ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 253 



Late Nesting of the Woodcock. I think it may interest you to 

 know that a Woodcock's nest with two eggs and one young bird 

 was found in Kintore Parish on the igth of August by some men 

 who were cutting ferns. The eggs proved to be rotten, and the 

 keeper who gave them to me informed me that the young one was 

 carried off by one of its parents. Is not this a very late date for 

 this bird to breed ? THOMAS TAIT, Inverurie. 



[The Woodcock is sometimes double -brooded, and there are 

 instances on record of nests having been found in July and 

 August. We believe, however, that such occurrences are quite 

 exceptional. EDS.] 



Black Terns near Hawiek. On 2nd June several Black Terns 

 (Hydrochelidon nigra) were observed flying over some mossy land 

 near Hawiek, and one of them, a male, was shot and sent to me 

 for preservation. CHARLES KIRK, Glasgow. 



Fulmars in Sutherland in the Nesting Season. When visiting 

 Handa on 4th July, the fishermen whom we had with us pointed 

 out a pair of Fulmar Petrels about fifty yards away. At this 

 distance it was difficult for me to distinguish them, and from the 

 overhanging nature of the cliffs it was impossible to follow them far 

 in their flight. On the 8th, when visiting Clomore Head near Cape 

 Wrath, I saw several pairs flying high up and on a level with the top 

 of the cliffs. Sometimes they came within a few feet of me, and I 

 easily made out their yellow-tipped beaks. At this time the weather 

 was threatening a gale from the north with heavy mist, and when 

 the mist cleared I saw several of the same birds flying out and in 

 from a grassy ledge on the face of a cliff. As they alighted they 

 promptly disappeared, to reappear again in a few minutes ; doubtless 

 they were feeding their young. The gth was very stormy, with rain, 

 but the loth was fair though blowing strongly from the north. On 

 this date the birds were flying low, and I saw them again landing on 

 the ledge and one was sitting on the grass. Farther along one dis- 

 appeared under an overhanging rock, but the wind was too strong to 

 venture to the edge of the cliff to see where it had gone to. I 

 should think that there were about a dozen pairs in all. THOMAS 

 TAIT, Inverurie. 



Poultry feeding on Slow-worms. At the end of August a lady 

 sent me from Colvend a couple of fowl's stomachs, each containing 

 large fragments of Slow-worms (Anguis fragilis). She had selected 

 a good, fat, full-grown chicken, and on dressing it for table she 

 found the greater part of a Slow-worm inside. Not liking the idea 

 of using the fowl for food, it was laid aside. Another chicken was 

 taken and killed, and an examination was at once made of its 

 interior. Similar pieces of this reptile were also found in the second 

 chicken. The old Scottish prejudice against serpents, eels, and such- 



