ZOOLOGICAL NOTES in 



subject of Moorhens covering their eggs when leaving their nests, 

 I am reminded of a visit I paid, a few years ago, to a nesting colony 

 of Cormorants (Phalocrocorax carbo), on a small island off the coast 

 of Sutherland. On landing on the island, our party at once climbed 

 to the rocky terrace above, and inspected the nests with a view to 

 photographing them ; they contained clutches of two, three, and in 

 one instance five eggs. Having chosen the points of view for our 

 pictures, we withdrew a short distance off. On returning to the 

 nests with our cameras, in a quarter of an hour's time, great was our 

 astonishment to find that the eggs were not to be seen, and on 

 closer inspection, we discovered that they were concealed under 

 pieces of seaweed, which the Cormorants had placed over them 

 during our absence. W. H. M. DUTHIE, Doune. 



Occurrence of the King- Eider in the Shetland Islands. A 



beautiful specimen of the King Duck (Soniateria spectabilis) was 



obtained by Mr. Eustace Bankart, of Melby House, Sandness, on 



Friday last week [24th February]. The last time a bird of this 



species occurred in Shetland was in 1846, and the following reference 



is made to it in Saxby's "Birds of Shetland," p. 252: "The 



occurrence of this species in Orkney has doubtless led to the 



conclusion that it is also an occasional visitor to Shetland, and 



accordingly erroneous statements to that effect have been frequently 



repeated. Although constantly upon the watch for many years, I 



have never obtained a glimpse of it, nor can I meet with any person 



who has shot it, or even seen it. Thomas Edmondston, without 



giving either date or authority, says (' Zoologist,' 1844, p. 463), that it 



is 'sometimes seen.' Also in the 'Zoologist ' for 1848, p. 2188, one 



is recorded by Mr. Dunn as occurring at Wensdale Voe, near Hoy, 



Shetland, on 2oth May 1846, but this statement is scarcely sufficient. 



There is the well-known island called Hoy, in Orkney, and possibly 



a voe near it bears the above name, but though there is a Weisdale 



Voe in Shetland, there is neither a Wensdale Voe nor is there a 



Hoy. I am very doubtful, therefore, whether the King Duck has 



any right to a place in this work, but I allow it to remain for the 



present, being unwilling to remove it from the list simply upon my 



own responsibility, observing Shetland so often referred to by our 



best ornithologists as a locality." There can be no doubt that 



Dr. Saxby has been in error over this paragraph, as there is an 



island named Hoy situated in Weisdale Voe, as any one may see by 



consulting an Ordnance Survey map. The misspelling of Weisdale 



Voe probably led to this doubt on Dr. Saxby's part, but the most 



material reason that weighed with him was doubtless the extreme 



rareness of the bird in Shetland. Be that as it may, Mr. Bankart 



has for all time coming put the matter beyond question as to the 



King Duck deserving a place among "The Birds of Shetland." . . . 



The female bird was also caught at the same time along with the 



