ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 47 



On the 1 2th of November, over 40 Bewick's Swans (Cygnns 

 bnvickt) were feeding in the ditches at the boggy end of the " Reef." 

 They were scattered over a considerable area, and waddling up and 

 down like ducks. 



Migration has been much later here this autumn than usual. It 

 is true a few species of migratory birds did arrive about their usual 

 dates ; but the great bulk of them were a month late the White- 

 fronted Geese (Anser albifrons] were about five weeks late. Three 

 great movements of Golden Plover (Charadrius pluvialis} occurred : 

 a big rush at the middle of September ; another, not so big, about 

 the middle of October ; while the most pronounced of all took place 

 from the yth up to the iSth of that month. PETER ANDERSON, 

 Tiree. 



Goldfinch in West Lothian. On the icth of December I saw 

 three Goldfinches (Cardiielis e/ega/is) in Dalmeny Park. As this 

 bird is very uncommon in the Edinburgh district, I send this 

 notice of its occurrence to the " Annals."- -BRUCE CAMPBELL, Edin- 

 burgh. 



Hoopoe near Dunbar. - - A Hoopoe ( Upupa epops) was got 

 near the beach, about three miles east of Dunbar, after the great 

 storm which culminated on lythand iSth October last. D. BRUCE, 

 Dunbar. 



Kingfisher in West Ross-shire. On the loth of September a 

 Kingfisher (Alcedo ispida) made its appearance on the river Broom, 

 Lochbroom, and was seen for three weeks afterwards, but not since, 

 though it may still remain. So rare is this bird here, that no one 

 ever saw one before this year. J. A. FOWLER, Inverbroom. 



The Greater Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major] in 

 the South-east of Scotland. Among the more noteworthy 

 of last year's bird-movements was the immigration of Greater 

 Spotted Woodpeckers which reached our shores about the end 

 of autumn. A few of these fine birds probably find their 

 way to us from the Continent every autumn, but marked im- 

 migrations are usually separated by a good many years. The 

 last movement on a scale equal to the present one took place in 

 1886. But the first place as a Woodpecker year in Scotland 

 probably belongs to 1868: at any rate, its record of the sense- 

 less slaughter of this beautiful and useful species north of the Border 

 is, fortunately, unsurpassed Mr. R. Gray states that he himself ex- 

 amined upwards of sixty specimens. As has frequently been pointed 

 out, these flights consist almost entirely of birds of the year, which 

 are known by the presence of a patch of red feathers on the crown 

 of the head. For a knowledge of the following occurrences in 

 South-eastern Scotland last autumn (1898), I am indebted to the 



