NOTES.
35
rest of creation, and, therefore, to man. I do not, say, however, that
no animal is to be kept in check, for this would be a great mistake.
The necessity for some check in certain cases has arisen from man's
interference with natural laws; but I would ask all who are in-
terested in the study of nature, to exert their influence to prevent
the extermination of any animal, be it hawk, crow, stoat, or any
other creature, which only ignorance and selfishness would class with
noxious vermin
Salmon-trout and Carp at Maldon.—On February 23rd, 1889, Michael
Freeman caught, with one haul of his net, in the Chelmer, near the rifle butts at
Beeleigh, a beautiful carp weighing 1 lb. 14 oz., a salmon-trout (Salmo trutta, L.)
weighing 11/2 lb., a 2 lb. jack, and a fair sized bream—the smallest fish of the four.
—Edward A. Fitch, Maldon.
Prionus coriarius in Epping Forest.—Mr. A. J. Field, of 43, Medina
Road, Finsbury Park, writes thus in the "Entomologist" for March (vol. xxii.,
p. 77) :—"While taking a ramble in Epping Forest last October, I found a dead
specimen of that rare beetle, Prionus coriarius, near Dulsmead Hollow. I have
never heard of it being taken so near London, but perhaps it may not be so rare
near this great Metropolis as we suppose." Fifty-four years ago this fine beetle
—our largest British Longicorn—was recorded as rare at Epping by E. Doubleday
("Entomological Magazine," iii, p. 156), and probably on this authority Epping
was given as a locality for the species in Stephens' "Manual of British Coleoptera"
(1839). At the annual meeting of the Haggerston Entomological Society in 1S84,
Mr. Pratt exhibited a specimen of Prionus coriarius, captured at Chingford (see
Entom., xvii, 283).—E. A. Fitch. [I recorded the capture of P. coriarius at
Buckhurst Hill by my brother, B. G. Cole, on August 7th, 1882, in our "Journal
of Proceedings," vol. iii, p. lxxviii., and we have met with two or three other
specimens in this part of the country. I understand also that Mr. W. J. Argent
has taken the beetle in the Forest district.—W. Cole.]
The Story of the Maldon Red-Breasted Goose.—It was on January 6th,
1871, that Henry Handley, with his brother John, Josiah Pitt, John Basham, and
seven others, were gunning on the Ray Sands, popularly called the "Main,"
when amongst a quantity of Black (Brent) geese they shot one of the rare Red-
breasted species (Bernicla ruficollis). It was shot off the south part of the
Bachelor Spit—in the bight of the Bachelor—and was picked up, winged, by
Josiah Pitt. The birds were brought home and given to Henry Handley to hawk
round the town of Maldon, as was his wont, at two shillings each, but nobody
would have the "foreigner," so Handley had resort to Robert Blanks, a local
bird-stuffer, now deceased, and, after bating sixpence off his two shillings, sold
it to him. Blanks set up the bird and took it to Mr. Richard Poole, who identi-
fied it by Yarrell as the Red-breasted Goose, and wrote to the Editor of the
"Field," asking what it was worth (see "Field," 21st Jan. 1871, p. 37). Mr.
Harting replied that he would willingly give five pounds for the bird should it
prove to belong to the species represented. Blanks of course was willing to sell
at this (to him) enormous price, and the specimen became Mr. Harting's pro-
perty (see "Field," 4th February, 1871, p. 82). When this gentleman parted
with all his birds that were stuffed and set up, limiting his collection to skins only,
the specimen was knocked down at Stevens' Rooms on the 6th June, 1872, for
£31 10s., to John Marshall, Esq., of Belmont, Taunton, in whose possession it
still remains. With the exception of Steller's Western Duck, this species is,
perhaps, the rarest of our British wildfowl. In Harting's "Handbook of British
Birds" (p. 156) thirteen specimens are recorded as occurring since 1766, but the
bird has not been seen in Britain since the Maldon specimen was shot in 1871.—
Edward A. Fitch, Maldon.
D 2