i64 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



the smaller of the two, presumably the female, picked it up 

 and swallowed it, and afterwards put up her beak, open, and the 

 male fed her with food which he regurgitated." There, too, 

 an immature Common Gull, with a small fish, hovered some 

 six feet over the water and dropped the fish, swooped down 

 again and seized it ; it did this about half a dozen times, then, 

 other Gulls appearing, swallowed its prey. A Herring-gull 

 at Corsemalzie was mobbed by a flock of Lapwings on i6th 

 March. From Hoy High, under date of 12th April, our 

 correspondent reports considerable numbers of Glaucous and 

 Iceland Gulls ; these, he says, follow the plough with the other 

 Gulls. " The Glaucous does not eat worms, but goes for the 

 grubs in the seaweed manure; the Iceland, on the other 

 hand, eats worms like the other Gulls." In winter, at Corse- 

 malzie, the Pheasants not only ate off the turnip tops in the 

 garden, but devoured cabbages, brussels - sprouts, beetroot, 

 parsnips, parsley, and carnations wholesale, unless wired 

 over. Interesting observations on birds killed by oil on the 

 sea in Forth and Tay appeared in the Scottish Naturalist, 

 191 5, 282: from these it will be seen that many birds lost 

 their lives from their feathers becoming so clogged with oil 

 that they were unable to dive or fly, and therefore starved. 

 The principal victims were Guillemots, but a good many 

 Eider, Razorbills and Puffins were also found dead or dying. 

 Notes have also been published on the behaviour of birds 

 with aeroplanes ; in every case cited, with one exception, 

 the birds showed fear and flew away from the aeroplane — in 

 the exceptional case they rose up and pursued it (i. 1916, 

 39 and 66). In autumn 191 5 a passing aircraft caused the 

 great flocks of Wood - pigeons frequenting Barnbarroch, 

 Wigtownshire, and feeding on the beech-mast, to fly off 

 in all directions ; they did not return for several days. 



