The Scottish Naturalist ' ■ atf- ATA N r i The Scottish Naturalist M V With which is incorporated The Annals of Scottish Natural History EDITED BY ADAM WATSON, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF V. C. WYNNE-EDWARDS, JAMES W. CAMPBELL, and WINIFRED U. FLOWER Volume 69 OLIVER AND BOYD EDINBURGH : TWEEDDALE COURT LONDON : 39a WELBECK STREET, W.i J957 ■ 1 1 if 1111m Printed in Great Britain at The University Press , Aberdeen SPRING 1957 Price 7s. 6d. The Scottish Naturalist With which is incorporated The Annals of Scottish Natural History EDITED BY ADAM WATSON, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF V. G. WYNNE-EDWARDS, JAMES W. CAMPBELL, and WINIFRED U. FLOWER All business communications should be addressed to Oliver & Boyd Ltd., Tweeddale Court, Edinburgh, I. Editorial contributions should be addressed to Adam Watson, c/o Department of Natural History, Marischal College, Aberdeen. Annual Subscription : £i is. ; single parts, 7s. 6d. CONTENTS PAGE Some further Collembola from Shillay, Outer Hebrides — H. E. Goto ....... Spider Collections in Sutherland — A. M. Wild . The Birds of the Island of Rhum — Dr. W. R. P. Bourne The Night-Heron Colony in the Edinburgh Zoo — D. F. Dorward ........ Review of Ornithological Changes in Scotland in 1955 — Dr. Evelyn V. Baxter ...... Pied Flycatchers in Perthshire — J. M. D. Mackenzie . Zoological Notes ....... Book Reviews ........ 1 1 1 21 32 37 45 50 62 ROSS SOLAROSS 9x35 EX-GOVERNMENT PRISMATIC TELESCOPE Precision made by Ross of London to give the greatest magnification combined with a brilliance of definition seldom found in an instrument of this power. Weight 5 lbs., length 13 ins., power 20X, dia. of object glass 70 mm. Estimated cost approx. £60. Either of these instru- ments will be sent on 7-days free approval. This new, lightweight Binocular by world-famous Ross of London, represents the greatest advance ever made in Binocular design. 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It employs a full time Watcher in Orkney as well as five breeding-season Wardens in Shetland. More support is urgently needed. Write for details to The Scottish Representative of the Society, Mr. George Waterston, 5 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. BINDING We have pleasure in announc- ing that we are in a position to carry out various styles of binding according to the wishes and requirements of individual customers Quotations for all types of binding work will be gladly given on application to OLIVER & BOYD LTD Bookbinders TWEEDDALE COURT EDINBURGH, I SCOTTISH FIELD STUDIES ASSOCIATION Courses on plant ecology, mosses, grasses, birds, geog- raphy art and general natural history are held at Garth Field Studies Centre near Aberfeldy. For details of dates and other facilities please write to : — THE SCOTTISH FIELD STUDIES ASSOCIATION c/o Department of Botany, The University, Glasgow, W.2 The Scottish Naturalist Volume 69, No. i 1957 SOME FURTHER COLLEMBOLA FROM SHILLAY, OUTER HEBRIDES * H. E. Goto Department of Zoology, Imperial College, London During their second visit to Shillay | in September to October 1955, Mr. H. R. Hewer and Dr. H. Gorvett collected a further twenty species of Collembola, nine of which were not repre- sented in their previous collections (Goto, 1955). Amongst these nine additions, three genera ( Xenylla , Anurophorus and Sminthurides ) are new to the Hebrides, one sub-genus Smin - thurides ( Sphaeridia ) is new to Scotland, and of the remainder one species is new to Scotland and three new to the Hebrides. A full description is given below of Hypogastrura ( Cerato - phy sella) scotica (Carpenter and Evans, 1899), since this species has never been adequately figured or described. The specimens belonging to the sub-family Dicyrtominae do not agree with the diagnosis of any known species of Dicyrtomina , Dicyrtoma or Ptenothrix, nor do they fit conveniently into any of these genera. The minute size of the body, and the com- paratively large head, indicate that they are probably juveniles rather than examples of a new species. They have been kept for further study. As in the earlier visit, specimens were collected (with the exception of Anurida maritima) by taking samples of vegetation in polythene bags, from which the Collembola were later extracted in a modified Tullgren funnel. * Received 25th, April 1956. f Sound of Harris. T I MPR 9 195 J 2 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 ARTHROPLEONA HYPOGASTRURIDAE Hypogastrura ( Ceratophysella ) scotica (Carpenter and Evans, 1899) Colour Ground colour yellow, with scattered dense blue-black patches on the dorsal surface of the head and trunk. Length 1.6 mm. (excluding antennae). Cuticle Largely covered with rugose granules. Granulation par- ticularly coarse on the last three abdominal segments as follows : Abd. IV — a pair of dorsal and a pair (one on either side) of lateral tubercles (groups of coarse granules), none very well defined ; Abd. V — a band extending over the dorsal and lateral regions in the posterior half of the segment; Abd. VI — dorsally and laterally including the anal papillae (Fig. ia). Vestiture Body covered with setae of various sizes. With the exception of some very fine (probably sensory) setae, all are minutely toothed (not shown in figures). A single bifid seta, possibly an abnormality, is present on one side of Abd. V near the lateral limit of the band of coarse granules. Some extra large outstanding setae are distributed as follows : Th. I — 2 ; Th. II— 4 ; Th. Ill to Abd. V— 6(-8) ; Abd. VI about 10-12 scattered. Head All segments of the antennae completely separate. A well developed eversible sac is present between Ant. Ill and IV. Ant. IV has a bilobed, finely granulate retractile organ, a sub-apical pit, a minute sense pin in a pit-like depression, about six not very well-defined olfactory setae, and about twelve apically hooked ventral sensillae (Fig. 2). Ant. Ill has a pair of blunt-tipped sensillae, each in separate pits, a larger blunt-tipped rod on either side of them, and a single sense pin near by (Fig. 3). The postantennal organ (Fig. 4) is Figs, i-io Hypogastrura {Ceratophy sella) scotica. 1. Abd. tergites IV-VI inside view (a), and enlarged portion ( b ). 2. Ant. IV. 3. Sensillae of Ant. III. 4. Postantennal organ and eyes. 5. Head of maxilla. 6. Unguis and unguiculus I in side view. 7. Unguis II in outer view. 8. (a) Outer face of leg II; ( b ) inner face of same. Granulate areas stippled. 4 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g four-lobed, with the anterior lobes elongated along the same line. A distinct accessory boss lies between the two posterior lobes. Eyes (Fig. 4), eight on either side of the head on heavily pigmented patches, all sub-equal in size. Mandibles with a well-developed basal molar area and some apical teeth (four on one mandible and five on the other). Maxillae with a tridentate unguium and finely toothed or cili- ated lamellae arranged as in Fig. 5. Legs Clavate tibiotarsal setae absent. Unguis with a single well-defined inner tooth and two pairs of lateral teeth (Fig. 6). On the outer face of the unguis, between the basal lateral teeth, are a number of very fine teeth which disappear with excessive clearing of the specimen (Figs. 6 and 7). Ungui- culus with a distinct but small basal lamella and a terminal filament which exceeds the length of the unguis (Fig. 6). With the exception of the distal half of the tibiotarsus the outer face of each leg is covered with minute granules visible only under phase-contrast oil immersion. (Figs. 8 a and b ). Abdomen Abd. VI with a pair of slightly curved acuminate anal spines approximately equal in length to the diagonal of unguis III and about twice the length of the anal papilla (Fig. 1). The bases of the anal papillae are practically contiguous. The *957 FURTHER COLLEMBOLA FROM SHILLAY 5 rami of the retinaculum are each provided with four teeth and the corpus is without setae. The furca is well developed and all three parts are separate. When flexed, the apex of the mucro reaches forwards to the posterior half of Abd. II. The manubrium and dentes are ventrally and ventrolaterally non-setose and covered with minute granules like those on the outer faces of the legs. The dentes are each armed with seven ' dorsal setae (Fig. 9), and are about twice the length of the mucrones and slightly longer than the anal spines. Each mucro (Figs. 10a and b ) has a well-developed outer lamella and an up-turned apex giving the appearance, in dorsal view, of a thickened band around the tip. One specimen from grass-heath about 200 feet, Sept. /Oct. 1955, retained in the author’s collection. Previous records Scotland : — Midlothian (Carpenter and Evans, 1899 ; Bagnall, 1940), and Perthshire (Bagnall, 1940). England : — Cheshire, Durham, Northumberland, Yorkshire (Bagnall, 1940), Finland and Sweden. Discussion The above description departs in some respects from Bagnall’s (1940). The differences are mainly in the relative sizes of various parts of the body — characters of little significance, unless the range of variation in any particular instar and the variation between successive instars are known. At present neither of these is known for scotica , but comparison with other species indicates that these differences are probably of no importance as systematic criteria. The yellow ground colour, which is quite obvious in the specimen from Shillay, was apparently absent in Bagnall’s specimens. Bagnall stated that his examples of scotica had always been taken from sphagnum. Dr. H. Gorvett cannot recall the occurrence of any sphagnum in the vicinity of the locality from which he obtained the specimen from Shillay. The additional details described above concern the mouthparts, the sense organs of head and antennae, and per- haps most important of all, the outer transverse row of minute teeth on the unguis. In freshly mounted specimens, these teeth are very obvious, but disappear rapidly in most mounting media. 6 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 Considered by itself, this specimen might, with a certain amount of justification, be regarded as a species distinct from scotica. Fortunately, two further specimens, this time from sphag- num, were collected by Mr. P.N. Lawrence of the British Museum (Natural History), on the west side of Llyn Idwal in Caer- narvonshire at 1,223 feet> on 28th April 1956. These specimens are colourless (mounted) as Bagnall’s ones were. However, in three more specimens from the same Welsh locality, pre- served in spirit in the Museum, the blue-black pigmentation is similar to that in the specimen from Shillay. The yellow ground-colour, however, is apparent only in the Hebridean example. In the Welsh specimens, the apical organ of Ant. IV is not so markedly bilobed as in the one from Shillay. A trace of the outer transverse row of teeth of the unguis was found in only one of the mounted Museum specimens, and then solely on one claw. The apical pair of lateral teeth on the unguis was not clear, and the terminal seta of the unguiculus was only about the same length as the unguis. Otherwise, the Caernarvonshire specimens were similar to that from Shillay, and there is little doubt that they are both conspecific with scotica of Carpenter and Evans. Xenylla brevicauda Tullberg, 1896 Grey lichen on rock near edge of shore. A frequently misidentified and not very common species. The specimens from Shillay agree with the description given by Stach (1949) in possessing a pair of weakly-clavate setae on the ventral (inner) face of the tibiotarsus, in addition to the dorsal (outer) pair. Specimens previously recorded under this name from the British Isles were found in Cambridgeshire, Cardiganshire, Derbyshire, Durham and Sligo. Stach (1949) doubts the correct determination of Womersley’s (1930) record from Sligo, stating that “ Womersley’s specimens have only two dorsal clavate hairs ”. Normal specimens of brevicauda never have more than two such setae on the dorsal (outer) face. By this statement Stach obviously meant that Womersley had omitted to mention the ventral (inner) clavate setae. Womersley, however, did not mention these characters at all in his brief diagnosis of the species or in his key to the species of Xenylla. The remaining British records are not accompanied 1957 FURTHER COLLEMBOLA FROM SHILLAY 7 with adequate diagnoses and their identity must remain in doubt. Friesea mirabilis (Tullberg, 1871) Armeria tuft on rock about 30 feet ; moss on rock about 200 feet ; grass and Armeria at foot of saddle. Specimens from the first of these three habitats were all of the typical form, with small but distinct mucrones, and those from the second and third were of the emucronate form. Only the emucronate form was found in the 1954 collections. In no case were the mucronate and emucronate forms found together. Both forms of this species are fairly common and widespread in the British Isles and Europe. Anurida maritima (Guerin, 1836) On sea-shore. A very common and widespread species, not represented in the 1954 collections, but previously re- corded from the Hebrides (Gauld, Bagenal and Connell, 1953). Anurida granaria (Nicolet, 1847) Grass and Armeria at foot of saddle. Also taken in 1954. ONY CHIURID AE Onychiurus armatus (Tullberg, 1869) Grass and Armeria at foot of saddle ; mainly silver-weed (. Potentilla anserina L.). A common and widespread species, but new to the Hebrides. Tullbergia krausbaueri Borner, 1901 Armeria tuft on rock at about 30 feet. Present in 1954 collections. * ISOTOMIDAE Anurophorus laricis Nicolet, 1841 Grey lichen on rock near edge of shore. A common and widespread species under the bark of trees, particularly of Pirns sylvestris L., but also found more rarely in moss and occasionally in lichens. This is a true corticicolous species which, when found in the latter two habitats, is usually never far from trees with a suitable bark. It seems at first sight rather surprising to find it on Shillay, which is completely 8 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g without trees. Collembola can, however, be carried by birds and by wind, and this colony on Shillay may have originated on the mainland or on a nearby island with trees. New to the Hebrides. Folsomia quadrioculata (Tullberg, 1871) Grass and Armeria at foot of saddle. Represented in the 1954 collections. F.fimetaria (Linne, 1758) Grass-heath at 200 feet. New to the Hebrides. A common and widespread species. Isotoma ( Pseudisotoma ) sensibilis Tullberg, 1876 Moss on rock at 200 feet. Represented in the 1954 collections. I. ( Isotoma ) viridis Bourlet, 1839 Armeria tuft on rock at 30 feet (form principalis and form riparid) ; mainly Potentilla anserina near edge of rocks at 1 5 feet (form annulata). One of the commonest British species. Very variable in colour. It was also in the 1954 collections, but in none of the above three colour forms. I. (I.) notabalis Schaffer, 1896 Mainly Potentilla anserina near edge of rocks. Present in 1954 collections. Isotomiella minor Schaffer, 1896 Grass and Armeria at foot of saddle ; mainly Potentilla anserina near edge of rocks at 15 feet. Present in 1954 collections. ENTOMOBRYIDAE Entomobrya nivalis (Linne, 1758) Grass-heath at 200 feet ; grass and Armeria at foot of saddle. Specimens from both of these habitats were of the colour form nicoleti of Lubbock (1867). The principal colour form of this species was present in the 1954 collections. Lepidocyrtus violaceus (Geoffroy, 1762) Grass-heath at 200 feet. There is considerable doubt as to the validity of this species, which can be separated from 1957 FURTHER COLLEMBOLA FROM SHILLAY 9 L. cyaneus Tullberg, 1871, only by colour pattern. The specimens from Shillay agree with the diagnosis given by Gisin (1944). If violaceus is a good species, it is recorded here for the first time in Scotland. L. cyaneus has been recorded on many occasions from Scotland, and was represented in the 1954 collections from Shillay. TOMOGERIDAE Tomocerus minor (Lubbock, 1862) Mainly Potentilla anserina near edge of rocks at 15 feet. Present in 1954 collections. SYMPHYPLEONA NEELIDAE JVeelus ( Megalothorax ) minimus Willem, 1900 Grass near edge of rocks at 15 feet. Present in 1954 collections. SMINTHURIDAE Sminthurides ( Sphaeridia ) pumilis (Krausbauer, 1898) Mainly Potentilla anserina near edge of rocks at 15 feet. In the British Isles this species has been recorded only from Berkshire, Caernarvonshire, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire. It is widely distributed, being found in Europe, America, North Africa and Australia, and is not uncommon round the edges of ponds and in other damp situations. Five specimens of an undetermined species of the sub- family Dicyrtominae were found on the grass-heath at 200 feet. No member of this sub-family has so far been recorded from Scotland. REFERENCES Bagnall, R. S., 1940. Notes on British Collembola. Ent. mon. Mag., 76: 163-174. Carpenter, G. H., and W. Evans, 1899. The Collembola and Thysanura of the Edinburgh district. Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinb ., 14 : 221-266. Gauld, D. T., T. B. Bagenal, and J. H. Connell, 1953. The marine fauna and flora of St. Kilda, 1952. Scot. Nat., 65 : 29-49. THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST io Vol. 69 Gisin, H., 1944. Materialen zur Revision der Collembolen. II. Wei teres Basler Material. Mitt, schweiz. ent. Ges., 19 : 121-156. Goto, H. E., 1955. Collembola from Shillay, Outer Hebrides, including new British and local records. Scot. Nat., 67 : 29-33. Stach, J., 1949. The apterygotan fauna of Poland in relation to the-' world fauna of this group of insects. Families Neogastruridae and Brachystomellidae. Acta monogr. Cracoviae. Womersley, H., 1930. The Collembola of Ireland. Proc. R. Irish Acad. (B), 39 : 160-202. Corrigendum to Goto (1955) It is regretted that in Goto (1955), no mention was made of the paper by J. E. Forrest, A. R. Waterston, and E. V. Watson, {Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin ., 1935, 22 : 24-96) in which the authors list a number of Collem- bola from Barra, Outer Hebrides. Paragraphs 2 and 3 on p. 29 of Goto (1955) should be amended accordingly. SPIDER COLLECTIONS IN SUTHERLAND 1957 1 1 SPIDER COLLECTIONS IN SUTHERLAND* A. M. Wild Stone, Staffordshire During the first two weeks of June 1955 I made a journey to the extreme north of the Scottish mainland with the object of studying the Sutherland spider fauna. Before giving more details of this, however, I wish to review the extent of our knowledge of Sutherland spiders up to that time, because otherwise there would be a danger of certain records be- coming lost, through having inadvertently been omitted from Bristowe’s (1939) county lists. The first spider recorded from Sutherland was Linyphia peltata , found by Rev. J. F. Montgomery about 1861. It was included in a list of Scottish spiders published by Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge (1862). The next collector was Professor J. W. H. Traill, of the University of Aberdeen. He published one list (Traill, 1874) with 24 records for Sutherland. He sent many of his specimens to Pickard-Cambridge, for identification or verification of identity, and the latter included them in a list of Scottish spiders. Pickard-Cambridge’s list (1877) included only 10 of Traill’s 24 records, and Bristowe, in compiling his county lists, seems to have consulted Pickard- Cambridge’s paper but not Traill’s. Consequently 14 of Traill’s records are on the way to being lost or recorded as new by other collectors. Traill’s list, translated to the modern nomenclature, was as follows : Trochosa terricola Lycosa armentata Tarentula pulverulenta Xysticus cristatus Xysticus erraticus Ciniflo fenestralis Dictyna arundinacea Textrix denticulata Bolyphantes alticeps Oreonetides vaginatus Drapetisca socialis Erigone longipalpis Linyphia pusilla Lepthyphantes tenuis Araneus quadratus Araneus cornutus * Received 26th July 1956 12 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Robertus lividus Theridion sisyphium Poeciloneta globosa Bolyphantes luteolus Araneus diadematus Araneus cucurbitinus Meta segmentata Tetragnatha extensa As all except three of these have subsequently been found by other collectors, it is evidently a reliable list. In 1922 Bristowe (1927) climbed Suilven and searched for spiders both there and in the adjoining area of Lochinver. If we exclude those of his specimens already listed by Traill, the following were new to Sutherland : — (a) From Suilven : Lepthyphantes zimmermanni Hilaira frigida Caledonia evansi Oreonetides abnormis (b) From Lochinver : Segestria senoculata Clubiona stagnatalis Oedothorax fuscus Finally, a recent paper by Millidge and Locket (1955) included eight new records for Sutherland, from spiders collected by Mr. D. M. Reid : Zelotes apricorum Clubiona brevipes Agroeca proxima Zora spinimana Xysticus cristatus Lycosa lugubris Hahnia helveola Halorates reprobus Of these, Xysticus cristatus must be accredited to Traill. My aims in Sutherland were three-fold. Firstly, I hoped that a thorough search might yield spiders new to Britain, or at least new to Scotland. Secondly, I wished to supplement the number of existing county records so that a better picture of the fauna could be obtained. Thirdly, I intended to collect infor- mation about the distribution of spiders in different environ- ments ; this is why I have given a full list of specimens from each locality searched. I selected Tongue on the north coast of Sutherland as my base, an area containing a very wide variety of habitat. 1957 SPIDER COLLECTIONS IN SUTHERLAND i3 j| 6th June Among gorse at Tongue, Meta merianae Meta segmentata Araneus diadematus Robertus lividus the following species were found : Dismodicus elevatus Peponocranium ludicrum Lepthyphantes tenuis Linyphia peltata Amongst the above, Dismodicus elevatus is of interest, having previously been found in only one locality in Britain (Loch Garten, Inverness-shire) where it occurred on juniper bushes (Millidge and Locket, 1947). Peponocranium ludicrum has not | been found so far north before. On an outhouse to an hotel and on a nearby wall I found ! the following common species : Segestria senoculata Tegenaria domestica Ciniflo fenestralis Textrix denticulata j 7 th June Cold and dry, with some sunshine in the afternoon. A visit was made to Borgie Forest (Forestry Commission) which proved to be a disappointing locality. The following species, all common, were taken : Dictyna arundinacea Lycosa nigriceps Trochosa terricola Robertus lividus Meta segmentata Gonatium rubens Oreonetides abnormis Bathyphantes gracilis Lepthyphantes mengei Lepthyphantes ericaeus Linyphia peltata Linyphia pusilla In the afternoon I went to the north-east face of Ben Hope. The following common species were taken near the base : Clubiona compta Lycosa pullata Tarentula pulverulenta Robertus lividus Tetragnatha extensa Meta merianae Araneus diadematus Araneus cornutus Araneus quadratus Oreonetides abnormis Lepthyphantes ericaeus Linyphia pusilla 14 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Sth June Cold, but long sunny periods. In the morning I visited Torrisdale Bay where there are some sand-dunes. These are not extensive nor are the clumps of marram grass very dense. It was reported to be a very cold and exposed place. Very few spiders were found and these appeared in some cases to be very backward for the time of the year. The following were taken : Agroeca sp. (immature) Tibellus ( ? oblongus) (immature) Lycosa armentata Hypomma bituberculatum Lycosa pullata Lepthyphantes tenuis The Agroeca species is unlikely to be anything except A. proxima , and this species was, in fact, recently recorded from Sutherland (see above). There can be little doubt that the Tibellus is T. oblongus , since this species has a wide distribution in Scotland, whereas T. maritimus has not been recorded north of Northumberland. In the early afternoon I searched without much success in a small wood near Ben Tongue. In one hour only five species were taken : Robertus lividus Lepthyphantes alacris Trachynella nudipalpis Lepthyphantes ericaeus Lepthyphantes zimmermanni I then went to a tarn a few miles to the east known as Lochan Dubh, and searched the damp ground around the edges amongst the grass and under stones : Lycosa armentata Pirata piraticus Pachygnatha clercki Pachygnatha degeeri Meta merianae Robertus lividus Meioneta beata Stemonyphantes lineatus Bolyphantes luteolus Lepthyphantes mengei Linyphia pusilla Of special interest is Meioneta beata which has only once been recorded from Scotland (Bristowe, 1927) and then not from the mainland. In England, this spider is described as widespread but rare. I found it in three different localities in Sutherland (one as far south as Lairg), and also in the Black Wood of Rannoch in Perthshire, so that it may well prove to be i957 SPIDER COLLECTIONS IN SUTHERLAND 15 widespread in Scotland also. Since this Meioneta is peculiar to Britain, the Tongue record represents, as far as is known, the northern limit of the species. g th June Spiders were collected between 1,700 feet and the summit of Ben Hope (3,040 feet) : Robertus arundineti Pholcomma gibbum Trachynella nudipalpis Caledonia evansi Hilaira frigida The last four spiders on this list are amongst our rarest British mountain species. Several of both sexes of Meioneta nigripes , a tiny black spider, were found from about 2,500 feet upwards, running over stones, at least 1 ,000 feet lower than on the other two mountains from which it has been recorded. The Collinsia , Tiso and Oreonetides were also found well below the normal height for these species in Britain, supporting the view that at more northerly latitudes mountain species can exist at lower altitudes. The Hilaira and Caledonia were ex- ceedingly common near the summit, but Pholcomma gibbum appears to have been a stray visitor. The only males found were of Meioneta nigripes. 10th June Fine warm day. Most of the time was spent in Tongue Bay and the adjoining Kyle of Tongue, searching for spiders on or near the beach. In the list which follows I include species taken in the same locality on the 6th June : Collinsia holmgreni Tiso aestivus Oreonetides vaginatus Meioneta nigripes Oonops pulcher Drassodes lapidosus Trochosa terricola Textrix denticulata Theridion ovatum Pholcomma gibbum Nesticus cellulanus Meta segmentata Meta merianae Pachygnatha degeeri Dicymbium nigrum Gonatium rubellum Oedothorax apicatus Erigone arctica Halorates reprobus Meioneta beata Lepthyphantes tenuis 1 6 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 The Oonops has never been recorded so far north and this may be true of Pholcomma as well. Erigone arctica and Halorates reprobus occur here in their most typical environment (tidal estuaries), and I have found the Oedothorax in similar situations before. Mention has been made above of the rare Meioneta beata. 1 1 th June Most of the time was spent in a marshy area just east of Loch Craggie. The latter is united with Loch Loyal by a narrow neck of water. This neck is spanned by a small bridge and all my hunting was carried out on the side of this farthest from the road. The marsh originates in a tarn, 450 feet above sea level, known as Loch na Moine, which drains by a winding stream into Loch Loyal. I searched first by the north shore of Loch Loyal where the only find of interest was a colony of Tetragnatha extensa in which the abdominal folium was in all cases a rich red brown and the ground colour bright silver (in consequence, it was at first thought to be one of the other Tetragnatha species). Later I searched in the marshy ground on the north and west banks of the stream, and here, in about 30 minutes, I took two rare species new to Scotland, and several other uncommon spiders. During the whole day the following spiders were taken : Clubiona reclusa Erigone atra Lycosa prativaga Lophomma punctatum Lycosa pullata Eboria caliginosa, three $ $ Tetragnatha extensa (var.) Hilaira pervicax, $ Araneus quadratus (immature) Hilaira excisa Oedothorax retusus Bathyphantes pullatus Eboria caliginosa and Hilaira pervicax are new to Scotland and there are only one or two records of each in England. These are confined to Northumberland, Yorkshire and the Lake District on high ground (in contrast to the Scottish records at 400 feet) . It would be strange indeed if these spiders occurred only in this belt and in the extreme north of Scotland, but not at inter- vening points, and I anticipate that they will eventually be SPIDER COLLECTIONS IN SUTHERLAND i7 *■957 discovered in other parts of Scotland. The Eboria is peculiar to Britain so that the Scottish record is the most northerly so far known. Hilaira excisa and Lophomma punctatum are both of infrequent occurrence. Bathyphantes pullatus has only once before been recorded from Scotland. 12 th June On the way south from Tongue, I stopped at several points j along the road, while still in Sutherland, to do a little collecting. 1 The following were found : (a) Between Tongue and Altnaharra : Lycosa pullata Robertus lividus Oreonetides abnormis (b) Between Crask Inn and Lairg : Philodromus aureolus (immature) Lycosa pullata Cryphoeca silvicola Tetragnatha sp. (immature) Robertus lividus Meioneta beata Lepthyphantes mengei Lepthyphantes zimmermanni SUMMARY OF RECORDS 1 . Spiders new to Scotland Eboria caliginosa Falconer Hilaira pervicax Hull 2. A List of Sutherland spiders Numbers after each species indicate the collector : 1 = W. S. Bristowe 3 = D. M. Reid 2 = J. F. Montgomery 4 = J. W. H. Traill 5 = A. M. Wild * 1 New county record 3 i8 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Ciniflo fenestralis (Stroem) Dictyna arundinacea (Linn.) *Oonops pulcher Templeton Segestria senoculata (Linn.) *Drassodes lapidosus (Walck.) Zelotes apricorum (L. Koch) * Clubiona reclusa (O. P.-Camb.) Clubiona stagnatalis Kulcz. * Clubiona compta C. L. Koch Agroeca proxima (O. P.-Camb.) Zora spinimana (Sund.) Xysticus cristatus (Clerck) Xysticus erraticus (Blackwall) *Philodromus aureolus (Clerck) *Tibellus? oblongus (Walck.) * Lycosa pullata (Clerck) * Lycosa prativaga L. Koch Lycosa armentata (Clerck) * Lycosa nigriceps (Thorell) Lycosa lugubris (Walck.) Tarentula pulverulenta (Clerck) Trochosa terricola Thorell *Pirata piraticus (Clerck) Textrix denticulata (Oliv.) *Tegenaria domestica (Clerck) *Cryphoeca silvicola (C. L. Koch) Hahnia helveola Simon Theridion sisyphium (Clerck) * Theridion ovatum (Clerck) Robertus lividus (Blackwall) * Robertus arundineti (O. P.-Camb.) . *Pholcomma gibbum (Westring) *Nesticus cellulanus (Clerck) Tetragnatha extensa (Linn.) *Pachygnatha clercki Sund. *Pachygnatha degeeri Sund. Meta segmentata (Clerck) *Meta merianae (Scopoli) Araneus diadematus Clerck Araneus quadratus Clerck Araneus cornutus Clerck Araneus cucurbitinus Clerck *Trachynella nudipalpis (Westring) *Dicymbium nigrum (Blackwall) *Dismodicus elevatus C. L. Koch 4 4 5 5 3 5 i 5 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 4 5 3 4 4 5 1957 SPIDER COLLECTIONS IN SUTHERLAND i9 *Hypomma bituberculatum 5 (Wider) *Gonatium rubens 5 (Blackwall) *Gonatium rubellum 5 (Blackwall) *Peponocranium ludicrum 5 (O. P.