested shag" of the Bass rock, figured by Bullock in his illustrated catalogue, be the Carbo cristatus of Temminck or not, the figure referred to evidently represents the common shag, in adult summer plumage.

Razor-bill, Alca Torda. Troile on shelves in the cliffs. ed auk (Alca Pica) of authors. Puffin, Fratercula arctica. Breeds in immense numbers in grassy parts of the precipices, where it burrows and deposits its egg. It generally arrives about the 1st of April, and departs constantly on the 23rd of August. This year a flock was seen a week later than the above-mentioned time; an unprecedented occurrence, for the puffins are generally as regular as clock-work in their departure.

Common in summer, breeding with Uria
Young birds constitute the black-bill-

Rotche, Mergulus melanoleucos. A regular winter visitant, but shy and scarce.

Foolish guillemot, Uria Troile. Arrives and departs at the same

time as the razor-bill.

White-winged guillemot, Uria Grille. Resident and very common. Crested grebe, Podiceps cristatus. An occasional visitant. Eared grebe, Podiceps auritus. Solitary individuals sometimes seen. Little grebe, Podiceps minor. A rare winter visitant; it appears stationary in Orkney.

Great northern diver, Colymbus glacialis. Resident, and seems to breed; old birds seen chiefly in winter, young frequent in winter : very tenacious of life and shy.

Red-throated diver, Colymbus septentrionalis. Breeds on the more inland lakes. The difference between this and the black-throated diver (C. arcticus of Linnæus) appears merely sexual; but the difficulty of procuring specimens, owing to the shyness of the bird, prevents my speaking confidently on the subject.

Gannet, Sula bassana. Seen at all seasons, but does not breed. Fulmar, Procellaria glacialis. Occurs at all seasons around the islands, but seldom approaches the land: does not breed it Shetland. Stormy petrel, Procellaria pelagica. Resident, and breeds in stony beaches.

Manx petrel, Procellaria Puffinus. A summer visitant; it arrives sometime in May, but I am not able to ascertain the exact time either of its coming or departing. It breeds in deserted rabbit-burrows in the cliffs.

Burgomaster, or great Iceland gull, Larus glaucus. A regular winter visitant, arriving in September and departing in April. It sometimes frequents the bays in large flocks, but is more frequently seen in pairs, or solitary individuals associating with their congeners. Lesser Iceland gull, Larus Islandicus. A rare winter visitant. Black-backed gull, Larus marinus. Resident. Yellow-legged gull, Larus fuscus. breeds in moors &c., not in cliffs.

Very abundant in summer; it

Herring-gull, Larus argentatus. Resident and common, breeding in cliffs.

Kittiwake, Larus Rissa. A summer visitant, breeding in immense numbers on some of the higher cliffs. It arrives at the end of February or the beginning of March, and departs towards the end of August. A few birds remain during the winter; these differ from the summer state in having the back of the head, and a spot behind each ear, pale greyish blue; in this state the kittiwake is vernacularly termed "craa-maa," or crow-gull, it is also called "yeeld" (or barren) kittiwake. My father was once inclined to consider it distinct, and named it Larus Corvus, (Ed. Phil. Journ. viii. 99).

Black-headed gull, Larus ridibundus. Not rare; breeds about fresh water.

Ivory gull, Larus eburneus. One individual was killed in December, 1822, near Baltasound, (Wern. Mem. iv. 501); and another spe

cimen, which I had an opportunity of seeing when fresh, was killed

some years ago.

Common tern, Sterna Hirundo. Breeds in low islands.

Black tern, Sterna fissipedes. I observed one a few years ago. Skua gull, Lestris Cataractes. Breeds on a few remote moors: Hermaness in Unst, Ronas hill in Northmarm, and the island of Foula, are, I believe, the only places.

Richardson's skua, Lestris Richardsonii. Breeds with the precedA very curious anomaly prevails Birds are found indis

ing, but is much more common.

with regard to the colouring of the plumage. criminately breeding together, of a uniform blackish brown colour, quite resembling, in this respect, Larus Cataractes; and others having the under parts, throat and cheeks yellowish white. This difference in colour is apparent when the young birds are in the nest; and the parents may be both black, or both of the other kind, or one of the black and one of the white-bellied variety, and the young will be either two black, two white-bellied, or one of each indiscriminately. I have seen two black young birds in the nest of two white-bellied. I have shot, dissected, and domesticated many individuals, without obtaining any clew to this singular anomaly; the two varieties being precisely similar in every particular but that of colour.

