ON THE AVIFAUNA OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES 205 



to the very fair attention given there to their preservation. They 

 were abundant as a nesting species previous to 1888, and by the 

 Diary of the late Mr. Alfred Chapman it is evident that his 

 experiences were the same ; and he gives one curious instance of 

 this bird breeding at an elevation of some 700 feet above sea-level, on 

 the summit of Ben Lee in North Uist, when the bird was shot off 

 the nest, which contained 6 eggs, " all rotten." The half-tame flock 

 which I used to be acquainted with at Rodel in Harris has almost 

 totally disappeared. 



WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (Anser albifrons), p. 99. Six are 

 recorded from Barra as having been seen on April 6, 1893. My 

 correspondent who has sent such interesting notes about Terns, 

 Swans, Phalaropes, etc., tells me the following : "Another interest- 

 ing bird stopped all last summer (1900) and autumn, viz. a White- 

 fronted Goose, and made company with domestic geese at a farm." 

 Mr. M'Elfrish shot one at Newton on October 8, 1894, and Dr. 

 A. C. Henderson one on Kirkibost on December n, 1901. A 

 White-fronted Goose was shot between the 6th and the 22nd June 

 in the end of 1895 in Barra, and is an addition to the Fauna of that 

 group of islands ("Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist." 1895, P- 2 5 2 )> *- e - tne 

 Southern isles. I find that we have omitted from our previous 

 account the occurrence of a specimen of this goose shot in St. Kilda 

 ("Zool." 1895, p. 348; vide Harting, "Handbook," 1901, p. 236; 

 see also "Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist." 1896, p. 143). Later, Dr. M'Rury 

 writes me (November 1901): "The White-fronted Goose now, it 

 seems, visits South Uist regularly in considerable numbers, and a 

 few were shot in Barra when I was there one by myself." 



It might be well if particular attention was given in future by 

 those having abundant opportunities of seeing and shooting Geese ; 

 it is possible that two forms of White-fronted Goose occur in the 

 Western Isles, and on many of the Inner islands. I would refer 

 my readers and correspondents to an article on the subject in the 

 " Ibis," 1902, pp. 269-275 ; and also to another in the "Zoologist," 

 September 1902, pp. 337-351, by F. Coburn. 



BRENT GOOSE (Bernida brenta\ p. 99. About 20 frequent the 

 Big Strand of Barra at Eoligary. The somewhat general scarcity of 

 the Brent in the Outer Hebrides may in part be accounted for by 

 the rarity of its favourite food, viz. the Zostera marina. Mr. Norman 

 Heathcote records a Brent as once seen in St. Kilda. 



BERNACLE GOOSE (Bernida leucopsis), p. 99. Mr. C. V. A. Peel 

 makes the remark that individuals of this species vary greatly in 

 weight. Two shot by him, "right and left," weighed 5 Ibs. and 

 3^ Ibs. respectively." In our "Fauna of the Outer Hebrides" 

 are recorded the facts about the migration of the Bernacle 

 Goose at and around Scolpig in South Uist. I now find this 



