68 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



NOTES. 



Northern Bullfinch in Caithness. — -A fine female specimen 

 of the Northern Bullfinch {Fyrrhiiia pyrrhula) was shot at 

 Shurrery, in the parish of Reay, early in January, and has been 

 presented to Wick Museum by Mr Ronald M'Nicol, gamekeeper, 

 of Ackergill. Mr M'Nicol informs me that he has seen Bullfinches 

 on different occasions at Shurrery, where there is a small plantation, 

 and that he mounted a pair that was shot there in October 1910, 

 and another pair was seen after at the same place. — George Bain, 

 Carnegie Library, Wick. 



Great Grey Shrike in East Ross-shire. — On 23rd 

 December, during a spell of frosty weather, I saw a Great Grey 

 Shrike {Lanius excubitor) here. It was wild and restless. — 

 Annie C. Jackson, Swordale. 



[Another example of this species was recorded in a local paper 

 from Pitlochry, in the beginning of February. — Eds.] 



Black-tailed Godwit in Caithness. — On 26th May 1914 

 I had the pleasure of observing a Black-tailed Godwit {Littiosa 

 li7nosd) in breeding plumage feeding by the edge of a fresh-water 

 loch near the east coast of Caithness. When first seen it was 

 alone, but was subsequently joined by a couple of Redshanks. 

 Apparently this constitutes a first record of the species for this 

 county and a second record for the area, if the specimen referred 

 to in a Fauna of Sutherland and Caithness (p. 225), which was 

 shot near Helmsdale in 1881, be admitted. — Annie C. Jackson, 

 Swordale. 



Gulls and Searchlights. — On several occasions lately when 

 near some of the powerful searchlights which nightly illumine 

 the waters of the Firth of Forth, we have been interested in 

 observing the behaviour of the Gulls. Many Black-headed and 

 lesser numbers of Herring Gulls were feeding in the bright rays, 

 dipping down on to the water and rising again, as one often sees 

 them doing by daylight. They did not seem to be the least 

 dazzled by the strong light, and did not behave at all as birds 

 do when attracted to a lighthouse lantern, but merely used the 

 searchlight as a substitute for daylight in order to enable them 

 to obtain food. — Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul and Evelyn V. 

 Baxter. 



