244 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



yet this species is not in the list of birds breeding in Coll (" Ann. 

 Scot. Nat. Hist." 1899, pp. 206-9). 



At the same date I saw a pair of Yellow Hammers (E. citrinella) 

 feeding their young, having for the first time seen them at Coll in 

 the nesting season of last year ("Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist." 1902, 

 pp. 251-2). 



About the ist July a male Great Northern Diver (C. glacialis) 

 in excellent plumage was picked up dead on the shore ; this is a very 

 late date to be found so far south. 



About the 22nd July a male Kingfisher (A. ispida] was, I regret 

 to say, shot ; this is the first recorded occurrence of the species 

 in Coll. The pair of Whitethroats (S. cinerea) were at the place 

 where I have seen them during every spring that I have been in 

 Coll. Presuming that these birds bring up their young, why is there 

 never more than one pair to be seen? L. H. IRBY, Regent's Park, 

 N.W. 



Crossbills in Barra. My brother shot a pair of Crossbills 

 (Loxia curvirostra\ an adult male and female, in the Eoligary 

 Garden, Barra, on the gth July last. From six to eight years ago, 

 five Crossbills were seen at North Bay, Barra, by Dr. MacRury and 

 my brother, and this year again is the second time on record. 

 W. L. MACGILLIVRAY, Barra. 



[Crossbills occurred in Faroe and in Shetland about the same 

 time. EDS.] 



Great Grey Shrike in Kincardineshire. By an oversight the 

 record in the last number of the "Annals" (p. 185) appeared over 

 the signature of Mr. Nicol Simpson. It should have been that of 

 Mr. John Milne, of Auchinblae, who further informs us that the 

 specimen belongs to the form with only one white bar on the wing 

 and recognised by some as a distinct species under the name of 

 Lanius major, Pallas. EDS. 



Swift nesting 1 on Loehnagar. On" yth July 1903 six Swifts 

 (Cypselus apus) were haunting the highest summit of Lochnagar 

 Cac Carn Beag (3786 ft.). They kept going in and out of a 

 crevice in a crag near the north-east end of the high precipices 

 which encircle the great Corrie. The spot, which is not far from 

 the top of the " Black Spout," could not be got at, but it was well 

 seen in the brilliant sunshine of one of the finest summer days I 

 have ever experienced on our Scottish hills. The birds were under 

 observation for about an hour, and it can scarcely be doubted that 

 they were nesting. There can be few, if any, breeding-places of 

 this species in the British Isles over 3700 ft. above sea-level. It 

 would be interesting to know the July mean temperature as com- 

 pared with that of Braemar, where the Swift is abundant. There 

 was at least one nest this summer under the eaves of a house 

 in the centre of the village. HUGH BOYD WATT, Glasgow. 



