Note on the Velvet Scoter, by Robert Gray. 75 



day. Upwards of twenty were found to be natives of the West 

 Indies, or the shores of the Mediterranean. Several others are 

 doubtful, and the remainder are referable to species known 

 before. On this subject the following quotation may be given 

 from Forbes and Hanley's History of British Mollusca : — 



"It is not unimportant to remark, as accounting in some 

 measure for the very considerable number of exotic shells intro- 

 duced, from the neighbourhood of Dunbar by Mr Laskey, that 

 several vessels from foreign ports had, just before that gentle- 

 man's investigations, visited his subsequent dredging ground, 

 and their ballast was, in all probability, the fertile source of most 

 of his additions to British Conchology, as it has in like manner 

 added not a few spurious species to the Mora of the neighbour- 

 ing district." 



[Capt. Laskey also wrote a paper on "Marine Shells found in the Line of 

 the Ardrossan Canal." — Mem. Wern. Soc. iv., p. 568.] 



Note on the occurrence of the Velvet Scoter (Oidemia fusca) 

 in Scotland, during the summer of 1876. By Robert 

 Gray, F.R.S K, F.S.A., Scot. 



On the 16th of June last I received a note from my friend, 

 Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown, in which he informed me that he 

 had, two days previously, seen two Velvet Scoters — a male 

 and a female — swimming close to the shore near Bunessan, 

 in Mull. The birds were very distinctly observed, being 

 quite within gun range ; and as they were evidently mated 

 it seemed natural to conclude that they had remained in this 

 country to breed. About a month later, however, namely, 

 on the 20th July, while sailing from Leith to the Island of 

 May, I was surprised on observing a flock of large black 

 ducks rise from the water opposite Aberlady, and on finding 

 that many of the birds weie Velvet Scoters. These were 

 readily recognised by the white patch on the wing. The 

 flock consisted of about sixty birds, which I watched with 

 considerable interest as they flew round the steamer in a 

 series of swift and graceful curves. Several times they came 

 quite close to the vessel and were then seen to be Scoters of 



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