VOL. VI.] NOTES. 281 



the scale. Then there is the sharp barking alarm-note which 

 can be heard at some considerable distance, and tliis is espe- 

 cially so when an otter appears on the scene and causes the 

 whole herd to give tongue. I only once heard the song in 

 the daytime, and that was on the afternoon before the terrific 

 storm which swept over the whole of the Western Isles in 

 February, 1901. H. W. Robinson. 



CURLEW-SANDPIPER IN SCOTLAND IN WINTER. 



On December 13th, 1912, my brother shot a Curlew-Sandpij)er 

 {Erolia ferruginea) at Cairness, Aberdeenshire. I saw the 

 })ird half an hour after it was dead, and was able to identify 

 it. My brother thought it was a Dunlin, but I directly 

 noticed the white rump and tail-coverts, and the slightly 

 longer and more curved bill, being well acquainted with 

 Curlew-Sandpipers, having kept them as pets in my smoking- 

 room. Unfortimately the bird's breast and head were 

 damaged by the shot, so that I did not consider it a good 

 enough specimen to preserve (I did not at the time 

 know how rare this species is in the British Isles during the 

 ■winter) . 



The bird was on the edge of a small sheet of water sur- 

 rounded by rushes, about two hundred j^ards inland among 

 the sand-hills, and was in good condition. H. Wormald. 



[So far as we know there is only one previous record of the 

 occurrence of this species in December in the British Isles, 

 viz. at Lough Kiltooris, co. Donegal, Ireland, on December 

 26th, 1892.— Eds.] 



PURPLE SANDPIPER IN SUSSEX. 



On December 27th, 1912, whilst shooting at Pett, Sussex, I 

 noticed an example of the Purple Sandpiper {Erolia mariiima) 

 wading in the shallow water at the edge of the canal. It 

 was quite tame, and allowed me to approach within a few 

 feet, when it flew across to the other side and was walking 

 in the mud when, I regret to say, one of the party shot it. 

 Not having seen the bird since, I am imable to state its sex. 



H. W. Ford-Lindsay. 



POMATORHINE SKUA IN STAFFORDSHIRE. 



It is seldom that the Pomatorhine Skua {Stercorarius poma- 

 rinus) comes so far inland as Staffordshire, and the only 

 records we had were a rather doubtful reference to this 

 species in Sir Oswald Mosley's Natural History of Tuthury 

 (p. 58), and one recorded by Mr. R. W. Chase as shot at 



