NOTES 263 



NOTES. 



Nesting of the Eider Duck in Tyninghame Woods. 



Mr W. Thomson, the head keeper at Tyninghame, East Lothian, 

 tells me that these birds, which formerly only bred among the 

 bents on the links, have been much harried by rooks, which carry 

 off the eggs whenever the old birds are absent, and for the last 

 three or four years they have therefore taken more and more to 

 nesting in the adjacent woods. This year he estimates that some- 

 thing like eighty nests were in the woods, though there are still a 

 certain number of nests on the links outside. Alice Balfour, 

 Whittingehame. 



Lesser Tern in East Lothian. The keeper at Tyninghame 

 saw one pair of Lesser Terns {Sterna ?ni?mla) constantly flying about 

 in one particular spot on the seashore this year, and he believes 

 they bred, though he did not find the nest. Alice Balfour, 

 Whittingehame. 



[We have seen an egg of the Lesser Tern taken in the locality 

 alluded to above in June 1908. Eds.] 



Large Numbers of the Lesser Launce in Largo Bay. 



When walking along the shore in Largo Bay on 5th July 19 14, we 

 were astonished to see vast numbers of tiny fish strewn along high- 

 water mark. For about a hundred yards along the shore they were 

 piled up several inches deep, and extended altogether for about 

 half a mile. We collected specimens and sent them to the 

 Royal Scottish Museum, where they were identified as the young 

 of the Lesser Launce {Ammodytes tobianus). A great many Black- 

 headed Gulls, lesser numbers of Common, Herring, Lesser 

 Black-backed, and Greater Black-backed Gulls, and a few Kitti- 

 wakes were enjoying this unusual feast : the large majority of all 

 the Gulls, except the Black-headed, were immature. T. K. and J. H. 

 Gaskell, Largo, Fife. 



Convolvulus Hawk Moth in Shetland. A nice specimen 

 of Sphinx convolvuli was taken at the lighthouse shore station on 

 North Unst on 26th August 19 14, and kindly sent us by Mr 

 William Crowe, principal lightkeeper at the Muckle Flugga Light- 

 house. The wind at the time of capture was southerly, with rain 

 and mist. We notice in Mr Evans' interesting article {Scot. Nat., 



