ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 53 



Dotterel at the Flannan Islands. In September last I received, 

 in the flesh, a specimen of the Dotterel (Eudromias morinellus), a 

 bird-of-the-year, from Eilean Mor, Flannan Isles. The occurrence 

 of this species in this remote locality is of considerable interest to 

 those who concern themselves with the migratory movements of 

 birds, for this species has not hitherto been detected in the Outer 

 Hebrides, of which the Flannans are far western outliers. WM. 

 EAGLE CLARKE. 



Mortality among" Guillemots and Razorbills. Since the end 

 of July there has been one of the mysterious epidemics (?) running 

 its course amongst the Solway Guillemots, and, to a lesser extent, 

 amongst the Razorbills too. Old and young have been equally 

 affected, and many of the latter were mere chicks. All along the 

 tide mark from about Auchencairn eastwards defunct individuals 

 have been strewn in very large numbers, and up till mid-September 

 this fatality seems to have been continuous. Since then it hardly 

 appears to have been so bad. Such epidemics amongst these rock- 

 birds have occurred occasionally, one of the most fatal having taken 

 place in 1869. Some authorities attribute this widespread destruc- 

 tion of the birds to destitution following upon tempestuous weather ; 

 others to starvation owing to absence of their food over the banks 

 where they dive for it ; while most seem to favour the disease theory. 

 It seems strange that no precise observations upon the cause of the 

 mortality seem to have been made. All the birds that I handled in 

 August and September, cast ashore as described, were extremely 

 emaciated, but in fine condition as to plumage. Their stomachs 

 were always empty. Some few I caught ashore in a helpless con- 

 dition. Many were noticed close inshore, within a stone's throw of 

 the edge, and this was a most unusual place for these birds, in such 

 shallow water as our firth. ROBERT SERVICK, Maxwelltown. 



Fulmar nesting 1 at Dunnet Head. From Mr. Harvie-Brown's 

 note in the October number of the "Annals" it might be supposed 

 that last year was the first time the Fulmar (Fiilmarus glacialis] had 

 nested at Dunnet Head. That is not the case, as I was told by one 

 of the lightkeepers, Mr. H. Laidlaw, when there last October, that 

 the Fulmar had bred since 1900. At first there were only two 

 pairs nesting, but now they have increased to three colonies, with 

 from ten to twelve pairs in each. NORMAN B. KINXEAR, Edinburgh. 



Miiller's Topknot captured in the Sound of Mull. A specimen 

 of Miiller's Topknot (Zeiigopten/s pitnctatus] was captured on yth 

 September last in a wire fish trap on the coast of Morven in the 

 Sound of Mull, nearly opposite Tobermory. I believe it to be the 

 third specimen caught during the past fifteen years one off Ardna- 

 murchan Coast at Kilchoan, and two off Drimnin shore. A. BURN- 

 MURDOCH, Edinburgh. 



