122 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



Professor Newton's opinion, those of a water-hen ; the pair of 

 birds sent to the Zoological Gardens from Tentsmuir in 

 August, and announced in the Scottish Naturalist as young 

 ones, are not regarded as such by Dr Sclater, the Society's 

 Secretary {in litt. to Mr Eagle Clarke, 1st February) ; and 

 the three sent in September to Mr Harvie-Brown from 

 the St Fergus colony, in the hope that they were young 

 birds, were unquestionably adult females, passing through 

 the moult. Mr Harvie-Brown informs me, however, that 

 he has received evidence as to a pair having hatched 

 young in the north of Scotland, so strong that Professor 

 Newton is disposed to accept it. For the facts of this case 

 we must be content to await the publication of the report 

 on the recent Sand-grouse irruption, which the Professor 

 has undertaken to prepare for the Fbis. 



During late Summer and Autumn the birds were still 

 fairly plentiful, though much less generally distributed, 

 having for the most part congregated into large flocks or 

 packs. By the beginning of winter their numbers appear to 

 have been greatly reduced, but where they had gone to I am 

 not prepared to hazard an opinion. Some have undoubtedly 

 wintered in the country, and are still with us ; and it is to be 

 hoped that the Act recently passed by Parliament for their 

 protection will prove an efficient instrument to that end. 



II. Numbers and Mortality. — Any estimate of the numbers 

 that entered Scotland must, from the very nature of the case, 

 be to a great extent of an arbitrary character. After having 

 carefully analysed the list of occurrences, and made allowance 

 for double records and other elements of uncertainty, I have 

 come to the conclusion, that the number which reached 

 Scotland cannot have been less than from 1500 to 2000. 

 In the Forth district alone, fully 400 have, from first to last, 

 been seen, but when double records are allowed for, I scarcely 

 think we can claim for it more than from 200 to 250 of the 

 direct arrivals. As far as I can learn, the Moray Firth district 

 received by far the largest portion of the immigrants. 



The list of killed and wounded is regrettably large. An 

 analysis of the records I have submitted gives a total of 

 about 150, but the actual number destroyed must have con- 



