86 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xm. 



number of ships laden with grain explains the origin of the 

 food. 



Mr. L. A. Curtis Edwards, to whom I recently mentioned 

 the matter, has kindly forsvarded to me the following reference 

 from " Some More Scraps About Birds," by Charles Murray 

 Adamson, 1880-81, p. 187, to an analogous case, as follows : — • 

 " 1852, Feb. I, — Quantities of Scoters in bays at Holy 

 Island. Fishermen said a cargo of grain had been lost 

 and that they were feeding on it. Is this likely ? They 

 rarely seem to feed so near the shore. I am not aware 

 whether Scoters will eat barley, but if Eiders and Scaups 

 will, I do not see why Scoters should not also." 



Mr. Edwards goes on to explain that "The remarks about 

 Eiders and Scaups refer to some birds in captivity which 

 Adamson fed on barley and oats with apparent success." 



The selection exercised by this bird in favour of the new 

 food supply in preference to its more orthodox dietary is 

 noteworthy. James M. Harrison. 



[The late Alfred Crawhall Chapman also refers to the 

 same occurrence in the Zool. 1887, p. 12. A sailing vessel, 

 the Falcon, loaded with grain, was wrecked off Holy Island 

 in September 1851. At first about a dozen Scoters frequented 

 the scene, feeding on the grain, but afterwards many hundreds 

 of these birds, as well as Long-tailed Ducks, were daily to 

 be seen greedily devouring the floating grain as it was washed 

 out of the ship. — F. C. R. Jourdain.] 



TURTLE.DOVE BREEDING IN NORTH LANCASHIRE. 



Records of the Turtle -Dove {Strepiopelia t. hirtur) nesting 

 in north Lancashire are few enough to justify reporting that 

 on June 29th, 1919, I found a nest containing two eggs near 

 Lytham, Lancashire. 



Last year I saw a pair near the same spinney, but did not 

 find the nest. H. J. Moon. 



INTRODUCTION OF RED GROUSE INTO SOMERSET. 



Quite recently I had the pleasure of handling eggs of the 

 Red Grouse {Lagopus scoticus), found in a nest in the heather 

 on Exmoor. Since their introduction into Somerset in 1916 

 by Sir Edward Mountain, the birds have greatly increased, 

 the laying seasons of 1918 and 191 9 both proving very 

 favourable. In one particular locality they are believed 

 to be more plentiful now than the Blackcock {Lynirus t. 

 hruannicus). Stanley Lewis. 



