54 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



shore. I should like to say a few words on the interbreeding of 

 C. corone and C. comix. Mr. Gray goes too far when, in his 

 " Birds of the West of Scotland," he says that they do so invariably. 

 I have seen in various parts of the country the nests of these birds, 

 from Galloway to Shetland, and yet personally I never met with a 

 single instance of inter-breeding. 



I regret to note that, for the first time during nineteen years, I 

 saw no Hen Harriers (Circus cyaneus) last August and September. 

 Formerly they were numerous, and, strange to say, the Black Game 

 were utterly absent from that portion of the Rhinns of Islay with which 

 I am familiar. Their sudden disappearance is unaccountable, and no 

 dead birds have been seen. 



Some weeks ago a shepherd noticed an odd-looking object on 

 the moor. He found it was a Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetus) 

 with a rabbit-trap attached to its foot, and very weak and emaciated. 

 The foot being removed, the eagle is rapidly resuming its healthy 

 condition. During nineteen summers in Islay I have only seen three 

 Sea Eagles (Haliaetus albicilla}, and these were not residents. 

 R. SCOT SKIRVING, Islay. 



Pied Flycatcher breeding- in Inverness -shire. The Pied 

 Flycatcher (Muscicapa atricapilla) bred this year not far from 

 Inverness, and the eggs were sent me by the man who took them. 

 T. E. BUCKLEY, Inverness. 



White-Winged Crossbill in Orkney. On the 1 8th of June last 

 I received from North Ronaldshay, Orkney, a specimen of Loxia 

 bifasciata in the flesh. It was a male in finest breeding dress, and 

 was secured by the gardener at Holland House on the i3th of June, 

 while sitting on one of the gravel walks. He had seen the bird the 

 previous evening when it was unattended by any of its own or other 

 species. Mr. Eagle Clarke kindly identified it for me as belonging 

 to the European race. ALLAN BRIGGS, St. Andrews. 



Swallows Nesting 1 in Tunnels. Reading in the last edition of 

 Yarrell's "British Birds" (vol. ii. p. 343) that the statements of 

 Couch and Edward regarding swallows (Hirundo rustled) frequenting 

 and breeding in caves require confirmation, it has occurred to me 

 that a circumstance relating to the Giffnock district of East Renfrew- 

 shire, presenting a parallel to the cases referred to, to which my 

 attention was directed by Mr. John Robertson of Eastwood, 

 Thornliebank, may be of interest There have been in this district 

 for a long period most extensive sandstone quarries. These have 

 been largely worked on the tunnelling system, owing to the superin- 

 cumbent mass of boulder clay, which has rendered the sacrifice of 

 great pillars of pure sandstone (liver rock as it is called from its 

 homogeneity) to support the roof less expensive than the removal 

 of the tenacious clay. The entrances to these tunnels present some- 



