240 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



There is no lining of feathers, but the interior is warmly felted with 

 wool. Curiously enough, the last egg laid, although similar in shape 

 and markings, is considerably larger than the others.— T. M'Gregor 

 Tait, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 



Little Gull near Glasgow.— On i6th, i8th, 19th, 20th, and 

 2ist May 1916, an immature Little Gull {Larus minuhis) was seen 

 by my friend, Mr D. Macdonald, on a small marsh on the right 

 bank of the Kelvin, near Summerston ; and, in his company, I had 

 the pleasure of observing it on the last two of these dates. Its 

 flight was desultory, as Seebohm has remarked. Occasionally it 

 dipped down to the water, and, while its wings were raised nearly 

 vertically, picked something from the surface ; but usually it caught 

 its prey in the air, apparently sharing the same fare as the Swallows 

 and Sand-martins, which were always present in varying numbers. 

 In its pursuit the Little Gull was almost as tireless as the Hirundines. 

 I did not see it rest at all, although Mr Macdonald noticed it settle 

 once or twice on a grassy spit. So far as I know, there are only 

 three previous records of the Little Gull for "Clyde." The present 

 one applies to Lanarkshire as well as to Dumbartonshire ; the river 

 Kelvin forming the county boundary, which our bird, in its circuit, 

 crossed and recrossed. — John Robertson, Cathcart, Glasgow. 



Goldfinches in Mid-Lothian.— On the 22nd April (1916) I, in 

 company with Messrs Hugh Cleland and William Scott, Edinburgh, 

 had the pleasure of observing a pair of Goldfinches {Carduelis 

 elegans) near Rosebery, Mid-Lothian. 1 first of all noticed one 

 bird sitting on a beech tree at the roadside. After I had viewed it 

 through my field-glasses for a time, it flew away and was joined by 

 its mate, which had evidently been sitting close at hand unobserved. 

 — Bruce Campbell, Edinburgh. 



Early Appearance of Swift. — The first Swift {Cypselus apus) 

 arrived at Duddingston this year on 24th April ; I watched it for a 

 little time careering round the Kirk tower : the following day there 

 were two, and immediately thereafter a few more have come. In 

 my notes dating back to i88t, I have only one other record for the 

 Swift in April. I saw Hirundo rustica for the first time on the 27th 

 April. The Willow-warbler was in song in my garden on the 17th 

 April. I had seen one previously this year near Beaulieu, Hamp- 

 shire, on the 4th April. — William Serle, Duddingston. 



