14 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



its identification was not a difficult matter, its white forehead 

 and crown and whitish freckled cheeks especially catching 

 the eye, while the white on the wing was much more 

 conspicuous than in the Common Wigeon. The flock rose 

 and flew back towards the Eden, thus we had an excellent 

 view of it both in the water and in flight. This is the 

 first record of the occurrence of the American Wigeon in 

 the Tay Area. 



The occurrence of this American species within so short 

 a period on both the east and west of Scotland naturally 

 leads one to wonder as to the reason for the appearance 

 of these rare visitors. The breeding places of the American 

 Wigeon lie in North America from Alaska eastward to 

 Hudson Bay and southward to Utah. Colorado, and 

 Wisconsin (its reported breeding in Iceland has not been 

 confirmed), while it winters south to Lower California, the 

 West Indies, and Costa Rica. The weather conditions which 

 prevailed for some time before the appearance of these birds 

 were such as one would expect to coincide with the arrival 

 of American stragglers on our shores. High north-westerly 

 and westerly winds swept the Atlantic, and November was 

 the coldest that has been known for many years. These 

 conditions were such as might easily divert even the 

 strongest flying Duck from its usual line of flight, and we 

 would suggest that here we have the clue to the appearance 

 of these stragglers. 



Mountain Hare on the Shore in Summer. On 26th May 

 1919, after a fortnight of unusually hot, sunny weather, Mr Robert 

 Wilson and I saw a Mountain Hare, not yet in its full summer coat, 

 on the shingle near Ascog Bay, at the entrance to Loch Fyne. 

 This species is numerous on the hills a mile or two farther north. 

 John Robertson, Glasgow. 



Halyzia 16-guttata, L., in Dumbartonshire. With 

 reference to Mr Anderson Fergusson's note in the previous number 

 of this magazine (1919, p. 201), I have a specimen of this "lady- 

 bird " which I found on a fence beside some birches at Peaton, 

 on the Dumbartonshire side of Loch Long, on 4th October 191 7. 

 William Evans, Edinburgh. 



