NOTES ;' , _ 237 



Bird Notes from Lauderdale. One of our keepers saw 

 four strange ducks on a mill-pond. He shot two of them, but, 

 unfortunately, I did not have a chance of seeing the dead birds. 

 He gave me a wing, however, which proves them to have been 

 Pintails (Daft la acuta). We have no lochs in Lauderdale, only 

 a few mill-ponds, and these birds are the first of the kind recorded 

 here. The head keeper on the Lauderdale estate sent me a Barn 

 Owl (apparently a male) on Sunday week past. He got it under 

 strange circumstances while fishing after nine o'clock on the 

 Saturday night. The bird passed him on the stream, and he flicked 

 at it with his cast of flies and caught it by one foot, landing it 

 safely. To my great delight, a message came with it saying to be 

 sure and let it away, and not let anyone get it for stuffing. The 

 message was superfluous in itself, but pleasant, as showing a new 

 interest in these birds. They have been with us for two or three 

 years now, after a long absence, not only from Lauderdale but also 

 from the county. It may be interesting to add that I went over in 

 the gloaming to a high stone bridge over one of our streams last night 

 (14th September) and saw a pair of Barn Owls, which have evidently 

 nested in one of the drainage holes opening through the masonry. 

 On 28th August I saw and watched a couple of Green Sandpipers 

 by Lauder. They were beautiful birds and very shy. Wm. 

 McConachie, The Manse, Lauder. 



Icterine Warbler in Orkney. On 10th and nth June, 

 Icterine Warblers (Hippolais icterina), male and female, were 

 killed at the Pentland Skerries, one on each occasion. I sent 

 them to Mr Eagle Clarke, who confirms my identification, and 

 informs me that the species is new to the avifauna of the Orkneys. 

 John Bain, Hoy, Orkney. 



The Spread of the Starling in Scotland. The following 

 records may be taken as supplementing in details Dr Harvie- 

 Brown's interesting account of the increase and distribution of the 

 Starling in Scotland, published in the Annals of Scottish Natural 

 History for 1895. In that paper no definite record is given for the 

 appearance of the Starling in the Easter Ross district. Mr Thomson, 

 harbourmaster at Portmahomack, in that region of the Moray 

 area, has informed me that in the year 1865, while he was a 



