264 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Crossbill in North Uist. — I heard from my brother Mr G. 

 Beveridge, who had been spending a few weeks' furlough in North 

 Uist, that on the nth June 1916 he had the fortune to find near 

 Scolpaig a fine male Crossbill {Loxia curvirostra). The bird, which 

 was in excellent condition, is now being preserved by Small & Son 

 of Edinburgh. The Crossbill seems of uncertain occurrence in the 

 outer islands, and with the exception of the above I have never seen 

 a specimen in the flesh from North Uist. — Fred S. Beveridge, 

 3rd Batt., The Royal Scots, Glencorse. [This bird belongs to the 

 Continental race. — Eds.] 



Lesser Whitethroat in Kirkcudbrightshire. — From 4th 

 to 8th June 191 6, inclusive, I had under close observation, at 

 Kirkclaugh, the residence of Mr King-Webster, on the coast about 

 midway between Creetown and Gatehouse-of-Fleet, a Lesser 

 Whitethroat {Sylvia airriica) which was in full song in the trees 

 round about the house. I have no doubt that it was breeding there, 

 although I failed to locate the nest, and I state this with the 

 greater confidence, as about the same time I had discovered 

 at least three pairs of the birds nesting in North and South Tynedale, 

 in Northumberland and Cumberland. In all those stations (fuller 

 details of which are given in the current number of the Vasculuni) 

 the Lesser Whitethroat was previously unknown, and in two of them 

 the young were duly i eared and left the nests on i8th June. Many 

 of our summer visitors have been so scarce this season (some 

 of them entirely absent) that it is the more interesting to find 

 S. curntca in such evidence. I may add that I was at Kirkclaugh 

 in the same week last year, and have no hesitation in saying that 

 there was certainly no Lesser Whitethroat there then. — George 

 BoLAM, Alston. 



Pied Wagtails' curious nest at Largo. — A pair of Pied 

 Wagtails {Motacilla alba lugubris) built a nest, this year, as they 

 have done for several years previously, in one of the tubs containing 

 New Zealand flax on the terrace at Lahill. The young hatched 

 about 8th June, and for a week thereafter, we had cold, strong, 

 northerly winds, and evidently as a protection against these, the 

 birds built a sheltering rampart on the north side of the nest. This 

 rampart consisted of hair and fluff, and stood about two inches 

 higher than the original edge of the nest. — Evelvn V. Baxter and 

 Leonora J. Rintoul, Largo. 



Great Crested Grebes at Kilconquhar Loch. — In view of 

 the recent spread, in Scotland, of the Great Crested Grebe {Colymbus 



