56 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



of the mainland of Great Britain is an extremely interesting fact ; and 

 it is much to be hoped, though, perhaps, too much to be expected, 

 that the interesting little bird will be allowed to establish itself in 

 its newly sought eastern home. WM. EAGLE CLARKE. 



The Porbeagle (Lamna cornubica) in the Firth of Forth. On 



ist November 1904 an example of this Shark, which I examined two 

 days later, was caught in a cod-net about 3 miles north-east of Fisher- 

 row, and brought into that harbour. It was fully 7 feet long. I 

 looked to see if there was any trace of a spiracle behind the eye, and 

 could find none. In a newspaper paragraph the creature was referred 

 to as a Blue Shark, which serves to illustrate the vague way in which 

 our fishermen apply that name. WILLIAM EVANS, Edinburgh. 



Capture of a marked Skate. A small Skate (Raia batis] was 

 caught at the end of September by one of the local fishermen at 

 Tobermory. It was observed to be strangely marked on both 

 shoulders nearly opposite the part where the pectoral fins are most 

 extended. The markings are in the form of two circles, about the 

 size of a crown-piece, one of which has the figure 2 and the letter n 

 quite distinctly defined. There are a number of dots inside the 

 circle. The other circle (on the left shoulder) contains two characters 

 resembling the Greek letter x (), also surrounded with a row of dots. 

 The markings are all white against the dark background of the skin 



o O O 



of the Skate, and there are several indications that the marks were 

 made with great precision, and at a time when the fish was much 

 less than it is now. I think it is worth while to draw attention to 

 this capture, as the fish may have been marked for experimental 

 purposes. J. MACNAUGHT CAMPBELL, The Museum, Glasgow. 



Cionus tubereulosus, Scop., in Argyllshire. In the month of 

 August my friend Mr. J. W. Bowhill obtained several specimens of 

 this pretty beetle on the shores of Loch Fochan, near Oban. In 

 Fowler's " British Coleoptera " the only Scottish record is that 

 quoted from Murray's Catalogue, thus: "Dollar, Mr. J. T. Syme ; " 

 to which Fowler adds: "Scotland, very rare, Forth district," and 

 remarks that "it is possible there may be some mistake as to the 

 latter record." Under these circumstances it is well to place on 

 record the undoubted occurrence of the species in Scotland. Prof. 

 T. Hudson Beare has seen the specimens, two of which have been 

 very kindly presented by Mr. Bowhill to the Royal Scottish Museum. 

 PERCY H. GRIMSHAW. 



Alleged Buried Crabs. The following note appeared in the 

 " Haddingtonshire Courier" of the 29th November last : 



" A STRANGE FIND. While engaged in the work of excavation 

 towards the end of the week, in the plasterers' yard [at Dunbar] of 

 Councillor Gillies, the workmen, at a depth of about ten feet, came 

 upon a bank of sand, embedded in which were two good-sized black- 



