months of February and March, and he found that any appearance of herring fry gradually ceased, while the sprat, Clupea sprattus, was most abundant; even the occurrence of young herrings, i.e., fish above five inches long, was rare, until about the beginning of March, when for a day or two they again made their appearance among the sprats in some numbers, and then entirely disappeared. About the 10th of March considerable quantities of very fine pilchards, Clupea pilchardus, the gipsy herring, were brought to market, along with herrings and sprats, and the writer of this notice examined some dozens of them. The largest were fully eight inches in length, and might readily be mistaken for herrings, although upon a closer inspection the general aspect of the fish showed marked distinctions even to the eye,-being more slim and delicate, having smaller scales, more firmly attached, and, when compared side by side with the herring, giving one the impression that it might be a young herring which had only just attained maturity. The marked distinctions between this fish and the herring need not be repeated; Dr Parnell states them most accurately, and says that it had been of late (when he wrote in 1839) a very rare fish in the Firth of Forth, as well as along the whole eastern coast of Scotland; while, about thirty years previous, it had been as plentiful as the common herring; and that no specimen had then been caught in the Firth since the year 1816. He adds that the pilchard is easily distinguished from the herring, sprat, and whitebait, by the position of the dorsal fin. If either of the three latter fish be suspended by the anterior dorsal rays, the head will be observed to dip considerably; whereas, if the pilchard be thus suspended, the body will preserve an equilibrium. The writer found that the fishwomen thoroughly apprehended this last-mentioned characteristic of the pilchard as the one most obvious and unmistakeable by an observer, and were quite aware of the nature of the fish they were bringing to market as distinguished from the herring, stating, that by many people they were not so much liked as food. Many of the specimens were opened by the writer, for the purpose of ascertaining the existence

of milt and roe, but not the slightest appearance of the latter could be found, the milt being, however, distinctly seen in a rudimentary state. These fish, when dressed for table, were found to be in very fine condition, although differing in flavour from the herring, and to some tastes, as the fishwomen had said, not so palatable. It was matter of regret that the pilchards were only caught in large quantity for a few days in March, although sparingly among herring through the winter; and this partial appearance in the Firth in the present season corroborates Yarrell's statements on the subject. As respects the spawning of the herring, the best authorities hitherto, although with some doubt and misgiving, have assigned the periods of March and October as the times of deposit. The writer has, during the past winter, found the herrings taken in the Firth of Forth to be either gravid with spawn and milt, or else spent fish, continuously from the month of November until the end of March, during the whole period that the fish was sought after and taken; and he sees no reason to doubt that during the whole period that the herring is found upon our shores, it is there for the purpose of depositing its spawn, which not improbably occurs the whole year round.

Mr J. M. Mitchell exhibited several specimens of the sprat or garvie herring, Clupea sprattus, with well developed milt and roe. These fish were taken above Queensferry about the end of March.

V. Notice of a Specimen of the Syngnathus Æquoreus, taken in a lobsternet off Inchkeith, 17th April 1861. By WILLIAM S. YOUNG, Esq.

Specific Characters.-P. C. and A. fins wanting; dorsal and vent nearly in middle of entire length, resting on eleven rings, three of which belong to the tail.

Description of this specimen: 21 inches in length; head gth of whole length. From point of snout to the orbit, 1 inch; from orbit to extremity of operculum, 4th inch; from end of snout to first dorsal ray, 8 inches; from last

dorsal ray to extremity of tail, 10th inches; length of dorsal fin, 23 inches, with 39 rays resting on eleven rings, three of which belong to the tail.

The trunk consists of 29 divisions or rings, and the tail of about 60 or 64; vent immediately under the twenty-seventh ray of the dorsal fin.

Form of the trunk from the gill to the vent is octangular, and from the vent downwards quadrangular, towards the extremity somewhat flattened.

