A GIANT SQUID (ARCHITEUTHIS') ON SCOTTISH COAST 139 



which may have induced it to follow a migrating food supply, 

 or may have carried the unwilling Squid itself, an unhealthy 

 and passive resister. Unfortunately the condition of the 

 stomach contents precluded a decision as to the first possi- 

 bility. Yet it is worth mentioning that the majority of the 

 specimens seen afloat in the sea, or cast on shore in the 

 Western Atlantic, have been observed during the autumn 

 months an occurrence which suggests a seasonal debility, 

 due perhaps to spawning or to physical conditions in 

 the sea. 



Whatever may have been the cause of its coming, the 

 appearance of a Giant Squid in the North Sea is sufficiently 

 remarkable, and suggests that the ancient and deep-seated 

 faith of the nations bordering the northern North Sea in 

 monstrous and dangerous " Krakens " and Octopods, may 

 have had stronger foundation in fact than the sceptical are 

 willing to admit as indeed have many so-called myths. 



Lapwings' Nest with Five Eggs. Whilst looking for 

 plovers' eggs yesterday, 6th April, I found a nest with five eggs. 

 I believe this is very exceptional, is it not? They must, I think, 

 have been laid by the same bird, as I did not find any more eggs, 

 only another nest ready for eggs and several " scrapes." Robert 

 J. YouNGEk, Callander, Perthshire. 



Observations on the Grey Lag Goose. I have read with 

 much interest the notes on the Grey Lag Goose in North Uist by 

 Lieut. Fred. S. Beveridge in the April number, my one regret 

 being that the notes are so short on what to me is a most interesting 

 subject. For example, I should have greatly welcomed further 

 notes on the young non-breeding birds during the summer months, 

 especially as regards their moult. I, in conjunction with Dr C. B. 

 Ticehurst, have quite satisfied myself by dissection and the 

 examination of the oviduct that the female Grey Lag does not 

 breed in its first year, but I am still unable to say whether it breeds 

 in its second summer, for by then all the feathers are adult in 

 colour and shape ; the fact remains, however, that I have examined 

 females shot in mid-winter which were not birds bred in the 



