u8 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



the middle portion of the webs, are also bluish-white, very much the 

 same as in the case of the Long-tailed Duck ; this white colour soon 

 changes to brownish-black. 



WHOOPER SWAN. Cygtnts musicits. Heard passing overhead, on 

 8th November, at 8 p.m. 



WOODCOCK. Scolopax ritstiaila. A few seen during the snowy 

 weather in December. 



SNOWY OWL. Nyctca scandiaca. One at Balliasta on 2Qth 

 November. 



GREAT SNIPE. Gallinago major. In the " Annals " for 1902, 

 p. 34, a Great Snipe is recorded for these islands, and the specimen 

 regarded as the first actual occurrence of this species for Shetland. 

 May I draw attention to the fact that my father undoubtedly 

 secured several examples, as must be manifest to all who consult 

 his "Birds of Shetland," (pp. 200-201). T. EDMONDSTON SAXBY, 

 Halligarth, Baltasound, Shetland. 



Brambling in the Isle of Mull. The visits of the Brambling 

 (Fringilla montifringilla) to the West Coast are sufficiently rare, so 

 that it may be well to record an incursion of this species. On 

 the 22nd of November, in Aros woods, I observed a single bird 

 beneath a beech tree and accompanied by chaffinches (Fringilla 

 Calebs], and also on following day near the same spot. Others were 

 seen by the gardener to Mr. Allan of Aros, who knew the bird, 

 having seen them at the time of a large invasion about ten vears ago, 



O O O ' 



when several were caught. D. MACDONALD, Tobermory. 



Movements of Wood pigeons into Easter Ross. December 13, 

 1904, was the fifth day on which the ground had been covered 

 with snow, and there was a strong gale blowing from the N.W. off 

 the land. Thinking that we might see some bird-life in the 

 Cromarty Firth in the calm water close to land, I, along with a 

 friend, went down to the shore below Tarbet woods, Kildary, to 

 where the Balnagowan river joins the sea. As soon as we got 

 within sight of the Firth we observed a small party of Wood-pigeons 

 (Columba palumbus) flying low over the Firth from the direction of 

 Cromarty. The light was beginning to go, but for quite half an 

 hour till dark they kept arriving in lots ranging from about one 

 to thirty. Some came from Cromarty direction, some from the 

 direction of the Northern Sutor, and others from points between, 

 flying in the teeth of the gale. There must have been many 

 thousands of them, all flying from the S. E. My first thought was 

 that this was a partial migration of pigeons, perhaps from Moray- 

 shire. On mentioning this to my friend Mr. J. A. Forsyth, he 

 suggested that as the slope of the N. Sutor, which faced the sun, 

 had been the first bit of ground to thaw, the birds from Balnagowan 

 and Tarbet woods, where there are always large numbers, had 