I have given this description, as it differs somewhat from most of the descriptions of this fish. Jenyns and Yarrell give it rudimentary caudal rays, and Kaup six caudal rays. In this specimen I could not discover, even with the microscope, the faintest trace of a rudimentary ray, when not more than half an hour dead. Kaup says that this species has till now (1856) been found only in the south-west coast of Scotland, in Ireland, the Isle of Man, at Havre, and in Norway. He does not appear to be aware, as noticed by Dr Parnell, that prior to 1685 Sir Robert Sibbald obtained. a specimen from the Firth of Forth; and within the last few years, Dr J. M'Bain and Dr J. A. Smith each got specimens. The last is now in the Natural History Museum, College, Edinburgh.

[As this fish has not been often distinguished or described, there are here added, for the sake of comparison, the notes formerly taken from the specimen examined by Dr Smith, and exhibited at the meeting of this Society, on 25th January 1860. These details were not included in the notice of the fish printed in the Proceedings, see page 139.

Notes of the Equoreal Pipe Fish (Nerophis Æquoreus), taken at the Isle of May. By JOHN ALEXANDER SMITH, M.D.

Nerophis Equoreus, Kaup*; Syngnathus æquoreus, Yar. The Equoreal-Pipe Fish. The general colour of the fish is brownish-yellow, approaching to olive-green on the back. Pectoral, anal, and caudal fins awanting.

* Catalogue of Lophobranchiate Fish in the Collection of the British Museum, 1856, by Dr J. J. Kaup.

VOL. II.

2 P

Length, 20 inches full; 94th inches to vent from point of snout; and 103ths inches from vent to point of tail.

Length of head, 14ths inch. From snout to front of orbit, aths of an inch full; from thence to extremity of gill-cover (including the eye), ths of an inch. Length from point of snout to commencement of dorsal fin, 7§ths inches (the fin is 24 inches in length); and length from beginning of fin to extremity of tail 123ths inches. The termination of the fin is therefore nearly the middle point in the length of the body-the fin being in front of the middle of the fish.

The body, or portion of fish from head to vent, consists of 30 plates, rings, or divisions (the vent being situated in the thirtieth plate or division, and under the twenty-sixth ray of dorsal fin); and there are 64 or 65* plates or divisions from vent to end of tail; the transverse markings cease beyond vent. Dorsal fin has 39 fin rays, on eleven rings, and a very slight attachment to another in front, three of which rings succeed the anal ring, and therefore belong to the tail; the fin commences at the latter part of the twentysecond transverse plate, and extends past the middle of the thirty-third plate or ring.

These divisions and transverse plates are distinct, and the angles of the octangularly-shaped body are also tolerably distinct; the dorsal one is not acute, but rather rounded, the first and second lateral being the most distinct; these last, on each side, form, behind the vent, the distinct angles of the quadrilateral body, which also decreases considerably in size, and tapers gradually to the pointed extremity of tail.]

VI. Crex porzana, Spotted Crake (specimen exhibited). By JOHN ALEX. SMITH, M.D.

This specimen of the Spotted Crake or Rail (Crex porzana)

*Yarrell, in the first and second editions of his "British Fishes," erroneously quotes from Montagu's original description of this fish (Wern. Mem., vol. i. p. 85) the statement, that, from the vent to the extremity of the tail, this fish consists of about thirty-six plates," whereas, in Montagu's description, it is stated to be "about sixty-six plates." This is probably merely a typographical error.

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was in beautiful plumage. Mr Charles Muirhead, Queen Street, informed Dr Smith that it was shot near Bathgate on the 17th of March. The bird is rare, or at least seldom seen in the neighbourhood; and this specimen is also interesting from the very early season of the year when it was killed. Montagu mentions having seen it in Devonshire "as early as the 14th of March." It is generally considered to be migratory,-one of our regular summer visitors. Its allied species, the Corn Crake, does not visit us until the beginning of May.

A vote of thanks was given to the OFFICE-BEARERS, and the Society adjourned to the beginning of next winter session.