NOTES AND QUERIES. 435 



light bird being apparently always paired. So far so far well ; but I am of 

 opinion that in order to prove anything further, the sacrifice of many more 

 Skuas would be necessary, — a course all true naturalists must deprecate, 

 and certainly avoid doiug, at least in Great Britain. As to what Mr. 

 Barrington says, " As to the force of example, it is valueless in Foula," 

 Mr. Barrington should remember there is no law at present against taking 

 eggs, but there is a law against shooting birds, and I know myself that 

 there is a wholesome fear, amongst the people in the island, of breaking 

 this law. But if gentlemen go there, and break the law as regards a rare 

 British bird, they set a most undesirable example to the people. I myself 

 had permission to kill three Great Skuas, but refused at once to set any 

 such example to the natives, and told Mr. Scott himself, and his agents, 

 that I would not do anything of the kind ; and no gun was taken ashore by 

 any of our party, either on Sunday or week-days. I perfectly agree with 

 Mr. Harold Raeburn, " that if one wishes to escape blame, in a case of this 

 kind, the only plan is not to infringe the Wild Birds Protection Act." I 

 cannot bring myself entirely to agree with a suggestion of raising a fund 

 to practically bribe the natives not to take the eggs. Whatever the diffi- 

 culties may have been in securing a special Act of Parliament, in the case 

 of the Sand Grouse, I feel convinced that to protect both the birds and the 

 eggs of the Great Skua by law is the only practical and permanent way of 

 securing the desired result ; and the head man of the island, or the pro- 

 prietor himself, might quite well be held responsible if the law were then 

 infringed. I quite agree with Mr. Barrington that gamekeepering, unless 

 strongly backed by law, would be the most troublesome and expensive way 

 of setting about preservation of the Skuas, knowing, as I do, and as a 

 Scotchman under Scottish law, how difficult it often is to obtain convictions, 

 even under the Game Acts, in several counties of Scotland. In conclusion, 

 I beg to state that I have, in my collection here, a Great Skua, shot and 

 sexed in Faroe, by Col. Feilden, — a light-coloured bird, marked on label 

 " $ ." Shooting Great Skuas, therefore, in future, can serve little useful 

 purpose, except to augment the collections of private individuals or 

 museums, and, if this must be done, it should at least be effected where 

 there is no law against it ; and it is also my opinion that there are enough 

 specimens already in museums and in private collections to accentuate and 

 prove Mr. Barrington 's discovery, and even to go further, — J. A. Hah vie 

 Brown (Dunipace, Larbert). 



Greater Spotted Woodpecker eating young Titmice.— On June 18th 

 Mr. Roberts, taxidermist at Norwich, received from Hail ey bury, in Hertford- 

 shire, a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, — an immature bird, apparently of 

 the year, — which contained the remains of two or more young birds ; one 

 beak and three legs were nearly intact, and in the opinion of Mr. T. 

 Southwell they were legs of a Titmouse, probably the Blue Titmouse, 



