NOTES AND QUERIES. 153 



which he had seen about in the summer, but no doubt they were of this 

 species, possibly even the same pair. — Arthur Bankes. 



Early Nesting of the Shag (Phalacrocorax graculus). — In ' The 

 Zoologist ' for 1890 (p. 388) I inserted a note on the number of eggs 

 laid by the Shag. Up to that date the number in my experience had 

 never exceeded three. Mr. Ussher, in an interesting note on the Shag 

 in Ireland in reply to mine, stated that he had often seen Shags' nests 

 containing four eggs. Incidentally he gave the date of the birds' 

 laying, a much earlier date than that usually given in ornithological 

 text-books. This date was the 15th April, and that for the young 14th 

 May (not 11th, as quoted in Saunders's ' Manual'). I had no oppor- 

 tunity of further experience of the subject till 1895, when I paid a short 

 visit to the Shetlands. In ' The Zoologist ' for 1895 (p. 348) will be 

 found another note on the nesting of the Shag. On the 6th of May, on 

 the island of Koss, several nests already contained young, and I esti- 

 mated that some at least of the birds must lay as early as the end of 

 March. This year I paid a visit to a small breeding colony on the 

 south-east coast of Scotland on the 29th of March. The colony num- 

 bers six pairs, which nest on ledges of a steep cliff overhanging the 

 sea. Most of the nests, however, can be easily seen with a glass from 

 further along the coast. I was somewhat surprised to find laying 

 already almost completed. One nest contained three eggs ; one nest 

 contained two eggs ; two nests contained one egg each ; one nest ready 

 but empty ; one could not be seen into, but the bird stayed on as if 

 sitting. This is much the earliest date that I have heard of, but 

 possibly some of the correspondents of ' The Zoologist ' may have 

 known of others as early, as it cannot, I think, be really exceptional, 

 despite the very much too late date usually accepted. — Harold Raeburn 

 (Edinburgh). 



The Rock-Dove (Columba livia) in Somerset. — "With reference to 

 the note on this subject (ante, p. 108), may I point out that the Rev. 

 Murray A. Mathew, when he published his ' Revised List of tbe Birds 

 of Somersetshire,' did not believe in the existence of the genuine wild 

 Rock-Dove as a Somerset breeding species ; and he only included the 

 name of the species between brackets among those birds which " are 

 of doubtful authority for their occurrence "? — 0. V. Aplin (Bloxham, 

 Oxon). 



Great Bustard in Ireland. — Two large birds were observed fre- 

 quenting some fields near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, during the month of 

 December, 1902. On the 20th one fell to the gun of a farmer's son, 



Zool 4th ser. vol. VII., April, 1903. n 



