THE BIRDS OF FAIR ISLE 75 



185. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER, Colymbits glacialis. The Fair Isle 

 seas are much affected by the strong tides which sweep 

 along them on all sides ; and this, along with the fact that 

 there is little shelter in the shape of enclosed bays, may 

 account for this bird being more or less uncommon, and have 

 led to its having hitherto escaped notice. One was seen on 

 several occasions during the winter of 1908. 



ON THE OCCURRENCE OF BRUNNICH'S 

 GUILLEMOT IN THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 



By WILLIAM EAGLE CLARKE, F.R.S.E., F.L.S. 



ON i ith December 1908 a specimen of Brunnich's Guillemot 

 (Una louivid] was picked up on the shore at Craigielaw 

 Point, on the Haddingtonshire coast of the Firth of Forth, 

 and sent to the Royal Scottish Museum by Mr. Valentine 

 Knight. The bird had evidently been dead some little 

 time, for it was in rather high condition, and had been 

 mauled by gulls or crows. It was at once placed in strong 

 spirit and allowed to remain there for several weeks, and 

 has now, thanks to the skill of Mr. Hugh Mackay, been 

 made into an excellent cabinet specimen. 



The only other Scottish example of this arctic species 

 is one discovered by Macgillivray about eighty years ago 

 among some birds from Orkney in the collections at the 

 University of Edinburgh. On the strength of this specimen, 

 which is in full summer plumage and is still to be 

 seen among the birds in the Collections in the Royal 

 Scottish Museum, Brunnich's Guillemot was added to the 

 British avifauna. Other specimens are said to have been 

 obtained in Caithness, Sutherland, and Suffolk, but these 

 occurrences cannot be regarded as entirely satisfactory. 

 During the arctic winter of 1894-5, three examples were 

 obtained on the Yorkshire coast and one in Cambridge- 

 shire, and the claim of this bird to be regarded as British 

 was thereby fully established. From that date until the 

 finding of the present bird, no other specimen has been 

 detected either in British waters or on our shores. 



