VOL. vn.] MANX NOTES: 1912-13. 315 



of Black -headed G-ulls. Now and again I have met with 

 a few elsewhere, but the species seems curiously scarce on 

 the Manx coast. 



Great Black-backed Gull {Larus marinus). — ^Referring 

 to a previous note (V., p. 303) I have now learned, by the 

 kindness of Mr. F. Taylor of Oldham, that the nest of the 

 pair mentioned was found both in 1911 and 1912 by his 

 friend Mr. T. Taylor. In the former year it was on the 

 " stack " referred to, with three young ; in the second, on 

 the mainland near with three eggs, among fallen blocks of 

 stone behind a larger rock. The G-ulls also frequented the 

 neighbourhood in the season of 1913. 



During the winters of 1912 and 1913 parties of at least 

 twenty Great Black-backed Gulls have consorted with 

 Herring-Gulls on the sands at the south side of Ramsey Bay. 



Common Guillemot {Vria t. troille). — In the colonies at 

 the south end of the island there is said to have been a great 

 failure to breed in 1913, and the birds seem to have left at 

 an unusually early date. 



Land-Rail {Crex crex).~On August 10th, 1913, Mr. F. S. 

 Graves saw a nest at Corvalley, three miles from Peel (rather 

 high land) in which were twelve eggs. The bird was still 

 sitting, though the hay had been cut, dried, and cleared. 

 The nest, when noticed by the farmer, was covered with 

 some of the cut hay, which still remained there when 

 Mr. Graves examined it, runs having been formed through 

 it to the nest. At the edge lay a quite fresh pellet, three- 

 quarters of an inch long, mostly of beetle-wings, and the 

 eggs were warm. 



Quail {Coturnix c. coturnix). — Mr. J. B. Keig says that 

 in both 1911 and 1912 a few pairs spent the summ.er and 

 presumablv bred in the north of tlie island. 



On September 29th, 1913, Mr. F. S. Graves flushed one 

 from long dry grass on the west side of Dalby Mountain, 

 about seven hundred feet from the sea. 



