i84 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



tioned in the above note was found by him on the 6th of 

 April at the side of a large marsh at Aberlady. It appeared to him 

 to have been dead about two months, though it was in a fairly 

 perfect state, most of the feathers being intact. — Eds.] 



Gadwall in Aberdeenshire. — As the Gadwall {Ajias strepera) 

 seems to have been only once obtained in " Dee," it may be of 

 interest that we saw two birds of that species in the estuary of the 

 Don at low-tide on ist September 1907. The birds were close to 

 the bank when we first saw them, and we had ample time to note 

 the distinguishing points of their plumage as they swam slowly to 

 midstream. One (if not both) of the birds had the " under tail- 

 coverts spotted black on white " characteristic of the female. — 

 Lewis N. G. Ramsay and A. Landsborough Thomson, Old 

 Aberdeen. 



Pintails Increase in Shetland. — It may be remembered that 

 Mr. T. Henderson of Spiggie found Pintails nesting in the south of 

 Shetland, and retained some young birds he captured at the nesting- 

 place ("Annals S. N. Hist." 1907). Mr. Henderson now writes me 

 regarding an increased number of nesting pairs there. He writes : 

 "There are four or five pairs to be seen. They seem to be 

 increasing." — J. A. Harvie-Brown, Dunipace. 



Protection of the Woodeoek in the S.-W. of Scotland. — May 



I call the attention of the readers of your magazine to the fact that, 

 under their Wild Birds' Protection Order for 1908 to 191 1, the 

 three County Councils of Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and 

 Dumfriesshire have combined in prohibiting the taking or killing of 

 the Woodcock between the first day of February and the first day of 

 October in each year. Their eggs were, of course, already protected. 

 The Woodcock has shown of late years such an increased tendency 

 to nest in the south-west of Scotland, and is such an early breeder, 

 that this extension of " close-time " for the month of February was 

 most called for. As regards the extension from ist August to 

 ist October, it is generally agreed that horne-bred birds migrate 

 from where they are bred before ist October, and I think that in 

 coming to their decision to protect the Woodcock as they have 

 done, the three County Councils have considered the welfare of the 

 bird at the expense of local sportsmen. But they would gladly see 

 the " order " made applicable to every county in Great Britain and 

 Ireland, and if possible to the whole of Europe ! ! ! With similar 

 protection throughout the kingdom there can be no doubt that the 

 numbers of Woodcock would increase proportionately ; and is it too 

 much to hope that the good example now set by Wigtownshire, 

 Kirkcudbrightshire, and Dumfriesshire may be followed generally 

 elsewhere in a similar broad-minded and unselfish manner? — Hugh 

 S. Gladstone, Thornhill, Dumfriesshire. 



