ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 115 



was obtained. It was sent to Mr. Harvie-Bro\vn, who informed me 

 that it was the Great Shearwater (Piiffinits gran's] a rare bird on the 

 West Coast. In 1901, on the ist of September, a Richardson's Skua 

 (Stercorarius crepidatus) was shot in the neighbourhood of Tanera 

 Island. A few days later seven Skuas were observed at the mouth 

 of Ullapool River harassing the Gulls, but what kind of Skuas they 

 were I could not say. Since 1901 I am not aware that a Skua has 

 been seen in Lochbroom. On the 8th day of September 1904 a 

 very stormy day when looking out through falling flakes of snow, I 

 observed a large Black-headed Gull feeding near to my house. This 

 was the first gull of this kind I ever saw. It was also seen by 

 others. Might it not possibly be the Great Black-headed Gull ? 

 Only the other day 28th January 1906 I observed on the beach 

 at Shore Street, Ullapool, an Iceland Gull (Larus leucopterus). It 

 was somewhat late in the day and having to go from home on the 

 following day I asked the Rev. Mr. M' Donald, M.A., to look out for 

 it in my absence. This he did, and observed the bird feeding among 

 a flock of young Herring Gulls, on the shore below his house. It 

 was afterwards shot and given to me. The ground colour of the 

 whole plumage is white, mottled with light brown. The primary 

 wing feathers are pure white. The brown about the eyes is rather 

 dark ; and the bill and legs are of a pale flesh colour tinged with 

 green. JAMES T. HENDERSON, Ullapool. 



Northern Bullfinch in Shetland. In the last number of the 

 "Annals," p. 51, Mr. Tulloch communicated an interesting note on 

 the occurrence of Bullfinches in Shetland. I had no doubt at the 

 time that the birds seen belonged to the large Northern European 

 and Siberian form known as Pyrrhula major, and expressed a desire 

 to see a specimen. Thanks to Mr. Tulloch's good offices, Mr. 

 Robert Russell kindly forwarded a female for inspection which had 

 been obtained on the Island of Fetlar on 4th November 1905. 

 This proved to be an undoubted example of species named, the wing 

 measuring 3.67 inches, and thus a new bird has been added to the 

 fauna of Scotland. The species, however, has been obtained once 

 or twice on the Yorkshire coast, but not elsewhere in England or in 

 the British Islands. 



During the past autumn quite a number of these birds seem to 

 have arrived in Shetland, for, in addition to those mentioned for the 

 Mainland and the Islands of Foula and Fetlar, one or more visited 

 Fair Isle in November, and came under the notice of Messrs. J. W. 

 Anderson and George Stout. In the spring of 1905 several Bull- 

 finches appeared in Unst, most probably on their return journey to 

 their northern summer haunts. The first of these was noted on 

 1 9th March, and others were observed between i6th and 26th 

 April, as recorded in the "Annals" (1905, p. 182), by Dr. Saxby. 

 Strange to say, these birds, like the Lapp Buntings, would seem 



