ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 51 



[the italics are ours]. As the autumn draws to a close it becomes 

 gray, and in the winter it is perfectly white. It never appears in 

 the lower region, but almost always inhabits the tops." I add no 

 remarks to the quotations given, preferring that they should stand 

 as given. J. A. HARVIE-BROWN. 



Capercailzie in Strathnairn. I may shortly state that, since 

 the winter of 1894, I have introduced a considerable number of 

 Capercailzie (Tetrao urogattus) from Norway and Austria. Thirty- 

 one were turned down that year, and some every year since. A 

 good many died on their first arrival, from insufficient pen room : but 

 most of them have been turned out, and have remained in the 

 woods round. I heard of three broods in 1897, and I knew of one 

 in 1898 : one, consisting of five young birds, was lately seen by a 

 keeper near this house. A cock and a hen have this year strayed 

 as far as Daviot. One of the broods (1897) was at Brin, where 

 also a fine cock was shot by a keen young sportsman. Another, 

 I believe, was killed at Aldourie, also a bird at Foyers. A hen, 

 too, was unfortunately shot here last year by the subscriber. If the 

 proprietors, shooting tenants, and keepers will kindly refrain from 

 shooting them for some years to come, I feel sure that the large fir 

 woods in this district will eventually form a most suitable home for 

 them. W. DALZIEL MACKENZIE, Farr, Inverness. 



Spotted Crake in Inverness-shire. A Spotted Crake (Porzana 

 maruetta) was shot near Culloden about 3oth September. Probably 

 these birds are much commoner here than is generally supposed, 

 but without a good dog they are not easily found. T. E. BUCKLEY, 

 Inverness. 



Pratincole near Montrose. I received for identification a 

 young Pratincole (Glareola pratincola), a bird of the year, which had 

 been shot on the Mill Burn, Rocksands, Montrose, by Mr. Stormond, 

 Henry Street, on the 4th of November 1899. It is a rare visitor 

 to Britain, and has only been recorded for Scotland on one occasion, 

 namely at Unst, Shetland, in August 1812. J. A. HARVIE-BROWN. 



Albino Lapwing in Inverness-shire. Considering the enormous 

 numbers of these birds, albinisms are not very common amongst 

 them. Mr. Mackay showed me one that he had received from 

 Mr. J. Carver, Crubenmore, near Dalwhinnie, on the 3oth of 

 September. T. E. BUCKLEY, Inverness. 



Spotted Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit in East Renfrew- 

 shire. As the Spotted Redshank (Totanus fuscus) has been recorded 

 only once from " Clyde " (" Annals," 1899, p. 5 1), it will doubtless be 

 worth while to record its reappearance at Balgray Dam, East 

 Renfrewshire, in the present autumn (1899). On i6thand iyth 

 September a pair of birds has come under our observation. In a 

 small creek on the west side of the dam a Common Redshank, a 