-Camb.) Oedothorax fuscus 1 (Blackwall) * Oedothorax retusus 5 (Westring) * Oedothorax apicatus 5 (Blackwall) *Tiso aestivus 5 (L. Koch) *Lophomma punctatum 5 (Blackwall) Caledonia evansi 1 O. P.-Camb. *Collinsia holmgreni 5 (Thorell) *Erigone atra 5 (Blackwall) *Erigone arctica 5 (White) Erigone longipalpis 4 (Sund.) *Eboria caliginosa 5 Falconer * Hilaira excisa 5 (O. P.-Camb.) Hilaira frigida 1 (Thorell) * Hilaira pervicax 5 Hull Halorates reprobus 3 (O. P.-Camb.) *Meioneta beata 5 (O. P.-Camb.) *Meioneta nigripes 5 (Simon) Oreonetides abnormis 1 (Blackwall) Oreonetides vaginatus 4 (Thorell) *Bathyphantes pullatus 5 (O. P.-Camb.) *Bathyphantes gracilis 5 (Blackwall) Poeciloneta globosa 4 (Wider) Drapetisca socialis 4 (Sund.) *Stemonyphantes lineatus 5 (Linn.) Bolyphantes luteolus 4 (Blackwall) Bolyphantes alticeps 4 (Sund.) *Lepthyphantes alacris 5 (Blackwall) * Lepthyphantes obscurus 5 (Blackwall) Lepthyphantes tenuis 4 (Blackwall) Lepthyphantes zimmermanni 1 Bertkau * Lepthyphantes mengei 5 Kulcz. * Lepthyphantes ericaeus 5 (Blackwall) Linyphia peltata 2 Wider Linyphia pusilla 4 Sund. REFERENCES Bristowe, W. S., 1927. The spider fauna of the Western Islands of Scotland. Scot. Nat., 1927: 88-94; 1 1 7— 1 22. 1939- The comity of spiders. 1. London, Ray Soc. Monographs. 20 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol, 69 Millidge, A. F., and G. H. Locket, 1947. On new and rare British spiders. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond., 158: 110-118. 1 955- New and rare British spiders. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 161: 161-173. Pickard-Cambridge, O., 1862. Sketch of an arachnological tour in Scotland in 1861 ; with a list of Scottish spiders. Z oologist , 1862: 8041- 8051. 1877. On the spiders of Scotland. Entomologist, 10: 1 54-1 59; 174-181. Traill, J. W. H., 1874. Scottish spiders. Scot. Nat., 2: 300. THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF RHUM 21 ; i 1957 THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF RHUM* W. R. P. Bourne The island of Rhum in the Inner Hebrides has been a private deer-forest since the middle of the 19th century, and few naturalists have succeeded in visiting it, although many, such as Darling (1947), have speculated upon its fauna. The only available information on the birds is contained in the general account of the island by Harvie-Brown and Buckley (1892), an article on mountaineering by Weir (1948), and in The Birds of Scotland by Baxter and Rintoul (1953) ; a complete list of the birds has never been published. A careful survey of the birds was, however, carried out by A. G. S. Bryson, J. H. B. Munro and George Waterston in June 1934, and Miss G. M. Rhodes has made some notes on the birds during holidays on the island since that time. I have now combined these unpublished observations with notes which I made myself during visits in June 1950 and July 1955. I wish to thank Lady Bullough for permission to visit Rhum, Mr. and Mrs. Macnaughten for information and hospitality while I was there, Miss Winifred Flower, J. Lockie and David Whitham for assistance, Ian Nisbet for criticising these notes, and Miss Rhodes and George Waterston for placing their unpublished observations at my disposal. Rhum is a barren, mountainous island some seven miles square, rising to 2,659 feet high. The south of the island is a great rugged gabbro-granite massif, an eroded igneous intrusion, which forms one of the finest groups of mountains in the north of Scotland. The north consists of lower Torri- donian and granite hills dissected by the three main glens, Kinloch, Kilmory, and Harris, which radiate east, north, and south-west from a central peaty plateau. The upper parts of the island are barren, except where the uppermost ledges of gabbro have weathered to a fine sand, fertilised by the shear- waters to form grassy terraces at the mountain summits. The eastern slopes consist mainly of Torridonian sandstone with * Received 30 th August 1956 22 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g patches of heather, many shallow stony lochans, and steep, fissured sea-cliffs. The western slopes are of granite, with smoother, more fertile grass and boulder slopes. The con- dition of the valleys has varied at different times. I found no traces of woodlands in the bogs, so it seems likely they have f been open since the glaciations. They were heavily cultivated before the clearances of the early 19th century, and many old shielings can still be seen. In recent times they have reverted to rough grassland and bog, except for the home farm at Kinloch, and have been grazed first by sheep then by deer, and since the last war by an increasing number of sheep and cattle once more. The east coast is cliff-bound, except for the rocky harbour in Loch Scresort and small shell-sand beaches at Kilmory, Shamnan insir and Bagh na h-Uamha, while the west coast is rocky with a remarkable raised boulder- beach at Harris. In the 19th century, Kinloch consisted of a farm and a clump of trees at the head of Loch Scresort. Since 1900 it has been extended by the construction of a Scottish Baronial castle with outbuildings and large gardens of imported soil, and the formation of large plantations all round the head of the loch. The castle and gardens have fallen into increasing disuse since the first world war, but the plantations have matured, and now form fine dense stands of hard and soft woods. Glen Harris and Glen Kilmory still hold single shepherds’ cottages, although they are otherwise deserted ; there are ruinous shooting lodges at Dibidil and Papadil on the south shore, with a small loch and a damp plantation around the lodge at Papadil. There are now fifteen to twenty permanent human inhabitants, and there is no longer any active game preservation. I found no endemic mammals, reptiles, or amphibia, but deer, goats, rats and mice have been introduced. There are now some 700 head of deer, and hundreds of goats in the cliffs. The rats are confined to the sea-shore, and have been satisfactorily reduced by poisoning at Kinloch ; they do not appear to have affected the larger sea-birds, although they may have exterminated colonies of terns and Leach’s petrels. I could obtain no news of wild cats, reported by Darling (1947). The butterflies which I noticed included only the common 1957 THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF RHUM 23 blue, small and large heath, speckled wood, meadow brown, green-veined, small, and large whites, clouded yellow, and dark-green fritillary. The birds include most of the common species of mountains, moorlands, fresh water and rough ground in the north of Scotland ; most are very thin on the ground, usually con- centrated in the northern glens and along the sea-cliffs. The commonest species inland were wheatears and meadow-pipits, and even they were seldom seen a dozen times in a long hill- walk. The raptors were kept down in the days of game preservation and they were still very scarce in 1934 ; they have been allowed to increase again now, and the island is probably saturated with them once more. The birds of agriculture and houses, which are quite common on the neighbouring islands of Eigg and Canna, probably occurred on Rhum in the days of the crofts but they have virtually dis- appeared since the clearances ; the house-sparrow and starling reappeared during the hey-day of the castle, but they have now gone once more. There must have been a similar dearth of woodland birds in the past, but they have increased considerably since the formation of the plantations at Kinloch. The present plantation at Papadil is roughly the size of the original wood at Kinloch, and holds blackbirds, song-thrushes, robins, willow-warblers, wrens, chaffinches and woodcock. If this was the original avifauna of Kinloch, it has gained the sparrow-hawk, one or more owls, the blue tit, whitethroat, wood-warbler, spotted flycatcher, hedge-sparrow and gold- crest since 1900, and the wood-pigeon and great tit since 1934. Coal and long-tailed tits, mistle-thrush and lesser redpoll have also been resident at times, although it is not clear whether they have stayed permanently. Long-tailed, coal and great tits seem to have replaced each other progressively since 1934 ; this may be a result of hard winters or the change in the environment as the woods mature, but possibly the island cannot support many species together. Corncrake and red grouse have declined and ptarmigan have vanished in the last twenty-five years ; corncrakes seem to have lost many nests in the hayfields, as elsewhere, while grouse and ptarmigan may be suffering from changes in climate. The Inner Hebrides provide breeding stations for the large 24 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g population of sea-birds feeding in the Minch to the west, and a considerable proportion of these birds nest on Rhum. The immense colony of shearwaters is described below. Possibly a large colony of Leach’s petrels was wiped out along the west shore in the past. There are large gull colonies scattered along the screes of the west shore, with smaller numbers all round the coast ; Harvie-Brown found considerable numbers of lesser black-backs here, but the number and proportion of herring- gulls seem to have increased now. The inshore shags, black guillemots, and eiders are common all round the island. The offshore sea-birds have four small colonies totalling 250 pairs in the north-east, and some half-dozen colonies running into thousands of pairs on the higher cliffs of the south-west, es- pecially at Welshman’s Rock and between Dibidil and Papadil. These colonies hold the usual community of razorbills, guillemots, puffins, and kittiwakes, with a rapidly increasing proportion of fulmars in the south-east. According to Baxter and Rintoul (1953), the Inner Hebrides hold the largest colony of Manx shearwaters in Scottish waters, forming the headquarters of the birds which feed throughout Hebridean seas. The Rhum colony has been known at least since 1640, and Harvie-Brown saw nests on Trallval, but the more accessible colonies in the sea-cliffs of Eigg and Canna have received more attention, and insufficient importance has been attached to the enormous colonies on Rhum. On Rhum they breed everywhere above 1,500 feet on the main Barkeval-Hallival-Askival-Trallval gabbro ridge ; scat- tered groups of nests extend at least as far down as 750 feet 1 wherever there are steep slopes, as above Kinloch and in Glen Dibidil. It is difficult to assess the total of nests in this huge colony, which covers several square miles of broken mountain slopes, but I estimated roughly there were several thousand holes on the east side of Hallival alone, and since the birds seem to be equally closely packed all round the ridge, the total must run into many tens of thousands of pairs. I found no nests in the western granite hills, but in 1934 birds were found along the coast at the Bloodstone Hill and north of Cave Bay, so it seems likely that the birds nest throughout the sea- cliffs as well, as they do nearby on Eigg and Canna. So the THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF RHUM I | 1957 25 colonies on these three islands must approach the order of hundreds of thousands of birds. The nests were deep crooked tunnels, excavated in patches of short green turf in or near steep slopes. There were many shallow empty new holes with piles of fresh dirt outside, but occupied holes were usually better hidden in the grass or rocks, and were revealed only by their smell and a few droppings and feathers outside the entrance. The holes were normally longer than my arm, and held substantial nests of grass, moss and feathers. In the third quarter of June, many still had eggs and the rest small young of different sizes, In late July, at least a quarter held rotten eggs, a few set eggs, and the rest growing young of all sizes up to pin-feathered, so that there must be considerable variation in the laying date from early April to late May. There were no signs of mortality on the breeding grounds, no bodies, no diseased birds, no sign of rats, and no abandoned burrows. Since the nests are up to four miles and up to 2,500 feet high from the sea, and are separated from it by cliffs, the birds .must normally fly to and from the nests. They were common at sea off the island all day, gathering to feed on shoals of fish, but the main body arrived from the west during the afternoon, flying up and down or collecting on the water in rafts well ’offshore all round the island until dark. Rafts running into many thousands were seen off the south-west coast on fine days in 1950. According to Miss Rhodes they normally came to land about 10.30 p.m., but on the very fine clear night of 26th July 1955, they did not arrive at the colony on top of Hallival until it got really dark an hour later. From the shore they could usually be heard calling as they came in low from the sea and circled up the lower slopes to the nests. The first birds arrived over the colony silently and went straight to their holes, but others started calling soon afterwards, and the noise rapidly increased until the individual calls merged into a continuous roar for an hour or more. Most birds seemed to feed the young quickly and leave soon after, so that the noise soon subsided, but some calling continued until dawn two hours later. In July most birds seemed to have young, but there were still a few excavating holes and displaying desul- torily. 4 26 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g There has been some speculation as to how they succeed in locating their nests in a large colony in the dark. The night was never really dark in July, and the birds could be seen on the wing. When one first appeared it would make several wide sweeps over the colony, the circuits would become smaller until it was flying around a regular beat over the nest, and then it would suddenly dive down, and either land in front of the hole or plunge into it. There were occasional false landings, and once or twice birds flew clumsily into me. They seemed to locate prominent landmarks during the first circuits, adopt a fixed circuit over the nest, and then descend to the nest. They are unlikely to have located the nest by ear, since silent birds homed to empty nests. While their olfactory apparatus is well developed, it seems doubtful whether it would be enough to locate one nest in the centre of a large colony. Lockie (1952) has shown that while shearwaters are generally adapted for diurnal rather than nocturnal vision, they probably have a high visual acuity, combined with considerable powers of dark adaptation. This would give them in the dark a visual acuity sufficient for an elementary type of orientation on prominent landmarks. They appear to feed to a considerable extent after dark (Saunders, 1871). Systematic List This list is compiled from notes made between 19th and 26th June 1934 by A. G. S. Bryson, J. H. B. Munro, and George Waterston, and between I7th-22nd June 1950 and 25th>30th July 1955 by W. R. P. Bourne, unless otherwise stated ; the source of the observations is clear from the date. Great Northern Diver Gavia immer. Said to frequent Loch Scresort throughout the year ; an adult offshore on 30th June 1950. Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata. One inland and four at sea in 1931, when it was persecuted. A nest with a chipping egg on 20th June 1950, and three pairs offshore in •955- Leach’s Petrel Oceanodroma leucorrhoa. In 1871, after enu- merating the recognised colonies, Gray stated : “ there is a more extensive breeding place on the island of Rhum, 1957 THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF RHUM 27 situated on rough stony ground at the north-west side of a place called Braedinach 55 . Harvie-Brown searched for this colony without success ; I searched for storm-petrels along the immense screes of the west shore, but failed to identify Braedinach, presumably A’Brideanach of the map, the extreme west point. It seems likely that the colony has been exterminated by rats, but this place might repay an examination by night. I Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus. Discussed above. Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis. Some 22 pairs on the south shore between Sron na h-Iolaire and Dibidil in 1931. In 1950 this colony had spread to Papadil, and there was a new colony of about 25 pairs near the Welshman’s Rock. In 1955 ^e new colony was still present, and the original colony included over 250 pairs. None elsewhere. : Gannet Sula bassana. Common at sea. ! Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo. Only record one on Papadil Loch in 1934. ji Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis. Many large colonies all round the shore, numbering up to 25 nests in the north, 100 nests in the south. Heron Ardea cinerea. One at Papadil in 1934, and up to , eight feeding in Loch Scresort in 1955. I Mallard Anas platyrhynchos. A tame flock was formerly kept at Kinloch. Two or three single birds offshore in 1934, and a pair on Papadil Loch in 1955. Eider Somateria mollissima. Up to a dozen families at many places all round the shore. Red-breasted Merganser Mergus senator. Formerly perse- cuted. Rarer than the eider in 1934, but some around the low shores, and broods at Loch Scresort and Camas Pliasgaig. A brood of four in Loch Scresort in 1955. Sheld-Duck Tadorna tadorna. Two at Rudha na Caranean in 1934. I Grey-lag Goose Anser anser. One flushed from Kilmory Shore in 1934. Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos. One seen in 1934 ; two or three pairs regularly in recent years. Buzzard Buteo buteo. Two or three at Papadil in 1934 ; families at two places in 1950, once in 1955. 28 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Sparrow-Hawk Accipiter nisus. A possible bird and an old nest at Kinloch in 1934. One at Kinloch in 1950. Peregrine Falco peregrinus. None seen in 1934 ; one at Welshman’s Rock in 1950 : two or three pairs resident in recent years. Merlin Falco columbarius. One pair west of Kilmory in 1934 ; one or two at three places in 1950. Kestrel Falco tinnunculus. A few at Kinloch in 1934. Seen at one place in 1950, and two family parties in 1955. Red Grouse Lagopus scoticus. Six to ten birds and one party of young in 1934 ; single or paired birds without young once or twice in 1950-55. Decreasing steadily. Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus. Possible droppings on Ainshval and Sgurr nan Gillean in 1 934, although the birds had not been seen for two years. Only occasional unreliable reports of droppings since, and I saw no sign of it. It must be presumed extinct. Pheasant Phasianus colchicus. Once kept at the castle, but now extinct. Corncrake Crex crex. Once common, but decreasing steadily. Up to six birds at Kinloch in 1934, when it was seen on the derelict lawn and heard in the garden ; two birds calling in the only hayfield there in 1950, and two nests cut out of the hay in 1955. Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus. Common round the shore, with flocks of up to 25 in July. Lapwing Vanellus vanellus. Eight to twelve pairs at Kilmory in 1934 ; a flock of 26 at Harris in 1955. Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula. One to three pairs at Kilmory, with young in 1934, and occasionally elsewhere. Golden Plover Charadrius apricarius. Scattered pairs in the north, with flocks of 30 and 60 on Orval in July. Snipe Capella gallinago. Not numerous, but one nest, in 1934. Common on the low bogs in 1950-55, with small young in the fields at Kinloch and Papadil, and in the centre of the plantation at Kinloch, in July. Woodcock Scolopax rusticola. Many in the woods, with small young at Kinloch in July. Curlew Numenius arquata. Occasionally along the shore, with a flock of 28 in Glen Harris in July. 1957 THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF RHUM 29 I Common Sandpiper Tringa hypoleucos. Common along the shore, with odd pairs along the streams, j Redshank Tringa totanus. One at Guirdil in 1934, not breeding. || Arctic Skua Stercorarius parasiticus. Single birds at sea to the north in 1934 and 1950. Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus. Scattered pairs along the shore. Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus. A large colony at Rudha Camas Pliasgaig in 1934 ; still present there in 1950- 55, and in a minority (about a quarter) among the herring- gulls elsewhere. Herring-Gull Larus argentatus. Scattered colonies totalling thousands of pairs continuously along the west shore, and odd colonies along the shore elsewhere. Common Gull Larus cams. Breeding near Papadil, Shamnan Insir, and the Welshman’s Rock in 1934. Up to 25 pairs at the last two places in 1950, and common but not breeding elsewhere. Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus. Young and moulting adults in Loch Scresort in July, but not breeding. Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. Two or three colonies of up to 50 pairs in the north, and some six colonies of up to 250 pairs in the south. Arctic Tern Sterna macrura. About four pairs at Shamnan Insir and one at Rudha Port na Caranean in 1934. None in 1950, but two pairs at Rudha na Caranean in 1955, where it still breeds irregularly. Razorbill Alca torda. Two or three colonies of up to 25 in the north, and many hundreds scattered along the south shore. Guillemot Uria aalge. Two or three colonies of up to 25 in the north, and several of up to 250 in the south. Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle. Common all round the island. Puffin Fratercula arctica. One colony of about fifty pairs in the north at Camas Pliasgaig ; some three colonies of 100-500 pairs on cliff ledges in the south. Rock-Dove Columba livia . A few in the caves in the south shore. 30 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Wood-Pigeon Columba palumbus. Not seen in 1934. A few pairs at Kinloch in 1955. Turtle-Dove Streptopelia turtur. Has occurred in May (Weir, 1948). Cuckoo Cuculus canorus. A few, widespread. Barn-Owl Tyto alba. Reported at Kinloch in 1955. Long-eared Owl Asio otus. An old nest, fledged young, and several adults at Kinloch in 1934 ; reported there in 1955. Tawny Owl Strix aluco. Suspected at Kinloch in 1934 ; reported in 1955. Swift Apus apus. One over the castle, 26th June 1934. Greater Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major. A drilling at Papadil in 1934, but no further evidence of its presence. Skylark Alauda arvensis. Rather scarce. Swallow Hirundo rustica. One around the castle in 1934. Raven Corvus corax. Only two seen in 1934 ; fair numbers in i95°-55- Hooded Crow Corvus cornix. Only about half-a-dozen round the shore in 1934 ; common in 1950-55, when 38 gathered to roost at Kinloch and 28 at Harris in July. Great Tit Pams major. First records a family and odd birds in 1955- Blue Tit Pams caeruleus. Numerous at Kinloch. Coal Tit Pams ater. Only record a family at Kinloch in 1950. Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus. Seen at Kinloch in 1934 and 1948 (Weir, 1948), but not since. Wren Troglodytes troglodytes. Common in the woods and rocks. Dipper Cinclus cinclus. Odd pairs on the streams. Mistle-Thrush Turdus viscivorus. A pair nesting at Kinloch in 1934- Song-Thrush Turdus ericetorum. Common in the woods. Ring-Ouzel Turdus torquatus. A number of pairs in the upper corries. Blackbird Turdus merula. Common in the woods. Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe. Widespread but scarce. Stonechat Saxicola torquata. Odd pairs along the south shore and the Kinloch-Kilmory road. Whinchat Saxicola rubetra. A few pairs at Kinloch and Kilmory. Robin Erithacus rubecula. Common in the woods. 1957 THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF RHUM 3i Whitethroat Sylvia communis. A male at Kinloch in 1934 ; a pair in 1950. Willow-Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus. Common in the woods. Wood- Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix. One at Kinloch in 1934, and a number since. Goldcrest Regulus regulus. Abundant at Kinloch. Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata. Two pairs at Kinloch in 1934, and a family in 1955. Hedge-Sparrow Prunella modularis. Scarce at Kinloch. Meadow- Pipit Anthus pratensis. Scarce, widespread. Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba. Birds at Kinloch in 1950, Kinloch and Harris in 1955. Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea. One at Kinloch in 1934, a pair in Kinloch glen in 1950. Starling Sturnus vulgaris. Scarce at Kinloch and a party at Kilmory in 1934 ; seen at Kinloch in 1950, but said to be extinct in 1955. Twite Carduelis jlavirostris. Some feeding on Kinloch lawn in 1934 ; seen only three times, on the cliffs, in 1955. Lesser Redpoll Carduelis Jlammea. Some at Kinloch in 1934 ; not recorded in 1950, nor found in 1955. Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs. Abundant in the woods. Reed-Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus. Occasional pairs in the glens. House-Sparrow Passer domesticus. Breeding at Kinloch in 1934 ; not recorded in 1950, and not found in 1955, although it was said to be present. REFERENCES Baxter, E. V., and L. J. Rintoul, 1953. The Birds of Scotland. Edinburgh. Darling, F. F. 1947. Natural History in the Highlands and Islands. London. Gray, R., 1871. The Birds of the West of Scotland. Glasgow. Harvie-Brown, J. A., and T. E. Buckley, 1892. A Fauna of Argyll and the Inner Hebrides. Edinburgh. Lockie, J. D., 1952. A comparison of some aspects of the retinae of the Manx Shearwater, Fulmar Petrel, and House Sparrow. Quart. J. Micr. Sci ., 93 : 347. Saunders, H., 1871. The birds of south Spain. Ibis , 1871 : 401. Weir, T. 1948. A camp on Rhum. Scottish Mountaineering Club J. 24 : 9-14. 32 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol 6g THE NIGHT-HERON COLONY IN THE EDINBURGH ZOO* D. F. Dorward Dept, of Zoology, University of Edinburgh In the gardens of the Royal Scottish Zoological Society, Edinburgh, there is a free-living colony of the night-heron (. Nycticorax nycticorax ) which I studied during the first half of 1955. Past records were available in the Annual Reports of the Society, the Society’s records of births in the gardens, and the day-book of the keeper in charge of birds. The colony was founded in 1936, by six birds obtained from the National Parks Bureau of Canada. They were kept unpinioned in a roofed aviary. One pair bred successfully in 1938, and breeding has occurred every year since. A new pair from the same source was added to the colony in 1946. The numbers of birds in the colony were not recorded until 1951, and after that only approximately, but the growth of the colony was deduced from the nesting records. In December 1950 the aviary fell into disrepair and a few birds escaped. In May 1951 the roof was taken off and the colony was completely free. The birds did not move from the area nor did they die out, but established themselves in and around the old aviary. The estimated number at that time was 18. In January 1955 I found the colony to consist of 20 adults and four juveniles. Breeding Season In the wild state the breeding season of the night-heron is restricted and sharply defined. Allen and Mangels (1940) described how birds arrived at colonies on Long Island, New York, early in April. Pair-formation took place shortly afterwards, and eggs were laid on the average 4-5 days after pair-formation. Young were leaving the colony 9-10 weeks after hatching, and the pairs began to break up in August. A similar pattern occurs in the Camargue, France (Valverde, * Received 7 th September 1956 NIGHT-HERON COLONY IN EDINBURGH ZOO 33 1957 1955), and near Milan, Italy (S. Frugis, personal communi- cation) . In Edinburgh, on the other hand, nests have been found with eggs in every month of the year except August, September, 1 and October (the keeper says that the birds are moulting during these three months) . The greatest number of nests was in January (7) and April (also 7), while the smallest number in the remaining months was three. In 1955, however, there were nine nests in May (at least three of which were second or third attempts, due to destruction or desertion of earlier clutches) , so there is presumably a peak at the normal breeding season. This does not mean that the breeding season has contracted since the birds became free in 1951. In the first week of February 1955, one pair hatched eggs which must have been laid in the second week of January, while two other pairs built nests and laid eggs during the last week of January and the first week of February. There was no further nesting activity until the milder weather of the last week in March, when four pairs started. Only one of these completed the nest and laid eggs, the others relapsing into inactivity. The same birds later recommenced nesting activity at the same sites and laid eggs. It is a general habit of herons to make further attempts at breeding if unsuccessful the first time. The reason for this remarkably extended breeding season is not clear. Possibly the following two factors are concerned. Firstly, the birds have a constant and abundant food supply. Though not 4 4 looked after 5 5 in any way by keepers, they regularly take dead haddock put out for other animals and birds. I did not see them take any other kind of food, al- though at the beginning of April a party of five or six birds flew each evening at dusk to the Gogar Burn, 3 J miles south-west of the Zoo, where they may well have spent the night feeding. This behaviour is the same as that I have seen in the night- herons of the Camargue, where there is an evening flight of parties of birds to the feeding grounds. At the Gogar Burn the birds were quite unapproachable, though tame while in the Zoo. Secondly, the migratory part of the life-cycle has been lost. Since the stimulus to migrate has an endocrinological basis, linked to the reproductive stimulus, stoppage of migration might result in earlier breeding. In Holland, the migrant 5 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 34 Vol. 6g purple heron ( Ardea purpurea ) breeds 4-6 weeks later than its close relative the resident common heron [Ardea cinerea). Population Change No population figures are available from 1938 to 1950, but they can be estimated from the difference between the number of young raised and the number of deaths and exchanges to other Zoos. On this basis the population is estimated to have grown as follows : — !938 9 1946 27 1939 12 1947 27 1940 16 1948 28 i94i 18 J949 18* 1942 15 1950 20 1943 20 I951 c.18 1944 27 I952"53 c. 20 *945 27 T955 21 *10 going through exchange Between 1938 and 1944 the numbers rose gradually, then levelled off from 1945 to 1951 (omitting the 10 removed), although the reproductive rate was presumably as high as before. After the birds became free in 1951 there was still no increase. In the first period the stability must have been primarily due to poor reproductive success, coupled with the removal of small numbers of adults for exchange. Since 1951 the potential rate of increase is not likely to have fallen : in view of the number of nests in 1955, it has probably risen. But as the number of adults has not increased much, there must either still be a low reproductive success, or emigration of adults (or both). In 1955 many eggs did not hatch, especially in early nests during cold weather. A factor which would operate in freedom but not in cap- tivity is predation. I could obtain only indirect evidence of this. Grey squirrels, rats, carrion-crows, jackdaws, and magpies are all present close to the herons’ breeding area. Herons were seen to display aggressively at jackdaws and magpies, and carrion-crows obviously took notice of the nests. The two young which hatched in February disappeared after two days and the foot-prints of a cat were seen in the snow NIGHT-HERON COLONY IN EDINBURGH ZOO 35 1957 below. (Seven regularly-used nest sites are only eight feet high in holly bushes.) A second possibility is that the numbers are kept steady by birds leaving the colony. Since they became free, there have been four local records of them outside the Zoo : January 1952, at Union Canal, Sighthill, 2 miles S.W. May-June 1954, at River Tyne, Haddington, 19 miles E. June 1954, at Water of Leith, Colinton, 2J miles S. June 1954, at River Almond, Cramond Brig, <2,\ miles N.W. (D. G. Andrew, personal communication.) As birds regularly visited the Gogar Burn (3 \ miles S.W.) in April 1955, two of the above records could have been of individuals which later returned to the Zoo. The Sighthill bird was found dying. The Haddington one may have been a genuine emigrant. Perhaps more significant is the fact that, whereas between 1930 and 1947 there were no records of night-herons in the British Isles, since then there have been several : May 1947 Kent Brit. Birds, 41 : 24. Nov. 1949 Dorset Brit. Birds, 43 : 302. Juvenile Mar.