248 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Mitchell, lessee of the salmon fishings, that a wholly white Shag 

 (Pkalacrocorax graculus) was seen near there a few days previous to 

 my visit. On i8th July I was informed by four Staffa boatmen 

 that they had that morning passed close to a Shag which was com- 

 pletely white. All my informants were unanimous that the bird was 

 a Shag, and that a similarly coloured bird had never before been 

 observed by them. D. MACDONALD, Tobermory. 



Little Bittern in Inverness-shire. It may be of interest to 

 your readers to know that I found a Little Bittern (Ardetta minutd), 

 a female, at Lentran station, six miles from Inverness, on the gth 

 of June. The bird was alive, but one wing was broken, it having 

 evidently come in contact with the telegraph wires. WM. MILNE, 

 Inverness. 



[The Little Bittern is of rare occurrence in Scotland, and has 

 not hitherto been known to visit the Moray area. EDS.] 



Nesting of the Quail in East Lothian. Learning that a strange 

 note had been repeatedly heard by the field-workers at Saltoun East 

 Mains farm on 3rd June in the young corn and grass fields, I 

 went out on the morning of 5th and heard the unmistakable 

 dactylic cry of the Quail (Coturnix coturnix). There seemed to be 

 three calling males in the grass field that day. After this the call 

 was heard almost daily in four different fields for at least a fortnight. 

 I managed to see a bird once, in a spot where the hay grew thinly, 

 and another time I surprised one feeding in the middle of the road, 

 as I came along quietly on my bicycle. Its alarm cry was exactly 

 like that of a partridge, though not quite so strong. The hay-field 

 where I first heard the birds calling was cut on lyth July, but in 

 spite of vigilance and precautions following on my interest in the 

 matter, the nest was not found till the horse-rakes had dragged a 

 great swathe of hay over it. I found one egg close beside the 

 empty nest, and other five some ten yards off, all broken, containing 

 chicks on which the down had begun to form. Possibly there had 

 been more eggs than these, but I could only find the six. H. N. 

 BONAR, Saltoun. 



[Introduced Quails were put down in Stirlingshire, remained 

 some time, but disappeared. J. A. H.-B.] 



Garganey in Aberdeenshire. On the loth of November 1906 

 we saw a Garganey (Qiterquedula circid) at the mouth of the Don. 

 It allowed us to get very close to it, and, although it kept itself 

 partially submerged while we were near it, we were able to identify 

 it by the light streak over the eye. We also found its footmarks 

 on the sand, and had a distant view of the whole bird before it swam 

 off and submerged itself. According to Mr. Sim, the only record 

 for this district was also for the autumn migration season (22nd 

 October 1898). A. L. THOMSON and L. N. G. RAMSAY, 

 Aberdeen. 