The above catalogue shows sixty-two land-birds and seventy-five water-birds, making altogether one hundred and thirty-nine birds, resident, migratory and stragglers. About fifty-nine species breed in Shetland, the remainder being only seen in winter, or as irregular visitants.

The

It seems strange that no wild gallinaceous birds are found. absence of wood, and extensive cultivated grounds, debar the pheasant and partridge, and sufficiently extensive and abundant heath is in most instances wanting, for the shelter and maintenance of the red grouse; but I am strongly inclined to think that our lonely hills, scantily covered with heath and ling, would, in many instances, afford eligible situations for the grey ptarmigan: the experiment of introducing this bird has not, however, so far as I am aware, been tried. The brown ptarmigan, or red grouse, is not uncommon in the neighbouring islands of Orkney, which also possess the king eider, the red phalarope and dabchick grebe, birds rarely found with us.

The birds sought after by the sportsman are, however, not few in Shetland. Several kinds of wild geese and ducks, the noble and majestic hooper, rock pigeons, the curlew and whimbrel, the vast flocks

of ringed and golden plovers, great abundance of snipes, plenty of small game, as starlings and wheatears, would furnish work for many barrels; not to speak of the multitudes of sea-fowl. On the whole, the scientific ornithologist, as well as the mere sportsman, will find both a varied and extensive field in Ultima Thule.

I shall conclude with a list of the arrivals and departures of our summer birds, as far as I have been able to ascertain them; the arrivals and departures of our winter species shall also be communicated to 'The Zoologist.'

ARRIVES. DEPARTS.

ARRIVES. DEPARTS.

Kittiwake

Wheatear

.... March 1 .... March 7 Sea Pie ............... Febr. 22 Guillemot and Razor

Yellow-legged gull... Agril 3 bill............... March 8 Aug. 20 Common tern......... May 16 The puffin almost always leaves on the 23rd of August.

Sept. 20

Sept. 14

I have not been able to ascertain the exact time of arrival or departure of the Manx petrel (Procellaria Puffinus), as this bird comes towards the shore very quietly, and is rarely seen during the day; it seems later in its arrival than any of those I have mentioned.

The Mammalia and fishes of Shetland will form the subject of another paper, and complete our vertebrate Fauna.

The Edible Frog. Through the kindness of Mr. Gray we are enabled to present our readers with a figure of one of the edible frogs mentioned by Mr. Bond, in a late

communication to The Zoologist,' as having lately been taken in Cambridgeshire, and deposited in the British Museum (Zool. 393).

Note on the occurrence of Rare British Fishes. 1. The Smelt (Osmerus operlanus). "Two specimens have been taken in the Tweed during the present summer, both of which came into my possession.-G. Johnson.” 2. "Syngnathus Ophidion, Yarrell, Brit. Fishes, ii. 447. I obtained this species in Embleton-bay during the summer. ——— R. Embleton. 3. “ Syngnathus Anguineus, Yarrell, Brit. Fishes, ii. 445. Two specimens were taken in Berwick-bay in October, 1842; and in the same year the species occurred to Mr. R. Maclaurin, at Coldingham shore.-G. Johnston. Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, p. 78.

Notes on Lepidopterous Insects. By EDW. DOUBLEDAY, Esq. F.LS. (Continued from page 198).

Genus.-HETERUSIA, Hope.

Heterusia Risa. Above: anterior wings olive-green, with a broad transparent yellow fascia before the middle, margined, especially externally, with black, over which however numerous blue and green scales are sprinkled. Posterior wings pure yellow, the base slightly shaded with blue and black, the apex broadly deep black. Below: the yellow band of the anterior wings is much wider than above, and all the wings have a curved fascia along the outer margin, and the extremities of the nervures are glossed with blue. Head and thorax above, green, the latter tinged with blue towards the base. Abdomen above yellow, the base blue, the apex olivaceous, the sides with a row of black dots; below olive, the segments margined with whitish. Expanse of wings, 2 inches, 6 lines.

Inhabits Nepal. In the British Museum.

Het. Edocla. Above: anterior wings nigro-fuscous or deep chococolate-brown, with an olive hue in certain lights, traversed before the middle by a broad, macular, whitish band, a spot at the base, one on the disco-cellular nervure, and nine others which form a flexuous series near the outer margin, also whitish. The nervures, where they traverse the macular band, are of a brilliant blue, and there is a more or less distinct shading of the same colour round all the markings. Posterior wings black, glossed with brilliant blue towards the outer margin and along the extremities of the nervures. The anterior margin