The Flight of the Swift.—With reference to the question asked in the December number of 'The Zoologist,' as to whether this bird is able to rise from the ground, I have found it utterly unable to rise from a perfectly level surface, such as a well-kept road or an oil-cloth-covered or carpeted floor; but from a neglected road, full of ruts and hollow places, it can and does rise, lifting its wings high over its back, and raising itself from a slight elevation by the first downward flap. Its efforts to rise from a carpet are ludicrous, as its long claws enter the texture, and with its first effort it tips forward helplessly. I should expect grass to interfere with its rising, the blades catching in the feet, and thus partly counteracting the lifting effect of the first flap. On a dead level road the tips of the wings strike the surface, and it merely flops along, or that has been the case with those which I have observed.—A.G. Butler.
Correction.—In my note "On a chocolate-coloured variety of Perdix cinerea" (Zool. 1896, pp. 472–73), some errors have occurred in printing. On p. 472, sixth line from bottom, for "Hinder tail-coverts" read "Under tail-coverts"; p. 473, third line from top, for "Hinder wing-coverts" read "Under wing-coverts"; seventh line from top, for "height 12½ in," read "weight 12½ oz."—F. Coburn (Holloway Head, Birmingham).
PISCES.
Abundance of Sharks in Tropical Seas.—It is singular how few zoological ideas and facts occur to a naturalist on the most frequented tracks of the ocean; the apparent sameness in the vast wilderness of water seems to oppress and stifle observation. One circumstance, however, has always presented itself to the writer when traversing the ocean in tropical regions, and that is the abundance of Sharks, so easily overlooked. When sitting reading near the rails, a casual glance at the water frequently detects the dorsal fin or even the body of a Shark disturbed by the huge liner. Seldom is a prolonged stay at the bows in tropical regions unrewarded by a sight of one of these monsters. It is obvious that those we accidentally notice can form but a small ratio to the number disturbed by the ship, which again passes only as a mere speck through the regions they inhabit. Probably other readers have had the same experience, and it almost seems that the prodigious number of these fishes is barely estimated.—Ed.
