n8 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



I cannot remember having seen an authentic record of the finding 

 of a nest. It may therefore be useful to report that on )th May, 

 1910, I put a duck wigeon off her nest within the bounds of the 

 county. The nest, which was in long heather, was about two hundred 

 yards from a small loch situated in the higher moorlands of the 

 county. There were eight eggs and a fair quantity of down in the 

 nest, and incubation was probably just commencing. In the course 

 of the day I saw three or four drake wigeon, so there were almost 

 certainly several more nests in the vicinity. G. G. BLACKWOOD, 

 Edinburgh. 



Capture of Marked Wigeon. In June 1909, I marked five 

 Wigeon (Mareca pemlope) at Gordonbush, East Sutherlandshire, one 

 of these was got in Holland on 3rd September 1909, and a second 

 has turned up about the middle of January 1911, on the Trent near 

 Retford. It is very remarkable that out of five birds marked two 

 should have been reported. FRANCIS G. GUNNIS, London, S.W. 



Whimbrels nesting in Sutherland. The following is not a 

 Record but a Negative: At a sale at Stevens (2ist Feb. 1911) 

 the eggs sold were from a dealer, and bought and paid for cash- 

 by an unknown purchaser. Item : " Whimbrels, 0/3 fine green type, 

 Sutherlandshire," or words to that effect. All I can say about 

 nesting of this species in Sutherlandshire I have said before, but 

 desire to repeat, " I have never been able to authenticate any such 

 extension to the southward of the species " ; and I have utterly failed 

 to secure a single authentication of similar statements, during forty- 

 five years' personal knowledge of the avi-fauna of that county or 

 area. I think the negative is worth repetition. J. A. HARVIE- 

 BROWN. 



Opah or King -fish in Mull Waters. I am indebted to 

 Mr. Bryce Allan Yr. of Aros for drawing my attention to the 

 occurrence, on 8th June 1910, of a specimen of Lampris lima in 

 Mull. Some whelk gatherers found one stranded in shallow water 

 at Ardnacross, midway between Salen and Tobermory. It proved 

 to be a female with spawn in a pretty forward state of develop- 

 ment. Unfortunately the beautiful fish was mutilated before I could 

 take the weight and accurate measurements. D. MACDONALD, 

 Tobermory. 



Labia minor in Haddingtonshire. On i6th June 1910, when 

 passing the farm steading of " Deuchrie " at the foot of the Lammer- 

 muirs, Haddingtonshire, I caught a specimen of this small Earwig 

 flying in the sunshine. The few previous " Forth " records are from 

 Edinburgh and Fife. It may also be of interest to add that m 

 August 1909, I found the common Earwig (Forficula auriculana] 

 in abundance in Gannets' nests on the Bass Rock. It is also 

 plentiful on the Isle of May. WILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



