NOTES 211 



A Quail was seen near the same place about fifteen years ago. — 

 T. G. Laidlaw, Duns. 



Pheasants in Shetland. — While I was travelling through the 

 valley of Weisdale lately, I was surprised to observe a pair of 

 Pheasants (Phasianus colchiais)—* male and a female — arise 

 from a heathery moor and fly into a young plantation. Although 

 I have been residing in Shetland for several years, this is the first 

 time I have seen this species of bird in any of the Shetland 

 I s l eSt — Peter Jopp, Gonfirth, Delting, Shetland. 



Herons nesting in the Lewis. — On page 185 of this volume, 

 I gave some particulars of the nesting of two pairs of Herons 

 (Ardea cinerea, L.) near Stornoway in 19 10. This was apparently 

 the only notice of the nesting of the species on the east side of 

 the Lewis, but I have since been informed that a nest was found 

 this season (19 12) on the branches of a tall larch tree growing 

 in a gully in the grounds of Stornoway Castle ; also that a nest was 

 found in the same place five years ago. This year three young 

 birds were successfully reared, two of the five eggs having been 

 taken. Since writing the previous note, I have also gathered some 

 information about the heronry on the west side mentioned in 

 Mr Boyd Watt's list {Ami. Scott. Nat. Hist., 1908, p. 221). It 

 appears that in 1902, Kenneth Macdonald, gamekeeper at Kinresort, 

 found a nest with young in it on a ledge of the Tarsnig Rock at 

 the western end of the Lewis-Harris border; this appears to be 

 the first record of Herons breeding in the island. More birds 

 returned in the following season, and the heronry increased to a 

 fair size during the next few years. In 1910, however, some Ravens 

 took possession of the rock and devoured the Herons' eggs. 

 Since then, there have been no Herons on the Tarsnig, but the 

 birds still nest on other rocks near the Lewis-Harris border. As 

 regards these west-side Herons, my informant is a gamekeeper 

 at Loch Resort, but I am unaware to what extent the facts are 

 already known. It is hardly necessary to say that Herons may be 

 seen in dozens on the shores of the Lewis, but we have hitherto 

 supposed them to nest only on the mainland. — Donald Macdonald, 

 Stornoway. 



Green Sandpiper in Wigtownshire. — About 4 p.m. on the 

 afternoon of 5th August, on Soulseat Loch (Inch), I was lucky 

 enough to flush a pair of Green Sandpipers (THnga ocrophus) at 

 close quarters on the shore of the loch ; they flew due south towards 



