ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 117 



party shot, out of a small flock of small wading birds, a bird like a 

 miniature Curlew, which on being sent to Mr. Small was pronounced 

 by him to be a Curlew Sandpiper. A. NOEL SKELTON, Edinburgh. 



The Curlew Sandpiper ( Tringa subarquata) in summer plumage 

 in the Firth of Forth. As an autumn migrant the Curlew Sand- 

 piper visits the Forth annually ; but in the many flocks which I 

 have examined during the past ten years I could never detect a 

 single adult bird till last September, when I had the satisfaction of 

 seeing two in Aberlady Bay. On the 2 8th of August I noticed a 

 party of six, and on 3rd September a flock of about 100 ; and as 

 usual these were all young birds in first plumage. On the 4th 

 (Sunday) I counted 120 in the Bay, eighty of which were feeding 

 together in one group, and among them were the two adults. For 

 nearly half an hour I stood watching them, at times not more than 

 twenty to twenty-five yards off. The two old birds were conspicuous 

 even to the unaided eye, but when viewed through my binocular one 

 was seen to be nearly in full summer plumage, while the other had 

 lost something like half of it. Next morning I was early on the 

 sands, but could find only some fifty or sixty of the birds, and of 

 course the two old ones were not among them. Up to the nth of 

 the month I daily observed this remainder of the flock feeding about 

 the same spot, but by the following day they too had nearly all gone off 

 in a body. The last seen two or three with a group of Dunlins- 

 was on the 1 6th. Mr. Gray records ("Birds of the West of Scotland") 

 p. 317) seeing a flock of Curlew Sandpipers at Dunbar on gth May 

 1870, some of which would most likely be adult birds on their way 

 to their breeding grounds ; but, with this possible exception, I cannot 

 call to mind a record of the species having been previously noticed 

 in summer plumage on the Scottish coasts. WILLIAM EVANS, 

 Edinburgh. 



The Protection of the Osprey. Something more than a 

 rumour has reached us that the Council of the Zoological Society of 

 London has decided] to award its Silver Medal to the protectors of 

 one of our rarest British birds the Osprey. It will be remembered 

 that the Council presented its medals in 1891 to the families of 

 Edmondston and Scott for the protection of the Great Skua on 

 their respective domains. This well-deserved recognition was the 

 means of doing great good, as it stimulated an increase of vigilance 

 for the bird's welfare ; and we trust that similar results will accrue to 

 the Ospreys. 



Occurrence of the Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea) in Shetland. 



In December last I received from my friend Mr. Frank Traill, who 

 was sojourning in the island of Foula, a beautiful specimen, in the 

 flesh, of the Ivory Gull, which had been captured there on the 

 8th of that month. This Gull was taken in the following curious 



