184 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



P. nigra, L., is mentioned in several lists from 72 to 105, but there 

 is no ground to regard this poplar as indigenous ; and apparently 

 different species are included under the name. Several are 

 frequently planted, and may be met with by streams and else- 

 where apparently wild. 



EMPETRACE/E. 

 Empetrum nigrum, Z., 72-83, 85-112. 



CERATOPHYLLACE/E. 



Ceratophyllum aquaticum, L. The aggregate is recorded from Si, 



83-86, 88. The segregates are noted as follows : 

 C. demersum, Z., 83, 84 (Sonntag), 85, 88. 

 C. submersum, Z., 84 and 85 (Sonntag). 



(To be continued.} 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Prosecution under the Wild Birds' Protection Act. In Dornoch 

 Sheriff Court on i3th June, Alexander M. Chance, Edgbaston, 

 Birmingham, was prosecuted under the Wild Birds' Protection Act 

 for robbing two nests of the Grey Lag Goose on Eilan Mor, Loch 

 Loyal, Tongue, Sutherlandshire, on the gth May. The defender 

 did not put in an appearance, but was represented by an agent. 

 Sheriff Mackenzie found the case proven, and imposed a fine of 

 ^9, being i for each egg taken. 



Common Rorqual on the Kineardineshire Coast. A large 

 whale was found dead, floating in the sea near Stonehaven on the 

 26th of April last. It was towed into Crawton, where I examined 

 it on the 28th when it was exposed for sale. It proved to be a 

 young male Balcenoptera musculus, the Common Rorqual of our 

 coasts. Its total length was 44 feet ; the pectoral fin was 5 feet 

 long and i foot broad, the dorsal fin was only i 2 inches high, and 

 the tail was 8 feet 9 inches across the flukes. There were 

 48 longitudinal raised bands on the ventral surface. The baleen 

 was dark slate colour edged and mottled with white, the usual 

 colour for this species. The general colour was dark grey above 

 and white below, and of course the animal was only a half- 

 grown specimen, as the adult of this species reaches a length of 

 70 feet. Though called the Common Rorqual, it is not nearly so 

 frequent on our coasts as the Lesser Rorqual (Balanoptera rostratd). 

 -WILLIAM TAYLOR, Elgin. 



