72 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



set." There can be no doubt, I think, that this is the bird which 

 was shot by Dr. MacRury on the Island of Barra, as recorded by me 

 in "The Scottish Naturalist" for October 1891, p. 145. WM. EAGLE 

 CLARKE, Edinburgh. 



The Gray Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius, L.) in Islay. As 



I was driving along the northern shore of Loch Indaal on the i3th 

 of October, I was startled and delighted to see a small flock of six 

 Gray Phalaropes swimming in a little pool of shallow water just 

 beyond the force of the waves. A continued storm of wind from the 

 south-west had blown for several days, and had only then begun to 

 calm down, and this no doubt had arrested the birds in their 

 migration to the south. To an ornithologist the little flock 

 presented a most enchanting sight. Elegant themselves, the birds 

 floated buoyantly on the water, which indeed they scarcely seemed to 

 touch. They were constantly in motion, every movement being 

 gracefully beautiful. Without intermission they pecked at the water 

 getting no doubt microscopic life on the surface. One of their num- 

 ber was on the shore, where it ran nimbly about among the drifted 

 sea-weed, at which it pecked as continually as its companions in the 

 water. The utter fearlessness of the birds, and their indifference to 

 the presence of man, was charming, as they allowed me to approach 

 within a few yards without taking the slightest notice. They remained 

 in the same spot for three days after I first saw them. One Phalarope 

 was observed a fortnight later swimming close to the same spot. 

 The Phalaropes chose the lee and not the windward side of the loch, 

 where at the same time many Storm Petrels (most unusual visitants 

 to Islay) had flown for shelter. During seventeen seasons I never 

 before saw a Phalarope in the island, but I may mention that about 

 the same date a fisherman killed two of these birds with an oar in 

 Loch Fyne near Tarbet. It is clear from published accounts that a 

 very large number of Phalaropes have this year been driven by storms 

 to the seaboard of England, the whole coast line having been alive 

 with the birds. The years 1866, 1867, 1886 were also remarkable 

 in this respect. R. SCOTT SKIRVING, Edinburgh. 



Gray Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius, L.) in Jura. A Gray 

 Phalarope was killed, on the i2th of October, by a boy with a stone 

 whilst the bird was wading about on the beach at Ardfin, Jura. The 

 bird is now in my possession. HENRY EVANS, Jura Forest. 



Gray Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius, L.) in S.W. Scotland. 

 The Gray Phalarope is a rare straggler to this district when blown off 

 its course by some gale during the autumnal migration. I have 

 received one from Mr. Webster, who shot it on 28th September at 

 Portrack. Early in October another was killed near Carsethorn 

 when swimming in a small pool left by the tide. A boy threw 

 a stone at it and knocked it over. Still another specimen of the 

 same bird was seen swimming in the tideway near the same locality. 



