ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 117 



western part of the main island about the same time. This bird 

 was lost in the ill-fated " St. Rognvald," when on its way south to be 

 mounted. WILLIAM EAGLE CLARKE. 



Bewick's Swan on the Solway Firth. Wild Swans have not 

 been much in evidence on the Solway Firth (English side) during 

 the winter 1900-1, only five having been seen in the neighbourhood 

 of Silloth up to 5th February 1901. But a herd of thirty Bewick's 

 Swans visited the Firth on the last day of the open season, and I 

 am sorry to say that five of this number were shot by a punt-gunner. 

 The greater number happily escaped scatheless. I do not think that 

 swans of any kind should be shot in these islands. They are not 

 wanted for the table, and it is a pity that they should be disturbed. 

 H. A. MACPHERSON, Pitlochry. 



Nesting- of Tufted Duck and Pochard in Wigtownshire. The 

 Tufted Duck (Fuligula cristatd] and the Pochard (F. ferina) breed 

 annually in considerable numbers in Mochrum parish. I have seen 

 the young of both reared from eggs taken in defiance of the pro- 

 hibition issued by the County Council. I have reason to suspect 

 that the Golden-Eye (Clangula glaztcion) will be identified as breeding 

 there also. In the spring of 1899, an expert naturalist, Mr. M'Haffie 

 Gordon, found two eggs of a duck in a hollow tree upon an island. 

 There were Golden-Eyes on the lake at the time, and the eggs were 

 left undisturbed in order that Mr. Gordon might identify the parents. 

 Unluckily, when he returned a few days later, the eggs had been 

 destroyed by rooks or crows. I believe there is no recorded instance 

 of the Golden-Eye nesting in Britain, but I have seen adult birds on 

 these lochs in the month of May, and specimens in the " Morillon " 

 stage are here at nearly all seasons. HERBERT MAXWELL. 



Great Crested and Selavonian Grebes in Wigtownshire. In 

 the "Annals" for January 1897 I recorded that the Great Crested 

 Grebe (Podicipes cristatus\ which I had first observed on the White 

 Loch of Myrton in 1894, had found a mate and reared young in 

 1896. Since then this species has nested regularly on the loch; 

 there were two nests there last year. I have now to record the 

 advent of another grebe for the first time during my intimate acquaint- 

 ance with this sanctuary loch. I take it to be the Selavonian Grebe 

 (Podicipes cornutus), of which a single specimen has been there for 

 some days. To-day (i4th January) I had a good gaze at him 

 through the glass in bright sunshine, and compared him with a 

 Great Crested Grebe there also. The winter plumage of the 

 Selavonian and the Eared Grebe (P. auritus] is so similar that I 

 cannot pronounce with certainty, but undoubtedly a new species has 

 to be added to the list of wildfowl frequenting this loch. 



When I wrote the note referred to in 1897 there was a heavy 

 crop of American weed (Elodea canadensis) ; hundreds of widgeon, a 

 fleet of nine shovellers, and about a dozen scaup duck were busy on 



