NOTES 93 



Ring Ouzel in Outer Hebrides. Last week I received a 

 ? Ring Ouzel from Shillay Lighthouse, Monach. The bird, having 

 crashed against the lantern, was dispatched to me by the keeper, in 

 an air-tight jar. Unfortunately this jar became broken in transit, 

 and the specimen arrived in a hopeless condition. The following 

 note accompanied the package " 14th April 1920, Ring Ouzel 

 killed at lantern 10.26 p.m. Wind S.W. Light. Sky overcast. 

 Barometer 29.00." 



From a letter following, the keeper tells me that on the next 

 day (15th April), at 6.30 a.m., he noticed two birds of the same 

 species upon the island. These he had under observation for about 

 an hour, after which he lost sight of them. Fred, S. Beveridge, 

 St Leonard's Hill, Dunfermline. 



Great Spotted Woodpecker in Argyll. It may be of 



interest to record the fact that I have seen the Great Spotted 

 Woodpecker here on several occasions this spring. I think there 

 is a pair, and I hope they will nest. I have never seen the bird in 

 this part before, and perhaps it is not often found in the west of 

 Scotland. John H. P. Leschallas (Major), Glenfinart, Ardentinny. 

 [This is the second record for the county. A female was 

 trapped in July last year at Minard, some 13 miles south-west of 

 Inveraray {Scot. Nat., 1919, p. 185). Eds.] 



Shoals of Squids in the Firth of Forth. During the last 

 week in January signs of a considerable shoreward migration of 

 Squids in the Firth of Forth became noticeable, for as a result of 

 an easterly gale a number were reported as having been washed 

 up on the shore near Aberlady. Either the migration of the 

 Squids thereafter increased in volume or the increasing violence 

 of the gale played greater havoc with the individuals engaged in 

 egg-laying in the water below tide-mark, for the numbers of Squids 

 thrown up increased vastly in the first week of February, many 

 being alive or newly dead. About this time individuals lined the 

 shore from Portobello to Aberlady, and a writer in the Scotsman 

 slated that not for seven years have so many been seen. The 

 appearance of the Squids on the beach is due to the coincidence of 

 an easterly gale with the breeding time, when the Squids seek 

 the shallower water in order to deposit their masses of eggs on 

 sea-weeds in the laminarian zone. An individual brought from 

 Aberlady to the Royal Scottish Museum by Mr O. H. Wild, and 

 stated by him to be similar to the multitudes on the beach there, 

 was a fine example of the species Ofnmastrephes sagittatus 



