234 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



saw and handled one on the grassy summit of the Ardbhan Craigs, 

 Oban, on 3oth June 1901. HUGH BOYD WATT, Glasgow. 



Badgers in Scotland. It is a dispiriting thing to read in 

 the July number of the " Annals " about the heartless slaughter of 

 a pregnant Badger (Meles tax us) in Ayrshire. About fifteen years 

 ago I turned down five in the neighbouring county of Wigtown, 

 in hopes of re-establishing this harmless and interesting creature 

 in a district whence it had long disappeared. Possibly this 

 Ayrshire specimen was a wandering member of my colony. It 

 is not the only Badger which has been murdered in Scotland 

 this year. One was trapped in June on the banks of Loch Ossian, 

 between Rannoch Moor and Ben Alder : the keeper found its 

 mate in a cairn of stones not far off and shot it. The presence 

 of these animals in this remote forest was not suspected. It 

 is a pity that keepers persist in considering that part of their 

 duty is to destroy every living creature that is not game. HERBERT 

 MAXWELL. 



[We heartily endorse all that Sir Herbert Maxwell urges in 

 favour of more intelligent treatment for the Badger. Unfortunately 

 the education of the gamekeeper is making painfully slow progress. 

 EDS.] 



Porpoise in Argyllshire Waters. It is curious to find that the 

 Porpoise (Phoccena commitnis) is not included in Messrs. Harvie-Brown 

 and Buckley's " Vertebrate Fauna of Argyll and the Inner Hebrides." 

 I saw it on different days off Kerrera, and also between Mull and 

 Skye, during this summer. HUGH BOYD WATT, Glasgow. 



Greenland Falcon in Inverness-shire. A fine immature 

 specimen of Falco candicans was killed in the Kingussie district at 

 the beginning of April, and sent in the flesh to Mr. Malloch of 

 Perth. H. A. MACPHERSON, Pitlochry. 



Lesser Whitethroat nesting in West Ross-shire. In the 

 summer of 1896, my father, the late Sir Arthur Fowler, brought me 

 an unknown nest, containing seven eggs, which he had found in the 

 Strath here. These remained undetermined, until they came under 

 the notice of Mr. Lionel Hinxman, who believed them to be those 

 of the Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia currucd), but advised me to 

 submit them to Mr. Eagle Clarke for his opinion. Mr. Clarke 

 confirmed Mr. Hinxman's identification, and informs me that 

 the records of the breeding of this species in Scotland are rare 

 and worthy of publication, especially as it has not been previously 

 recorded as nesting so far north in Britain. MARJORIE T. FOWLER, 

 Inverbroom, Ross-shire. 



The Breeding of the Great Spotted Woodpecker in the South 

 of Scotland. In the last number of the "Annals" the editors 



