238 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



duce the Capercaillie (Tetrao urogalhis), but owing to the arrange- 

 ments made the birds being confined like pheasants they all died 

 of cramp. He then obtained some more birds, some of which were 

 confined in a larger pen, with spruce trees, while others were turned 

 out in the open. This second attempt has succeeded fairly well, for 

 two or three nests were known to have hatched out, and the young 

 were seen, I think the ground is well suited to their requirements, for 

 there are hundreds of acres of fir wood, ranging from old trees to those 

 planted a few years ago. HEATLEY NOBLE, Henley-on-Thames. 



Pochard in Midlothian in Summer. In consideration of the 

 fact that the Pochard has not yet been found breeding in Midlothian, 

 it is interesting to note that a drake remained all summer on Loch- 

 end Loch. I do not know whether in the early part of the season 

 it was accompanied by a mate or no, but on i6th June it was the 

 only duck on the loch, and on the 29th July its only companion was 

 a Tufted Drake in eclipse plumage. In the summer of 1892 also 

 a Pochard remained on the same loch. On 2nd July 1892 I came 

 on the bird sitting by the water's edge, and was surprised at its 

 exceeding tameness : it allowed me to approach within a short 

 distance before it entered the water. I may also note that in the 

 south of Fife in 1894, and again in 1895, I noticed the Pochard 

 in the nesting-season on a small loch well adapted for this bird. 

 ROBERT GODFREY. 



The Great Shearwater at St. Kilda. An example of the Great 

 Shearwater (Piijfiiuts major} was captured at St. Kilda under the 

 following circumstances. On the yth of August 1897 Neil Ferguson 

 and his colleagues were fishing a mile or two west of the Dune. 

 While hauling their lines a Shearwater was noticed on the water 

 near to the boat, and in company with some Fulmars (Fitlmarns 

 glacialis}. Ferguson knew at once that the bird was a Great Shear- 

 water, a species concerning which I had in previous years questioned 

 him and others, and desired, if possible, that a specimen should be 

 obtained. At first the fishermen were at a loss how to act, as they 

 had no gun on board the boat. At the suggestion of Ferguson, 

 however, a quantity of ling's entrails was thrown overboard. On 

 this being done, the Shearwater came to the feast at once, before the 

 Fulmars, and Ferguson struck it down with an oar and secured it. 

 Ferguson thinks that this Shearwater breeds on the Dune, because 

 the bird has been obtained there before, and because also there was 

 a bare nesting-patch on the breast of the specimen captured, " the 

 same as is to be seen on the Fulmars." A very fair skin was made 

 of the bird, which I have presented to the collections in the Museum 

 of Science and Art, Edinburgh. I have identified probably two 

 hundred or two hundred and fifty Great Shearwaters in western 

 Scottish waters, but saw none there during the present year. HENRY 

 EVANS, Jura Forest. 



