138 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



The Shoveller (Spatula dypeata, L.) Nesting" in Sanday, Orkney. 

 As I think it will be somewhat interesting to record the breeding 

 of the Shoveller in Orkney, I may now state that during the spring 

 of 1891 I observed four pairs of these ducks frequenting a small loch 

 on my farm ; I therefore purposed to watch them in order to find 

 out whether they would remain to breed. About the second week 

 of June I frequently missed the females, but always found the males 

 on the loch. I then searched through a marshy place near the loch 

 for nests, but did not find any. However, on the igth of June, 

 as I was walking round a cornfield near the loch, I observed a 

 duck rise from the side of the field about fifteen yards off, and 

 on going to the place, I found the nest with six eggs, neatly con- 

 cealed in a tuft of long grass, the nest being lined with withered 

 grass. On 226. June, along with Messrs. W. T. Dennison and W. 

 Muir, I again visited the nest, which now had eight eggs, the full 

 number laid. The female rose when we were at a distance, and con- 

 tinued very shy. Mr. Dennison took one egg for preservation. The 

 eggs are much smaller than those of the common Stock-Duck, and 

 rather darker in colour. I visited the nest again on the iSth July, 

 but the young had left, the egg shells only remaining. The males 

 left the loch during the time of incubation, the females alone 

 appeared to bring out the young brood. The young broods for I 

 saw above thirty young ones altogether kept well out of sight 

 during the daytime, hiding among the rushes (locally called 

 " stowers ") until they could fly. They remained at this small 

 loch until September, but whether they removed to larger lochs or 

 left the island, I cannot tell. Parties shooting at them, without 

 doubt, scared them away. WM. HARVEY, Sanday, Orkney. 

 [This species has not hitherto, so far as we are aware, been recorded 

 to have nested in Orkney. EDS.] 



Great Bustard (Otis tarda, L.) in Orkney. On the 8th 

 February last, Mr. D. H. Learmonth, farmer, Honsebay, Stronsay, a 

 very enthusiastic sportsman, was informed by some of his men that a 

 strange bird, a sort of goose they thought, had been feeding about 

 the centre of one of his fields since the preceding Saturday (6th). 

 He took his gun, and going to the field mentioned, a thirty-eight 

 acre turnip field, observed it immediately. There was no chance of 

 stalking it, so he approached in a contracting circuit, and when 

 about seventy yards distant it got up, and he fired. It fell, just one 

 pellet having struck it on the head. It was a fine female, and though 

 in poor condition I am informed that it weighed exactly 9^ Ibs. 

 The weather had been wet and stormy for some time. The bird 

 was quite alone. It seems to have frequented the same field all the 

 time, as it was not observed elsewhere. It is noteworthy that a 

 Bustard obtained in Stronsay in 1876, was shot by Mr. Wm. Steven- 

 son on the contiguous farm of Holland. T. S. PEACE, Kirkwall. 



