248 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



An Adult Sabine's Gull at Lerwiek, Shetland. On the 25th 

 of July, I saw a Gull the like of which I had never seen before. It 

 was feeding in the park adjoining my house at Lerwiek, when its 

 peculiar plumage attracted my attention. The bird had a distinct 

 black collar and a dark grey cap, and its tail was long and forked. 

 Its size was about the same as that of a Black-headed Gull, and 

 it was very graceful and active in its movements. I may be wrong, 

 but I am fully persuaded from the descriptions of Sabine's Gull 

 (Xema sabini}, that the bird was an adult example of that species. 

 My sister, who saw the bird at the same time, informs me that she 

 observed it again a few days later. JOHN S. TULLOCH, Lerwiek. 



Capture of the Sagre (Spinax nigcr) off the Shetlands. Mr. 



Thomas Cook, fishmonger, Edinburgh, has presented to the collec- 

 tion of Fishes in the Royal Scottish Museum, a specimen of this rare 

 shark in British waters. The example, which is about eighteen inches 

 in length, was captured about twenty-five miles east of Shetland early 

 in March. This species has hitherto only been obtained in the 

 vicinity of the British Isles off the south-west coast of Ireland, where, 

 Mr. E. W. L. Holt informs me, it is captured at depths from 100 to 

 400 fathoms in trawls and on long-lines. WM. EAGLE CLARKE. 



Spinous Shark (Echinorhimis spinosus) captured off the Isle 

 of May. A specimen of this uncommon fish in Scottish seas was 

 captured in a trawl net fifteen miles east of the Isle of May on i6th 

 July. The specimen was seven feet six inches long, and weighed 

 one hundred and twelve pounds. I am indebted to Mr. Ross, fish- 

 monger, Edinburgh, for these particulars, and for a sight of the fish. 

 -WM. EAGLE CLARKE. 



Cryptoeephalus aureolus in Strathspey : a Beetle new to the 

 Scottish Fauna. I captured a specimen of this Beetle on the 8th 

 of July on the golf course at Nethy Bridge. It was seated in the 

 centre of a buttercup. I am assured by Dr. Sharp, F.R.S., who 

 examined the specimen, and by other authorities, that this species 

 has not hitherto been recorded from any locality north of the Tweed, 

 though it is well known as an English insect. ETHEL CLARE 

 MAITLAND-DOUGALL, Scotscraig, Tayport. 



Lepidoptera of the N.E. Highlands : a correction. I am very 

 anxious to correct two errors of identification which occurred in my 

 "Notes on the Lepidoptera in the N.E. Highlands," in the April 

 number of the " Annals," viz. Ennychea octomaadata, Fb., should be 

 Botys terrealis, Tr., and Sericoris iiriicaua Hb. should be S. rivulana. 

 I am very sorry indeed to have made such a mistake. I had identified 

 " octomaculata " by the larvae, otherwise, of course, it would never 

 have occurred. DOROTHY J. JACKSON, Swordale, Ross-shire. 



Hydrachnids (Water -mites) from the Forth Area. In a 

 recently published part of the " Proceedings " of the Royal Physical 