-Aug. 1953 Northumberland Brit. Birds, 47 : 353-354. Adult July- Aug. 1953 Norfolk Ibid. Adult July- Aug. & Oct. 1953 Lancaster Ibid. Juvenile Oct.-Nov. 1953 Kent Ibid. Juvenile Winter 1953-54 Essex Ibid. Juvenile Mar.-Apr. 1954 Devon Ibid. The Editors of British Birds (1954) comment on the unusual number of records for 1953-54, and on the fact that all the birds remained where first seen for some time, suggesting that they may therefore have escaped from captivity. It is also possible, however, that these birds were from a Dutch colony established in 1946 (while Holland is outside their normal range, Lebret (1947) thinks they may have been driven out of France by wartime disturbances, or may have escaped from a local private aviary). However, no increase was noted in the Dutch colony in 1953, nor were there any unusual occurrences on the North Sea or Channel coasts. Although the Edinburgh night-herons belong (presumably) to the American race, which is subspecifically separated from the European race, the two could not be distinguished in the field. In the future it would be possible to colour-ring the 36 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g young birds before they leave the nest, thus providing some check on any further British records. Hence it is not possible to say how much the colony size has been affected by emigration. The average annual increment between 1938 and 1950 was just under four (the increment for 1954 was also four, so the calculation seems reasonable). The increment in the three years 1951 to 1954 should therefore be twelve. There were four deaths during this period, and the population was greater by two than at the previous estimate. Thus six birds are theoretically unaccounted for. It is sugges- tive, but no more, that this number is close to the number of British records of the bird during the same period. Acknowledgments The complete account of this investigation is in the library of the Department of Zoology, University of Edinburgh, together with a short film of the nesting and feeding habits of the birds. The work was done while I was a student in the Department, and I wish to acknowledge much assistance received there. I am also grateful to Dr. D. M. Steven and to many others for helpful advice and criticism, and to the Director-Secretary and staff of the Zoological Gardens for their willing co-operation. REFERENCES Allen, R. P., and F. P. Mangels, 1940. Studies of the nesting behaviour 1 of the black-crowned night-heron. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.T., 50-51 : 1-28.. Lebret, T., 1947. Een kleine broedkolonie van de Kwak, JVycticorax nycticorax (L.), in Nederland in 1946 en 1947. Ardea , 35 : 149-156. Valverde, J. A., 1955. Essai sur l’Aigrette garzette ( Egretta g. garzetta) 1 en France. Alauda, 23 : 254-270. i957 ORNITHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN SCOTLAND IN 1955 37 REVIEW OF ORNITHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN SCOTLAND IN 1955* Evelyn V. Baxter Upper Largo The records published in 1955 again show much of interest : as before, the review is divided into birds new to Scotland, additions to areas and counties, and changes in breeding range. The Scottish Bird Records Committee of the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club have studied the records with much care and this review embodies their findings. Six birds have been admitted to the Scottish list, all being American ; one other of which the evidence is insufficient to warrant inclusion, has been retained in square brackets. A list of North American land-birds, published in British Birds but not formerly accepted for inclusion in the Scottish list, was considered. In view of the increased knowledge of American bird-visitors, some of the former findings can safely be re- versed. We recommend that the following four be accepted : eastern pigeon-hawk, black-and-white warbler, Baltimore oriole and American white-throated sparrow. Those we consider should not at present be included in the Scottish list are : eastern goshawk, red-shouldered hawk, passenger pigeon, ruby-crowned kinglet, red-winged blackbird and American white-winged crossbill, six in all. These last are not included in the list under species. There are many additions to area and county lists, and interesting breeding records. Though no great immigration was recorded, unusual num- bers of some species were noted. In autumn 1955 there were more black terns, green sandpipers and spotted redshanks in the Lothians than usual, while curlew-sandpipers and ruff were scarce ( Edin . Bird Bull., 5 : 74, 76, 77). In winter 1954-55, unusual numbers of barn-owls were recorded in Aberdeenshire (Scot. Nat., 67 : 1 14). * Received 26th September 1956 38 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 1 BIRDS NEW TO SCOTLAND Eastern Pigeon-Hawk Falco columbarius columbarius A merlin from South Uist, collected by Meinertzhagen (Ibis, 1934 : 58) on nth November 1920, is referred to this race by Meinertzhagen and Williamson (Ibis, 95 : 365). It has not previously been recorded for Scotland, and awaits confirmation by the B.O.U. Records Sub-Committee. Hudsonian Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus hudsonicus A bird of this American race visited Fair Isle from 27th to 31st May 1955 (Brit. Birds, 48 : 379). It is new to Scotland. White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis This American sandpiper remained at Gladhouse Reservoir, Mid-Lothian, from 21st to 24th May 1955 (Edin. Bird Bull., 5: 75). It is the first Scottish record. [Eastern Blue-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava simillima Two wagtails collected by Dr. Eagle Clarke on Fair Isle, $ 9th October 1909, £ 25th September 1912, have been referred to this race (Brit. Birds, 48 : 400) . After considering this case, the committee does not feel qualified to confirm this identification in such a perplexing group.] Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia One found dead at Scalloway, Shetland, in mid-October 1936, and at first not considered to be a true migrant, may now be admitted to the Scottish list, subject to confirmation by the B.O.U. Records Sub-Committee. It is an American species (Scot. Nat., 1937 : 46 ; Brit. Birds, 31 : 125). Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula A bird of this species was caught alive but exhausted in Shetland on 26th September 1890, and another was said to have been seen the same day. We see no objection to this American species being admitted to the Scottish list, subject to confirmation by the B.O.U. Records Sub-Committee (Zoologist, 1890 : 457 ; Brit. Birds, 48 : 13). i957 ORNITHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN SCOTLAND IN 1955 39 White-throated Sparrow Zono^c^a albicollis One reported seen in Aberdeen on 17th August 1867 i [Birds of West of Scotland, 138), may have been an escaped bird, August being too early for its autumn migration. Another was shot on the Flannans on 18th May 1909 [Ann. Scot. Nat. 1 Hist , 1909 : 246). We consider it should qualify for the Scottish list [Brit. Birds , 48 : 14), subject to confirmation by the B.O.U. Records Sub-Committee. BIRDS NEW TO AREAS AND COUNTIES Great Northern Diver Gavia immer One found dead at Mugdock, 15th November 1954, and one at Craigmaddie, 23rd December 1954, are the first records for West Stirling [Scot. Nat., 67 : 66). White-billed Diver Gavia adamsii One found dead at Spey Bay on 5th January 1955 is the first recorded for the Moray area and Morayshire [Scot. Nat., 67 : 109). Slavonian Grebe Podiceps auritus One at Hogganfield on 2nd January 1954 is the first record for Lanark [Scot. Nat., 67 : 66). Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis One at Hule Moss near Greenlaw, on 28th August 1955, was claimed as the first record for Berwickshire [Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 73), but there are previous records (see Fauna of Tweed, 242). It has proved to be a passage migrant in Shetland [Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 256) . Great Shearwater Procellaria gravis Few every year, autumn to January, in Shetland [Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 250). This is the first record for Shetland. Little Egret Egretta garzetta A little egret near Bonar Bridge, on 22nd June 1954, is the first record for South-East Sutherland [Brit. Birds, 48 : 128), 40 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 one near Motherwell on 13th June 1954 is the first for Clyde and Lanark {Scot. Nat., 67 : 66), and an adult on 20th May 1955 at Loch Hallan, South Uist, is the first for the Outer Hebrides and Inverness (Brit. Birds , 48 : 41 1). Bittern Botaurus stellaris One in South-East Sutherland, on 13th December 1954, is the first record for that area (Scot. Nat., 67 : no). [Green-winged Teal Anas crecca carolinensis The evidence is insufficient for one shot on Whalsay, no date, mounted and identified by Small (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 220).] European White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons albifrons One caught Islay, in January 1955, is the first definite record of this race in the Inner Hebrides (Scot. Nat., 67 : 1 12). Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris A Greenland ringed bird was recovered at Montrose in November 1953 (Scot. Nat., 67 : 112), the first definite record of this race in Angus. Bean Goose Anser arvensis arvensis The first definite record of this goose in Shetland is of one , seen from 29th April to 7th May 1952 (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 214). Bewick’s Swan Cygnus bewickii Bewick’s swans, ten in all, were seen on 6th February and 27th March on lochs near Rattray Head, and are the first recorded in Aberdeenshire (Scot. Nat., 67 : 112). Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos One at St. Kilda, on 26th May 1955, is the first recorded for that island (Brit. Birds, 48 : 454). Icelandic Merlin Falco columbarius subaesalon A female caught on Foula, 18th October 1954, was of this race : excluding Fair Isle, it is the first record for Shetland ( Fair Isle Bird Obs. Bull., 2 : 248). 4i i957 ORNITHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN SCOTLAND IN 1955 Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus A first-summer male is reported from Fair Isle, 4th to , 1 2th June 1955. It is new to Shetland as well as Fair Isle 1 (Brit. Birds , 48 : 542). [Arctic Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula tundrae One shot Whalsay, 4th September 1937 ; a record requiring further evidence of identification ( Birds and Mammals of Shetland , 289).] Northern Golden Plover Charadrius apricarius altifrons Seen at Eaglesham in April and May 1954, new to Renfrew (Scot. Nat., 67 : 69). Wood-Sandpiper Tringa glareola One on 25th May and several on 14th June 1954 on Foula (Fair Isle Bird Obs. Bull., 2 : 250). Seen in May, June, August, September, in Shetland. Not previously recorded for Shetland except from Fair Isle (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 286). Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus Endrick Mouth, 25th April, 1st and 2nd May 1954. New to West Stirling and Dunbarton (Scot. Nat., 67 : 69). Knot Calidris canutus A knot at Hamilton, on 9th November 1954, is the first record for Lanark (Scot. Nat., 67 : 69). Curlew-Sandpiper Calidris testacea Three at Hamilton, on 24th September 1954, are new to Lanark (Scot. Nat., 67 : 69). Sanderling Crocethia alba One seen in early July 1955 is new to Lanark (Scot. Field, Sept- 1955 : l6)- Scandinavian Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus fuscus Four definite examples are recorded from Shetland, the first noted there (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 314), and two at Aberlady, on 1st May 1955, are the first for East Lothian (Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 56). 6 42 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Shore-Lark Eremophila alpestris One at Monifieth on 6th December 1952 is new to Angus (Scot. Nat., 67 : 115). Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax The first record of the chough in Shetland comes from Exnaboe, Dunrossness, during the third week of March 1952 (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 103). On the same page the occurrence of a chough about Kirkwall from 10th to 24th December 1951 is reported, the first record for Orkney. Marsh-Tit Parus palustris A pair were seen near Saltoun on 4th June 1955, the first record for Forth and East Lothian (Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 79). [Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros There is insufficient evidence for a bird of this species reported as seen at Torrance on 15th July 1955 (Field, x8th August 1955 : 304).] [White-spotted Bluethroat Cyanosylvia svecica cyanecula No evidence of identification is available for a white- spotted bluethroat found dead on Whalsay, 4th September 1930 (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 173).] Pied Flycatcher Muscicapa hypoleuca One by Loch Lomond, 22nd May 1938, is claimed as at first record for Dunbarton (Bird Study, 2 : 191). There is, however, a definite previous record of a male seen on 24th August 1900 at Ardpeaton, Loch Long, by W. E. Evans and t Miss Evans, both reliable observers (British Association Hand- book for the Clyde Area, 161). [Water- Pipit Anthus spinoletta One seen near Loch Spiggie, 8th May 1950 ; it was in I nuptial plumage. It was not A. s. petrosus, but the subspecies was not determined (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 138).] Grey-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava thunbergi One seen at Rosyth Mud Flats, 3rd August 1955, is the first record for South Fife (Scot. Nat., 67 : 120). i957 ORNITHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN SCOTLAND IN 1955 43 Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes A male at Glendaruel on 4th June 1953 is new to South Argyll ( Glasgow and W. of Scot. Bird Bull., 4 : 10). Pine- Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator A pine grosbeak caught on the Isle of May, on 8th November 1954, is new to that island and to Forth [Brit. Birds, 48 : 133). Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla Two at Dunrossness, on 12th May 1948, are new to Shetland (except Fair Isle) ( Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 124). Lapland Bunting Calcarius lapponicus A Lapland bunting was seen near Duns from 1st to 23rd January 1955. It is the first record for Berwickshire ( Edin . Bird Bull., 5 : 52). Tree-Sparrow Passer montanus Tree-sparrows at Thornhill in 1955 are new to East Stirling I [Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 80). BREEDING RECORDS Leach’s Petrel Oceanodroma leucorrhoa Breeding plentifully Eilean Tighe as well as Eilean Mor, Flannans. Two burrows on Bearasay contained adult bird but no egg (Scot. Nat., 67 : 109). Sheld-Duck Tadorna tadorna One pair bred on the Isle of May in 1936 (Scot. Nat., 67 : 75). Sparrow-Hawk Accipiter nisus Does not now breed in Shetland (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 200) . | Kestrel Falco tinnunculus Does not now breed in Shetland (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 198). Herring-Gull Earns argentatus One pair nested Tentsmuir in 1955 ; first for North Fife (Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 67). THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol 6g 44 Common Gull Larus cams Small colony on islands on Loch Arklet, N.W. Stirling, in 1954. First record of breeding in Stirling (Scot. JVat., 67 : 70). Common Tern Sterna hirundo New colony about 100 pairs, Rosyth Mud Flats, in 1955 (. Edin . Bird Bull., 5 : 77). First breeding at Gladhouse, 1955 (Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 69). Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis New colony 15-20 pairs, Rosyth Mud Flats, in 1955 (Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 77). Green Woodpecker Ficus viridis Bred near Penicuik 1955 ; first breeding record for Forth (Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 78). Pied Flycatcher Muscicapa hypoleuca Satisfactory notes from Perthshire of the breeding of this species in 1954 (Scot. Nat., 67 : 71, 118). Crossbill Loxia curvirostra Several records are given of the breeding of this bird in Aberdeenshire (Scot. Nat., 67 : 12 1) where there were previously only two positive records. Linnet Carduelis cannabina Does not now breed in Shetland (Birds and Mammals of Shetland, 1 1 5) . Tree-Sparrow Passer montanus Breeding near Port of Monteith Railway Station, 1955, the first breeding record for East Stirling (Edin. Bird Bull., 5 : 64). They were also found nesting near Thornhill, in South Perth, in 1952-3 (ibid., 80). The discovery of a number in Ayrshire is important and it would be interesting to know if they breed there (Scot. Nat., 67 : 71). In the Scottish Naturalist, 67 : 72, there is a valuable paper by Dr. W. J. Eggeling on the breeding birds of the Isle of May, showing the fluctuations in number on that island. 1957 PIED FLYCATCHERS IN PERTHSHIRE 45 PIED FLYCATCHERS IN PERTHSHIRE* J. M. D. Mackenzie St. Andrews Nests in 1955 and 1956 In 1955, no nests of the pied flycatcher ( Muscicapa hypoleuca ) were found in Perthshire. The weather was cold from early I May until about the 27th, during the time when pied fly- j catchers arrive. The weather from about 5th to 20th May probably decides whether birds coming up the west coast will face the passes over to the Tay drainage. In 1951, the only | other year when we had none since they first nested in 1950, i; conditions were similar. In 1951 and 1955, snow-patches on the hills were also more extensive and lay a longer time. In 1956, migrants were all late, redstarts (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) and spotted flycatchers ( Muscicapa striata ) not i arriving in numbers until the middle instead of the beginning i of May. Pied flycatchers were also late, as usual about ten days after the redstarts. On 25th May, about the usual laying time of pied flycatchers, only one box was occupied at Loch Tay, containing a half-made nest. The box at Drummond Hill in Glen Lyon (used later on), was also empty on 31st May, but on 30th May I found a nest with four fresh eggs at Falls of Tummel. On 10th June at Loch Tay, the nest which had ! been half-made contained five pied flycatcher eggs and !| another 40 yards away had four eggs. By 27th June, the young had flown from the first nest, leaving an addled egg; the other held four nestlings about eight days old. On the north side of Drummond Hill, the box that had , been empty on 31st May contained three nestlings (which flew at once), and an addled egg, on 17th July. The first egg must have been laid about 13th June, so it was probably a re-nest. It was 6 feet high in a well- thinned 40-year-old larch plantation, with three or four fairly old but stunted beech nearby, much the same kind of situation as the 1952 nest in * Received 18 th October 1956 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g 46 the same woods, a mile farther down the Lyon (Mackenzie, 1952; Campbell, 1955). It was at least 400 yards from the Lyon and its fringe of scrubby alder and oak. The nest at Falls of Tummel was some 600 yards from and ! perhaps 500 feet above the water’s edge. On 29th June, it I contained four nestlings which flew at once, and an addled j egg; probably the last egg was laid on 31st May. All the boxes were of one type (Mackenzie, 1948; Cohen and Campbell, 1954). The 1956 sites provided the usual requirements (Campbell, 1955), except that while two were so close to Loch Tay that the tree-roots were lapped when the loch was very full, the other two were at least 400 and 600 yards from water. At Falls of Tummel the woods go to the water’s edge, while on Drummond Hill there are fields inter- vening for 200 yards or more; but both sites are on or near boggy, wet ground, rich in insect life. Possibly connected with the late dates, clutches were all small: five, five, four and four. Five and six are the usual clutch-sizes in this area, with one or two of seven. Review of Nesting from 1950 to 1956 I have no boxes farther west than Drummond Hill, and none farther north than Falls of Tummel. These two plots have been reached, and to the north the Falls of Tummel seems to be the limit for colonisation of the Tay drainage from the west. The Garry is wooded, at any rate as far as Struan, but it then turns north into country that is mainly grouse- moor and deer-forest, devoid of trees. The likely route to the north is up Loch Linnhe and the Caledonian Canal, perhaps with a branch by Loch Laggan to the Spey. I have had boxes on Lochtayside, Drummond Hill and Falls of Tummel since 1946. In view of the numbers of birds nesting since 1950, it seems unlikely that there were more than a few unmated stragglers before. Since then, we have the following records, with suggested routes: iggo One nest, Lochtayside; Glen Dochart route. New extension of range (Mackenzie, 1950). iggi No nests. Boxes put up at Strathtay (Mackenzie, 1952). 1957 PIED FLYCATCHERS IN PERTHSHIRE 47 1992 Three nests. One in Glen Lochay, found by Dr. Eggeling, and two in Glen Lyon. One hen near Kinloch Rannoch. The Glen Lochay birds probably came up the River Lochay. The other two nests were one mile and four miles from the mouth of the Lyon; both may have crossed from Loch Tay by Fearnan and Fortingall, or down the Tay and up the Lyon. They could have come up Loch Awe by Tyndrum, but there is high ground on the way, nearly 1,500 feet. A slight spread north and east, two to three miles in each direction (Mackenzie, 1952). 1953 Two nests. One on Lochtayside, and one in the new boxes at Strathtay. A spread east by 9 miles, and north by 3 miles. Nestlings just flown were reported near the mouth of the Bran, Dunkeld. This would mean a further spread of 6 miles east (Mackenzie, 1954). 1954 One nest on Lochtayside, and one at Strathtay. The Lochtayside nest was preyed upon, and a nest from which young had flown was found in nearby conifers in September (Mackenzie, 1955). 7955 None found. 1996 Four nests. Two 40 yards apart on Lochtayside. One a mile farther up the Lyon than the 1952 nest. One at Falls of Tummel. The probable route for the latter was by Loch Etive, Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel. A spread north of at least 5 miles. Since the first nest was found on Loch Tay, I have put in two more sets of boxes to “ catch ” the birds; one at Strathtay has caught them, while Dunkeld House has not yet been reached. If they had come from the east, they must have passed many suitable plots, some more suitable than at Drummond Hill, where one nest was not in a normal site. (The description of this site in Campbell (1955: 182) is not quite correct. The larches had not been brashed or thinned, but I had cleared a flight-way into the box about 12-15 feet long and 6-8 feet high and wide, which made a tunnel clear of branches. I find all birds, except sometimes wrens and coal-tits, require this before they will use a box, unless it can be placed so that the entrance faces an opening such as a ride.) There are several reasons for thinking the birds come up the warmer west coast. The Aberfoyle pair (Campbell, 1954) THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 48 Vol. 6g was actually nearer the west than the east coast, and the probable route was via Loch Lomond. There is a gap in recorded nests north of the Lothians as far as my nests in Central Scotland. I have two nest-box plots in the east: Balcarres and Tentsmuir. Although I have had 270 bird nests in the latter, not one was of this species. To the west are 1 1 plots, all unused by flycatchers. Finally there are the four plots in and to the west of which all the nests have been found, and at least one nest has been found in every one of them. The dates of laying, though rather uncertain, also point the same way. In 1952, the Glen Lochay birds were earliest, the Fortingall lot next, and my Glen Lyon lot the latest, if only by a day or so. A good many birds have been seen round Oban and south of it, which is a good start for crossing into the Tay and Tummel drainages via Loch Fyne, Loch Awe and Loch Etive. In two years, none were found, leaving five years with an average of about three nests known, of which all but four were 1 in boxes. Judging from Dr. Eggeling’s find in 1952, there may have been about three times this number, nine or ten in the best years. Probably most were in the Tay drainage, west of the Perth-Inverness road. One can have a small but regular population in a district without it being known. The nests were not in out-of-the-way spots, with one exception near a little-used road. Had it not been for my boxes, only two nests, one hen, and a newly-fledged brood would have been recorded, and also probably one cock singing on Dr. J. W. Campbell’s house in 1954. My boxes were there for another purpose, but they happened to be on the limit of distribution of the species. With woods in their present sound condition, boxes help to observe such an extension, as they provide a surplus of suitable nest-sites. Campbell (1954: 90) noted this, and I also noted it before in the Dean as well as in other parts of England and Wales. Summary In 1955, no pied flycatchers were known to have nested in Perthshire, but in 1956 there were four nests, the most recorded so far. The total, since the first nest was found in 1950, is 1957 PIED FLYCATCHERS IN PERTHSHIRE 49 thirteen certain nests, and two probable nests (fledglings seen). Young flew from all but one nest. The spread of the species in six years is traced from the original nest on the banks of Loch Tay down to Strathtay (12 miles), to the mouth of the River Bran 18 miles to the east, and to Falls of Tummel 10 miles to the north. The migration route is probably up the west coast and across into the Tay drainage. REFERENCES Baxter, E. V. and L. J. Rintoul, 1953. The Birds of Scotland , 1 : 146- 148. Edinburgh. Campbell, B., 1954-55. The breeding distribution and habitats of the pied flycatcher ( Muscicapa hypoleuca ) in Britain. Bird Study, 1: 81-101; 2: 24-32, 179-191- Cohen, E. and B. Campbell, 1954. Nestboxes (Revised Edition). British Trust for Ornithology, Field Guide No. 3. Mackenzie, J. M. D., 1948. A simple nest-box. Scot. Nat., 60: 33-37. 1950. Pied flycatchers nesting in Perthshire. Scot. Nat., 62: 180- 182. 1952. Pied flycatchers nesting in Perthshire. Scot. Nat., 64 : 169- 170. T954- Perthshire pied flycatchers, 1953. Scot. Nat., 66 : 54-55. r955- Perthshire pied flycatchers, 1954. Scot. Nat., 67 : 118-120. Witherby, H. F. (Editor), 1938. The Handbook of British Birds, 1 : 306. London. 50 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vo L 69 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES The Vertical Range of some Littoral Animals on St. Kilda. — Waterston and Taylor, in their paper on the land and fresh-water molluscs of St. Kilda (1906), added a note that brittle immature specimens of Littorina littorea (L.) were found near the top of Ruaival at least 400 feet above sea-level. They also reported that Mr. Fraser noted “ whelks 55 crawling on the dykes behind the manse. Later they found empty shells of this species and Purpura lapilla (= JVucella lapillus) on Mullach Mor. In 1952 a survey was made of the marine fauna and flora of St. Kilda (Gauld, Bagenal and Connell, 1953), and again in 1956, when attention was paid to the littoral animals and plants, with emphasis on the extent of the marine influence on the island and on the above observation of Waterston and Taylor. In 1952 and 1956, Littorina littorea was found only on the upper part of the mid-littoral zone in small numbers in Village Bay and Glen Bay. The accessible cliffs of Ruaival were carefully searched from low- water mark to the summit (at 444 feet) and no L . littorea were found. Other localities (including the walls behind the manse) were also examined but the species was found only on the shore itself. Waterston and Taylor may have been correct, and Littorina 1 littorea may now have returned to a more normal habitat. The significance of their record has been increased by the belief that it illustrates a fundamental ecological principle; the anomaly has been explained in terms of the possible absence of competing terres- trial species (Elton, quoted by Darling, 1947). There are, however, other excellent examples of littoral animals being found high up inland on St. Kilda. Lack (1932) recorded Petrobius brevistylis Carp, up to 700 feet on Conachair. This was confirmed in 1952 (P. brevistylis was mis-identified as P. maritimus by Gauld, Bagenal and Connell, 1953), and also in 1956 when the species was found up to 800 feet on Mullach Geal. Carpenter (1913) recorded P. maritimus a short distance from the sea on Clare Island and at Howth Head in Ireland, but the range of P. brevistylis on St. Kilda seems exceptional. Another example is Littorina saxatilis (Olivi). This species was found in 1956 on Ruaival in a fresh-water trickle among Entero- morpha intestinalis, and on damp soil under stones up to a height of about 95 feet. It may have been this species which Waterston and Taylor found and mis-identified. Littorina saxatilis in contrast to 1957 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 5* L. littorea (which has planktonic eggs and larvae), is viviparous and more likely to be found inland or in exposed positions. The St. Kildan specimens were carrying embryos. The range of some amphipods is also of interest on St. Kilda. In 1952 Talitrus saltator (Montagu) was recorded from under slates at the manse door (c. 22 feet). In 1956 the amphipods in this position were definitely Orchestia gammarella (Pallas). This confirms the observations of Scott (1956), and it is agreed that T. saltator was probably a mis-identification. On Ruaival, 0. gammarella was found under a piece of wood at a height of 350 feet above sea-level. This species is also viviparous and was carrying embryos. Although Reid (1947) stated that O. gammarella is found “ quite commonly under stones on damp soil several hundred yards from water ”, the St. Kildan range of up to 350 feet is prob- ably exceptional. — T. B. Bagenal, Millport. REFERENCES j Gauld, D. T., T. B. Bagenal, and J. H. Connell, 1953. The marine fauna and flora of St. Kilda, 1952. Scot. Nat., 65: 29-49. Darling, F. F., 1947. Natural History in the Highlands and Islands. London. I Carpenter, G. H., 1913. The Irish species of Petrobius. Irish Nat., 22: 228-233. | Lack, D., 1932. Further notes on insects from St. Kilda in 1931. Ent. mon. Mag., 68: 139- 145. Reid, D. M., 1947. Synopses of the British fauna, No. 7. Talitridae (Crustacea, Amphipoda). Linnean Society, London. I Scott, A., 1956. The amphipod Orchestia gammarella (Pallas) in St. Kilda. Scot. Nat., 68 : 125. ! Waterston, J. and J. W. Taylor, 1906. Land and freshwater molluscs of St. Kilda. Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 57: 21-24. Spiders and Harvestmen recorded from the Isle of May. — This list has been compiled from the sources cited. The naming and arrangement of the spiders follow Locket and Millidge (t 95 1 -53) ; the names for the harvestmen are those used by Bristowe (1949). SPIDERS Dyctinidae Ciniflo fenestralis (Stroem) Dysderidae Harpactea hombergi (Scop.) Segestria senoculata (Linn.) (ARANEAE) Agelinidae Textrix denticulata (Oliv.) Tegenaria domestica (Clerck) T etragnathidae Pachygnatha degeeri Sund. 52 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST SPIDERS (ARANEAE) — contd. Vol. 6g Gnaphosidae Drassodes lapidosus (Walck.) D. signifer C. L. Koch Argiopidae Meta merianae (Scop.) Zvgiella atrica (C. L. Koch) Thomisidae Xysticus cristatus (Clerck) Linyphiidae Cornicularia vigilax (Bl.) Oedothorax apicatus (Bl.) Erigonella hiemalis (Bl.) Poeciloneta globosa (Wid.) Bolyphantes luteolus (Bl.) Lepthyphantes leprosus (Ohl.) L. tenuis (Bl.) Mengea scopigera (Grube) Salticidae Salticus scenicus (Clerck) Lycosidae Lycosa purbeckensis (O. P.-Cambr.) L. monticola (Clerck) L. pullata (Clerck) HARVESTMEN (PHALANGIDA) Phalangidae Nelima silvatica Sim. Oligolophus agrestis Meade Phalangium opilio Linn. W. J. Eggeling, Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh. REFERENCES ■ Bristowe, W. S., 1935. Spiders from the Isle of May. Scot. Nat., 1935: 27-28. 1939? 1941* The Comity of Spiders , Vols. 1 and 2. London : Ray Society. 1949- The distribution of harvestmen ( Phalangida ) in Great Britain and Ireland, with notes on their names, enemies and food. J. Anim. Ecol., 1949 : 100-114. Callan, H. G., 1936. “ List of the Arachnids of May Island, July 1936.” Lodged in Bird Observatory records. Unpublished. Carpenter, J. H., and W. Evans, 1894. A list of spiders {Araneidea) collected in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh. Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., 1894 : 527-590. Locket, J. H., and A. F. Millidge, 1951, 1953. British Spiders, Vols. 1 and 2. London : Ray Society. Little Grebes in Shetland. — The Handbook and the Popular Handbook both refer to the little grebe ( Podiceps ruficollis ) as “ only a winter visitor to the Shetlands ”, and the Venables in Birds and Mammals of Shetland state that their earliest record for the species was 13th October and their latest 3rd April. It is, therefore, of some interest that on 12th July 1955, I watched two little grebes continually diving in a small reedy arm of Loch Cliff, about a mile from Burrafirth in the island of Unst. I was able to remain for only 15 minutes, and during that time saw no evidence that the birds had bred. — Alex Tewnion, Aberdeen. ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 53 1957 Leach’s Petrel in Renfrewshire — a correction. —Dr. 1 J. A. Gibson has pointed out to us that the Leach’s petrel ( Oceano - 1! droma leucorrhoa ) found at Househillwood, Glasgow, S.W., on 30th October 1952, and recorded under “ Lanark ” in Scot. Nat., 65: 186, ought correctly to have been ascribed to Renfrewshire. It was stated ( loc . cit., p. 167) that there were no records for the County of Renfrew and this requires to be amended also. — Editors. Manx Shearwaters nesting in the Clyde Area. — The Manx j shearwater ( Procellaria puffinus ) is a common visitor to the Firth j of Clyde, often in flocks of considerable size, but has not hitherto been proved to nest within the Clyde area. I have long suspected, however, that shearwaters might nest on Glunimore Island ( Glas . 1 and W. of Scot. Bird Bull., 2: 39), but it was not until 1955 that I was able to prove breeding. Glunimore is a small rock-stack, 90 feet high, lying some two miles off the south-east tip of the Kintyre peninsula, and about ; half-a-mile equidistant from Sheep Island and Sanda. It supports I several colonies of sea-birds, including a small but thriving puffin j| colony, and the top of the stack is honeycombed with burrows. During the last 10 years I have made seven visits to Glunimore, and although I was never able to spend a night there, I was several times impressed by the number of shearwaters to be seen around the island in the evening. Moreover, in June 1953 two friends of mine, Neil Paterson and Alastair MacArthur, visited Glunimore and found an adult shearwater near the mouth of a burrow; it j seemed dazed, and when released flew straight out to sea. All this made me strongly suspect breeding, and on 2nd Sep- I tember 1955 I landed again on Glunimore and after an hour’s work managed to dig out two nearly fully-fledged young Manx shear- ! waters. From the numbers of birds seen around the island on previous occasions I should guess that about a dozen pairs nest. This is the first breeding record for the Clyde area. The ! nearest known nesting-site is on Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland, twenty-five miles due west. — J. A. Gibson, Paisley. Sooty Shearwater in the Clyde Area. — On 1 6th July 1955, when sailing from Girvan to Ailsa Craig, I saw a sooty shearwater ( Procellaria grisea). We were about half-way across when I saw the bird dipping between the wave-troughs some 100 yards away on the starboard side, and even at that distance its large size was apparent. We stopped the boat and the shearwater passed only 54 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g some fifty feet astern. It was about the size of a fulmar and had uniform sooty-black plumage, although as it passed immediately behind us we got a glimpse of the pale line under the wing. There are at least two other records from the Clyde area; one off the Mull of Kintyre on 2nd September 1932, and one near Pladda on ( 25th August 1936. — J. A. Gibson, Paisley. Behaviour of Ptarmigan with Young. — On 10th June 1956 Michael Campbell Penney and I came across a brood of young ptarmigan ( Lagopus mutus), probably not more than twenty-four hours old, on a steep scree slope near the summit of one of the Mamores above Kinlochleven. The female was actually brooding three of the young when we flushed her. She ran off to a distance of about 10 yards from us, where she proceeded to go through the motions of dust-bathing in a runnel of small grit that ran through the scree slabs at this point. The performance was a pretty com- plete one, even down to the occasional pause for a vigorous scratch, but it was of course completely out of place in the circumstances and was evidently a form of 44 displacement activity ” — a resultant of the two mutually inhibiting drives to incubate and escape. The sequel is also worth recording. We retired to a distance of some 50 yards and watched the bird make her way back to the spot from which we had flushed her, crooning quietly like a broody hen. Suddenly the crooning changed to a louder, querulous, rather jackdaw-like note, and immediately little yellow heads popped up all over the scree slope and the chicks made their way towards the mother. This call-note appears to be the 44 harsher 4 kwor-a ’ ” described by Nethersole-Thompson in The Handbook , 5: 229, and it evidently serves as a most effective rallying call for the young birds. — D. G. Andrew, Edinburgh. This appears to be the first record of displacement dust-bathing in ptarmigan. The call noted above is perhaps not the same as the harsh 4 kwor-a 5 recorded by Nethersole-Thompson. It seems to us lacking in harshness, and very high-pitched, resembling one of the com- monest calls of the jackdaw; we noted it as a 44 high-pitched 4 kee-ah 5 ”. A plaintive call 4 ee-ac ’, heard from a female during the display time (J. G. Millais, 1892, Game Birds and Shooting Sketches ), was almost certainly the same call. Seton Gordon (1912, Charm of the Hills , 233), who once heard it in November, decided that the bird was probably immature with an improperly developed voice, but we have often heard this call from adult females at all 1957 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 55 times of year. We noted it most often during spring display from January onwards, a few times when females were disturbed with young, and also at various other times in winter and autumn. — • Editors. RufF in Lewis. — On 19th September 1956 I watched a ruff ( ’ Philomachus pugnax) at the edge of a marshy pool near the village of Steinish, on the outskirts of Stornoway. I was able to approach to within 20 yards of the bird and had a perfect view in bright sunlight through a i2x binocular. It continued to preen during my approach, and looked up only when the more nervous green- shanks, redshanks and lapwing nearby took flight. A description was scribbled down at the time, and this was sent to the editors.. The greyish legs, black-edged white tail and rump (seen only briefly during preening), buff neck and breast, black-brown “scaly” wings, the size — bigger than a golden plover and the same shape — and the long neck and upright posture when alarmed, left me in no doubt about the identification. The bird eventually flew off, and I noticed the quick tern-like wing-beat, which identi- fied it even at a distance among other birds. — W. A. J. Cunningham, Stornoway. The ruff is a scarce autumn passage migrant to the Outer Hebrides. It has been observed on only a few previous occasions in Lewis, since the first record of one shot on 6th September 1 892 {Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1893 : 46). — Editors. A yellow-legged Herring-Gull in Shetland. — At about 8.30 p.m. on 25th June 1956, while standing on the deck of the motor vessel Earl of Zetland, then docked at Baltasound, Unst, I saw a strange gull among the fulmars and common, herring, and lesser black-backed gulls which were swimming and flying near the ship. This bird so closely resembled the other herring-gulls {Larus argen- tatus) that at first I was inclined to ignore it, but when it flew very close towards the ship I noticed that its legs were yellowish in colour. It circled around for about 15 minutes, several times dipping down towards the sea and alighting, lowering its legs to do so. The gull was so near most of the time, sometimes gliding and almost hovering up to 12 or 15 feet away, that despite a dull, cloudy sky, binoculars were unnecessary. The feet and tarsi were a bright yellow in colour, almost as bright as those of the lesser black-backed gulls ( Larus fuscus ) which 56 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g continually hovered over the ship and provided excellent oppor- tunities for comparison. There was no noticeable difference in colour shade between the feathering of its mantle and back and that of herring-gulls present, although the white tips to the primaries seemed to be even purer white, accentuating the darkness of the black spots. The red spot on its bill appeared to be less bright than in the other herring-gulls. From some angles, particularly when gliding up to pass me at a distance of 20-30 feet, it appeared to be slimmer than the other herring-gulls, although no difference could be detected in head-on flight. — Alex. Tewnion, Aberdeen. Mr. Tewnion has discussed this interesting observation with us, and agrees that the case for identifying the bird with the Scandi- navian race, L. argentatus omissus , is not perfectly clear. Omissus averages a longer wing than argentatus , and, furthermore, our home- bred birds are the palest of all the herring-gulls, omissus being distinctly darker on the mantle ; but the Unst bird was if anything smaller, and definitely not darker. L. argentatus cachinnans (Caspian Sea, etc.) perhaps answers the description better, though it does not now appear on the British list. The yellowing of the legs, which is an inconstant or variable character in omissus and some of the other races, is presumably due to quite a small difference in the genetic or physiological constitution of the bird, and might conceivably occur as an abnormality in any herring-gull. In a very difficult group of birds like this, if there is any reasonable doubt about a sight record it seems to us unjustified to make a definite identification. — Editors. Glaucous Gulls inland in Renfrewshire. — From 7th to nth March 1955 there were two glaucous gulls [Larus hyper - boreus) on Balgray Dam, East Renfrewshire. Balgray was frozen at the time, and the glaucous gulls kept company with a small flock of herring-gulls that had congregated on the ice near the middle of the dam. The ice thawed at the end of the week and nearly all the gulls had left the dam by 14th March. A single glaucous gull was seen at Waulkmill Glen Dam on 15th October 1955; I saw it twice on 16th October and it was still present on the morning of the 1 7th. — -J. A. Gibson, Paisley. Other occurrences of glaucous gulls inland in Scotland were recorded recently (Scot. Nat., 68 : 117). — Editors. Little Auk inland in Renfrewshire. — On the morning of 1 6th December 1955 I saw a little auk ( Plautus alle) on Waulkmill ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 57 II 1957 Glen Dam, East Renfrewshire. I watched the bird for about half- an-hour. It was being mobbed by a large flock of herring-gulls, which drove it up and down the south-west bay of the dam; it dived repeatedly but made no attempt to fly. When I visited the dam in the afternoon there was no sign of the little auk and the gulls were silent. — -J. A. Gibson, Paisley. Snowy Owl in the Cairngorms in summer. — A snowy owl (. JVyctea scandiaca) was seen during the summer of 1 953 on the same Cairngorm plateau where one (probably the same bird) appeared in 1952 (Scot. Nat., 64 : 176 ; 65 : 129). Mr. Alex. Tewnion has described the 1953 occurrences ( Cairngorm Club J ., 89 : 25). The owl was first seen by four Cairngorm Club members on 19th July, about half a mile south of the corrie it seemed to frequent most in 1952. They were able to approach to about 20 yards from the bird. Several other parties later saw the owl, the last recorded on 13th September, near the north end of the plateau. On that day two climbers found in one small area many pellets of fur and feathers, the skeleton of a blue hare, picked clean, and several skeletons of grouse-like birds, probably ptarmigan. Though none of these climbers was an ornithologist, their descriptions, which we also heard, were accurate and unquestionably referred to the snowy owl. Having seen many snowy owls in the Arctic since 1952, we consider it almost certain that the Cairngorm bird was an adult male. — Editors. Crested Tit in South-east Sutherland. — The crested tit ( Parus cristatus) has reached Sutherland. In early October 1956, I was informed by a woodman, who was employed at tree-thinning operations in a conifer wood near Dornoch, that on several occasions he had seen a strange little bird, usually appearing with the tits, in search of crumbs, while the woodmen were having their midday meal. He described the bird as being about the size of a sparrow, and particularly noted two distinctive features, a prominent crest and a black neck collar. On my first visit to the area I failed to locate the bird, but I eventually tracked it down after a prolonged search on 13th October 1956. The part of the wood where it was seen consists of mature Scots pines, including a few dead and decaying trees, interspersed with patches of alder bog — an ideal breeding habitat for the species. There does not appear to be a previous record of the crested tit for Sutherland, but the most recent authorities (Baxter and Rintoul, 1 953, The Birds of Scotland , 132) and (Bannerman, 1953, The Birds 8 58 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g of the British Isles , 2 : 191) both refer to its spread in the adjoining district of East Ross. — D. Macdonald, Dornoch. Crested Tits in Plantations. — In September 1949, I put up : about 50 nest-boxes in some 2,000 acres of conifer plantations, within the normal range of the Scottish crested tit (Parus cristatus). The plantations were of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris), varying from 15 to 30 years old, but there were other conifers, especially P. contorta. I was unable to re-visit the place until September 1952, but was told that one or two pairs of tits had used the boxes each year. During my visit I found several tits’ nests in the boxes. Two or three were apparently of coal-tits (P. ater ), from which the nestlings had flown, and a great tit ( P . major) had been sitting on four eggs. There were five or six nests of moss and grass (some from previous years) . One that had been deserted contained five heavily marked eggs, probably a crested tit’s. In September 1952, I also tried calling, to see if I could get any idea of numbers. The method is an old one (using a beech leaf between the thumbs) known as “ blatten ” in Germany, where it was used to call up roe deer. I have used it in Burma to call deer — a point to remember being that it may also call a tiger. In August 1947, I was with the District Forest Officer in High Meadow, , Forest of Dean, where the bird population is reputedly low. In about ten minutes of calling, I collected between 100 and 200 birds : all the local species of tits, flycatchers, willow and other warblers, robins, blackbirds, thrushes etc., with one or two jays and magpies, j possibly hoping for an easy meal. Finally, the only pair of buzzards (Buteo buteo) in the Dean appeared overhead, calling continually. My companion had not seen them for two or three years ; they may have come to my call, or possibly the noise made by the other birds may have attracted them. A fallow deer also appeared for a moment. For crested tits in the Scottish plantation, I drove along the various roads and rides, stopping at intervals of 400 yards and calling. Stopping places had to be selected mostly in older planta- tions, as little can be seen in the very thick younger ones. No concealment was necessary, as long as I kept still. Calling was continued for five to ten minutes, as it took some time for birds to arrive. Usually there was nothing to be seen for the first minute or two ; then birds could be heard and seen approaching. Judging from the distances between stops, and the composition of the flocks, 1957 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 59 it is unlikely that any birds were counted twice. Probably all birds in the area were not seen, but they came most times. Usually birds coming up made a good deal of noise, but sometimes I suddenly saw individuals or even groups which were quite silent. Many were quite fearless, and I had a number, including about a dozen crested tits, within six feet, or sometimes three feet, of my head. One perched on my hat. During six hours of calling, in about 1,000 acres, the following were seen : — Pheasant Phasianus colchicus i Blackbird Turdus merula i Great Tit Parus major 13 Robin Erithacus rubecula 3 Blue Tit Parus caeruleus 4 Willow-Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus 3 Goal-Tit Parus ater Approx. 180 Goldcrest Regulus regulus 6 Crested Tit Parus cristatus 28 Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula 5 Tree-creeper Certhia familiaris 1 Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs 2 Song-Thrush Turdus ericetorum 1 There were in addition perhaps a hundred small birds heard but not identified. Calling is perhaps not an accurate census method, but it serves as a quick way of roughly estimating the numbers. From walking through these woods, I should have put the population at a much lower figure, about a quarter of that seen with calling. The method has not yet been fully worked out : the range of the call is not known, but it is at least 100 yards, perhaps 200, depending on the wind and the nature of the woods. If birds are not seen, they may not be absent, as calling is not always successful. I had best results in August and September, and I think the noise simu- lates that made by a young bird in trouble. Sometimes I got birds, especially tits, to come in winter, but I do not remember seeing any in the breeding season. Baxter and Rintoul ( Birds of Scotland , 1953) stated that after the breeding season, crested tits occasionally associate with other species. In this locality, there were more tit-flocks with crested tits than without them. Typical lots were ten coal-tits, three great tits, one crested tit; twenty coal-tits, two great tits, five crested tits, and one each of goldcrest, willow-warbler, chaffinch, and pheasant. In some 20-year old Scots pines right on the sea edge of the dunes, I found a flock of at least twenty coal-tits, five or more crested tits, one tree-creeper, two goldcrests and a willow- warbler.— J. M. D. Mackenzie, St. Andrews. The exact locality where the crested tits were seen has not been published, as these birds are still subject to persecution by egg- collectors. It lies within the Moray faunal area. — Editors. 6o THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Redstarts nesting in East Renfrewshire. — A pair of red- starts ( Pheenicurus pheenicurus ) were in my grounds in 1956. I did not find the nest, but saw single birds several times during July, and adults feeding young birds in early August. A very few pairs of redstarts nest in West Renfrewshire but this is the first time I have known of a pair nesting in the east of the county. — J. A. Gibson, Paisley. Even if young passerine birds are observed being fed by adults, it is difficult to establish for certain a breeding record for that locality, as there is always a possibility that they may have moved from elsewhere. However, Dr. Gibson informs us that the young redstarts, when first seen, were newly-fledged, and must have been almost just out of the nest. One of the young, which he almost caught, had a flight range of only twenty yards. The locality where the redstarts were seen contained the only large piece of woodland for a considerable distance around. — Editors. Probable Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus) in Aberdeenshire. — On 30th September 1956, when I was on the moor of Forvie and approaching the northern boundary, not far from the Sand Loch at Collieston and about f mile from the sea, I flushed a small bird at a distance, which flew off until it was finally lost to sight. Having a strong suspicion of its identity, and of the difficulty there would be in establishing this with certainty, I stood ! where I was and wrote down the following details : — “ Bunting flushed at a distance, flew far off, irregular flight. Call tik-it-ik , tu , the tu very liquid. Strongly suggested Lapland bunting: size (and shape) would be right, smaller than skylarks (flying at the time) ; linnets numerous in same area.” On hearing the “ tu ”, my first thought was “ Baffin Island ”, and the next “ longspur ”, the name by which this bird is best known to me. (I spent about five months in 1950 and 1953 in parts of Baffin Island where it was to be seen and heard abundantly at all hours of the day, and have met with it on a number of other occasions since 1931 in Canada, Lapland and Fair Isle. I find the “ tu ” or “ te-ou ” frequently referred to in my earlier notes.) On returning home I first consulted Hollom’s Popular Handbook (1952), and read of the Lapland bunting on page 413 : “ It usually occurs in treeless country in company with sky-larks or mixed flocks of finches and buntings. . . . Flight is undulating. . . . ! The chief note of migrants in autumn is c ticky-tick-teu the 1957 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 61 ! final note being a full melodious descending whistle 55 . This so perfectly matched my own observations, as to the habitat, com- j panions, flight and call-note — the last being identical except for the spelling — that it seems justifiable to publish this note. The same I confirmation is of course to be found at greater length in Witherby’s i Handbook (i: 145-146, 1938). The Lapland bunting has never been recorded in “ Dee — V. C. Wynne-Edwards, Aberdeen. White-billed Diver in East Lothian. — A white-billed diver {Gavia adamsii ) stayed on the Gosford-Aberlady coast, East Lothian, from February to April 1956, in the same area where one was observed {Scot. Nat., 68: 57-58) in November 1955. The im- mediate question is whether or not it was the same individual, j This cannot be decided conclusively, because of the differences in colour of plumage and bill between the November bird and the ; February one. On 19th February 1956, with Mr. K. S. Macgregor, we ap- proached very near the diver. There were no large white spots on the plumage, only very small light dots; (the November bird had 1 several large white, or off-white, spots on its back and scapulars). The bill was bluish-green at the base, shading to white at the tip, with only a faint suggestion of yellow; (the bill of the November bird was dull straw-yellow in colour). Later, on 24th March, Mr. D. G. Andrew noted at close range that the bill colour was a bright varnished yellow on the front of the upper part, and bluish- white underneath. This agreed with a further description made on 8th April, but the following week the bill seemed dull yellow with a darkish base. The colour of the back and scapulars remained the same throughout March and April. On the few occasions when we saw the bird raise itself and flap its wings, heavy moult was apparent, as there were hardly any primaries and only a few well-developed secondaries. On 1 5th April, through a 40 X telescope, we watched the diver bring up an eel after a long dive. The eel, about a foot long, was held across the bill, and the diver struggled for some time before it finally managed to get the eel’s head in its mouth. Then the eel wrapped itself around the bill, and the bird had great difficulty in swallowing it. The white-billed diver was seen mainly in Gosford Bay. It was last seen there on 29th April 1956. — Frank D. Hamilton and Kathleen C. Hogarth, Edinburgh. 62 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69, 1937 BOOK REVIEWS The birds of the island of Arran. By J. A. Gibson. Rothesay : Bute Newspapers, 1956. Pp. 38. is. This is a reprinted version, with slight modifications, of a paper already published by Dr. Gibson {Trans. Buteshire Nat. Hist. Soc., 14, 1955). The booklet is attractively produced and we are glad to hear it has sold so well. It will be invaluable for anyone studying Arran birds in the future. There is space to mention only a few interesting facts from the system- atic list. Fulmars have been breeding at Drumadoon cliff since 1948. Gannets have not yet bred on Holy Island. Herring-gulls nest at some of the Arran hill-lochs. We are pleased to know that golden eagle and common buzzard have increased this century, and that the hen-harrier reared young in 1953. Many vague and unreliable records from the past have been treated with judicious criticism. One wonders whether it is worth recording, in the absence of specimen data, that some redshanks in the winter flocks in Arran may belong to the Iceland race, or that some of the wintering song-thrushes and hedge-sparrows may possibly be of the continental races. In an introduction that also includes a fairly detailed history of ornithology in Arran, some brief mention of the characteristic physical features and climate of the island would have been a valuable addition ; no guide-book forms a better substitute than a selective account on topography written by the ornithologist who really knows the area. A. W. Rockall. By James Fisher. London : Bles, 1956. Pp. 200, illustrated. 1 8s. Apart from the scientific value of having all that is known of Rockall col- lected into one volume, there is considerable drama in the tale that James Fisher tells, from the discovery of this most isolated small rock in the world, to his own sensational landing on it, winched from a helicopter on to a six-foot square on Hall’s Ledge — “ a smooth guttered slab plunging 50 feet to the sea ”. His downward view, as he spun like a spider on its thread, was a three- dimensional enlargement of all the photographs he had carefully studied. That was on 18th September 1955, the second time in 144 years that men had stood on top of this extraordinary projection on a reef that has been a source of so many shipwrecks. With the flying of a Union Jack, the cementing of a plaque of annexation and the firing of a twenty-one gun salute, Rockall became part of Britain that day, with Commandos climbing like cats over the alga-covered granite, collecting rocks, algae, lichens, gouging periwinkles out of cracks with tweezers, and even roping down to brave the waves so that they could snatch a piece of oar-weed. No traces of barnacles or limpets were found. 