VOL. VIII.] NOTES. 125 



Ospreys from the Continent annually migrate through the 

 British Isles, and as it is not possible to state exactly the 

 limits of British and Continental migration routes we cannot 

 say whether the Scottish Ospreys happened to be amongst 

 the killed or not. When a species becomes exceedingly 

 rare as a breedmg bird in any area, any interference, whether 

 by human or other agency, may exterminate it altogether, 

 and the risk is greater in the case of a migrant such as the 

 Osprey, and to disturb the status of any such species must 

 be condemned as an unscientific act. 



Fulmar Petrels in Kincardineshire. — On June 18th, 

 1914, Miss L. J. Rintoul, Miss E. V. Baxter, and Mr. L. R. 

 Sutherland visited the cliffs of Fowlsheugh to discover 

 whether the Fulmar had yet extended so far south {Scot. Nat. 

 1914, p. 215). They were rewarded by seeing ten Fulmars, 

 and although none seemed to be actually breeding, there is 

 httle doubt that they Avill do so. It was only in 1911 at 

 Berriedale Head that the only other colony on the east 

 coast of Scotland was discovered, and Fowlsheugh is a degree 

 south of this. Is it too much to hope that some day the 

 Fulmar Avill appear on the Yorkshire cliffs ? 



Decrease of Black-headed Gulls in Dumfriesshire. — 

 Mr. H. S. Gladstone gives details {Scot. Nat. 1914, pp. 203-4) 

 showing that the nests of Black-headed Gulls in Dumfriesshire 

 have decreased from 5,300, when he made a census in 1908 

 and 1909 (c/. The Birds of Dumfriesshire), to 3,600 in 1914. 

 The decrease is partly accounted for by the draining of two 

 lochs and the destruction of some 1,000 to 1,200 nests; on 

 the other hand, no new " guUeries " of any importance have 

 been discovered in the county. 



