430 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



between Lough Ewe on the mainland, and Lough Seaforth in the Outer 

 Hebrides. The larger of the two islands is divided nearly equally 

 into two heights, connected in the centre by a bank of coarse gravel 

 and large rounded boulders. On a recent visit we climbed the northern 

 mound, which is fairly steep, reaching a height of 528 ft., the only side 

 that one can ascend, being covered with short slippery grass, which 

 renders it somewhat dangerous. We saw thousands of Puffins flying 

 backwards and forwards from the face of the cliffs and rocks below, 

 where they would settle for a few minutes, then fly away again for 

 another cruise round and round the cliff. It did not appear to be 

 fright that made them fly, but a love of exercise, as I approached 

 within a few yards of various groups of them with my camera, when 

 they did not seem alarmed, but sat looking at me with a ludicrous 

 stolid gaze, their large beaks appearing to interfere with their sight, 

 as they nearly always turned one side of their heads to look at me. 

 When close to the top of the hill we came on their nesting-places, 

 which were just like rabbit-burrows, but not so deep; there were 

 Puffins in some of them, but we saw no eggs or very young birds, the 

 month of July being rather late, as they are said to lay their eggs in 

 May. They bite fiercely, and I remember seeing one of our sailors 

 getting his finger badly cut by one that he caught hold of. There 

 seemed to be a scarcity of other birds in these islands ; we saw a few 

 Guillemots and Gulls swimming about, but the Puffins were everywhere 

 in the majority. The inhabitants were pleasant clean-looking people 

 who could not speak a word of English, and consisted of an old man, 

 some women, and children, the younger men being all away at the 

 fishing. We obtained some Puffins' and Guillemots' eggs for a few 

 pence each from these people. The Guillemots appear to breed in the 

 more inacessible parts of the island. — W. H. Workman (Lismore, 

 Windsor, Belfast). 



REPTILIA. 

 Sand-Lizard iu Berkshire. — Li answer to your correspondent {ayite, 

 p. 392), a Sand-Lizard (Lacerta agilis) I gave to the Loudon Zoological 

 Gardens {vide List Vert. Animals, 9th edit. 1896« p. 594) on June 25th, 

 1886, was caught iu the neighbourhood of Wellington College, Berk- 

 shire. — S. S. Flower (Director, Government Zoological Gardens, 

 Ghizeh, Egypt). 



I N S E C T A. 

 A Dipterous Parasite in the Tlumage of Birds. — I was much in- 

 terested in the notes referring to this subject {ante, p. 357). In my 

 younger entomological days I sent a note of a somewhat similar kind 



