124 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



it was identified by them as Baillon's Crake. Mr. Whitelaw prob- 

 ably did not understand its value, and he exchanged it with Mr. 

 F. W. Paple, Bolton, for some birds' eggs. It was acquired by the 

 Chadwick Museum, Bolton, from Mr. Paple, with other birds, in the 

 same year (1893), and I am indebted to Mr. Thomas Midgley, the 

 assistant curator there, for kindly sending it to me for examination. 

 It is usually stated that but two examples of this species have 

 occurred in Scotland, and these are old records, but Mr. Macpher- 

 son in his "Introduction to the Study of British Birds" (1891) says 

 he " can answer for a third, caught by a dog near Stranraer."- -JOHN 

 PATERSON, Glasgow. 



Solitary Snipe in the Solway District. A fine specimen of 

 this rare species, which had been shot not far from Crocketford on 

 2nd October, was sent me for identification. It weighed 7^ ozs. 

 when it came to me, but the previous day it had weighed a quarter 

 ounce more. The bird was extremely fat, and proved on dissection 

 to be a young male. The stomach contained some moss and other 

 vegetable fibres unknown, one small caddis worm, one little red 

 earthworm, several white aquatic worms, and one single larva, 

 evidently lepidopterous. So far as I know, this is the first time the 

 occurrence of the Great Snipe (Gallinago major] in Dumfriesshire 

 or Galloway has been thoroughly authenticated. There is, however, 

 a record in the old files of the Courier for 2gth September 1818 of 

 an extra large Snipe that I have no doubt was really a specimen of 

 the Solitary Snipe. The paragraph is of interest in the present 

 connection, and runs as follows : " As two gentlemen were shooting 

 at Barnsoul on Thursday last, a remarkably large snipe rose before 

 them, at which, in order to make sure, they both fired, and brought 

 it down. It proved to be of the most beautiful plumage, and of 

 the following weight and dimensions, viz. 8 ounces in weight, and 

 measured from tip to tip of the wings 19^ inches, and in length 

 from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail 15^ inches." 

 R. SERVICE, Maxwelltown. 



Greenshank and other Birds in West Lothian. On 4th 

 February I picked up a Greenshank (Totanus canescens) in a sadly 

 mutilated condition at the side of Port Edgar in West Lothian. 

 On 4th to 6th February I counted seventy-nine dead birds in por- 

 tions of the West Lothian and Fife shores, the most interesting of 

 which, next to the Greenshank, was the Little Auk (A lea alle], of 

 which I found ten individuals. ROBERT GODFREY, Edinburgh. 



The Curlew Sandpiper and Marsh Tit in East Renfrewshire. 

 We are able to add the two species named to the list of East 

 Renfrewshire birds. In September 1895 we saw two or three 

 waders, which we suspected to be Curlew Sandpipers (Tringa subar- 

 quata), but they flew off, and gathering darkness made further search 

 useless. On igth September 1896, however, we were pleased to 



