136 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



Hcematoims ostralegus. — Eesident, nesting on low islands, 

 less frequently on precipitous stacks. I have only once 

 ioviiidifour eggs in a clutch in Skye, i.e., in May 1883, on a 

 Skinidin Island. 



When visiting the Ascribs with Captain Macdonald, at the 

 end of June 1884, we captured some Oyster Catchers, which 

 were loth to run, insisting on attempting to conceal them- 

 selves by squatting in the rough herbage. We placed one 

 of them in a luncheon basket. At first we fed it on limpets, 

 and when these ran short, earthworms were tried. At first 

 it declined to pick up, but hunger on the third day induced 

 it to feed itself; at breakfast that day he bolted eight worms 

 (10 A.M.) ; at 2 P.M., eleven; at 7.30 p.m., thirteen; sometimes 

 he seized two at once, and the more the worm objected, the 

 keener grew ostralegus to try his flavour. After supper that 

 evening, he plunged incontinently into a box of Puffin 

 eggs, thence dropping on to the floor. There arrived, the 

 grate suggested itself as a cave of Adullam, but he so often 

 came to grief over the fire-irons, that he besjan to dislike 

 that part of the room. " As I write," says my diary, " I hear 

 his low reproachful whistle." 



Phalaropus hyperhoreus. — Casual visitant. Mr E. Gray 

 states that he obtained a specimen in breeding dress from 

 Skye, and that Captain Cameron had obtained a specimen 

 in winter. Captain Cameron indicated to me a possible 

 nesting place, but I failed to find it there. 



Scolopax rusticula. — Winter visitant, but a few Woodcock 

 may nestle at Dunvegan, since I learn from Mr D. Lees that 

 the Woodcock breeds in the Broadford district. Baron Gudin 

 killed a large number on the Drynoch shootings in 1883, but 

 Kaasay is the great resort of the species on the Skye coast. 



Gallinago major. — Casual visitant ? Dr Maclean, of Orbost, 

 kindly informed me that he saw fifteen in Skye in the autumn 

 of 1882, and that he shot seven of theci on Orbost ground 

 {Zool., 1883, p. 360). Dr Maclean was quite satisfied as to 

 their identity, and told me he knew the species well. 

 Sportsmen, however, do confuse large specimens of the 

 Common Snipe with the Solitary, and I retain it with some 

 doubt in the present list on Dr Maclean's authority. 



