NOTES 91 



the Gannets called Solan Geese by. the man or " boyes " who 

 brought them from Lord Cranstoun, the clerk, at least so I suppose, 

 entered them under the name which to his ear nearest approached 

 the term Solan Geese. Indeed, the clerk seems to have made a 

 better shot at the words in 1633 than in 1623 — if it was the same 

 clerk. It must be noted that both presents of birds (whatever they 

 were) arrived in August. This, as Mr J. H. Gurney points out, 

 "would be about the time for taking them [Gannets] at the Bass 

 Rock." It is, I think, very unlikely that Lord Cranstoun would 

 take the trouble to send Lord William Howard domestic geese; 

 and, as Mr Gurney again states, "wild geese would hardly have 

 been obtainable so early in the autumn as August" 



I am now able to give references for the spellings of the word 

 Solway quoted by Mr Gurney. These in no case refer to the 

 Solway Firth, but to Solway Moss, the field of the historic battle 

 of 1543. Sollan Mosse and Solanmoss both appear thus spelt, with 

 the arm of the sea spelt Solway Fyrth, in the map entitled "The 

 Stewartrie of Annandail," in Blaeu's Atlas, 1654 (Amsterdam). 

 Solway Moss is described as " originally Solom Moss," in the 

 prospectus of the sale (1910) of portion of the Netherby estate in 

 Cumberland. Whence this spelling was obtained by the compilers 

 of the prospectus I do not know. — Hugh S. Gladstone, Capenoch, 

 Thornhill. 



Occurrences of Smews in the Forth and Moray Areas 

 and in Shetland. — (1) On 27th January I obtained a female of 

 this uncommon species at Aberlady Bay. It was diving in the 

 estuary, and its gullet contained six small specimens of a Goby 

 (Gob/us minutus). No other birds of this species were noticed. On 

 measurement it was found to be rather smaller than the size given 

 by Howard Saunders for the female, viz., length, 15 inches ; wing, 7 \ 

 inches. The toes were pale greenish grey; webs blackish, with a 

 tinge of olive ; bill lead colour, with terminal portion much lighter. — 

 Kenneth C. Crosbie, Edinburgh. 



(2) During the last week of January Mr Mackintosh, game- 

 keeper on the Dunearn estate at Dava, shot a female Smew. — Alex. 

 Mackenzie, Inverness. 



(3) A female Smew (Mergus albellus) was shot at Bressay, 

 Shetland, on 31st January. — George W. Russell, Lerwick. 



Smews and Red-necked Grebes in the Firth of Forth. — 

 In 1895, when the Little Auks visited the Firth of Forth in consider- 

 able numbers, there was also an influx of Smews {Mergus albelhis) 

 and of Red-necked Grebes (Podicipes griseigend). Very few of 

 either of these birds have been observed since; but with the 



