NOTES. 29 



male. The keeper by whom it was shot, said that it had a 

 bare spot on its breast, but there is no real evidence of its 

 having nested in the locality. 



WiGEON Breeding in Roxburghshire. — Mr. C. G. Black- 

 wood records {Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1911, p. 117) the finding 

 of a nest with eight eggs of Mareca penelope on May 7th, 1910, 

 in some long heather near a small loch in the " higher moor- 

 lands " of Roxburghshire. Besides putting the duck off the 

 nest, he saw three or four drake Wigeon on the loch on the 

 same day. Mr. W. Evans has proved the breeding of Wigeon 

 in south-east Scotland in 1910 (c/. Vol. IV., p. 256), and Mr. 

 Abel Chapman has suspected them of breeding near Yetholm 

 (c/. Vol. II., p. 55). 



Albino Wood-Pigeons. — Mr. R. H. W. Leach writes to us as 

 follows : — " When in a bird-stuff er's shop (Macpherson's 

 Sports Emporium) at Inverness, I saw a perfect albino Wood- 

 Pigeon {Columba palumhus), shot on Lord Cawdor's estate 

 by one of the keepers. It was stated to be a male, and in 

 good condition. It was stuffed. As albino Wood-Pigeons 

 seem so scarce, I thought this worth recording." 



Two are mentioned by Mr. J. H. Gurney to have been 

 shot in Norfolk in 1910 {Zool, 1911, p. 171), and a search of 

 the county avifaunas would probably yield a fair number of 

 records. 



Common Gull Breeding on the Farne Islands. — 

 Mr. H. B. Booth records in the Naturalist (1911, p. 179) that 

 on July 11th, 1910, he noticed a Common Gull {Larus canus) 

 flying round over the " Inner Wldeopens," and came to the 

 conclusion that the bird had young ones, but he was unable 

 to make certain. He pointed out the bird to the watcher, 

 and was later informed by Mr. H. A. Pajaiter that he and both 

 of the Avatchers had subsequently often seen the two old 

 Common Gulls with three young ones. 



Mr. R. Fortune wTites {loc. cit.) in the same connexion that 

 he identified a pair of Common Gulls breeding on the " Outer 

 Wideopens " about twenty-five years ago, and mentioned the 

 occurrence to the late John Hancock, who, he beheves, took 

 one or more of the eggs. Howard Saunders did not know of 

 a breeding-place of the Common Gull south of the border. 



We much regret to have to announce that Mr. Robert 

 Service, the well-known naturalist of the Solway, died at his 

 home in Dumfries, on May 8th last. In our next number 

 we hope to publish a memoir of Mr. Service, by an ornith- 

 ologist who was intimately acquainted with his work. 