1957 BOOK REVIEWS 63 That is the exciting culmination of an adventure story whose interest never flags, from the daring landing by Basil Hall in 18 1 1, to Fisher’s own attempt in the yacht Petula in 1949 from Londonderry — 265 miles rhumb- line distance — at the end of which they recorded the only black-headed gull ever seen on Rockall Bank. But no landing was possible, though photographs taken and observations made were of considerable value. How tiny a point Rockall was, they realised, when fulmars circled it once, twice, as if it were a ship, then passed on. Somehow, that a fulmar could pass it as a ship established its smallness and loneliness, more than words, or measurements, or marks on a map. That was one journey. There is another, by air, of 1,534 miles from Stranraer to Rockall by Sunderland flying-boat with Eric Hosking and Robert Atkinson as photographers, looking at fulmar colonies and seal skerries all along the route, on a glassy calm day when it was possible to skim round Rockall, flaps down, at 100-200 feet above the sea. There were no guillemots, either on the rock or on the sea, despite the date, 30th July. Fisher concludes that guillemots must be unsuccessful in many years, and that this species is the only possible breeding bird of Rockall. Plants, intertidal zoology, geology, and some very interesting ornithology of this remote area of the North Atlantic make this a most satisfying book, especially as photographs are good and there is an excellent bibliography. T. W. The World of Plant Life. By Clarence J. Hylander. New York and London : The Macmillan Company, Second Edition, 1956. Pp. 653 62s. 6d. This is an expansive and lavishly produced book, printed on glossy paper and copiously illustrated : technically a magnificent example of American publishing. It aims to stimulate the non-scientific reader in the United States to enjoy the tremendously varied plant life of his country, by offering him a comprehensive survey of the whole plant kingdom in language largely free from scientific terminology. This is certainly a task of some magnitude for an author to attempt, but Dr. Hylander covers 653 large pages and offers a vast amount of information on the appearance, habits, habitats and uses of the examples he selects. Naturally this book will appeal mainly to the American public, and its sale has justified the preparation of a second edition, but it is worthy of the attention of at least some British naturalists for the following reasons : — Firstly, because it contains accounts of the natural life of plants which to most British readers are known only in garden or greenhouse — as well as of many which will be entirely unfamiliar. Secondly, because of its fine series of 190 full-page photographs of plants. Many of these are most beautiful and informative, though not all approach the same high standard of reproduction. A large number are close-ups, and while these are often effective, they are sometimes misleading in illustrating only a small portion of a plant or giving a false THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 64 Vol. 6g impression of size. Many of the author’s line illustrations are also attrac- tive in their clarity of outline, but some are too small to show the necessary detail with accuracy and all suffer from the lack of descriptive captions or labelling. Thirdly, the text deserves the critical interest of British readers. Apart from the introduction, the book consists of a systematic survey of all the major groups in the plant kingdom, in each of which some examples are selected for description. Nearly three-quarters of the book is devoted to flowering-plants, covering a large number of families. This approach seems to the reviewer to fall between two stools : in spite of the publishers’ claim on the jacket, such a book cannot serve as an aid to identification; yet a great deal of descriptive material is included which makes continuous reading difficult and turns every page into a miscellaneous collection of facts. This is the kind of book to be dipped into for a variety of fascinating information, rather than to be read through. Finally, it is a pity that an author of Dr. Hylander’s qualifications should be guilty of “ playing to the gallery ” when dealing with general topics such as those he chooses to entitle “ War among plants ” and “ Plant co-operation ”. It is surely possible nowadays to write attractive popular accounts of biological subjects without injecting such emotional colour as “ . . . it (the struggle for survival) is a grim warfare without truce, with life as the reward to the victor and death to the luckless loser ”. — C. H. G. NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST is devoted to the study of Scottish Natural History, and is therefore concerned with all the many aspects, zoological, botanical, geographical, topographical and climatic embraced by this title. Contributions in the form of articles and short notes, and papers and books for review, should be addressed to the Editor, Adam Watson, Ph.D., c/o Department of Natural History, Marischal College, Aberdeen. Contributors should observe the following points and endeavour to conform with the arrangement and set- up of articles and notes adopted in the current number. Manuscripts must be clearly written ; whenever possible they should be typed, double-spaced, on one side of the paper, and with adequate margins. Except in headings and titles, English names of animals and plants should appear without initial capitals, e.g. crested tit, red admiral, but Planer’s lamprey, Scots pine. Scientific names should be given wherever they may be helpful to readers, especially to naturalists abroad. Trinomials should be avoided except where essential to the context. Authorities for scientific names should be given only where there is risk of ambiguity. The Editors will always assist in cases of difficulty over nomen- clature. Dates should be given in the following form : 4th July 1906, with the day of the month first. Titles of books and periodicals referred to by authors are printed in italics and should therefore be underlined. Listed references should be in the form of the examples in the current number. Maps, diagrams and graphs for reproduction should be drawn clearly in Indian ink on white, unlined paper, tracing linen or Bristol board. Lettering should be in pencil unless done by a skilled draughtsman. Photographs to illustrate articles and notes are accepted ; also pictures relating to subjects of special interest covered by the magazine. Photo- graphic prints must be made on a glossy paper. Authors of articles, but not of short notes, will receive on request 12 reprints free of charge ; additional copies (in multiples of 25) may be purchased by the author. Reprints should be ordered when proofs are returned. C.F. 18 and C.F.24 (8x30-5 mm.) and C.F.43 (10x42 mm.) are highly favoured by Bird-watchers. The extra wide field of view of C.F.24 is parti- cularly valuable for observing birds in flight. Bin/xuSad-bu BARR & STROUD LTD. ANNIESLAND, GLASGOW, W.3. London Office : 15 Victoria St., S.W.I Printed in Great Britain at The Aberdeen University Press Limited AUGUST 1957 Price 7s. 6d. The Scottish Naturalist With which is incorporated The Annals of Scottish Natural History EDITED BY ADAM WATSON, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF V. G. WYNNE-EDWARDS, JAMES W. CAMPBELL, and WINIFRED U. FLOWER All business communications should be addressed to Oliver & Boyd Ltd., Tweeddale Court, Edinburgh, i. Editorial contributions should be addressed to Adam Watson, c/o Department of Natural History, Marischal College, Aberdeen. Annual Subscription : £\ is. ; single parts, 7s. 6d. CONTENTS PAGE Editorial ........ 65 Specimens of Char from Shetland and the Faroes — M. A. Swan ........ 67 The Mammals of the Isle of May — Dr. W. J. Eggeling . 7 1 A List of the Butterflies and Moths recorded from the Isle of May — Dr. W. J. Eggeling .... 75 c Northern ’ Golden Plovers in Midlothian during Spring — R. W .J. Smith ....... 84 The so-called ‘ Northern Golden Plover ’ — Prof. V. C. Wynne- Edwards ........ 89 The Birds of St. Kilda, Mid-Summer 1956 — Dr. J. Morton Boyd , A. Tewnion, and D. I. M. Wallace ... 94 A Census of Fulmars on Hirta, St. Kilda, in July 1956 — A. Anderson . . . . . . .113 Zoological Notes . . . . . . .117 Book Reviews ........ 127 SOLAROSS 9x35 This new, lightweight Binocular by world-famous Ross of London, represents the greatest advance ever made in Binocular design. Tt is an ideal instrument for the bird- watcher, having f ully-coated optics giving extra brightness, high power combined with brilliance and clarity, and stereoscopic wide field of view. Beautifully streamlined — a joy to handle. Featherweight . . . only 22 ozs. Centre focussing. Complete in solid f 9 I M $ P POST leather case | g (|J| ^ FREE CHARLES FRANK Either of these instru- ments will be sent on 7-days free approval. EX-GOVERNMENT PRISMATIC TELESCOPE Precision made by Ross of London to give the greatest magnification combined with a brilliance of definition seldom found in an instrument of this power. Weight 5 lbs., length 13 ins., power 20X, dia. of object glass 70 mm. Estimated cost approx. £60. Perfect condition PRICE £12100 POST FREE 67-73 SALTMARKET, GLASGOW, C.l ■Phone Bell 2106/7 ’Grams Binocam, Glasgow We have specialised in fine quality Binoculars and optical equipment for half a century and carry Europe’s greatest stocks of ex-Government Binoculars. Every purchase is covered by our money back guarantee. Send for catalogue. ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is working to conserve and encourage bird life throughout Great Britain. In Scotland it is actively engaged in practical protection of the Golden Eagle, Hen Harrier and other rare species. It employs a full time Watcher in Orkney as well as five breeding-season Wardens in Shetland. More support is urgently needed. Write for details to The Scottish Representative of the Society, Mr. George Waterston, 5 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. BINDING SCOTTISH FIELD STUDIES We have pleasure in announc- ing that we are in a position ASSOCIATION to carry out various styles of binding according to the wishes and requirements of individual customers Courses on plant ecology, mosses, grasses, birds, geog- raphy, geology and general natural history are held at Garth Quotations for all types of binding work will be gladly Field Studies Centre near Aber- feldy, and in other areas. given on application to For details of dates and other facilities please write to : — OLIVER & BOYD LTD Bookbinders TWEEDDALE COURT EDINBURGH, 1 THE SCOTTISH FIELD STUDIES ASSOCIATION c/o Department of Botany, The University, Glasgow, W.2 The Scottish Naturalist Volume 69, No. 2 :957 EDITORIAL The Scottish Naturalist has for long been in difficulties ; and subscribers will have noticed that since the inception of the latest series of the journal in 1948 (after its abeyance during the war years), several changes in policy have been made to try and alleviate or remove these difficulties. In 1956 alone, there were no less than two such changes. The difficulties had been ever-increasing for years, and by now no one should have any illusions left about how easy-going the future journey of our journal is likely to be. Basically the problems remain the same as before, and the only change to note here is that the main burden of editorial work has been shifted to another individual. Other than this our editorial policy remains unchanged. In past years, our main troubles have been long delays in publication, sometimes due to lack of sufficient worth-while material. This situation reached a crux in 1955, and readers will have noticed that the 1955 numbers were all published in one rather short volume in April 1956. After great delay, the last two numbers for 1956 were rushed through at the turn of the year. There was still not enough good material coming in to give us a good “ breathing-space ”, but at last the tide turned early in 1957. The first number for 1957 appeared right on time, and our policy will be to continue this happy state of affairs. More and more good material is now being sent, and if this continues there is certainly no doubt whatsoever that the journal will keep coming out on time. We now have sufficient material in hand for two numbers ahead, and very soon we will have enough for a year. It should then be possible to carry out a more extensive selection of what is to be published, and for 9 65 SEP 1 « 1967 66 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 this we hope to receive the comments and preferences of our subscribers. Now that there is far more good material coming in, and no delays in publication, it might seem that the future of the journal would be assured. This is not so, as our publishers have been running the journal at a loss for some considerable time. During these difficult years in the past, the circulation dropped to a half of its post-war peak, and unless we regain many of these lapsed subscribers it is very likely that the publishers will be unable to continue with the journal beyond the end of the present year. Fortunately, however, the speed-up in publica- tion has brought in a few more subscribers, and the recent appeal for new subscribers has met with considerable success. 50 new subscriptions have been taken up in the past 8 weeks alone. This is very satisfactory news, but efforts will have to be redoubled in order to make the position of the journal really secure. We assure all these new subscribers and others that there will be no future failures due to publication delays, as long as we are given enough good material (a condition that happily now seems more than fulfilled) . Certainly both the remaining numbers for 1957 will appear on time, as scheduled, in August and December. With the present situation, we can do no more than this, but if we were given a great boost from new subscribers, there would be more money’s worth in the journal than there is today. It would then be possible to increase the number of pages considerably without increasing the subscrip- tion, possibly even to the extent of having the Scottish Naturalist a quarterly journal. With such an aim ahead, the only way to drive forwards is for every subscriber to help personally. We therefore ask every subscriber to make a great effort to find at least one new convert to our journal, and thereby make certain of its survival. CHAR FROM SHETLAND AND THE FAROES 67 i i 1957 SPECIMENS OF CHAR FROM SHETLAND AND THE FAROES* M. A. Swan Edinburgh Tudor (1883) stated that the Loch of Girlsta in Shetland was said to hold not only good trout but also char. So the Shetland char was known for some time before its description by Tate Regan (1909). Tate Regan reported it as a new species ( Salvelinus gracillimus) mainly because it was so slender (the depth of its body was contained 5! to 6J times in the length measured from the snout to the base of the caudal fin) . Later (191 1) he described it as more elongated than any other char. These descriptions were based on study of four male specimens, now in the British Museum. He also noted a local report that Girlsta was the only loch in Shetland where char had been found. Since then, so far as I am aware, no further work has been done on the Shetland char. In 1954, the general opinion in Shetland was that the Girlsta char was extinct, as there had been no authentic record for several decades. In 1955, Mr. L. S. V. Venables told me that he thought Mr. Charles Arthur had caught the last undoubted char when a boy. On returning to Shetland in 1956 from the Faroes, where I had taken specimens of the Faroe char, I decided to try for the Shetland char also. Girlsta is 1 \ miles long, about a third of a mile broad, and it has a mean depth of 3 1 feet, a maximum depth of 74 feet, and a volume of 308 million cubic feet (three times that of any other loch in Shetland). Its basin has approximately parallel contours, and slopes evenly on all sides to the deepest water in the middle. There are beaches of small grey stones on the east and west sides, and a beach of fine yellow gravel at the north end. It is fed by only one small burn entering near the south end (Murray and Pullar, 1910). It is a poor loch for Received 6th November 1956 68 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g brown trout and so is seldom fished, but an occasional “ ferox 55 trout has been caught. I went over it with Mr. Arthur, who told me it was his father who had caught the last char while fishing from the north shore. If char were present, the stretch | of gravelly shallow running out from the beach at the north end seemed to me the most likely place in which to find them spawning ; or, if spawning had not yet occurred, in the deep water close by. With the permission of the Shetland Angler’s Association, I set a net in the north-east corner of the loch. Next morning, on the 26th September, the net held 58 char and three small brown trout. These Girlsta char were beautiful fish. On many of them the belly, fins, and pale round spots were becoming suffused with the orange colour that accompanies maturation of the gonads. Some were more silvery, and in a few of these a small cluster of ova protruded from the vent, probably as a result of their struggles in the net. Milt was not exuding from any. Obvious features were : the small, pointed head, the large number of obvious parr-marks still present on these nearly mature fish, and the absence of the slenderness that had led Tate Regan to give them specific rank. All were more or less damaged by the netting, so that in some the depth was slightly increased by swelling, in others slightly reduced by constriction; but these effects must have nearly balanced one another, and I do not think they were sufficient to falsify the depth measure- ments. However I kept only the ten least damaged fish for detailed description. On all the fish, I measured the overall length and the greatest depth (usually just in front of the first dorsal fin) . Only after I had already discarded many fish, did I appreciate that Tate Regan had measured the standard length (from the snout to the base of the caudal fin), so I also re-measured the ten selected char to obtain figures comparable with his. My specimens of Faroe char were caught towards the end of July 1956. The Faroe char occurs only in Leynavatn, which is 48 metres deep and situated on the main island of Stromo. It is the darkest char I have yet seen, except for the dwarf variety living in the water-filled clefts in the lava at the north end of Thingvallavatn in Iceland. The Faroe char is so dark above the lateral line that the parr-marks and pale round CHAR FROM SHETLAND AND THE FAROES i 1957 69 spots occurring there are almost invisible ; though they are more obvious below the lateral line, the dusky colour extends well down the sides, leaving only a narrow strip of white ab- domen. There is a tinge of red on the fins of only one speci- men. They are slender fish and their measurements were ! taken for comparison with those of the Shetland char. In a list of Faroe animal names they are called Salvelinus alpinus faroensis (Jensen et al ., 1935-42). TABLE I. MEASUREMENTS OF SHETLAND AND FAROE CHAR Number 4 Shetland char (1909) 10 Shetland char (1956) 10 Faroe char (1956) Ratio of depth to standard length Overall length average range minimum maximum not given 1 : 4-44 1 : 5’53 1 : 5*50-6-50 150 mm. 1 : 4-01-4-70 193 mm. 1 : 4-97-6*12 174 mm. 200 mm. 235 mm. 207 mm. 58 Shetland char (1956) Ratio of depth to overall length average range 1:5 1 : 4*21-5-57 Average overall length 216 mm. Tate Regan stated that a ratio of depth to length of 1 in 4-5 is rarely exceeded by any British char except the Girlsta char. The above figures show that the ratio of depth to length in my specimens of Girlsta char is well within the above range (it is nearer 1 : 4 than 1:5). As it is no exception to the general rule, the term gracillimus seems inappropriate. The figures for ratio of depth to overall length of my Shetland specimens little more than touch Tate Regan’s figures for ratio of depth to standard length. The average overall length of my Girlsta char (216 mm.) is the same as Sir J. G. Maitland gave for Salvelinus struanensis ; and the maximum length of 235 mm. is more than in S. lonsdalii, S. obtusus, S. orcadensis , the char of Loch Doon and a few others. Summary The Girlsta char is not extinct but appears to be thriving. It has a rather deep body and its title to specific rank is there- fore questionable. It is not a particularly small race. The Faroe char is more slender than any recorded British char. 70 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g 1 Acknowledgements The detailed taxonomic study of these Shetland and Faroe char will be done by Mr. G. F. Friend, Department of Zoology, f Edinburgh University. I have to thank him for his willing consent to the publication of this preliminary report. I have also to thank Mr. C. Mitchell, Mr. J. Johnston and Mr. J. R. L. Shewan (all of the Shetland Anglers5 Association), and Mr. C. Arthur for their help while I was in Shetland. REFERENCES Tudor, J. R., 1883. The Orkneys and Shetland. London. Tate Regan, C., 1909. The char of Great Britain. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3 : 1 15. 1 9 1 1 • The fresh-water fishes of the British Isles, p. 1 o 1 . London. Murray, J., and L. Pullar,. 1910. Bathymetric survey of the Scottish fresh- water lochs. Edinburgh, vol. 2, part 2, p. 234. Jensen, Ad. S., et al., 1935-42. The zoology of the Faroes, vol. 3, part 2, ' sect. 66. Copenhagen. 1957 THE MAMMALS OF THE ISLE OF MAY 71 THE MAMMALS OF THE ISLE OF MAY * W. J. Eggeling Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh The only two non-domestic mammals breeding on the Isle of May are the rabbit and the house-mouse. Seals frequent the shores, and other wild mammals are recorded only very occasionally. Rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus ) were on the adjoining main- land in 1264, but the first mention of them on the May was in 1329, when the King’s Chamberlain paid 8s. to four men going there to catch them. In 1549, when the island passed from the Priory of St. Andrews to lay ownership, it had been “ spoiled of its rabbits ” (from which the main revenue had previously accrued) by the destruction of the warrens by the English. The next reference is not till 1803 (Sibbald’s History of Fife and Kinross) when the pasturage, including the use of the rabbit warren, was let for £26 a year. In 1884, when there were six milking cows, a horse and three donkeys on the island, and “ abundant sweet pasturage for some sixty sheep ”, rabbits must still have been under control. They were said to be confined to hollows among the rocks and near the cliff- edge. This is very different from more recent times (especi- ally the early 1950s), when in the absence of domestic stock and of cultivation they were swarming everywhere, and grazing the turf so short that it was difficult to find any flowering specimens. Then, in March 1955, myxomatosis broke out (almost certainly introduced by a gull), and by October 1955 it seemed that every rabbit had died. However, a small number did survive, and the population will no doubt build up again rapidly unless checked. According to H. W. Robinson, a single brown hare ( Lepus europaeus ) was seen on the island on 4th July 1897, but this record may be doubtful, for lack of confirmation. * Received 30 th November 1 956 72 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g The only rodents on the May are house-mice (Mus musculus , domesticus ) . According to Southern, they are of the same large j form as on many other islands round Britain. Though common, 1 they are not often seen except in winter. From early summer to late autumn they live almost entirely out-of-doors, and then' in late September and October some move into the houses. But many spend the winter outside, as can be seen if there is snow on the ground, when their tracks are everywhere. Mice were more abundant when there was a bigger human popula- tion, more stock, and more cultivation than today. In the latter part of last century one of the lighthouse keepers wrote : “We have no rats but legions of mice ”, and Miss Rintoul and Miss Baxter recorded a “ plague ” of mice when they first visited the island in 1907. They noted further ( Vertebrate Fauna of Forth ) that the introduction of cats had materially reduced the numbers of mice. There are no cats on the island now, nor have there been for many years. When Miss Rintoul and Miss Baxter asked on their first visit whether any rats occurred they were told that two which had landed from a ship had been promptly killed. There is also a note in the Observatory Log about the remains of a large brown rat ( Rattus norvegicus) found on the North Ness in 1955 and believed to have been washed in from the sea. There is a tradition that the grey or Atlantic seal ( Halichoerus grypus ) used to breed on the May, but it certainly does not breed there now*, though up to about fifteen at a time can almost always be seen around the rocky coast of the North Ness. In the early months of the year quite small young appear among them, having probably come from the Fame Islands, the nearest breeding colony and the only one on the east coast of Britain. These grey seals often haul out on the rocks and with care can be approached quite close. Common seals ( Phoca vitulina ) are seen off the coast from time to time, but only rarely come on to the rocks. This is not surprising, as they do tend to prefer mudbanks and sand- banks rather than rocky shores. * Since the above was written, the Principal Lighthouse Keeper on the May, Mr. W. Watt, saw a white-furred seal pup in mid-December 1956, in a cove on the west side of the island. He was able to pick it up and show it to his wife, and he estimated its weight at 28-30 lb. It cannot have been more than 2-3 days old. This is the first definite record of a grey seal breeding on the island. 1957 THE MAMMALS OF THE ISLE OF MAY 73 William Evans (1892) stated that the grey seal “ frequently visits, if indeed it does not habitually frequent, the seaward J portion of the Firth of Forth ”, though the only definite record jj was Robert Walker’s statement that “ it may be seen . . . j along by the Carr Rock chiefly in summer Walker himself ] considered the grey seal to be the most abundant seal on the | east coast of Scotland about 1873, but twenty years later Evans doubted this. Throughout the period that Miss ,! Baxter and Miss Rintoul regularly visited the May, from 1907 I to 1933, they saw far more common seals than grey seals. Sir Robert Sibbald (1710) wrote of the “ Phoca , or Vitulus marinus, the seal: our fishers call it a selch ”, and of the May that “ many seals are slain upon the east side of it ”. Such slaughter was probably no new thing, for we know from the Accounts of the High Treasurer of Scotland that 13s. were paid on 8th March 1508 “ to the here my t of Maij that brocht ane selch to the King ”. Evans refers to these quotations as if the seals on the May were undoubtedly common seals. But the tradition is that it was the grey seal that used to breed on the May. And even now, with modern weapons and fast boats, it would be far from easy to kill common seals off the island and recover their bodies. Yet recovery of the corpses must have been essential, as the fishermen of 1710 were killing seals for trade. It seems more probable that the seals were grey seals, killed ashore in a nursery or when basking on the rocks. Whatever the situation in the past there has recently been a big increase in the number of grey seals frequenting the May, as in the Forth generally, and also the Tay and Eden. Probably this is associated with the great increase during the past twenty years of the Fame Islands colony. The only other wild mammal recorded from the May is a small bat — probably the pipistrelle [Pipistrellus pipistrellus) — which has been seen occasionally in summer. The whales and porpoises seen from time to time off-shore are outside the scope of this account. REFERENCES Baxter, E. V., and L. J. Rintoul, 1953. The Birds of Scotland. Edinburgh. Evans, W., 1892. The Mammalian Fauna of the Edinburgh District. Edin- burgh. 10 74 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Muir, T. S., 1885. Ecclesiological Notes on some Islands of Scotland. Edinburgh. Rintoul, L. J., and E. V. Baxter, 1935. A Vertebrate Fauna of Forth. Edinburgh. Robinson, H. W., 1926. Fauna of the Isle of May. Scot. Nat ., 1926: i5"l6= Sibbald, R., 1710. The History , Ancient and Modern , of the Sheriffdom of Fife and Kinross. (Edition of 1803.) Cupar, Fife. Southern, H. N., 1938. A study of the vertebrate fauna of the Isle of May (Firth of Forth). J. Anim. Ecol., 1938: 144- 154. Stuart, J., 1868. Records of the Priory of the Isle of May. Edinburgh. Walker, R., 1875. On the grey seal, Halichoerus grypus, on the east coast of Scotland. Scot. Nat., 1875: 154-160. \i95j BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS FROM THE ISLE OF MAY 75 A LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS RECORDED FROM THE ISLE OF MAY * W. J. Eggeling The Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh This list has been compiled from sources listed in the references, along with a few unpublished observations from the Bird Observatory records. The naming and arrangement follow the Indexed Check- List of the British Lepidoptera by I. R. P. Heslop (Watkins and Doncaster, London, 1947). BUTTERFLIES PlERIDAE 1. Pieris brassicae (Large Garden White). Sometimes breeds. Not uncommon as a migrant. 2. Pieris rapae (Small Garden White). Not uncommon. 3. Pieris napi (Green-veined White). Not uncommon. Can occur only as a migrant, as its food plants are absent. Nymphalidae 4. Aglais urticae (Small Tortoiseshell). Common; chiefly a migrant but sometimes breeding. 5. Nymphalis io (Peacock). Immigrant. Two on 6th September 1949 (Baxter and Rintoul). 6. Vanessa cardui (Painted Lady). Numerous occurrences, including 9 on the afternoon of 16th August 1912; “ that they were immigrants from abroad, I have no doubt ” (Evans, 1912); 3 on 19th September 1920, “ 2 quite perfect and to all appearances newly hatched, 1 slightly worn 55 (Rintoul and Baxter); several on 29th August 1933, “ all in beautiful condition, no rubbed or ragged specimens among them 55 (Grimshaw). 7. Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral). Many records, in- cluding 8-9 on 19th September 1920 (Rintoul and Baxter), 10 in beautiful condition on 30th September 1929 (Baxter), Received 1st December 1956 76 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST and about 20 on 2nd September 1933 (Grimshaw) mon immigrant in Scotland. Satyridae 8. Maniola jurtina (Meadow-Brown). One caught near the Low Light in July 1936, “ probably driven over by wind ” 1 (Callan). Lycaenidae 9. Polyommatus icarus (Common Blue). One seen in the Holyman’s Road in July 1936, “ probably driven over by wind 55 (Callan). All nine butterflies so far reported from the Isle of May are known to migrate. The garden-whites are well-established British species whose populations are reinforced regularly by vast swarms from the Continent. The same is true to a smaller extent of the green- veined white and the lesser tortoise- shell. The red admiral is an example of a common British butterfly which could not maintain itself in this country without frequent influxes from abroad. This applies also to the painted lady; although its migrations are not so regular, considerable numbers appear every year. The peacock is extending its range in Britain, but is also a partial migrant. Both the meadow-brown and the common blue have been captured at light-vessels as migrants. MOTHS Sphingidae 10. Herse convolvuli (Convolvulus Hawk). A migrant from the Continent. One male on 30th August 1914 “ may be assumed to have crossed the North Sea 55 (Evans, 19 14- 15). 