120 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



acteristic of melanocephalus, as the probability of the bird being an 

 example of this rare species in Britain did not occur to me at the 

 time. The bird not having been obtained, its identity must remain 

 a matter of conjecture. T. G. LAIDLAW, Perth. 



Richardson's Skua wintering in Shetland. During the present 

 season, as my friend Mr. Thomas Bowie, Mossbank, informs me, a 

 few Richardson's Skuas (Stercorartus crepidatus} have wintered in 

 Yell Sound. In his last letter, dated i6th January, he records the 

 occurrence of single birds up to the previous day, i5th January. 

 The importance of this note lies in the fact that Richardson's Skua 

 is usually considered as merely a summer visitor to Shetland. Its 

 movements, no doubt, largely depend on those of the Arctic Tern and 

 Kittiwake, upon whose energies it relies for its food-supply ; Arctic 

 Terns left on 20th September, but large numbers of Kittiwakes 

 especially immature birds have remained in Yell Sound throughout 

 the winter. ROBERT GODFREY, Edinburgh. 



Helix lamellata, Jeff., in Midlothian, and Planorbis spirorbis, 



Mi/11. , in Fife. By searching among withered beech leaves in 

 Bilston Glen, a few miles south of Edinburgh, on 6th February 

 last, I obtained a dozen specimens of Helix lamellata, an interesting 

 addition to the county list of land shells ; indeed, the only other 

 record for lower Forth is one by myself for Yester in East Lothian 

 ("Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist," 1897, p. 47). On nth February I found 

 Planorbis spirorbis rather commonly in flood refuse on the banks 

 of the Orr water, near Thornton ; seems to be first record for Fife. 

 WILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



Chelifer (Chernes) tullgreni, Strand, in Scotland. In the 

 1901 vol. of this Magazine (pp. 216 and 241) a Pseudoscorpion 

 found by Mr. Godfrey under stones on a rocky piece of ground 

 near Bo'ness, Linlithgowshire, was recorded under the name of 

 Chernes phaleratus (E. Simon). Not being quite satisfied with the 

 identification, I subsequently submitted a specimen to M. Simon, 

 who replied that it was not his Chelifer phaleratus, but probably C. 

 minutus, Edv. Ellingsen, described in 1896 ("Kristiania Vidensk. 

 Selskabs Forhandl.") from Norway. I then sent it to Mr. Ellingsen, 

 who wrote me that it differed in several respects, which he clearly 

 set forth, from the type of his species, and suggested that it was 

 probably a form described (but not named) by Alb. Tullgren in 

 1899 (" Entomologisk Tidskrift ") from Sweden, and to which Emb. 

 Strand in 1900 (" Nyt Magazin for Naturvidenskab.") gave the name 

 Chelifer tullgreni. I therefore next sent the specimen, and another 

 taken by myself in the same locality in May last, to Mr. Tullgren, 

 who, after comparing them with his type, considers they belong to 

 the same species. With commendable caution he adds : " That 

 this species is a new one I dare not affirm for the present." Two 



