426 BRITISH BIRDS. 



SLAVONIAN GREBE AND BLACK-NECKED GREBE 

 IN HERTFORDSHIRE. 



On the 14th, and again on the 21st of March, I watched a 

 Slavonian Grebe {Podicipes auritus) on Wilstone Reservoir, near 

 Tring. The bird was in winter plumage, but the approaching 

 change into breeding dress was heralded by a rufous tinge on 

 the feathers of the flanks. On April 18th there was a Black- 

 necked Grebe {Podicipes nigricollis) in fuU summer plumage 

 on the same water. The slender, sHghtly recurved bill of this 

 bird was in striking contrast with the thick, straight bill of 

 the Slavonian Grebe. 



Chas. Oldham. 



Early Arrival of the Swift in Ireland. — Mr. Nevin 

 H. Foster writes to us from Hillsborough, co. Down, Ireland, 

 that he saw a Swift {Cypselus apus) on April 20th — a very 

 early date for the appearance of the bird in that locality. 



Roller in Cumberland. — An adult Coracias garrulus is 

 recorded as having been shot by a keeper at Knorren, near 

 Brampton, on June 17th, 1907 (L. E. Hope, Zooh, 1909, p. 156). 



Long-eared Owl in Shetland. — Three Asio otus were seen 

 at Hayfield, near Ler\dck, in February, 1909 (J. S. Tulloch, 

 A7in. S.N.H., 1909, p. 115). 



Little Owl in Nottinghamshire. — An example of Athene 

 7wctua is recorded at Widmerpool on December 10th, 1907, 

 and another near Clifton Grove on March 14th, 1908 (J. W. 

 Carr, ZooL, 1909, p. 113). 



Gadwalls in Fifeshire and Orkney. — A pair of Anas 

 strepera was seen and one obtained on January 25th, 1909, 

 on Morton Loch, near Tayport, and on the 29th a flock of 

 thirty, of \^hich three were shot and proved to be of this 

 species, appeared on the same loch (W. Berry, Ann. S.N.H., 

 1909, p. 116; c/. also supra, p. 348). An adult drake was 

 shot out of a pack of Wigeon on March 8th, 1904, on Loch 

 Stenness. Two days afterwards a female was seen on the 

 same loch, and an adult male was seen on December 14th, 

 1906 (H. W. Robinson, loc. cit). , 



Stock-Dove nesting in Lanarkshire. — In connection 

 with the spread of the Stock-Dove {Columba oenas) as a breeding 

 species in Scotland it is interesting to note that it "is now 

 becoming quite established as a breeding species " in the 

 Blantyre district of the Clyde Valley (W. Stewart, Anii. S.N.H., 

 1909, p. 115). 



