224 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



examined subsequently were scarcely clear of it. Ducks 

 flew off as we went upon the place, emitting their guttural 

 calls of kur-rook, kur-rook, kur-rook, as they got away. No 

 less than five nests were on this little spot, all at distances of 

 about four feet from each other, and snugly ensconced under 

 clumps of rushes. They contained respectively thirteen, 

 eight, thirteen, ten, and seven eggs ; great variation in shape 

 and colour being noted. One nest had the eggs extremely 

 pale in colour. Two of the eggs in the first nest of thirteen 

 were bright green, and all were greatly elongated in shape. 

 On the small islands in the loch itself we found four other 

 nests, containing nine, thirteen, ten, and six eggs respectively. 

 Altogether the status of the Tufted Duck at Lochrutton 

 is most satisfactory. The hatch-out this season has been 

 very successful. The only hindrances to their prosperity are 

 the pikes, which annually take toll of at least three-fourths 

 of the newly hatched young. The locality (quite apart from 

 the restrictions imposed by the Wild Birds' Preservation 

 Acts) is fully preserved, and I have to acknowledge indebted- 

 ness to my friend Mr. George Robson, the game tenant, for 

 the privilege of unrestricted inspection. 



RARE BRITISH ANIMALS RECENTLY ADDED 

 TO THE EDINBURGH MUSEUM OF SCIENCE 

 AND ART. 



By R. H. TRAQUAIR, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., 



Keeper of the Natural History Department. 



Six - GILLED GRAY SHARK, Notidamis griseus, Gmel. 

 A specimen 4 feet 8 inches in length caught off the island of 

 Rona on loth April of this year. Obtained for the Museum 

 through Mr. George Sim, Aberdeen. 



BONITO, TJiynnus pelamys, Linn. A specimen 20 inches 

 in length caught by Mr. Edward M'Coll, fisherman, in a 

 "whammle" net in the Nith channel on the 2nd August 

 last. Well known as an inhabitant of the tropical and 

 warmer parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Bonito 



