ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 195 



the birds chiefly frequented the neighbourhood of dense thickets of 

 blackthorn. On the i5th of June we visited the Fiddler Burn, like 

 the Mouse a tributary of the Clyde on its right bank, three miles 

 below Lanark. We searched the precipitous and thickly clad sides 

 of the gill of the Fiddler Burn without result, but on the haugh land 

 between the end of the gill and the Clyde it occurred twice. It is 

 apparently fairly distributed in suitable localities along the line of 

 the river at least. JOHN PATERSON, Glasgow. 



The Chiff-chaff in Arran. On the 22nd of April last I heard a 

 Chiff-chaff (Phylloscopus rufus) calling in the woods close to Brodick 

 Castle, Arran ; and on the following day two others were detected 

 to the west of the keeper's house. During the next ten days their 

 notes were frequently heard, and the birds themselves occasionally 

 seen, in each of the three localities, so that several pairs, it would 

 appear, come annually to nest in the Castle grounds. When Mr. R. 

 Gray drew up his " Catalogue of the Birds of Arran "in 1872, he was 

 unable to include the Chiff-chaff, although he had no doubt it was to 

 be found in the island. AVILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



Nesting- of the Great Spotted Woodpecker in Berwickshire. 



Readers of the " Annals " may remember that in the number for 

 July 1894 Dr. Stuart of Chirnside recorded the nesting of the Great 

 Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) in Duns Castle woods, 

 Berwickshire, last year ; and they will, I am sure, be pleased to 

 know that the birds have again reared a brood in the same spot. 

 During the spring of the present year Mr. J. Ferguson, Duns, factor 

 on the estate, observed that a fresh hole had been made in the old 

 ash containing last year's nest, but two or three feet lower down, and 

 he rightly conjectured that the birds were in occupation. On the 

 29th May, on Mr. Ferguson's invitation and under his kindly guid- 

 ance, I had the pleasure of seeing the birds carrying food to their 

 young, whose chirps we could distinctly hear. In view of the 

 interest which both the proprietor and his factor take in the birds, 

 and the measures they have adopted to prevent them being dis- 

 turbed, we may assume that Duns Castle woods are likely to be a 

 haunt of these Woodpeckers for many years to come, and a centre 

 for the re-establishment of the species not only in Berwickshire but 

 in other parts of Scotland as well ; and it is to be hoped that other 

 proprietors in whose woods they may appear will also take steps to 

 secure their protection. This note ought to have been furnished by 

 Mr. Ferguson, but he has been particularly busy of late, and has 

 asked me to send it. WILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



Snowy Owl in Shetland. On the iyth of May last a large 

 Snowy Owl {Surnia nyctea) settled in a field at Dunrossness, and 

 was soon the centre of attraction for a flock of Gulls, which seemed 

 determined to make the stranger " move on." It was shortly after- 



