NOTES 



67 



NOTES. 



Bottlenose and Lesser Pin-Whales in the Moray Firth. 



Three adult male Bottlenose Whales {Hyperoodon rostra/us) were 

 stranded in the Moray Firth in July 191 1. Two had their heads 

 badly battered by their rivals, and hundreds of cuttlefish beaks were 

 in the stomach of one I examined. A Lesser Fin-Whale or Rorqual 

 (Balcenoptera rostratd) was stranded two miles west of Lossiemouth 

 last October. These two species of cetacean may now be considered 

 common species on our coasts. William Taylor, Lhanbryde. 



Barred "Warblers and other Birds in Shetland. It may 



be of interest to place on record the occurrence of three examples 

 of the Barred Warbler near Lerwick last autumn. They were 

 all found among a few trees at Mountfield, a place on the west 

 boundary of the town. They were very wild and exceedingly 

 difficult to approach. The first, a bird of the year, appeared on 

 3rd September ; the second, an adult, on the 9th ; and the third, 

 another bird of the year, on the 16th. During the same season I 

 saw a Red-backed Shrike on 26th August ; a Lesser Whitethroat on 

 2nd October; a Black Redstart on 12th October, and another 

 on 9th November ; and a Chiff-chaff on 6th November. Also 

 numbers of Blackcaps, Goldcrests, Bramblings, etc. I saw two 

 Pochards on Clickamin Loch on 9th February this year. Theo. 

 Kay, Lerwick. 



Tree Sparrows in East Ross. With reference to Miss 

 Jackson's note in the February number (p. 43), it may be of 

 interest to give the following additional information: In 1904 

 two birds, a male and a female, were sent to me by Mr C. Collier. 

 They were caught in East Ross-shire on 24th December in a net 

 along with House Sparrows. Along with the birds came the 

 statement, " and probably hybrids are reported from the same 

 place." It appears probable, therefore, that they may have bred 

 at this locality at least since 1904, and perhaps longer. Such, at 

 all events, was Mr Collier's impression in the correspondence I have 

 previously received. J. A. Harvie-Brown, Dunipace, Larbert. 



Sparrows nesting in the Foundations of HeroDs' Nests. 



Referring to Miss Jackson's note in the February number, the 



