154 BRITISH BIRDS. 



as many as eighty-four pra^^'ns {Leander serratus) ; all were 

 quite pink, as though they had been subjected to heat by 

 boiling. The bird was shot on marshes bordering the sea- 

 shore. 



It appears to be generally believed that praA\Tis are distinct 

 from the common " pink shrimp," but as a matter of fact the 

 former are only large specimens. The common brown shrimp 

 belongs to a distinct family, the Crangonidce, and, unlike most 

 Crustacea, does not turn pink when cooked. F. W. Frohawk. 



COMMON SCOTER BREEDING IN IRELAND. 



A PAIR of Common Scoters {(Edemia nigra) have again nested 

 on the lough in Ireland, which they have frequented during 

 the nesting seasons since 1904 inclusive (c/. Vol. II., p. 86, 

 and III., p. 197). I saw a pair for the first time in 1910 on 

 April 29th, and on May 24th a male alone off the north shore 

 of an island. He seemed restless, but apparently unwilling 

 to rise. Shortly after I landed on the island a female Scoter 

 rose, and, on reaching the spot, I found one egg deposited on 

 some dry grass. The site was about twenty yards from the 

 water, somewhat open at this time to the east, but with cover 

 from view in other directions and from above. (All the 

 Scoters' nests on this lough that I have seen — five in number — 

 have had cover from view from above.) On visiting the nest 

 on June 5th there were eight eggs, cold, and covered with 

 dry grass. My man wrote me under date July 4th : "I 

 visited the nest on Sunday, July 3rd. Wlien I was passing the 

 island, the duck came on to the water off the nest, so I went 

 and looked at it. The eight young ones were sitting in the 

 nest. This was about 4 o'clock, and they were not quite dry, 

 so that they could not have been long hatched out. I went 

 away quietly from the place." Neither my man nor I have 

 seen the old or young birds since July 3rd. 



Herbert Trevelyan. 



VELVET SCOTERS IN CAITHNESS IN SUMMER. 



On July 11th, 1910, in company with a friend, while boating 

 off the Caithness coast, I observed four male Velvet Scoters 

 {(Edemia fusca) flying northward, at no great distance above 

 the water. We were quite near enough to observe the red 

 legs and orange-tinted bills, and the conspicuous white patches 

 on the wings were very noticeable. 



My friend, who is a resident of Dunbeath, was much surprised 

 as he has seldom seen these birds, even in wiater, in that 

 locality. 