11. Macroglossum stellatarum (Humming-bird Hawk). One ] on 15th June 1899 (Evans, 1899). A moth whose existence in Britain depends on migration from southern France in spring and summer. Notodontidae 12. Cerura vinula (Puss). One male in the third week of April 1912. 13. Pheosia tremula (Greater Swallow Prominent). One male on 1st June 1911. Vol. 69 . A com- j ! i957 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS FROM THE ISLE OF MAY 77 Arctiidae 14. Spilosoma lubricipeda (White Ermine). Three males on 1st June 1911. 15. Arctia caja (Garden Tiger). One male on 25th July 1912 and several more recent records, including 1 on 15th July j I956- 16. Callimorpha Jacob aeae (Cinnabar). One female on 7th June 1 9 1 1 ; 1 male on 27th May 1912. A resident British species which may also reach our shores as a migrant. j Caradrinidae 17. Cryphia perla (Marbled Beau). One male in mid-July l914- 18. Cryphia muralis (Marbled Vert). One at light in July 1936 (Callan). 19. Agrotis segetum (Turnip Dart). Several records. 20. Agrotis exclamationis (Heart and Dart). Several records. 21. Agrotis ipsilon (Dark Dart). Many records. The British population of this moth is much reinforced by im- migration. 22. Euxoa nigricans (Garden Dart). Several records. 23. Euxoa tritici (White-line Dart). Several records. 24. Euxoa obelisca (Square-spot Dart). A good many records. 25. Lycophotia varia (True Lovers5 Knot). Several records. 26. Peridroma porphyrea (Pearly Underwing). One male and one female at the lantern on 26th and 27th September 1913. Another moth whose British population is much augmented by immigration. 27. Ammogrotis lucernea (Northern Rustic). Many records from the light. 28. Graphiphora augur (Double Dart). One female in mid- July 1914. 29. Amathes baja (Dotted Clay). Single males in 1913 and 1914. 30. Amathes c-nigrum (Setaceous Hebrew-character). Several records. 31. Amathes xanthographa (Square-spot Rustic). An abun- dant species ; many records of large numbers at the light. 32. Diarsia f estiva (Common Ingrailed Clay). Several records, all ofvar. conjiua (Evans, 19 14- 15). 78 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 33. Diarsia rubi (Small Square-spot). One female in the latter part of July 1914. 34. Ochropleura plecta (Flame Shoulder). Three occur- rences in 1913 and 1914. 35. Axylia putris (Flame Rustic). One female in the second half of June 1914. 36. Triphaena comes (Lesser Yellow-underwing). Several records. 37. Triphaena pronuba (Common Yellow-underwing). A frequent visitor to the lantern but not in large numbers (Evans, I9I4_I5)- 38. Triphaena janthina (Lesser-bordered Yellow- under wing). Several records, all of males. 39. Mamestra brassicae (Cabbage Dot). A good many records. 40. Melanchra persicariae (White Dot). One at the lantern on 9th September 1907 (Baxter). 41. Diataraxia oleracea (Bright-line Brown-eye). Several records. 42. Hadena nana (Light Shears). Several records. 43. Hadena conspersa (Common Marbled Coronet). Many records. 44. Cer apteryx graminis (Antler) . Many occurrences. Resi- dent. 45. Eumichtis adusta (Dark Brocade). Several records. 46. Luperina testacea (Flounced Rustic). A good many records. 47. Thalpophila matura (Straw Underwing). One female in the third week of July 1914. 48. Procus strigilis (Marbled Minor). One male (dark variety) in July 1914. 49. Procus fasciuncula (Middle-barred Minor). A number of records, all of males. 50. Apamea obscura (Dusky Brocade). One male in July 1912. 51. Apamea sordens (Rustic Shoulder-knot). One male on 21st June 1914. 52. [Apamea unanimis (Small Clouded Brindle). One at the lantern on 10th September 1907 (Grimshaw). Placed in square brackets because Evans (19 14-15) having seen the specimen, which was in poor condition, considered the identi- fication doubtful.] \ig57 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS FROM THE ISLE OF MAY 79 53. Apamea secalis (Common Rustic). A number of records. 54. Apamea crenata (Cloud-bordered Brindle). Two in the 'summer of 1909. 55. Apamea monoglypha (Dark Arches). The commonest and most frequent visitor to the lantern, recorded on very I many occasions. Numbers are greatest from about mid-July to mid-August, when between one and two hundred have frequently been captured in a night. Both sexes are repre- sented but males predominate (Evans, 19 14- 15). 56. Dasypolia templi (Brindled Ochre). Many records, including large numbers (up to 80 in a night) in 1913. 57. Antitype chi (Grey Chi). One male in the third week of September 1912. 58. Phlogophora meticulosa (Large Angle-shades). Numerous occurrences. 59. Celaena haworthii (Haworth’s Crescent). One male on 14th August 1 91 1. 60. Hydracia micacea (Rosy Ear). A number of records. 61. Rhizedra lutosa (Large Wainscot). Two males on 3rd October 1913. 62. Leucania pallens (Common Wainscot.) Several records. 63. Leucania impura (Smoky Wainscot). One male and one female in mid-July 1914. 64. Caradrina morpheus (Mottled Wainscot). A few caught at sugar in July 1936 (Callan). 65. Caradrina clavipalpis (Pale Mottled Willow). Many records. 66. Petilampa minima (Small Dotted Buff). A good many occurrences, mostly of males. 67. Amphipyra tragopoginis (Mouse Wainscot). A good many records. 68. Cosmia trapezina (Dun-bar). One female in the third week of September 1912. 69. Omphaloscelis lunosa (Lunar Underwing). A common visitor to the lantern. 70. [ Agrochola lota. Included in Evans’ lists (1914-15) on the authority of Grimshaw, but in fact listed in the latter’s paper as A. macilenta .] 71. Agrochola macilenta (Yellow-line Quaker). One on 26th September 1907 (Grimshaw). 8o THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g 72. Agrochola circellaris (Brick). A number of records. 73. Conistra vaccinii (Common Chestnut). One on gth September 1907. 74. Eupsilia transversa (Satellite). One male on 25th October 1913. 75. Xylena exsoleta (Cloudy Sword-grass): One male (very worn) on the night of 8th May 191 1 ; two males in the spring of 1913. 76. Oxylena vetusta (Red Sword-grass). One on the night of 14th November 1912. 77. Cucullia umbratica (Common Shark). One male on 26th July i9I3- Plusiidae 78. Polychrisia moneta (Silver Eight). One in July 1936 (Callan). A colonising species. 79. Plusia chrysitis (Common Burnished Brass). One male on the night of 28th July 1911; one male on the night of 12th July 1914. May breed on the island. 80. Plusia pulchrina (Beautiful Golden Y). One male on the night of 7th July 1914. 81. Plusia gamma (Common Silver Y). As this moth maintains itself in Britain only by immigration, it is not sur- prising that there are many records of it as a migrant, though it probably breeds on the island also. Its movements are often associated with those of the painted lady butterfly. Evans (19 14-15) gives examples of “ rushes ” at the lantern, for instance in the third week of September 1908, on 26th Sep- tember 1909, and on 10th and 13th September 1910. Miss Baxter and Miss Rintoul noted “ crowds ” on 16th September 1908, “ hundreds 55 on 19th September 1920 (mostly perfect specimens) and large numbers on many other occasions. Males as a rule appear at the lantern in greater numbers than females. Geometridae 82. Lygris testata (Common Chevron). Two on 23rd Sep- tember 1907 ; one in mid-August 1911. 83. Lygris populata (Northern Spinach). One specimen obtained in July 1936 ; “no food plants, therefore must have been driven over in a storm ” (Callan). 1 1957 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS FROM THE ISLE OF MAY 81 j 84. Dysstroma citrata (Dark Marbled Carpet). One female on the night of 15th August 1913. 85. Chloroclysta mista (Autumn Green Carpet). One male on 26th October 1912 ; one male on 26th September 1913. 86. Thera variata (Grey Spruce Carpet). Four records in the years 191 1-13. 87. Xanthorhoe fluctuata (Garden Carpet). Much the com- monest Geometer at the lantern, occurring from the end of April to the end of September (Evans, 19 14- 15). 88. Colostygia didymata (Small Twin-spot Carpet). One male in the second week of August 1913. Many in July 1936 ! (Callan). 89. Oporinia dilutata (November Carpet). One on 23rd September 1907; one in October 1912 ; one in September 1914. 90. Operophtera brumata (Common Winter). One male on j 3rd November 1912; another in December 1912. 91. Pelurga comitata (Dark Spinach). A number of records. 92. Euphyia bilineata (Yellow Shell). Six in July 1914. Common in July 1936 (Callan). 93. Lyncometra ocellata (Purple-bar carpet). One male on the night of 12th July 1914. 94. Perizoma alchemillata (Small Rivulet). One on the night of 28th July 1911. 95. Hydriomena furcata (July Highflyer). One female on 10th August 1911, at a window. 96. Eupithecia assimilata (Currant Pug.) One in mid-June J91 1 * 97. Erannis aurantiaria (Scarce Umber). Orie in the morn- ing of 1 6th November 1912. 98. Erannis defoliaria (Mottled Umber). One (unbanded variety) in December 1913. 99. Opisthograptis luteolata (Sulphur Thorn). One male at the end of June 1910. Pyralidae 100. Eudoria angustea (Narrow- winged Grey). Several records. 1 01. Scoparia dubitalis (Hoary Grey). One on 22nd July 1912 ; one in July 1914. 82 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g 102. Nomophila noctuella (Rush Pearl). Two males on the night of 1 6th September 1914. 103. Aphomia sociella (Green-shaded Honey). One female on the night of 12th July 1914. ! Crambidae 104. Cr ambus pratellus (Dark-inlaid Grass-veneer). One on the night of 21st June 1914. 105. Crambus perlellus (Yellow Satin Grass-veneer). Several records. 106. Crambus culmellus (Straw-coloured Grass-veneer) . Several records. 107. Crambus geniculeus (Elbow-striped Grass- veneer) . ! One on 13th September 1888. 108. Crambus tristellus (Common Grass-veneer). A number of records. Tortricidae 109. Pandemis heparana (Dark Oblique-barred Twist). One male on 16th August 1913. Eucosmidae 1 10. Polychrosis dubitana (Shore Doubtful Marble). Several on 22nd July 1897. hi. Endothenia antiquana (Blotched Marble). One in July 191 1 ; one in July 1914. Gelechiidae 1 12. Mniophaga desertella (Common Sandhill Groundling). Recorded in July 1897. 1 13. Phthorimaea marmorea (Beautiful Marbled Groundling). Recorded in July 1897. Oecophoridae 1 14. Endrosis sarcitrella (White-shouldered Tubic). One on 24th September 1910 ; one in June 1911 ; one in September I9XI- 1 15. Borkhausenia pseudospretella (Large Common Tubic). One on 7th June 1911 ; one on 28th July 1910. | i957 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS FROM THE ISLE OF MAY 83 1 16. Depressaria alstroemeriana (Alstroemer’s Flat-body). One on 2nd September 1910. Plutellidae 1 1 7. Plutella maculipennis (Grey Diamond-backed Smudge). One on 20th October 1911. Hepialidae 1 18. Hepialus lupulina (Common Swift). One on 8th June I911* 1 19. Hepialus humuli (Ghost Swift). Several records. REFERENCES Baxter, E. V., 1956. Lepidoptera observed on the Isle of May by E. V. Baxter and L. J. Rintoul between gth September 1 907 and 6th October 1949. Unpublished list in Bird Observatory records. Baxter, E. V., and L. J. Rintoul, 1950. Peacock and painted lady butterflies. Scot. Nat., 62 : 50. Callan, H. G., 1936. Insects found on May Island, July 1936. Un- published list in Bird Observatory records. Evans, W., 1891. Dasypolia templi in the Forth district. Scot. Nat., 1891 : 40. 1895. Cr ambus geniculeus in the Forth area. Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1895 : 256. 1899. The humming-bird hawk-moth in the Edinburgh district. Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1899 : 184. 1905. Notes on Lepidoptera collected in the Edinburgh district : further records. Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1905 : 153-160. 1912. The painted lady butterfly on the Isle of May, etc. Scot. Nat., 1912 : 261-262. 1914- Agrotis saucia. . . in Forth. Scot. Nat., 1914 : 47. 19 14-15. Lepidoptera (moths) and other insects at Scottish Light- houses, chiefly in the Forth area. Scot. Nat., 1914 : 56-63, 129- 135, 225-233, 253-256, 279, 286 ; 1915 : 8-12, 38-43, 84-88, 1 30- 1 35. Ford, E. B., 1946. Butterflies. Collins, London. 1955- Moths. Collins, London. Grimshaw, P. H., 1908. A contribution to the insect fauna of the Isle of May. Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1908 : 88-90. 1933- Scottish insect immigration records (for 1933). Scot. Nat., J933 *• I73-181* Rintoul, L. J., and E. V. Baxter, 1920. Scot. Nat., 1920 : 198. Lepidoptera on the Isle of May. 84 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g ‘ NORTHERN 5 GOLDEN PLOVERS IN MIDLOTHIAN DURING SPRING * R. W. J. Smith Loanhead, Midlothian Although the northern race of the golden plover ( Charadrius apricarius altifrons ) is so numerous in Scotland and so easy to identify in summer plumage, the Scottish literature about it is very generalised. The Vertebrate Fauna of Forth (Baxter and Rintoul, 1935, p. 278), gives two definite records: one (out of a flock), on 4th September 1928, in East Fife; and one killed at the Isle of May lantern on 7th May 1909. In The Birds of Scotland (Baxter and Rintoul, 1953, p. 593), there are no definite records from the Lothians and very few from the East Coast, the inference being that this sub-species is more plentiful in West Scotland and the Islands. To obtain a more detailed picture of the status of this race in Midlothian, further records from the spring are listed below. These include all records previously published in the Edinburgh Bird Bulletin (1: 51, 60; 2: 50; 3: 51; 4: 48, 61). i Messrs. D. G. Andrew and T. Boyd have also very kindly let me have their notes about definite or suspected northern birds. There are many reports of golden plovers “ on the hill ” in every winter month when the weather is mild, and probably many of these are of the local breeding stock. These birds are mainly flocked together and in winter plumage, but some of the records show the time when they assume breeding plumage and territory. In 1953, from a moor near Gladhouse Reser- voir, two birds were flushed on 25th January and went right away, heading north to lower ground. On 15th February, four were there, two in summer and two in transition plumage, and they stayed on the moor and later bred. On 2 1st February 1954, a pair in full summer plumage was in a territory on the same moor. On Jeffrey’s Corse, at an altitude of 1,750 feet on * Received 15 th January 1957 r 957 ‘NORTHERN GOLDEN PLOVERS IN MIDLOTHIAN 85 Table i . Golden Plovers in Spring at Midlothian Reservoirs. Date Number seen Place ! Notes 4-3-56 140 H 1 with some black on belly, mainly W. 7-3-53 21 T All W. n-3-56 18 Gr Some, perhaps all, W. 11.3.56 65 H Mainly W, but at least 2 with some black. 12-3-53 14 Cr Including 9 N (TB). 15-3-53 150 G 1 recognisably N, many W, many with some black. 16.3.51 50 H 2 sufficiently advanced to be obviously N (DGA). 21.3.48 30 T 2 definite and 4 probable N (DGA). 28.3.54 100 Cr A few N, most in W (TB). 28.3.54 1 10 H A few definite N (TB). 29.3.48 20 H 1 definite N (DGA). 29-3-53 4 G 2 N, 2 with some black. 5-4-53 30 G Many definite N, but none in full plumage ; many 8.4.56 125 H with some black. 10 per cent, full N, many obviously N ; over 50 per 9-4-55 75 T cent, could be either race. 10 per cent, full N plumage, 10 per cent. W. 10.4.55 50 G Some W. 1 1.4.54 3 T 2 definite N (TB). 1 1.4.54 20 H 2 definite N (TB) . 12-4-53 20 H 15 definite N (TB). 13.4.52 85 G All apparently in full N plumage. 14.4.54 70 G Some definite N, none in complete N summer plumage. 1 5-4-56 185 G 15-20 per cent, in full N plumage. 0-4-55 70 G 1 full N plumage, several W, most in transition. 19.4.52 190 T Great majority N, but some not distinct from southern 21.4.56 180 G (DGA). 25-30 per cent, in full N plumage, more than 50 per 22.4.46 30 Cr cent, recognisably N. All N — and also 10 at Listonshiels (DGA). v 24-4-55 25 G None in full plumage, most with black oval on belly 24.4.54 40 G and a winter throat and head. Mostly N (TB). 25-4-54 100 T Obviously many N (DGA). 26.4.53 38 H 24 definite N (TB). 30-4-55 30 G Blackish on face and throat on 2 of them. !-5-54 100 T 90 definite N (TB). 2-5-54 20 G Obviously many N (DGA). 6-5-56 40 G 2 in N plumage, many with very poorly developed 9-5-53 28 T summer plumage, and very little black underneath. A few with some black on face. 8 definite N ; rest in very poor plumage (TB). 86 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g the Moorfoots, four pairs and a party of three were seen, all in full summer plumage and in territory, on 28th February 1953. After a severe spell in the spring of 1955, with extensive snow-drifts giving a 50 per cent, cover (but thawing rapidly), two flocks of 40 golden plovers, one at Gladhouse and the other nearby, were seen on 6th March. All were apparently in full summer plumage, and by the following week they had either moved on or dispersed locally. In a flock of 40 at Cobbinshaw Reservoir, on 20th February 1954, some were in full summer plumage, but most in transition plumage. The records of those birds presumed to be altifrons are mainly casual notes taken at irregular intervals. But they do indicate that altifrons , with its much later breeding period, ac- quires summer plumage much later than apricarius. To amplify this, the records are arranged on page 85 in daily succession, irrespective of the year of observation. Localities are desig- nated: C — Cobbinshaw Reservoir; Cr — Cross wood Reser- voir; G — Gladhouse Reservoir; H — Harper-rig Reservoir; T — Threipmuir Reservoir. N refers to “ northern race 55 and W to “ winter plumage 55 . TB and DGA refer to notes by T. Boyd and D. G. Andrew. Another favoured place seems to be in an area near Fala Flow where there were 200 (several in full northern summer plumage and some in winter plumage) on 21st March 1953. They were seen there a fortnight later by W. Brotherston, who has since seen them there every spring. Spring records of altifrons in the Edinburgh Bird Bulletin (except those from Glad- house) are mainly from Aberlady and obviously refer to birds on passage. These are of single birds on 8th April 1951 (in a flock of 150 in winter plumage), 13th April 1952, 26th April 1953, two on 9th May 1954, and a flock of 55 on 4th April 1954. This last flock comprised about “ 10 in perfect plumage, 20 almost, 10 half-way, while the rest were still in winter garb 55 (F. D. Hamilton, personal communication ). On 9th May 1951, Dr. R. S. Weir saw a single northern golden plover near Dunfermline. The Handbook of British Birds gives the spring moult of both apricarius and altifrons as “ Feb. to May 55 . The above notes on the plumage of the two races suggest that, in Midlothian, they may generally be differentiated by the beginning of March. j I957 ‘ NORTHERN ’ GOLDEN PLOVERS IN MIDLOTHIAN 87 By then, most local breeding birds have acquired full summer plumage and are engaged in territorial activities if the weather ! is mild. Flocks occur only during or immediately after wintry spells. Altifrons , on the other hand, are at that time all in flocks and in winter plumage, and relatively few individuals can be satisfactorily identified as northern at the end of March. There are only a few exceptions to this ; e.g. nine northern out of fourteen on 12th March and perhaps the 55 on 25th March, * of which more than half were recognisably northern. Many observations {Brit. Birds , 42 : 379-384, 397 ; 43 : 362-363 ; 45 : 105-106) show the same general pattern of spring moult, though the great flocks of altifrons seen by Dr. E. V. Baxter on North Uist, on 8th-qth April 1934, were “ the finest plumaged she has ever seen By no means all breeding altifrons have the strongly- marked “ white-band 55 pattern and females tend to be less distinct than males {Brit. Birds , 42). In the records given here “ full northern plumage ” refers only to those birds with a black throat and face and a surrounding broad white band ; undoubtedly many of the C£ intermediates 55 would be the less conspicuously marked individuals. With such a gradation of plumage and moult, it is impossible to be sure that all of these birds were altifrons , but my impression is that there is little mixing of the forms in Midlothian. In the later and smaller parties, numerous birds have a retarded summer plumage, many of them still retaining the winter plumage on head and neck. Many of them may be first-year birds, and some of them possibly apricarius. I have no records of flocks in winter plumage in late February, and the evidence suggests < that altifrons is mainly a passage migrant in Midlothian, returning from early March and lingering till the end of April, with individual flocks staying perhaps from four to six weeks. As they occur in the same few fields year after year it seems unlikely that any big numbers would be overlooked. The concentra- tion of reports from within a mile or so of the better known reservoirs probably shows the intensity of bird-watching there rather than the area frequented by the birds, but the distribu- tion of the flocks between 750 and 1,000 feet altitude is very * Erratum. This date should be 4th April ; therefore this flock was not an exception. 88 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g marked. This includes the higher ground skirting the hills, and much of the pasture (including both rough and resown grass) favoured by the birds. One record suggests that a few may pair up before leaving this country. On 27th April 1953, near Loch Mahaick, Perthshire, there were nine northern birds, five of them in full northern summer plumage and four less well marked. Two of the latter (which we presumed to be females) fed close to two of the full plumaged birds, and seemed to be paired with them. 1957 THE SO-CALLED ‘NORTHERN GOLDEN PLOVER’ 89 I THE SO-CALLED ‘ NORTHERN GOLDEN PLOVER 5 * V. C. Wynne-Edwards Aberdeen University I have had under observation for two or three years, as opportunity offered, the question of the status of the northern ! golden plover (Charadrius apricarius altifrons Brehm, 1831) ; and, though I might have preferred to wait for two or three more seasons before drawing conclusions, it seems on the whole de- ! sirable to offer some comment now, as a sequel to Mr. Smith’s foregoing paper on the northern golden plover in Midlothian. At least in the western part of its range, including the British Isles, Faroe and Iceland, trinomial designations cannot, I believe, be satisfactorily applied to this species. I have not ' studied the situation as it affects Fennoscandia and the U.S.S.R., and must make it clear that these regions are excluded from my observations. Throughout the western range the species is variable in plumage, and individuals which might very reasonably be identified as altifrons , as described and figured in our standard reference works, can be found breeding throughout the whole of this range ; so can birds answering to the current conception of apricarius , or oreophilus as it was known at one time. It seems to be a question of high-plumage and low-plumage polymorphism. Of the pre-nuptial moult, Yarrell (1882-84, vol. 3, p. 272) says: “ Male birds are generally observed to have an alteration in colour of their feathers more rich and perfect than that of the females ; but this is not always the case, as the extent of the change appears to depend on the constitu- tional vigour and powers of the individual bird, whether male or female, and specimens of the latter sex are occasionally seen in summer dress as rich and as perfect as that of the finest male ”. There is a continuous series of variation from the “ lowest ” birds, which have black (sometimes flecked with * Received 8th February 1957 2 go THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g white) only on the lower breast, to those in which this ventral area is broadly connected by a black band up the front of the neck to the black sides of the face, the whole being brightly outlined in white. The extremes are poles apart, but there is no line to be drawn anywhere to divide them in half, and, as I have said, western breeding populations appear always to include in varying proportions the greater part of this range of variability. In support of this statement I am going to quote from representative observations of others, and refer to my own preliminary observations in Scotland. Starting in the north-west, in north Iceland, Yeates and Jeans (1949, p. 9) wrote of altifrons : “This very handsome sub-species varies considerably in the amount of black on its underparts. A very large proportion were, however, very dark indeed, but we saw a few individuals no better marked than the southern race ”. Next, Williamson (1948, p. 90) writes : “ The observations in this paper refer to golden plovers breeding in the Faroe Islands, and, since this area was selected by C. L. Brehm as the type-locality of Pluvialis apricaria altifrons , it must be presumed that, in the main, they concern the northern race. It is | necessary to point out, however, that not all the birds studied could be assigned to the race on morphological characters seen in the field — hence my use of the specific designation in the title. A number of Faroese breeding birds appear never to attain the full black front — underparts, chin, lores and forehead — of typical altifrons , nor do they show the characteristic white band bordering this black. Some are, in fact, quite indis- tinguishable from birds of the southern race, whilst others could perhaps best be described as intermediates. It can be said, however, that most Faroe breeding birds have affinities with typical altifrons , so far as the characters can be assessed in the field In British Birds for December 1949 there appears an article by Fisher, Ferguson-Lees and Campbell on the breeding of altifrons on St. Kilda, followed by “ A note on racial variation in golden plovers 55 by Tucker, and a fine collection of fifteen photographs of breeding birds taken in Lapland, Iceland, Scotland, England and Wales. Tucker’s note draws special attention to the fact that one of the photographs (PL 81, lower), i957 THE SO-CALLED ‘ NORTHERN GOLDEN PLOVER ’ 91 Fig. 1. — This sketch is intended to illustrate the extreme “ northern 55 and “ southern ” varieties, and two intermediate forms. taken by Salmon in Breconshire, South Wales, shows a bird “ which would pass for a typical example of the northern form In the 1948 St. Kilda record both birds were of the northern type ; but there is another St. Kilda record by Bagenal (1953, p. 21) in 1952, in which only one of four birds seen showed this type of plumage. As well as these breeding records on St. Kilda and in South Wales, birds which resembled altifrons have been recorded breeding in Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jenkins, 1952 ; Hewson, 1952) ; and Chapman (1924, p. 261) gives a characteristically charming sketch of one (“ the male un- usually black ”) breeding near Elsdon, Northumberland, in 1921. Coming to my own observations, as yet very limited in number, I can say that in Aberdeenshire one could match every one of the photographs in volume 42 of British Birds , with the possible exception of Plate 76. I am referring to the black parts of the plumage, with their more or less distinct border of white, and not to the colouring of the upper parts, which I have not studied. I have found it useful to pay particular attention to the black of the face and neck, since it is more conspicuously variable than that of the underparts. Extreme “ northern 55 birds have the sides of the face jet-black, and the throat black also, but more typically the face is the slightest bit sepia or sooty compared with the underparts. 92 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g This is joined to the ventral black patch by a band down the front of the neck, at the “ northern 55 extreme perhaps 2 cm. (f inch) wide (but never as wide as is shown in Peterson, Mountfort and Hollom’s Field Guide , PL 30, p. 95) ; more typically it is quite narrow (1 cm. or less), and in the southern form often entirely obsolete. I find some birds with this black neck strip present but hardly any black on the face, and some with black on the face but no neck strip ; these are among the many intermediate forms, between what I describe for convenience as “ northern ”, having continuous black from the eyes right to the belly, and the lowliest “ southern ” extreme, which has no black anywhere except on the lower breast. Incidentally, one needs to view the individual bird both from front and side to see the complete pattern. The white border, which does so much to set it off, is apparently developed to a degree closely corresponding to the amount of black present. Judged on this basis, not less than half the golden plovers nesting in the Cairngorm area are “ northern ” in type. On a brief visit to Lewis in June 1956, I noticed two “ northerns ” in five birds carefully examined on their breeding grounds. I hope this is sufficient evidence to make it clear that we should not any longer attempt to identify Charadrius apricarius altifrons , at any rate in Scotland. Except in the degree of development of the nuptial pattern, which I have been discuss- ing, there are no other differences known between the supposed races, either in plumage or measurements, and in winter plumage all look exactly alike. Sub-species are geographical entities, and the trinomial must not be used to designate what are in fact varieties or polymorphs, everywhere found breeding together. The proportion of the more resplendent types undoubtedly increases northwards, but we cannot express this fact in trinomial form either. On Williamson’s evidence, quoted above, the name altifrons Brehm (though strictly it designates only a single specimen, the type) refers to a mixed population, like our own in Scotland, and the name itself may therefore be held to have little or no validity. From the nomenclatorial standpoint there seems to be no option at present but to refer at least to all the western breeding stocks of golden plover simply as Charadrius apricarius L. i957 THE SO-CALLED ‘ NORTHERN GOLDEN PLOVER ’ 93 This must be regarded as a preliminary, but I hope not premature, statement. Perhaps others may be induced to share in extending observations on what already appears to be an interesting topic. Summary Breeding populations of Charadrius apricarius in Iceland, Faroe and the British Isles are shown to contain varying propor- tions of altifrons and apricarius types, with intermediates, as normal varieties or polymorphs. Trinomial designations are held to be inappropriate to describe this situation and it is recommended that only the binomial be used at present, at least in this part of the range. REFERENCES Bagenal, T., 1953. The birds on St. Kilda, 1952. Scot. Nat., 65 : 19-24. Brehm, C. L., 1831. Handbuch der Naturgesichte aller Vogel Deutschlands. Ilmenau. Chapman, A., 1924. The Borders and beyond. London and Edinburgh. Fisher, J., I. J. Ferguson-Lees, and H. Campbell, 1949. Breeding of the northern golden plover on St. Kilda. Brit. Birds, 42 : 379-384. Hewson, R., 1952. Golden plover in E. Ross showing characters of northern race. Brit. Birds, 45 : 428. Jenkins, D., 1952. Golden plover in Sutherland showing characters of northern race. Brit. Birds, 45 : 73. Tucker, B. W., 1949. A note on racial variation in golden plovers. Brit. Birds, 42 : 383-384. Williamson, K., 1948. Field-notes on nidification and distraction- display in the golden plover. Ibis, 90 : 90-98. Yarrell, W., 1882-4. A history of British birds, vol. 3. 