278 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



attending the value of newspaper paragraphs, especially when 

 specimens are only seen. I have myself, on more than one occasion, 

 been told by country people living near estuaries in various parts 

 of Scotland, of large White Herons having made their appearance 

 on the mud-flats at low tide. These of course may have been 

 albinoes of the common heron, or storks, or spoon-bills the name 

 ' heron ' being applied indiscriminately by such informants to any 

 wader above an average size. 



THE LITTLE BITTERN. 

 BOTAURUS MINUTUS. 



IN the transactions of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh 

 mention is made of a Little Bittern having been shot in the Tyne 

 estuary in 1836, and exhibited at one of the society's meetings, 

 by Sir Patrick Walker. Since that time no other Scottish 

 specimen had occurred until 1866, one having been caught on 

 board a vessel entering the harbour of Aberdeen, on the 21st 

 of October, as I have been informed by Mr G. Sim of that 

 city. Mr Angus, in referring to this specimen in one of his 

 letters, states that a second Aberdeenshire specimen of this 

 rare British bird was shot by Mr A. Bowie, on the 28th May, 

 1868, at the junction of the Don and the Ury below Keith Hall, 

 the residence of the Earl of Kintore. "This bird," writes Mr 

 Angus, " which is now in my collection, was in the water when 

 observed, and on being disturbed, alighted on the branch of a 

 tree, along which it ran with great speed. It flew like a grey 

 heron, but with a quicker motion of its wings. The specimen is 

 an adult female, deep in the moult, incubation having almost bared 

 the lowest parts of the feathers. The stomach contained a solitary 

 minnow." A third specimen killed in this county has been noti- 

 fied to me by the same gentleman: "An immature male was 

 shot on the marsh, near Fintry House, on the 23d September, 

 1868. Its manner of flight is described as resembling that of a 

 heron; the stomach, which is remarkably large, contained small 

 worms, a stickleback, and the legs of a common frog. The bird 

 was sent by Sir William Forbes, Bart., to Mr Mitchell, for pre- 

 servation, and has been added to that gentleman's valuable 

 collection." 



