GLEANINGS 71 



GLEANINGS. 



George Bolam publishes a note in the February number of the 

 Zoologist (p. 75), entitled, "The Hedgehog in the Highlands." The 

 following occurrences of this species are of interest : one on the slope of 

 Ben Cruachan, facing the Pass of Brander, in 1877 ; and a dead example, 

 found lying on the roadside between Loch Maree Hotel and Kinlochewe, 

 in Ross-shire, in April 1887. It is also stated that the Hedgehog used 

 to be trapped in Glen Urquhart, Inverness-shire, in numbers, about 

 twenty years ago. 



From The Field of 25th January 1913, p. 181, we learn (in a note 

 signed "A. R. ") that two more Wild Cats have been trapped on the 

 Invercannich sheep ground. They were a pair, the male weighing 

 1 \\ lbs. and the female 2 lbs. less. 



Scottish ornithologists will be interested in a paper by H. F. Witherby 

 and Einar Lonnberg, on " The British Black Grouse," which appears in 

 the February number of British Birds (pp. 270-271). After studying a 

 series of skins, the authors have come to the conclusion that the British 

 Grey Hen differs from the typical Scandinavian bird in the following 

 particulars : In general coloration it is more suffused with rufous-brown ; 

 the white and greyish-white tips of the greater and median wing-coverts 

 and longer scapulars are either wanting or scarcely noticeable ; the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts are suffused with rufous-brown, not vermiculated 

 with grey, and rarely glossed with blue ; breast little marked with grey ; 

 belly barred with rufous-brown and black , under tail-coverts much more 

 suffused with rufous above the white tips ; the black bars on the under 

 tail-coverts narrow ; the white at the base of the secondaries usually 

 less extensive ; and the wing slightly shorter. The authors cannot 

 detect any constant character in the male to differentiate it from the 

 Scandinavian form, though the wing is stated to be generally rather 

 smaller. To the British race is given the name Lyrurus ietrix 

 britan7ncus. 



In the February number of British Birds (p. 281) H. Wormald 

 reports that his brother shot a Curlew Sandpiper at Cairness, in Aberdeen- 

 shire, on 13th December 191 2. This appears to be only the second 

 record of the occurrence of this species in December in the British 

 Isles. The first record was from Ireland. 



The January number of the Entomologist's Record contains (pp. 19- 

 23) an interesting paper by W. E. Sharp, on "The Coleopterist in Tiree." 

 Over 150 species are lecorded from the island, taken by Mr Donisthorpe 

 between 26th April and 2nd May. This list will be exceedingly useful 

 when other islands are similarly investigated, especially those which lie 

 farther away from the mainland, for it will be interesting to trace the 

 migration of many species and determine the limits of their distribution 

 westward. [Coleoptera.] 



