26 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



records indeed of its visits, all of which, so far as we know 

 of them, appear to have been confined to the south-eastern 

 section of the coast. It is a new bird to the fauna of the 

 Orkneys ; and though it has not been detected in the 

 Shetlands, has occurred in the Faeroes. 



THE SOOTY SHEARWATER, PUFFINUS GRISEUS 

 (GM-EL.), IN THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 



By WILUAM EVANS, F.R.S.E. 



THE following notes on Puffinus griseits in the " Forth " 

 area, drawn up three or four years ago, may be of interest 

 to readers of the " Annals " at the present time, when atten- 

 tion is being directed to the bird by Mr. Eagle Clarke's 

 record (ante, p. 25) of a specimen recently received from 

 the Orkney Islands. I have added a paragraph bringing 

 the information down to date. 



Status in the Area. A fairly regular, though usually 

 far from common autumn visitant to the seaward portion of 

 the Firth of Forth. 



Although only two instances are on record of the capture 

 of the Sooty Shearwater within the limits of this area, I 

 am, nevertheless, strongly disposed, as the result of personal 

 observation and inquiry, to consider it a regular, or all but 

 regular autumn visitant, in small numbers, to the outer 

 portion of the Firth of Forth and the adjacent sea. Five- 

 and-twenty years ago it was observed more than once by 

 the late Robert Gray in the vicinity of the Bass ; and since 

 then I have myself, on several occasions, when sailing in the 

 outer waters of the Firth, had the satisfaction of seeing a 

 few unmistakable examples skimming over the waves or 

 temporarily resting on their surface. Further, the Kellys 

 and other fishermen at North Berwick, who know the bird 

 well, tell me that scarcely a year passes without some of 

 these big dark-coloured, or " King " Shearwaters, as they are 

 locally called, making their appearance about the fishing- 

 grounds between the coasts of East Lothian and Fife. 



