50 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Waxwings in Banffshire. A male and female Waxwing (Am- 

 pelis garrulus} were shot at Tomintoul on the i3th of November 

 last, and sent to Messrs. Snowie and Son for preservation. 

 "Inverness Courier," i6th November 1897. 



Waxwing in Elginshire. An adult female was shot on Find- 

 horn Links on the 4th of November last. JAMES BROWN, Forres. 



Waxwing in the Cairngorm District. A male and female 

 were received by me for preservation on the 24th of November 

 last which had been shot in the Cairngorm district. R. SMALL, 

 Edinburgh. 



Long-eared Owl in the Outer Hebrides. As the Long-eared 

 Owl (Otus vulgaris) is not included in Messrs. Harvie-Brown and 

 Buckley's "Vertebrate Fauna of the Outer Hebrides" as occurring 

 there, it may be worth recording that Colonel W. C. Verner in 

 January 1897, near Loch Maddy, North Uist, shot a specimen, 

 which I have examined. My friend Colonel Verner further informs 

 me that the keeper, who well knew the difference between the Long- 

 and Short -eared Owls, declared that both species nested there. 

 There not being any trees on the island, I should not have men- 

 tioned this, to me, most improbable assertion as regards the arboreal 

 Long-eared Owl, but for the fact that Mr. W. Ogilvie- Grant and 

 Capt. Savile Reid inform me that on the icth May 1897 they found 

 a nest of the Long-eared Owl on the ground on the large island in 

 Syre Loch, Sutherland. One live and one dead young birds were in 

 the nest : the dead one was half eaten. The ground at the time was 

 covered with snow. One of the old owls was shot, and is to be 

 seen in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. Messrs. 

 Ogilvie-Grant and Reid at the time were trying to find a nest of the 

 Short-eared Owl (Otus brachyotus\ which species had been stated to 

 breed on the above-mentioned island; but they did not see any 

 there or in the adjacent district, although they found a nest of the 

 Tawny Owl (Syrnium alitco) on the mainland. I hope some Scottish 

 ornithologist may next spring be able to either confirm or disprove 

 the statement that the Long-eared Owl breeds in North Uist. I am 

 myself very doubtful. L. HOWARD IRBY, London. 



Dark form of the Barn Owl in Kineardineshire. A female of 

 this form of Strix flammea was killed at Portlethen on 23rd 

 November last, and was sent to me for preservation. The chief 

 difference in this variety which appears to be the dominant form 

 in Denmark is, that its breast and lower parts are reddish orange 

 instead of the pure white of the typical bird. This is the second 

 instance of the occurrence of this race known to have occurred in 

 the "Dee" area, the first being one killed near New Deer in 1886. 

 GEO. SIM, Aberdeen. 



