172 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



saw one old and one young Grebe on the same loch on 30th 

 June 1886. He could not get a distinct view of the bird, 

 but he was satisfied it was either the Sclavonian or the Eared 

 Grebe. Mr. John Munro, who has annually seen and 

 scrutinised the birds during the past twenty-one years, and 

 has compared his impressions of them with the pictures of 

 the several species of Grebe from Mr. Dresser's ' Birds of 

 Europe ' and other works, believes that these birds nesting 

 in Gairloch are Sclavonian Grebes." 



Since this was written, however, Mr. Dixon and I have 

 been able to examine the birds at close quarters under 

 exceptional circumstances of calm water and bright light, and 

 have conclusively ascertained that, although they have an ap- 

 pearance of considerable size, — possibly from an ocular de- 

 ception due to the dearth of herbage and absence of other 

 waterfowl for comparison, — they are undoubtedly Little 

 Grebes. We have now visited the loch at intervals during 

 the breeding season for three years in succession, and have 

 constantly seen both male and female, with and without field- 

 glasses : on two occasions I have been within twenty yards 

 of one of the pair as it rose to the surface, while Mr. Dixon 

 has also more than once had a clear view. 



Finally, we have procured eggs from the nest, placed 

 exactly where Mr. Booth originally saw it, in one of the two 

 solitary patches of sedge (Carex ampidlacea) on the loch ; 

 they are indisputably those of the Little Grebe {P . fluviatilis). 



LOCHINVER AS A LOCALITY FOR LEPI- 



DOPTERA. 



By Wilfrid W. O. Beveridge, M.B. (Edinburgh), 

 Surgeon-Captain, Medical Staff. 



There are now few localities in our Islands, however 

 inaccessible, which at one period or another have not been 

 visited by those in search of lepidoptera. The far-reaching 

 strides of civilisation, necessitating the formation of towns, 

 the need of drainage, and the removal of forests and under- 



