NOTES. 



281 



saw three, and on August 14th the Rev. B. D. ApHn and I saw 

 two females. Of course I cannot say if they nested, but I 

 may mention that the lake is full of pike, and very few ducks 

 rear many young ones. On all three dates I also saw a pair of 

 Pochards, and one sohtary male Goosander. Even the female 

 Scaup, when once known, cannot be mistaken. It is much 

 coarser about the head and bill than the Tufted, and shows 

 the white, or pale yellow, face very distinctly. J. Whitaker. 



AMPUTATION OF LAPWING'S TOES BY MEANS OF 



WOOL. 

 A FRIEND of mine shot a Lapwing (in good condition) on 

 September 28th in Wigtownshire, N.B., which, when we picked 

 it up, was found to have the following condition of its feet : — 

 Right foot — Amputation of inner two digits at the metatarso- 

 phalangeal joints. Left foot — Amputation of internal digit 

 at metatarso-phalangeal joints, and a tight constriction, 

 caused by sheep's wool, round the tarsus, just distal to the 



hallux, the wool cutting deeply into the tarsus, especially 

 on the outer side, and causing an everted edge to the furrow, 

 similar to that observed on the remaining proximal end of 

 the right foot. I am indebted to Mr. P. H. Bahr for kindly 

 drawing the condition for me. Henry B. Elton. 



[A series of legs of the Lapwing affected in the same way 

 as described above was shown by Dr. C. B. Ticeharst at the 

 meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club held on October 

 19th, 1904 (c/. Bull. B.O.G., XV., p. 12). These specimens 

 were from birds shot on Romney Marsh, and of eight Lapwings 

 shot, four were thus affected. A similar case is recorded of a 

 bird shot in co. Armagh (c/. A. R. Nichols, Irish Nat., 1905, 

 p. 32).— H. F. W.] 



