1 86 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



occupy a very prominent position in modern ones. The Balances 

 of Nature are being utterly upset, between, for one instance, Owls 

 and Rats and wasted feeding. J. A. HARVIE-BROWN. 



Long-eared Bat in Moray. A Long-eared Bat (Plecotus aurihts) 

 was found on the 24th of April hanging head downwards and dead 

 on the outside " hailed " wall of the Parish Church at Drumna- 

 drochit. The ivy was cut down a few days before ; and if it were 

 hybernating beneath, this may have been the cause of death. I send 

 you the specimen, as I find that it is stated in the " Fauna of Moray " 

 that this species has not been reported from the neighbourhood of 

 Inverness. I never handled this species before, but am certain that 

 I have seen it on the wing. ANGUS GRANT, Drumnadrochit. 



Common Shrew in the Isle of Mull. Several specimens of the 

 Common Shrew (Sorex araneus) have been captured at Tobermory. 

 These were brought in by the house cat, and I believe that they 

 were secured about the hedges around the garden. I sent a 

 specimen to Mr. Oldfield Thomas of the British Museum, who in- 

 formed me that he was interested to find that it belonged to this 

 species, for hitherto the Common Shrew had not been known, with 

 any degree of certainty, to occur in the Hebrides. D. MACDONALD, 

 Tobermory. 



Supposed Wild Cat seen on the Tow-path of the Caledonian 

 Canal ("Argyll"). After passing the lock of the Canal at Lochy 

 on the 3ist May 1904, I was informed that two of our crew 

 who were on duty in the early morning, saw what they described 

 as a Wild Cat of large size amongst the whin and broom which 

 clothe the canal banks a little to the west of the Lochy loch 

 of the Canal. They were positive that it was a very large animal. 

 One of them is a native of Loch Broom, and he denied it could be 

 a tame cat run wild. Now, I do not give this as a record, but I 

 mention the observation at this time, because such a locality is still 

 within the acknowledged distributional area of the true wild species, 

 and on that account seems at least worthy of notice. I wished I 

 could have been called up on deck, but as the yacht " Hotspur " 

 was being towed at full speed at the time, no doubt it was in vain 

 to have done so. The men saw it at quite close quarters, and a 

 long way from any (visible) human habitation. I give the note for 

 what it may be worth. J. A. HARVIE-BROWN. 



Sowerby's Whale on the Aberdeenshire Coast. On 23rd 

 March last I saw a report in the newspapers that a Bottle-nosed 

 Whale about 18 feet long was stranded at Fraserburgh. I went to 

 see it on the 26th, but found it had been cut up and buried in the 

 sand. I had the head dug up, and, as soon as I saw the teeth, 

 identified it as a male Mesoplodon bidens. I secured the damaged 

 skull and cleaned it. The animal, I found, measured 14 feet in 