4th Ed. London. Yeates, G. K., and T. B. W. Jeans, 1949. Field notes on the birds of the Hrutafjordhur district, North Iceland. Scot. Nat., 61 : 1-9. Vol 69 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 94 THE BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, MID-SUMMER 1956 * Four expeditions visited St. Kilda in the summer of 1956, and except for six days between 13th and 19th June, the islands were in continuous occupation from nth June till 22nd July. This provided an almost unbroken record of the birds over five weeks in mid-summer. Party 1 : James Fisher and E. M. Nicholson, were ashore on Hirta between nth and 13th June, from H.M. Royal Air Force Vessel Bridport. J. F. and Air Commodore Levis were ashore on Dun. Party 2 : A. D. Berrie, J. Morton Boyd, D. G. Cochrane, M. Colthart, J. B. Cowey, A. Fraser, J. D. Hamilton, J. Lindsay, and J. T. D. Wilson, arrived on 19th June and departed on 3rd July. This party, equipped with a powered small-boat, visited all the major islands and examined the cliffs from the sea. On the night of 20th-2ist June, J. M. B. and J. B. C. were ashore in darkness on Dun, attended by D. G. C. and J. T. D. W. in the small boat, and six of the party were ashore there in daylight on 29th June. On 21st June, J. B. C. and J. T. D. W. navigated the coast from the jetty to the Mina Stac round Oiseval, and next day J. M. B. and J. T. D. W. circumnavigated Hirta, the latter being ashore on Soay for about eighty minutes. Boreray was visited twice. On 23rd June, A. D. B., J. M. B., and J. B. C. were ashore there for about eighty minutes, attended by J. T. D. W. in the boat. On this occasion the party approached Stac an Armin and Stac Lee, without landing, and navigated the cliff bottoms from Laimhail to Clesgor round Geargo. The second visit to Boreray took place on 27th June, when J. M. B., D. G. C., and J. T. D. W. were ashore for about 2J hours J. Morton Boyd Department of Zoology, Glasgow University A. Tewnion Aberdeen D. I. M. Wallace Bishops Stortford * Received 22 nd January 1957 1957 95 BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, 1956 (attended by M. C. and A. F. in the boat), and gained the summit of the island in clear weather. Levenish was visited by D. G. C., J. B. C., J. D. H., J. L., and J. T. D. W., on 28th June. The Carn Mor was visited on the night of 26th-27th June by A. D. B., J. M. B., J. L., and J. T. D. W. Party 3 : D. G. Andrew, J. M. S. Arnott, A. D. Bateman, J. Cunningham, P. E. Naylor, R. W. J. Smith, D. I. M. Wallace, and D. R. Wilson, arrived by fishing-boat on 3rd July, and Party 2 departed. Party 3 did not have a small- boat and so was confined to Hirta, which was therefore well covered. The Carn Mor was closely watched during daylight on 6th and 7th July, and in darkness on the 8th, 9th, and 10th. On the night of 8th-gth July, D. G. A. and D. R. W. spent the hours of darkness on the Cambir and the north-west slopes of Gleann Mor. Party 4 : A. Anderson, T. B. Bagenal, Miss W. U. Flower, J. MacGeoch (J. MG.), J. MacKay (J. ML), A. Scott, D. Scott, Dr. H. Scott, A. Tewnion, Mrs. A. D. Tewnion, and T. Weir, arrived on nth July, and Party 3 departed. This party was also restricted to the main island which was therefore well covered. The Carn Mor was visited in daylight and darkness several times between 16th and 22nd July. On the night of 1 8th- 1 9th July, the talus slopes on the eastern side of the Ard Uachdarachd buttress of Conachair were visited in darkness by D. S. and T. W. The weather conditions during the period were as follows: Between nth and 13th June (Party 1) winds were W. to SW., light to moderate. Between 19th and 28th June the winds were mostly W. and N.W., light to moderate ; but on 29th June they shifted to S.E., strong to gale ; and then backed to the N.E. and moderated over three days (Party 2). From 4th to nth July (Party 3) winds were moderate to light, mostly W. to S.W. on 4th, 6th, 8th-ioth, and E. to S. on 5th 7th, and 1 ith. From 12th to 14th July, winds were very light W. to S.W. ; from 15th to 20th very light, veering from S. through W. to N. ; but on 2 1st became strong from E., modera- ting on 22nd and veering to N. (Party 4). A log covering the ornithological observations of all four parties was maintained. This paper sets forth the substance of the log. 96 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 Leach’s Petrel Oceanodroma leucorrhoa. A colony much larger than that on the Carn Mor (Boyd, Munns, and White- house, 1956) was found on Dun. Activity began there at 1 1. 15 p.m. (all times in this paper are G.M.T.) on 21st June, and lasted till probably well after 1 a.m., when the party had to leave. The island was traversed from Caolas an Duin to the Castle, contouring on the northern slopes behind the peaks on the ridge. While the party was on the western end of the island it was still fairly light, so it was impossible to get a true assessment of the numbers to the west of the Altar. While the party approached the Altar on the northern slopes behind the buttress of An Fhaing, darkness fell, and the characteristic call of the species was heard from burrows (some of them puffin burrows). These burrows, and others discovered later, were excavated, and four birds obtained, each incubating a single egg. In a burrow where the calling was much louder than usual, two birds were taken out with beaks locked together and mouths filled with a reddish fluid. The night was dark, misty, and fairly calm. Activity on the ground was perceptibly more intensive on all the puffin slopes than among the boulders, though small petrels were often seen flying over the boulders, usually not calling. In a traverse from the Altar to the Castle and back to Seilg Geo, small petrels (probably mostly of this species) were seen and heard entering and leaving burrows, heard calling from burrows, and heard and seen in flight all the way. Calling from burrows was heard every few paces, giving an impression of fairly high density in places, and birds were seen in flight practically every time the party looked skywards (J. M. B., J. B. C.). On 23rd June, two birds, each with one egg, were taken in daylight from burrows among the stones of the ruined “ cleits ” at Cleitean McPhaidein on Boreray. Birds were found at the first site that was dug out, but extensive investigation was not possible due to a change in the weather (J. M. B.). A small colony was discovered on the western side of the Cambir isthmus on 9th July, among fallen rocks on the N.W. aspect of Geo na Stacan. Ten to twenty birds were calling in the air and a pair were caught in an otherwise empty burrow (D. R. W.). On the same night another small colony was found on the eastern side of the Cambir isthmus on the slopes 1957 97 BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, 1956 of Mol Carn na Liana, immediately west of the recent landslide (D. G. A.). None was caught here, but they were heard from burrows, and both heard and seen in the air. They seemed less conspicuous than above Geo na Stacan. Another small colony was found on the eastern terrace of Ard Uachdarachd on 19th July. Activity began at 1 1.20 p.m. with cries of “ quicker-ik-ik-ik 55 . Various birds were glimpsed, but none was caught. They were more numerous on the north edge of the screes by the rock face, but the colony was not thought to be as large as the Carn Mor one, though the night was unusually clear and warm (D. S., T. W.). The Carn Mor colony was visited on 27th June, 8th to 10th July, and on occasions between 16th and 21st July, both by day and night. Activity began between 1 1.15 p.m. and 1 1.30 p.m., and ceased about 2.30 a.m. The greatest density seemed to be on the north edge of the Carn Mor and along the grass terrace under the vertical cliff (D. I. M. W.). The steep grass slopes to the north of the Carn Mor talus were thought suitable for a Leach’s petrel colony, when viewed in daylight, and small petrels were seen flying over a small grass saddle between the two areas during darkness. There also seemed to be periodic activity over the nesting site, with possibly up to 15 minutes between spells of activity. This was particularly noticeable when making sound recordings at a burrow where the partner bird arrived during the recording and returned at fairly regular intervals. One mid-air collision was seen, with one bird falling to the ground and the other flying off. Small petrels, on two occasions successfully identified as this species, were seen from two to fifteen miles from St. Kilda during night passages. Seven birds were ringed. Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus. A small colony was found on 27th June on the Carn Mor. Three birds were taken from burrows ; two at the foot of the access gully and another among the Leach’s colony about 30 yards to the west. Calling from burrows was heard on a few other occasions at the same places, but the species seemed far less numerous than the Leach’s petrel (J. M. B., J. T. D. W.). Between 8th and 10th July, four pairs were found with burrows in the Carn Mor area ; two in a t£ cleit ” half-way down the slope below the 13 98 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g “ Lover’s Stone ” (map of Mathieson and Cockburn, 1928), one under a slab of rock above this “ cleit ”, and one among the Leach’s petrels under Mullach Bi. One was caught on the Carn Mor on 17th July, and another on 21st. No further definite evidence of breeding was found, but a small proportion of the flying birds seen on Dun and at Ard Uachdarachd during the night were small in size, and probably of this species. On 22nd June one was found dead on the talus slope below Tigh Dugan, Soay (J. T. D. W.), and one was seen about six miles east of St. Kilda in daylight. Three were ringed. Manx Shearwater Procellaria puffinus. In the night traverse of Dun (see Leach’s petrel), this species was not heard or seen till about midnight. Birds were active in the air all the way back from the Castle to Seilg Geo, but none was heard from the ground. The cavities under the large boulders on the eastern end of the island held many shags and razorbills, but Manx shearwaters were neither seen nor heard there. The promontory beyond the tunnel was not explored by land, but was examined from the tunnel to Gob an Duin by small boat at about midnight; however no shearwaters were seen. Between 12 p.m. and 1 a.m., they were heard calling from the lower levels of the puffin slopes from the tunnel westward to Seilg Geo, and also from the tower and flanking ridges of Bioda Mor, from which they swooped over the puffin slopes northward to the sea. None was caught, and the party had no clear impression of the size of the colony ( T. M. B., D. G. C., J.B.C..J.T.D.W.). On the isthmus of the Cambir (see Leach’s petrel) a colony of probably 50 to 100 pairs was found among fallen rocks on the N.W. slopes of Geo na Stacan, and another in fallen rocks on the western side of the recent landslide at Mol Carn na Liana, probably at least 200 pairs. On the same occasion another colony of probably 20 to 40 pairs was located among fallen rocks on the west side of Gleann Mor (D. G. A., D. R. W.) . Yet another small colony was found on Ard Uachdarachd, where they were heard calling from the air and from the burrow after 11.20 p.m. (D. S., T. W.). The Carn Mor colony was visited on the occasions noted under Leach’s petrel. On 27th June the night was windless and cloudless with moonlight, and activity was very slight J. Morton Boyd Fig. i. — The 1,000 ft. wall of Mullach an Tuamail, on the southern aspect of Sunadal, Boreray, St. Kilda, on 27th June, 1956. ioo THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST VoL 6g compared with what Boyd, Munns, and Whitehouse (1956) witnessed in late May 1955. On later occasions the species was very numerous there at night, nineteen being caught by Party 3, and three by Party 4. They were heard calling at night from Leathaid a5 Sgithoil Chaoil, and young were occasionally heard calling during the afternoon on the Carn Mor (D. I. M. W.). Twenty- two were ringed. Great Shearwater Procellaria gravis. One was seen about seven miles S.E. of St. Kilda on 12th July at a range of 50 to 200 yards (D. G. A., D. I. M. W.). Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis. Alex Anderson, of Party 4, made a census of the great population of fulmars on Hirta ; details of this are published in this number of the journal ; (Anderson, 1957). Large colonies, but of a smaller order than that on Conachair, were seen on Boreray (J. M. B.). The fulmar was nesting there on the same cliffs as the gannet. The gannet was distributed along the major fissures and ledges on the east and west crags, with the fulmar generally restricted to the more featureless walls, usually well covered with vegeta- tion. A large fulmar colony was observed on the buttress of Clagan na Ruskochan. The wall of Clesgor was dominated by gannets, and the fulmars extended along the N.W. walls of l the arete at Clais na Runaich, upwards into the gully Na j Roachan. This colony was spread over the three-pronged tower, and down the west and south walls. Another large colony was seen on Mullach an Eilein. This colony extended ;! over the upper part of the short steep buttress running north from the west summit, but appeared sparse in the recess of the north gully between the two summits. Along the wall of I Mullach an Eilein the colony extended the entire length below j the gannet ledges, and appeared to be particularly dense on the wall above and immediately to the south of Geo na Tarnanach. Few were seen above the gannets, though suitable cliff was available. When viewed from the west top, about 50 were seen nesting on the same rib or cliff as the gannets. On the crags above Sunadal another large colony was interspaced with the gannets. Here the fulmar colony ran mainly along the upper rim of cliff above the gannets. They were in places also 1 numerous below the gannets, and at one place on Mullach an Tuamail both species were occupying the same face of rock. J. Merton Boyd Fig. 2. — The arete and tower of Clagan na Ruskochan, Boreray, St. Kilda, viewed from near the summit of the island on 27th June 1956. The gannet colonies are clearly seen. 102 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Fulmars were numerous on the cliffs from Creagan na Rubhaig Bana round the entire southern aspect of Boreray to Geo an Araich, but fewer than on the N.W. and N.E. sides. A few were nesting in the old bothy at Tigh Stallar (J. M. B.). On 13th July a nest was found containing two chicks (one i thought to have fallen into the nest from above), on Ruaival. 1 On 19th they were still together and stained with oil, and again on2istwhen they were very dark as a result of oil discoloration. About half-a-dozen fulmars were seen sitting on ledges on Mullach Bi overlooking Gleann Mor (D. G. A.). 412 fulmars were ringed by the various parties. Gannet Sula bassana. Found nesting in thousands on Stac Lee, Stac an Armin, and on Boreray (Figs. 1 and 2) where all the major ledges on the N.W. and N.E. crags were occupied. The Boreray colony extended on all cliffs from a point just north of Creagan Fharspeig to Geo an Fheachdair by way of Geargo. A small group of probably 100 to 200 pairs was on the southern side of the promontory of Clagan na Ruskochan. At this site two ledges about 50 yards to the west of the main group have been colonised. This corner is easily visible from Hirta, and may serve in future as an indicator of expansion. Stac Lee is the only area where maximum colonisa- tion appears to have taken place. There is plenty of room for expansion on Stac an Armin and Boreray, but this would probably be at the expense of the fulmar in many parts (see notes on the fulmar) . Gannets were seen alighting on Boreray on the green southern slopes and on Sunadal away from the nesting ledges. They were also seen alighting on green ledges and in gullies where there were no nests. A flock of over 500 often alighted on the southern slopes on the very steep verdure above Geo Sgarbhstac. None was noticed flying over the island (J. M. B.). Photographs of the cliffs (now kept by J. M. B.) were taken for comparison with others, past and future. Gannets seemed to be most numerous in Village Bay after rough weather, when they were seen collecting sea-weed. Very few were normally present feeding in the bay. Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo. One seen in Village Bay on 1 7th July (H. S.). Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis. A large colony of probably several hundred pairs, with fledged young, was found at the 1957 i03 BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, 1956 j S.E. end of Dun on 21st June, among the tumbled rocks on the ridge beyond the Guimachsgor buttress (J. M. B., J. B. C.). Shags from this colony flight to a platform at Rudha an Uisge t where over 200 were often seen together, and to Village Bay : where 120 were once seen. One colony of about 100 pairs j was found in a boulder beach at Mol Ghiasgar (J. M. B., J. T. D. W.), and another of over 100 adults and young in Mol Carn na Liana (D. R. W.). The cliff bottoms generally present poor perching and nesting sites for this species, and where the rock enters the sea vertically only a few birds were ! seen, usually in the water. But near stacks, eroded dykes, and sills, the number increased with groups of up to 20 together. This also applies to Boreray where fledged young were seen. Numbers, including fledged young, were seen at Stac Dona. Seen also at Stac an Armin, the small stacks between Am Biran and Geargo, and on the south side of the Sgarbhstac. Six were ringed. Heron Ardea cinerea. One at Village Bay on nth June j (E. M. N.). Eider Somateria mollissima. Nest with eggs found on Dun. Nests (some empty) were found at the following places and heights above sea level: five in the village below 100 feet, ! two on Oiseval at 500 and 750 feet, one on Na Mullichean Mor at 700 feet, another on Claigeann an Tigh Faire at 900 feet, and another between Mullach Geal and Mullach Mor at about 1,100 feet. A duck and ducklings were seen at the Gleann Mor tarn. Four ducks were seen flying over Am Blaid from Gleann Mor to the village watershed at 2.30 a.m. Ducks and ducklings were always present in Village Bay, varying from 4 with 3 young, to 20 with 1 1 young. A few ducks were found with young at the cliff-bottoms near Mol Ghiasgar, and ducks were seen at Boreray. Drakes were much scarcer : two at Caolas an Duin, four at Na Sgarain, and one or two immatures in Village Bay. A drake was found dead in the village area. Red-breasted Merganser Mergus senator. Seen in Village Bay, 1 ith- 13th June. One seen off Levenish on 1st July, and thereafter one to three birds (one male and two females) were seen regularly in Village Bay till 1 1 th July. Only a single bird was afterwards seen there, and not every day. 104 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g Peregrine Falco peregrinus. A single female was seen over Oiseval and the village on 6th and 7th July, two on the west cliffs of Dun (Cul Clete) on 13th July, and one being attacked by kestrels on 20th and 21st July at Mullach Mor, where a pair was also seen on the same days. Kestrel Falco tinnunculus. First seen on 16th July, and then regularly till 22nd; on four occasions a single bird, and on two occasions two birds. Seen on Mullach Bi, Mullach Sgar, and Mullach Mor. Both single and paired birds were seen attacking a peregrine. Oyster-catcher Haematopus ostralegus. There were prob- ably between 100 and 120 adults and young on Hirta in groups of up to 30. The major groups of 20-30 were on the strand at Village Bay, the base of Gleann Mor, and on the Cambir ; and minor groups on the summit of Oiseval, Ruaival, Na h-Eagan, Gob na h-Airde, and Mol Ghiasgar. At least four pairs were in the village area with birds at An Lag Bho’n Tuath, and Lag Aitimir. Several pairs were on Dun, and a pair at Cleitean McPhaidein on Boreray. Four birds were ringed. Lapwing Vanellus vanellus. Two seen on Am Blaid on 1 st July, and one on Mullach Sgar on 1 6th July. Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula. Heard in Gleann Mor, and seen at Village Bay. The counts, all in July, were: two from 15th to 17th and 20th, three on 18th and 21st, and one on 22nd. Golden Plover Charadrius apricarius. One heard on the upper slopes of Oiseval on 13th July (T. W.). None seen. Turnstone Arenaria inter pres. Three birds glimpsed and others heard at Caolas an Duin on 20th July were probably of this species (T. W., A. T.). Snipe Capella gallinago. There were at least four breeding pairs in the village area. About four nests present on the west bank of An t-struthan, with three calling in the village, on nth June. At least three were in the upper meadows with day-old young on 30th June, and another nest with three eggs was found there on 1 8th July, near where one of the nests with eggs and young was seen on 30th June. At least five were flushed from the lower meadows on 20th June, one adult with ! *957 BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, 1956 105 young was found there on 3rd July, and at least four pairs were in the lower meadows on 5th July. Birds were seen at, and flying to and from, An Lag Bho’n Tuath and the village area. A nest with eggs was found on Oiseval, another on Mullach Sgar, and a pair with young on Mullach Mor. Snipe were seen on the Cambir (probably two pairs), and on the summit of Conachair. One was flushed on 20th and 29th June from the same locality on Dun. Five were ringed. Woodcock Scolopax rusticola. One flushed at Amhuinn Mor on 22nd July (A. T., A. D. T.). Curlew Numenius arquata. Seen at Ruaival, the Cambir, Gleann Mor, Conachair, over Dun, and in the village meadows. The counts, all in July, were : one on 1st, at least two on 5th, one on 6th, four on 7th, one on 9th and 10th, two on 14th and 15*. Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus. Seen at Ruaival, the Cam- bir, Gleann Mor, Conachair, and the village meadows. Counts in June and July, were: one on 20th and 22nd, at least five on 27th, one on 4th, four on 5th and 6th, three from 8th to 1 ith, one on 15th, two from 16th to 19th, one on 20th. Paired birds were noticed on the Cambir, in Gleann Mor, and at Village Bay. Redshank Tringa totanus. One heard at Village Bay strand on 18th July, and seen there on 21st and 22nd. Knot Calidris canutus. One adult in summer plumage was seen on the rocks below the manse on 8th July (J. M. S. A., P. E. N., D. I. M. W.). Dunlin Calidris alpina. Seen at Mullach Mor, Amhuinn Mor, and the village strand. The counts, all in July were: two on 10th, one on nth, six on 21st, and three on 22nd. Sanderling Crocethia alba. One with dunlin at the village beach on 21st and 22nd July. Arctic Skua Stercorarius parasiticus. One dark-phase bird was seen chasing herring-gulls in Gleann Mor on 26th June, and another flying over the Gap on 1 8th July. Great Skua Catharacta skua. Seen over Am Blaid, Mullach Sgar, Gleann Mor, Caolas an Duin, Conachair, and the village. One seen on 5th, 7th, 10th, 14th, 18th, and 19th July, and a pair at upper Gleann Mor on 10th (D. G. A.). 14 106 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 Greater Black-backed Gull Larus marinus. Probably about fifty pairs breed on the St. Kilda islands. About ten pairs were seen on Levenish (J. T. D. W.), and probably not more than ten pairs breeding on Dun. Between ten and twenty pairs were nesting in lower Gleann Mor and on the shore of Glen Bay. A few were seen over the Carn Mor (where persistent swooping on an observer (J. MG.) occurred), on the talus slopes below Tigh Dugan on Soay, and over the puffin colony on the S.W. slopes of Boreray. The largest number seen together was 47 on the village strand on nth July; this probably included most of the adults from the S.E. aspect of the islands. About twelve, probably from Dun, roosted regularly with other gulls on the eastern slopes of Ruaival, and about six were regularly present during the day on the village shore. Eleven were ringed. Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus. Estimates of from 45 to 95 birds, and from 30 to 40 nesting pairs, were made in Gleann Mor, where nests and eggs were found. Only occasional birds were seen at Village Bay, and at Boreray. Seven were ringed. Herring-Gull Larus argentatus. From 50 to 100 in June, and 135 in July, were estimated in Gleann Mor, but no definite evidence of breeding was found there. Between ten and twenty frequented Village Bay where two nests were found on the storm beach on 1 ith June, and more were on Dun. About thirty roosted occasionally with other gulls on the eastern slopes of Ruaival. Breeding on Dun, at Village Bay, the Cambir, Carn Mor, Oiseval, and on Soay. Present on Boreray and at the great stacks. Twelve were ringed. Common Gull Larus canus. One on 4th July, and two on 5th at Village Bay. Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus. Two were at Village Bay on nth and 29th June. Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. Breeding in many of the N.E. tc geos 55 of Hirta and Boreray, usually in tens but occasion- ally over 100. Large colonies were at Gob na h-Airde, Geo Sgeirchaise and Geo Chalum M’Mhurich. Fewer were seen on the S.W. coast, though there was a colony at Geo Lashulaich and at Geo na Stacan. There were colonies on the N.W. side of Soay Stac, and on the eastern lower ridge of Stac Lee under 1957 07 BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, 1956 the overhang. Seen occasionally in small noisy flocks in Village Bay off the beach and jetty. Razorbill Alca torda. There was a breeding colony of probably over 100 pairs among the large boulders on the eastern end of Dun. Occasional small groups were present on the N.E. and W. coasts of Hirta, usually near guillemot colonies. Tens were seen with the shags on the platform at Rudha an Uisge, and in Village Bay. Three were ringed. Guillemot Uria aalge . Breeding, usually in tens, between Rudh Ghill and Gob na h-Airde, and on the north of the Cambir. Colonies of over 100 pairs were seen at Stac a’ Langa, Mina Stac, base of Conachair, Bradastac, and at Gob na h-Airde. A colony estimated at over 1,000 was on Stac Biorach. There were small numbers along the east coast of Boreray, and a colony of auks, probably of this species, was seen from Boreray, on the north face of Sgarbhstac. Nine guillemots were ringed. Black Guillemot Cepphus grylle. From one to seven seen at Caolas an Duin, and probably a nest on the Dun side. Pairs were seen in Village Bay off the manse, at the Point of Coll, Geo Bhradastac, Gob na h-Airde, and Glen Bay. A few were seen at Geo na Ruideig on Dun, Geo na Eaige, Village Bay, and Levenish. Puffin Fratercula arctic a. Major colonies of probably over 100,000 pairs were seen on the N.E. slopes of Dun, the eastern slopes of Soay from Pursan a’ Chaim to the Altar, on the S.W. slopes of Boreray, on Sunadal of Boreray, and others of probably a much smaller order (though very large by any normal standards) on Carn Mor, Ard Uachdarachd, and Gleann Mor between Amhuinn Alltan and the Cambir isthmus. Still smaller colonies, of probably less than 1,000 pairs, are present elsewhere. The S.W. colony of Boreray extended all the way from Clagan na Ruskochan to Gob Scapanish on the lower grass slopes, becoming sparse above the 600 to 700 feet contour, and puffins were nesting in the “ cleits 55 at Cleitean McPhaidein. A few were breeding at Geo Mor S.E. of the manse. On 7th and 10th July, between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m., puffins were seen returning to Dun ; about 350 per minute were estimated landing on the island. Two fish dropped by puffins at the Gleann Mor colony were later identified (T. B. B.) io8 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 as Norway pout ( Gadus esmarkii). No mention of this fish is made by Lockley (1953) in his monograph on the puffin. Sixteen were ringed. Carrier-Pigeon. At least one present continually from 1 1 th- 1 3th June and from 29th June to 19th July. Seen in the Village Bay area usually around the manse; three and four together on 5th and 6th July. Turtle-Dove Streptopelia turtur. One in the village meadows on 25th and 26th June (J. M. B., J. L.). Swift Apus apus. Numbers were seen between 3rd and 13th July over the village, Ruaival, Gleann Mor, Conachair, and Mullach Mor. The counts were : two on 3rd, two on 4th, two on 5th, four on 6th, two on 7th, one on 10th, five on nth, and 20 on 13th. Swallow Hirundo rustica. Three seen over the village, 1 1 th- 1 3th June. Numbers were seen between 23rd June and 1 8th July mostly over the village, but also over Mullach Sgar, Ruaival, Mullach Mor, and Cleitean McPhaidein on Boreray. The counts were : one on 23rd June, one on 24th, three on 29th, three on 1st July, two on 4th, two on 5th, three on 6th, one on 7th, two on 8th, one on 10th, one on 13th, and one on 18th. On three consecutive occasions a probable bird of the year was ; seen. House- Martin Delichon urbica. Seen over the village, Oiseval, and Ruaival, between 29th June and 13th July. The counts were : one on 29th, two on 1st July, one on 6th, one on 9th, and one on 13th. Raven Corvus corax. Seen along the ridge of Dun, on Ruaival, Am Blaid, Conachair, Oiseval, and also over the village where three dead ravens were found. At least six were seen in a full count on Hirta on 10th July (D. I. M. W.), and groups of five and four over Conachair on different occasions. Pairs and single birds were seen elsewhere. There were : probably two fledged families present, counting the dead birds. Hooded Crow Corvus corone cornix. Eleven, probably all the crows on Hirta, were seen making an evening flight on 2 1 st June to the S.E. point of Dun. Nine were seen to- gether on the Cambir, six on Oiseval, and four over Con- achair on different dates. Probably two fledged families present. 1 957 BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, 1956 109 Wren Troglodytes troglodytes. At least twenty singing birds were estimated to be on Hirta. Dawn counts (J. M. B.), and a daytime estimate (E. M. N., J. F.), gave five and seven singing birds respectively in the village area. Others were: one, upper Amhuinn Mor; one Ruaival; four, Carn Mor; one, Gob na h-Airde; one, S.E. Conachair; two, Stac a5 Langa — Mol Ghiasgar area; one, Point of Coll. Wrens were heard singing at the Castle, Dun; above Mol Shoay; above Coinneag, Boreray. Adult seen (A. T.) feeding young on green caterpillars as Atkinson (1949) saw. Six birds were ringed. Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe. Fourteen pairs estimated between 3rd and nth July: five, village — Conachair slopes; one, upper Amhuinn Mor; two, Mullach Sgar; two, Mullach Mor; one, Gleann Mor; two, Mullach Bi — Mullach Sgar; one, Mullach Bi — Cambir. Numbers in June seemed considerably lower than in July (E. M. N.). Redwing Turdus musicus. Single bird heard on Carn Mor, Ard Uachdarachd, and the Cambir between 16th and 20th July. Seen once only, on 19th, on the slopes behind the village (T. B. B.). Blackbird Turdus merula. One male in Gleann Mor on 14th July, and a female in the village on 18th. Meadow-Pipit Anthus pratensis. A pair was in the village on at least five days between 20th and 27 th June and on 1st July. A few birds were seen on Ruaival, Am Blaid, Oiseval, Mullach Bi, Gleann Mor, and the Cambir. One newly fledged young caught on Mullach Sgar on 20th July. Possibly about ten altogether on Hirta. Rock-Pipit Anthus spinoletta. Widespread on Hirta up to about 800 feet, though one was seen on top of Conachair (E. M. N.). Present also on Dun, Soay, and Boreray. Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba. One near the manse nth June (E. M. N.). Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava. A single adult male was seen on the saddle south of the Cambir on 7th July. The bird was first heard calling and then recognised as a flava wagtail. In flight it was seen to have bright yellow underparts, with dark head and back. Being very restless it was not well seen on the ground, and the observer (D. R. W.) had only one I IO THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g i view of the bird standing facing him. The dark head, darker coverts, and the lack of the superciliary eye stripe were notice- able. The back appeared to be darker than in flavissima. There is no doubt that the bird was of the grey-headed sub- species thunbergi. Starling Sturnus vulgaris. From 350 to 400 starlings were estimated to be on Hirta on 10th July, birds of the year heavily outnumbering adults. About 100 were regularly seen within the village watershed, with a smaller flock on Ruaival. ! Birds from the village flew over the Gap to feed on the puffin slopes in Mol Ghiasgar. About 250 were present in Gleann Mor, mainly in the area of the sheilings and Gob na h-Airde, and forty were seen on Carn Mor. Numbers were on Dun, and large numbers on Boreray. Eight were ringed. Twite Carduelis flavirostris. Probably not more than ten or eleven pairs on Hirta: three or four, village; two, Conachair; one, Point of Coll; one, Gleann Mor; one (three adults), Cambir; one, upper Amhuinn Mor; one, An Lag Bho’n Tuath. Young were seen in the village. Crossbill Loxia curvirostra. About twenty (only six distinguished as to sex : two males, two females, two immatures) were seen on Oiseval on 16th July (A. D. T.). Seven (three males, two females, two immatures) were in the village on 1 7th, and five (two males, two females, one immature) on 19th. The last flock was thought to be different from the second (W. U. F.). ! Discussion The most important contribution of the 1956 observations to the ornithology of St. Kilda is the description of three colonies of Leach’s petrels, one colony of storm-petrels, and four colonies of Manx shearwaters, all on Hirta ; another colony of Leach’s petrels on Boreray, and a possible colony 1 of storm-petrels on Soay. All these colonies (except the Leach’s petrel colony on Boreray, which was possibly the one 1 seen by Kearton and Kearton (1902)) were hitherto un- described. Including the observations of Boyd, Munns, and Whitehouse (1956), probably most of the major colonies of small petrels and shearwaters on Hirta and Dun have now been 1957 1 1 1 BIRDS OF ST. KILDA, 1956 reported. Other colonies of all three species no doubt exist on the S.E. slopes of Soay, and on Boreray, though the absence of talus on Boreray might severely restrict colonisation by shear- waters ; all the shearwaters colonies already described at St. Kilda are associated with talus. There is no evidence of the re-establishment of peregrine and kestrel as breeding species. The first peregrine was seen after three weeks of almost continuous observation, and the first kestrel after a month. Both the golden plover reported in previous years (Ferguson-Lees and Fisher, unpublished; Bagenal, 1953; Boyd, Munns, and Whitehouse, 1956), and the corncrake ( Crex crex) regularly recorded by expeditions in the period 1938-55, were absent. An incident worthy of note is the occurrence of a pair of great skuas over Gleann Mor. The most noteworthy change in the status of land birds is the apparent increase of the wheatear ; in 1939 it was decreas- ing (Nicholson and Fisher, 1940), and in July 1952 no evidence of breeding was found (Bagenal, 1953). In May 1955 a heavy passage of birds obscured the breeding status of the wheatear, but in July 1956 14 pairs were estimated to be on Hirta. The breeding populations of snipe, wrens, and twites, particularly in the village area, appeared similar to those in I955- The amount of migration increased perceptibly during the period of observation. The number of migrant species recorded in the consecutive weeks 20th-26th, 27th June-3rd July, 4th-ioth, nth- 1 7th were one, seven, ten, and thirteen (not including skuas). The turtle-dove has been reported from St. Kilda several times and, according to Dr. J. W. Campbell, who has kindly given the authors information about the migratory species, it also occurs irregularly on passage in the Outer Hebrides. The record of the grey-headed wagtail is the first for the Outer Hebrides. The crossbill, which has been recorded from St. Kilda as a single bird on three previous occasions, is an irregular late summer immigrant to the Outer Hebrides, where it has occurred frequently during the present century. The fact that the crossbills arrived at the same time as the redwings is worthy of note. In his notes Mr. Nicholson remarks that the absence of winged predators and the low numbers of corvids and large 112 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g gulls are extraordinary and inexplicable, in view of the excep- tional abundance of easy prey and carrion, particularly dead sheep. The stability in numbers and species of the land-bird population since the time of the evacuation in 1930 is also noteworthy. Acknowledgements Permission for the visits of all parties was kindly given by the late Marquis of Bute. A very substantial grant from the University Court of the University of Glasgow, and a small, but much appreciated grant from the British Trust for Ornitho- logy financed Party 2, and made possible the hire of a small boat with out-board motors. The authors are indebted to Mr. E. M. Nicholson who made available the notes about his visit with Mr. James Fisher. All members of Party 3 are much indebted to Mr. W. J. Wallace, who though finally unable to go to St. Kilda, helped to organise the party. All members of Party 4 are similarly indebted to Miss E. A. Garden who organ- ised that party, but who was unfortunately prevented from visiting the islands. REFERENCES Anderson, A., 1957. A census of fulmars on Hirta, St. Kilda, in July 1956. Scot. Nat., 69 ; 113-116. Atkinson, R., 1949. Island Going. London. Bagenal, T. B., 1953. The birds of St. Kilda, 1952. Scot. Nat., 65 : 19-23- Boyd, J. M., D. J. Munns, and A. A. K. Whitehouse, 1956. The birds on St. Kilda, May 1955. Scot. Nat., 68 : 14-22. Ferguson-Lees, I. J., andj. Fisher, Unpublished. Notes on the birds of St. Kilda, 1948. Kearton, R., and C. Kearton, 1902. With Nature and a Camera. London. Lockley, R. M., 1953. The Puffin. London. Mathieson, J., and A. M. Cockburn, 1928. Map of St. Kilda or Hirta. Ordnance Survey. Nicholson, E. M., andj. Fisher, 1940. A bird census of St. Kilda, 1939. Brit. Birds. 34 : 29-35. 1957 CENSUS OF FULMARS ON HIRTA, ST. KILDA 1 13 A CENSUS OF FULMARS ON HIRTA, ST. KILDA, IN JULY 1956* A. Anderson Aberdeen During the past 25 years, several attempts (Fisher, 1952, The Fulmar ) have been made to estimate the number of fulmars (. Fulmarus glacialis) on St. Kilda, the original breeding station of the species in Britain. I reached the main island of Hirta with ten companions on 12th July 1956, and stayed there till 23rd July. During this time, I counted the fulmar chicks and sitting adults on Hirta, and estimated their numbers on Dun (Table 1). For convenience I sub-divided the coastline into a number of sections marked by reference points (see map). Each occupied nest-site, containing one or two adults or a chick, is taken to represent a breeding pair of fulmars. The counts were made from the cliff-top or cliff-side. Observation is fairly easy on most of the coast, as the cliffs are so indented, but in some places (e.g. at the north side of the Cambir and the east side of Oiseval) accurate counting is difficult, if not im- possible, unless done from a boat. To avoid omitting these areas, I made rough estimates of the numbers there by first counting the fulmars in flight ; and then comparing this with the proportion in flight over those other sections of cliff where the total number of both flying and sitting birds could easily be counted. The average number of flying birds at eighteen suitable cliff sections represented approximately 13 per cent, of the number of nest-sites on the same cliffs. A section of cliff was considered suitable for this purpose only if I was able to see all the flying birds and most of those sitting on the cliff. As the numbers flying between Stac a’Langa and Geo na Eaige (600) were larger than usual owing to disturbance, I have not included this figure. The counts on some cliff-sections, such as on Bradastac, Conachair cliff and Minastac, have been combined because flying fulmars * Received 13th. February 1957 15 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 114 Vol. 69 on one section so often overlapped with those of the next section. Those from Laimhrig nan Gall, Carn Mor, Bay of Mol Ghiasgar and the west side of Stac a’Langa were also combined. The number of fulmars in flight may possibly also vary according to time of day, wind-speed and direction, and amount of dis- turbance. The first source of variation did not arise as all my counts were done in the afternoon ; furthermore a careful approach prevented disturbance. Every possible breeding-site was counted, but at least 20 per cent, may have been hidden from view in dead ground. The figures in Table 1 may be taken as almost minima but, as I was unable to differentiate non-breeders from failed breeders, these minimal estimates of the number of breeding-sites are no doubt slightly larger than would have been the case had there i957 CENSUS OF FULMARS ON HIRTA, ST. KILDA 115 been no non-breeders present. Non-breeders and failed breeders were abundant on and around St. Kilda : out of 2,620 flying fulmars examined for moult condition, 39 per cent. Table i. Number of Fulmars counted on Hirta and Dun, July 1956 Date Place Reference Number Number of Points Flying Occupied Sites 13th July Village Bay beach — Geo Leibli 1-2 2 15 Geo Leibli — West side of Ruaival 2-3 13 63 Na H-Eagan 3-4 7 170 Geo Rudha Mhurich 4-5 25 310 Laimhrig nan Gall — Carn Mor 5-6 86 540 14th July Carn Mor, continued. 6-7 41 75 Western slopes of Mullach Bi 7-8 170 580 Geo na Lashulaich — Geo na Stacan 8-9 170 570 17th July Cambir, west side 9-io 162 775 Cambir, north side 10-1 1 20* 160* Glen Bay, west side 1 1-12 220 1,100 Glen Bay, west side 12-13 35 450 Glen Bay, east side 13-14 4 95 19th July Geo na h’Airde and Geo Oscar 14-15 *9 82 Geo an t’Samh i5-I6 120 670 Geo Bhradastac 16-17 260 3>°3° Bradastac 265 Conachair Cliff* 17-18 420 5>7oo Mina Stac 1 10 Leac Mhina Stac Bay of Mol Ghiasgar and Sgeir 18-19 7 50 Dhomhuill 19-20 250 860 West side of Stac a’Langa 20-21 330 1 8th July Stac a’Langa — Geo na Eaige 21-22 600 1,150 Oiseval, north coast 22-23 i45 665 Oiseval, east coast 23-24 210 1,600* Oiseval, south coast 24-25 0 0 Total for Hirta 2,986 i9,4i5 13 th July Dun, Sgeir Mhor — Giasgeir Dun Total (Including Sgeir Mhor 5 210 — Giasgeir) 1 17 1,680 * Estimated showed evidence of moulting in the primaries, and an ap- parently small proportion of the remainder had completed the moult, with fine dark blue plumage on the back and upper sides of the wings. The total arrived at for the number of occupied sites on Hirta (excluding Soay Stac and Dun) is 19,415, and if the THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 1 16 Vol. 69 usual allowance (Fisher, 1952) of i 20 per cent, is made for the errors in observation outlined above, my final estimate is 19,400 zb 3,900. This coincides closely with James Fisher’s (1952, pp. 1 18, 1 20 and 1 21) estimate, from a boat in May 1949, that 19,943 pairs were present, with a minimum of 15,955 an<^ a maximum of 23,931. In such a comparison of numbers counted at different times, one must also consider the population changes which normally occur in a large colony at different times of the year (Fisher, 1952). Fisher made his St. Kilda counts in mid-May, when fulmar numbers at the breeding colonies are usually low ; whereas mine were in mid-July, when numbers tend to be slightly greater. The difference in counting technique and personal error should also be taken into account : e.g. Fisher estimated 4,000 + on Cambir from a boat in 1949, while my 1956 estimate there from the cliff-tops was only 2,035, which is probably too low as much of the cliff was not visible from above. But this is an extreme case, and on most parts of the cliff, counts done from the cliff-top or from the sea would probably be fairly similar. So it seems that the breeding population in 1956 was about the same as seven years before. The population has not increased since 1949, or else numbers may have reached a peak and have since declined. In any case, a spectacular increase such as took place over the previous ten years between 1939 and 1949 is not evident. In an attempt to estimate the numbers on Dun from Ruaival, I counted 1,680 pairs on Dun ; however, judging from the amount of dead ground, I consider the real total on Dun to be probably twice as great. This would agree with Fisher’s 1949 estimate of 3,600 pairs there. During our visit we found no fulmars breeding or sitting inland on Hirta, though many suitable nest-sites were available. 1957 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 1 1 7 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES Dragonflies recorded from the Isle of May. — In reference to my previous note on this subject (Scot. Nat., 68 : 173), I am informed by Miss Cynthia Longfield that as soon as she heard of the supposed occurrence of Aeshna caerulea on the May she asked that the specimen be re-examined. She suspected from previous experience that it might turn out to be A. juncea, the common aeshna, which has been mistaken for A. caerulea before. In this she was quite right, for the specimen caught on 11th September 1953 proved indeed to be A. juncea. Concerning this species Miss Longfield writes in her letter that it is “ widespread all over Scotland, more especially in the Highlands as it particularly likes that type of country, but it has been seen and taken now and then in the Port of Leith, often flies into towns, but is not known to be a migrant. It would think little of flying out as far from the coast as the Isle of May, although there is no great attraction there for dragonflies. A. juncea has turned up on Fair Isle as well as Canna, so it moves quite a bit in certain seasons. It is a powerful flier.” Miss Longfield considers it probable that the dragonfly seen by Miss Baxter and Miss Rintoul on 30th September 1908 was another juncea. — W. J. Eggeling, Edinburgh. Sooty Shearwater in the Shetlands. — On 9th September 1948, when travelling from Fair Isle to Shetland on the Good Shepherd , I saw a single sooty shearwater (Procellaria grisea). Its large size, dark underparts and typical shearwater flight left me in no doubt of its identity — I had seen the bird once before in Scottish waters. — R. S. R. Fitter, Oxford. It seems worth repeating here an editorial comment from the Fair Isle Bird Observatory Bulletin (Vol. 2, page 233) : — Although the sooty shearwater “ appears to be considered rare in Shetland waters ”. . . “ it is in fact a regular if somewhat scarce bird on the journey between Fair Isle and Sumburgh Head in the late summer, and is not infrequently reported by visitors to the Bird Observatory. It is well known to James A. Stout, who sees single birds, and occasionally two or three, on most crossings in September.” — Editors. 1 1 8 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 6g A Red-Breasted Goose in North-East Scotland. — I saw a red-breasted goose ( Branta ruficollis) on 20th January 1957, feeding amongst about 100 grey-lag geese {Anser anser) in a field of winter wheat on the shores of the Beauly Firth, Inverness-shire. One cannot mistake the plumage of this bird, so there is no need to ! give a detailed description here. The bird was seen on this one occasion only. — D. Fraser, Beauly. There are extremely few substantiated records of the red- breasted goose from the British Isles ; The Handbook refers to it as a “ very rare vagrant ” to England, and there appear to be no records of the species ever having occurred in Scotland. With very rare geese and ducks, there is always a suspicion that they may be “ escapes ” from aviaries, but the Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge and Dr. John Berry of the Nature Conservancy in Edinburgh, have both informed us that they have heard of no “ escapes ” which could account for the appearance of this bird. It seems very likely that this bird was present in or near the Beauly Firth at times during a period of several months from autumn 1956 till January 1957. Dr. Berry informs us that he heard a rumour of a red-breasted goose being seen there at the end of September. He writes : “ There is little doubt in my mind that the bird was a genuine immigrant that had arrived about then.” Just after this, in early October, a red-breasted goose was seen by Mr. E. Luxmoore, Whorlton Hall, Barnard Castle, Durham, who reported his observation in The Field , 1956, page 1124. Mr. Luxmoore saw his bird on the foreshore of a firth in north-east Scotland, along with a flock of wigeon ( Anas penelope). It was observed as close as 80 yards through binoculars, both on the ground and in flight. He decided that it did not seem to be an “ escape ”, as it rose each time the wigeon took flight, and eventually flew away with them. There seems little doubt that this was the same bird as Mr. Fraser has reported seeing in January 1957. These are evidently the first substantiated records of a red-breasted goose in Scotland. — Editors. Greenland Falcon in West Stirlingshire. — On 3rd April !955, while sheltering from a heavy shower close by Buchanan Old House, near the mouth of the River Endrick, I saw flying down an opening between the trees a large white hawk. The bird was completely white over its whole body, apart from black-tipped wings and faint specklings of black or brown on the upper-parts. It was about the size of a large kestrel {Falco tinnunculus) . The head was not rounded like the head of an owl. The wings were narrow ^957 ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 1 19 and sharply pointed, not rounded and broad like the wings of a buzzard or owl. The wing-beat was, I thought, slower than that of a peregrine ( Falco peregrinus) , and the bird also glided over the ground. I identified it as a Greenland falcon {Falco rusticolus candicans ). — Matt Forrester, Glasgow. According to the Birds of Scotland (1953), there is only one record for Stirling. — Editors. Ecological Notes on Golden Plovers in the Cairngorms. — In the western Cairngorms, my wife and I have found nests of golden plover ( Charadrius apricarius) as high as 3,200 feet in woolly- fringe moss, and in tufts of coarse grass in gravel — characteristic dotterel {Charadrius morinellus ) nesting-sites — as well as in the mosses and peat-hags of An Moine Mhor where most of them nest. We have also found nests there on islands and hillocks of glacial drift. We have sometimes seen pairs of golden plovers — of both northern and intermediate appearance — scrape-making on the Cairngorm- Ben Mac Dhui flats ; but we have never actually found eggs or chicks there. This suggests that on the high ground they partly, or largely, depend on peat-mosses for food. There is not much peat-moss ground between Cairngorm and Ben Mac Dhui. We have found that this also applies further south in the Grampians — dotterel nesting on both kinds of hill, but golden plovers and dunlin {Calidris alpina) only where there are fairly large peat-mosses. Golden plovers’ and dunlins’ altitudinal range in the Spey Valley is also interesting. I know of only two dunlin breeding places in the glens below the Cairngorms (Inverness-shire side), but in some years they are very plentiful at 2,500-3,000 feet on An Moine Mhor, and on some of the Grampian tops. In Rothiemurchus Forest, golden plovers breed in small numbers in Glen Einich in association with peat-mosses ranging from 1,700 to 2,200 feet. Golden plovers do not appear to be true forest-bog birds as are greenshanks {Tringa nebularia ): but between 1933-37, inclusive, a solitary pair bred on the 1,100 feet contour in a forest-bog in Rothiemurchus. In 1935 they actually used the greenshank’s scrape of the previous year. Again, golden plovers breed in Glenfeshie to approximately 1,350 feet, but not in the longish heather on the flanks of Carn Ban where there are no extensive peat-mosses. Here and elsewhere, these Calluna hill-flanks above the tree-line are among the poorest breeding-bird habitats of which I am aware — -just red grouse and meadow-pipit, and the occasional curlew in the lower swamps, and a few wheatears where Calluna thins out and the ground becomes drier towards the 2,500 feet 120 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST Vol. 69 contour. There may be another objection. Golden plovers do not appear to like stretches of longish heather; probably they do not find it easy to move over. It is also of interest that the Cairngorm golden plovers generally lay their eggs two to three weeks later than those nesting in the valleys below. The late nests thus roughly coincide with those of early dotterel. — Desmond Nethersole-Thompson, Rothiemurchus. 66 Northern ” Golden Plovers in northern parts of Scot- land.— As this issue devotes so much space to the problem of the 137> I7°i Red-breasted, 175; Spotted, 23, 31, 45, 133, 141 Food, of dogfish, 179 ; of golden eagle 162-168; of puffin, 107-108; of snow-bunting, 192 Forrester, Matt, 118-119 Fraser, D., 1 18 Fulmar, 24, 27, 100, 102, 113-116, 138, 142, 182-183 Gannet, 27, 101, 102, 195 Garden, Elizabeth A., George F. Raeburn, Alex. Tewnion and Valerie M. Thom, 196 Gibson, Dr. J. A., 53-54, 56-57* 60; The birds of the island of Arran, reviewed 62 Goat, 22 Godwit, Black-tailed, 1 73 Goldcrest, 23, 31, 59, 132, 134 Goldeneye, 136 Goose, Bean, 40, 1 72; Brent, 172; Grey- lag, 27; Red-breasted, 1 18; White- fronted, 40 Gordon, Seton, 120, 183-184 Goto, H. E., Some further Collembola from Shil lay, Outer Hebrides, 1-10 Grebe, Black-necked, 39, 1 71 ; Little, 52 ; Slavonian, 39 Greenshank, 119, 182 Grosbeak, Pine, 43 Grouse, Red, 23, 28, 119, 150, 155, 158, 163, 164, 166, 168 Guillemot, Black, 24, 29, 107, 136; Common, 24, 29, 107, 140 Gull, Black-headed, 29, 106, 186; Common, 29, 44, 106, 186; Glau- cous, 56; Greater Black-backed, 29, 106, 138, 140, 186, 187; Herring, 24* 29, 43, 106, 138, 142, 186, 187; Lesser Black-backed, 24, 29, 106, 138, 176, 186, 187; Scandinavian Lesser Black-backed, 41, 1 74; Yellow- legged Herring, 55-56 Vol. 69 Hamilton, F. D., and Kathleen C. Hogarth, 61 Hare, Brown, 71; Mountain, 155, 163, 164, 165, 168 Harrison, Dr. Jeffery, and David Jones, 193- 194 Harvestmen, 51-52 Hawfinch, 43 Hedge-sparrow, 23, 31, 142 Heron, Common, 27, 34, 103; Night, 32- 36; Purple, 34 Hewson, Raymond, i 20-1 21, 185; see also Corbet and Hewson, and Adam and others Hogarth, Kathleen C., see Hamilton and Hogarth Home, W. M. Logan, 194 Hylander, Clarence J., The world of plant life, reviewed 63-64 Insects, Collembola, 1-10; Lepidoptera, 22-23, 75-83; Mallophaga, 147; Odonata, 117; Isle of May, spiders and harvestmen, 51-52; mammals, 71-74; dragonflies, 1 1 7 ; Report of Bird Observatory, for 1956, 129-144 Jackdaw, 34, 131, 194 Jones, David, see Harrison and Jones Kestrel, 28, 43, 104, 111 Kinnear, Irene, and George Water- ston, 185 Kittiwake, 24, 29, 106-107, 138, 142 Knot, 41, 105 Lapwing, 28, 104, 133, 185 Lark, Shore, 42 Linnet, 44, 138, 142 Macdonald, D., 57-58 Mackenzie, J. M. D., Pied flycatchers in Perthshire, 45-49; 58-59 Magpie, 34 Mallard, 27 Mammals, Cat, Wild, 22 ; Deer, Red, 22 ; Dolphin, Risso’s, 192-193; Goat, 22; Hare, Brown, 71 ;| Hare, Mountain, 155, 163, 164, 165, 168; Mouse, House, 7 1 , 72 ; Pipistrelle, 73 ; Rabbit, 71, 143, 158, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168; Rat, 22, 34; Rat, Brown, 72; Seal, Common, 72, 73; Seal, Grey, 72, 73* 130; Sheep, 143, 150, 158; Squirrel, Grey, 34; Vole, Orkney, 1 93- 1 94 Martin, House, 108, 131; Sand, 131 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 1957 INDEX 199 Mayer- Gross, Henry, 187 Merganser, Red-breasted, 27, 103, 176 Merlin, 28; Icelandic, 40 Molluscs, 50-51, 179-181 Mouse, House, 71, 72 Myxomatosis, 71, 143, 163, 164, 165 Nethersole-Thompson, Desmond, 119- 120, 121-122 Nightjar, 126 | Oriole, Baltimore, 37, 38; Golden, 174 Owl, Barn, 30, 37; Long-eared, 30; Snowy, 57; Tawny, 30 Oystercatcher, 28, 104, 139, 176 ! Peregrine, 28, 104, 111 I Petrel, Leach’s, 24, 26-27, 43, 53, 96-97, no; Storm, 97-98, 1 10 j Phalarope, Grey, 185 j Pheasant, 28, 59 j Pigeon-hawk, Eastern, 37, 38 I Pigeon, Wood, see Woodpigeon Pipistrelle, 73 i Pipit, Meadow, 23, 31, 109, 1 19, 138, 142, 192; Rock, 109, 130, 138; Tree, 133? r34> J35 5 Water, 42 Plover, Golden, 28, 104, hi, 119-120; Northern Golden, 41, 84-88, 89-93, 1 20-1 24, 136, 173; Grey, 173; Ringed, 28, 104; Arctic Ringed, 41 ! Pochard, 136 [ Ptarmigan, 23, 28, 54-55, 163, 164, 166, 168 Puffin, 24, 29, 107-108, 136, 138 Rabbit, 71, 143, 158, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168 J Rae, Dr. B. B., see Stephen, Rae and Wilson Raeburn, George F., see Garden and j others Raffan, Alastair, see Adam and others Rail, Water, 136 Rare marine invertebrates recently found in the Scottish area, 178-181 ! Rat, 22, 34; Brown, 72 j Ratcliffe, D. A., 1 24-1 25 j Raven, 30, 108 Razorbill, 24, 29, 107, 140 I Redpoll, Lesser, 23, 31 Redshank, Common, 29, 105; Spotted, 37,41,125-126,173,184 ;j Redstart, 45, 60, 130, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 141, 170; Black, 42 Redwing, 109, 131, 140 I Rend all, Robert, 192- 193 Reptiles, Leathery Turtle, 182 Review of ornithological changes in Scotland (a) in 1955, 37-44; ( b ) in 1956, 1 70-1 77 Rhum, Birds of the island of, 2 1 -3 1 . Richter, Dr. Roland, see Adam and others Ringing, 139 Ring-ouzel, 30 Robin, 23, 30, 59, 134 Rook, 1 31 Ruff, 37,55, 136, 184, 185, 194 Sandeman, Pat W., The breeding success of golden eagles in the Southern Grampians, 148-152; 182, 192 Sanderling, 41, 105, 136 Sandpiper, Broad- billed, 174; Common, 29> 185; Curlew, 37, 41 ; Green, 37, 184, 185; Least, 170; Semi- palmated, 145- 147; White-rumped, 38; Wood, 41, 185 Scoter, Common, 182 Seal, Common, 72, 73; Grey, 72, 73, 130 Shag, 24, 27, 102-103, 138, 142 Shearwater, Great, 39, 100; Manx, 24- 26, 53, 98, 100, no, 1 71, 176; Sooty, 53-54, 1 1 7, 1 71 Sheep, 143, 150, 158 Shetland, 52, 55-56 Shillay, Some further Collembola from, 1-10 Shoveller, 176 Shrike, Red-backed, 133, 135, 175, 189; Woodchat, 175 Siskin, 135 Skua, Arctic, 29, 105, 174, 195; Great, 105, hi, 174; Long-tailed, 195-196 Skylark, 30 Smew, 172 Smith, R. W. J., “ Northern ” golden plovers in Midlothian during spring, 84-88 Snipe, Common, 28, 104-105, hi Sparrow, House, 23, 31, 138, 191; Tree, 43, 44; White-throated, 37, 39 Sparrow-hawk, 23, 28, 43 Spiders, n-20, 51-52 Squirrel, Grey, 34 Starling, 23, 31, no, 142, 191 Stephen, Dr. A. C., Dr. B. B. Rae and E. Wilson, Rare marine inverte- brates recently found in the Scottish area, 178-181 Stewart, Ian F., 194, see also Austin and Stewart, and Cunningham and Stewart Stint, American, see Sandpiper, Least 200 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST St. Kilda, Birds in midsummer 1956, 94- 1 1 2 ; fulmar census, 113-116; littoral animals, 50-51 Stonechat, 30 Stone-curlew, 174 Sutherland, Spider collections in, 11-20 Swallow, 30, 108, 130, 138, 139, 177 Swan, Bewick’s, 40, 130, 136, 173; Mute, 1 82 ; Whooper, 1 73 Swan, M. A., Specimens of char from Shetland and the Faroes, 67-70 Swift, 30, 108, 133 Teal, Green-winged, 40 Tern, Arctic, 29, 131, 138; Black, 37, 174; Common, 44, 131, 138, 176, 186, 187; Roseate, 138; Sandwich, 44, 131, 138, 177 Tewnion, Alex., 52, 55-56, 1 22-1 23, see also Boyd and others, and Garden and others Thom, Valerie M., see Garden and others Thrush, Mistle, 23, 30; Olive-backed, 147; Song, 23,30, 59, 1 3 1, 134, 140; White’s, 175 Tit, Blue, 23, 30, 59; Coal, 23, 30, 59, 136; Crested, 57, 58-59; Great, 23, 30,59; Long-tailed, 23, 30; Marsh, 42, 174 Traill-Clouston, M., 126 Tree-creeper, 59, 136 Turnstone, 104, 140 Twite, 31, 1 10, 11 1, 191 Vole, Orkney, 193- 194 Wagtail, Eastern Blue-headed, 38; Grey, 31, 137; Grey-headed, 42, 109-110, hi; Pied, 31, 109, 138, 142; Yellow, 109-110, 133, 137 Wallace, D. I. M., see Boyd and others Vol. 69 Walton, Prof. John (Editor), Glen More: National Forest Park Guide , reviewed 127-128 Warbler, Aquatic, 132, 137; Barred, 132, 137; Black-and-white, 37, 38; Garden, 1 31, 132, 133, 134, 135, 137; Grasshopper, 133, 137; Greenish, 175; Melodious, 175; Reed, 132, 133, 137; Sedge, 131, 133, 134, 175; Thick-billed, 170; Willow, 23, 31, 59>i30, 131* 132, 133* 134* HU Wood, 23, 31; Yellow-browed, 137 Waterston, George, see Kinnear and Waterston Watson, Dr. Adam, 1 23-1 24; The breed- ing success of golden eagles in the north-east Highlands, 153-169; 184 Watson, G. G. (Editor ), Junior Naturalist, reviewed 128 Weir, Tom, 125 Wheatear, 23, 30, 1 09, 1 1 1 , 1 1 9, 1 30, 1 33, 134* 135* 192 Whimbrel, 105, 133, 182; Hudsonian, 38 Whinchat, 30, 130, 132, 134, 136, 141, 170 Whitethroat, 23, 31, 132, 134; Lesser, 133 Wigeon, American, see Baldpate Wild, A. M., Spider collections in Sutherland, 11-20 Williamson, Kenneth, 190- 192, 195- 196; and H. G. Alexander, Semi- palmated sandpiper at Fair Isle: a bird new to Scotland, 145- 147 Wilson, E., see Stephen and others Woodcock, 23, 28, 105, 140 Woodpecker, Great Spotted, 30, 177; Green, 44 Wood-pigeon, 23, 30, 174, 187 Wren, 23, 30, 109, 111 Wryneck, 130, 132, 133, 134, 136 Wynne-Edwards, Prof. V. C., 60-61; The' so-called “ northern golden plover ”, 89-93 9 * NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST is devoted to the study of Scottish Natural History, and is therefore concerned with all the many aspects, zoological, botanical, geographical, topographical and climatic embraced by this title. Contributions in the form of articles and short notes, and papers and books for review, should be addressed to the Editor, Adam Watson, Ph.D., c/o Department of Natural History, Marischal College, Aberdeen. Contributors should observe the following points and endeavour to conform with the arrangement and set- up of articles and notes adopted in the current number. 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