NOTES 4 i 



December last. I saw a notice of "a strange fish," with description 

 and measurements, and, after thinking over it, I came to the conclu- 

 sion that in spite of its white colour it must be a Risso's Dolphin. 

 I started for Ross-shire on 23rd December, and secured the head 

 and one complete arm. The beast was 10A ft. long; pectoral fin, 

 26 in. long and 8 1 . in. broad at its broadest part; dorsal fin, 18 in. 

 high, and the tail flukes 2\ ft. across. It was creamy white all 



over; no trace of grey or slate colour. Teeth , somewhat 



33 

 worn, but two pits behind the teeth covered with the gum showed 



that the teeth had formerly been -. I have cleaned the skull 



44 

 of this specimen and find no trace of teeth in the upper jaw, and 



though deep pits appear in the gum for the reception of the lower 

 teeth, there is hardly any impression made by them in the bones of 

 the upper jaw. The upper lip projected nearly 2 in. over the under 

 jaw, giving the snout a very pig-like appearance. The skull is 

 heavy when compared with the White-beaked Dolphin and Tursiops. 

 The basal length of skull is 20 in., greatest breadth, 14 A in., and 

 greatest height, 10 in. The condyles of the skull moved freely 

 on the atlas. There was no trace of ankylosis, as in the skull 

 described by the late Dr Traquair some years ago. The tympanic 

 bone is the same length, but broader than the one figured in Sir 

 Wm. Turner's catalogue. The length of the arm and forearm is 8 

 in., and that of the manus with carpus, 18 in. This flipper is less 

 curved than the one figured by Flower. There is nothing peculiar 

 about the beast, except its entire yellowish-white colour. It would 

 be rash to say that this means anything more than age or individual 

 variation. I found no cuttlefish beaks in the stomach or bowels, 

 only small pieces of fish bones and minute fragments of shells 

 of crabs, urchins, etc. There was no embryo. This is the 

 first Grampus that I have seen in the flesh, and I suppose it is 

 the first recorded from the Moray Firth. - - William Taylor, 

 Lhanbryde. 



Male Pied Flycatcher at last years nesting site. I was 



very much interested in Mr Bonar's note on the above in the 

 Scottish Naturalist, as I had a similar experience last spring. The 

 Pied Flycatcher is rare in this district, and I had never seen one in 

 life until 19th May 191 1; but I had no difficulty in identifying the 

 bird I then saw as a cock of this species. I returned next day and 

 saw the hen, and was convinced that the pair had a nest near. 

 I soon noticed that they pursued all birds within a certain area, 

 14 F 



