NOTES AND QUERIES. 355 



the telegraph-wires, and it is probable that the injury to this one was 

 caused in the same way. It seems lamentable that the Little Bittern 

 cannot regain its status as a nesting species in England. The speci- 

 men I am recording has been acquired for the Devonport Public 

 Museum. — H. M. Evans (Plymouth). 



Puffin off the Coast of Kerry. — A Puffin {Fratercula arctica), pure 

 white, with the exception of the wings, which are of the ordinary 

 colour, was obtained off the coast of Kerry. The bird presented a very 

 striking appearance after death, the colouring of the beak and legs 

 showing strongly against the snow-white plumage of the back, head, 

 and breast. The bird was a male. — Williams & Son (2, Dame Street, 

 Dublin). 



The Origin of the Name " Fulmar." — I am sorry to have delayed 

 my reply to Mr. Meiklejohn, but I did so in the hope of being in town, 

 and having an opportunity of fully ventilating this subject. There 

 can be no doubt that the term "Fowmari" was constantly applied to 

 the Polecat, because we have abundant proof of it in old Scottish 

 documents. But that the term of Fowmart or Foul Mart came to be 

 transferred to the Fulmar is, to my mind, improbable. The great 

 * Dictionary of the Gaelic Language,' published by the Highland 

 Society in 1828, is the only Gaelic dictionary I happen to possess. It 

 accepts the term Fulmair as a Gaelic term without question. I should 

 have expected this, because Prof. Newton, the late Mr. Eobert Gray, 

 and other eminent naturalists have done the same. The actual origin 

 of the Gaelic name Fulmair or Falmair is a question for experts to 

 settle. Maclean supplies the very simple explanation that Fulmair 

 signifies sottish or stupid (' Sketches of the Island Saint Kilda,' p. 8). 

 This would suit the bird appropriately enough, in view of its apparent 

 stupidity in allowing a noose to be dropped over its head. Jamieson 

 suggests that the term Fulmar may bear some analogy to the Danish 

 name hav-hest, i.e. sea-horse; for the Icelandic fida signifies a foal, 

 and mar signifies the sea (' Scottish Dictionary,' vol. ii. p. 319). I hope 

 that some more competent authority may perhaps be induced to clear 

 this matter up. At all events, I think we may dismiss the suggestion 

 that the Gaelic Fulmair is identical with Foulmart or Foumart ; 

 unless, indeed, some strong corroborative evidence can be supplied. — 

 H. A. Macpherson (Pitlochry). 



EEPTILIA. 

 The Sand-Lizard in the North of England. — In the recent volume 

 of the Cambridge Natural History on " Amphibia and Reptiles," 



