ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 183 



A few Bramblings and large numbers of Fieldfares arrived on 

 25th April. I have seen no Redstarts this year. T. EDMONDSTON 

 SAXBY, Baltasound, Shetland. 



Pied Flycatcher nesting in Midlothian. A welcome addition 

 to the instances of a rare species nesting in Midlothian is recorded 

 this month from a locality near Edinburgh, known to the Editor, but 

 which need not be here specified. A Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa 

 atricapilld] was first noticed on the ist May, and a few days later 

 was seen carrying material for nesting. The nest was found to be in 

 an oak tree about 12 feet from the ground. As there is every 

 chance of the brood being reared safely, there is reason to hope that 

 this nest may be the forerunner of a colony of these interesting 

 and beautiful birds in the district. CHAS. CAMPBELL, Cramond 

 Bridge. 



[Mr Wm. Evans informs us that on the yth June 1885 he found 

 a pair of Pied Flycatchers building in a hole in an old ash at 

 Arniston, Midlothian; and that in 1890, a $, which he saw in 

 the bird-stuffer's hands, was shot on the i3th June at Dalhousie 

 Castle, a few miles farther down the Esk towards Dalkeith. EDS.] 



Greenland Falcon in Inverness-shire. An immature male 

 Greenland Falcon (Fako candicans) was shot on a farm near Spean 

 Bridge in March last. It was killed while in the act of attacking 

 some domestic fowls. CECIL H. BISSHOPP, Oban. 



Former abundance of Eagles in Shetland. The annexed copy 

 of a certificate is interesting, since it affords evidence that in the first 

 half of the nineteenth century there must have been quite a 

 number of Eagles in the Islands. Doubtless the "head money" 

 was the cause of their decrease and practical extinction. 



COPY CERTIFICATE 



LERWICK, z^th April 1835. 



These certify that the bearer, William Bain, has produced 7 

 eagles' heads to me, and is entitled to the premium for destroying 

 same, which the collector of cess is hereby authorised to pay. 



(Signed) WILL. MOUAT, 



Commr. Supply. 

 JOHN S. TULLOCH, Lerwick. 



Occurrence of the Pacific Eider Duck in Orkney. An adult 

 drake Eider, of the species or race found in North-western America 

 and North-eastern Asia, was shot out of a flock (presumably consist- 

 ing of common Eiders) at Graemsay, Orkney, about the middle of 

 December last, by a wild-fowler named George Sutherland. It was 

 seen in the flesh by Mr. Charles Oldham, and after being mounted 

 was exhibited at the January meeting of the British Ornithologists' 



