1 84 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Club. This species is not only an addition to the British avifauna, 

 but has not previously been detected in European waters. The 

 male of the Pacific Eider (Somateria v-nigrum) differs from that of 

 the Common species (S. mollissima) in possessing in its adult stage 

 a large V-shaped mark on the throat, but the females are very 

 similar in plumage. This specimen was first recorded ("Nature," 

 vol. 71, p. 201) as having been obtained at Scarborough in York- 

 shire, the town to which it was consigned from Orkney. It was 

 finally sent to Oldham, in Lancashire, and has been presented to the 

 Public Museum there. 



Deal-fish or Vaagmaer on the Banff Coast. There was landed 

 at Whitehills, Banff, a specimen of the Deal-fish or Vaagmaer 

 (Trachyptents arcticus), a fish not often met with in these waters. 

 It was found by Mr. Watson, foreman of the salmon-fishing station, 

 entangled in a net, on the 23rd of March. This specimen measured 

 3 feet 6 inches long, which is about the usual length, though 

 occasionally it grows much longer. It was of a bright silvery colour, 

 and the slimy pigment with which the fish is covered came off when 

 it was handled. The dorsal region was provided with an almost 

 continuous delicate fin. A very distinct median lateral line was 

 furnished with sharp spines projecting forward. A similar fish was 

 washed ashore to the west of Whitehills just over a year ago, but 

 owing to having lain on the beach for some time it was in a too 

 decayed state for preservation. There is an Irish record of a fish 

 of this kind measuring nearly 8 feet long, and one was got at 

 Montrose in 1872, which was 6 feet in length. I am preserving the 

 specimen, and am in communication with Professor D'Arcy W. 

 Thompson regarding the acquisition of the specimen for the 

 University College Museum, Dundee. JOHN LEMMON, Banff. 



Sturgeon in the Shetland Seas. I note that Mr. John S. 

 Tulloch, of Lerwick, publishes ("Annals," 1905, p. 120) the first 

 authentic record of this fish, for the Shetland Seas. I remember in 

 1884 (July or August) a Sturgeon being brought ashore at Balta- 

 sound ; it was identified by a Captain Burns, who was here at the time 

 superintending some diving operations in connection with the repair- 

 ing of a steamer which had struck on some rocks. I was only a boy 

 at the time and thought little of the matter. T. EDMONDSTON 

 SAXBY, Baltasound, Shetland. 



Rare Scottish Beetles. I am indebted to Mr. P. H. Grimshaw, 

 of the Royal Scottish Museum, for the identification of the following 

 rare beetles taken by me : (i) Hallomenus humeralis, Panz several 

 specimens in fungus (Clavaria) at Balmacaan, Drumnadrochit, 

 Inverness-shire, i4th August 1904; (2) Exomias aranciformis, 

 Schr. two specimens, under stone, Dumcarrow Craig, Fifeshire, 

 nth April 1901; and (3) Epttrcea deleta, Er. an abnormal 



