6o 
The Scottish Naturalist. 
Curlew. {Numenius arquata.) Frequents some of the grass 
fields in the autumn. 
Black-headed Gull. {Lams ridHmndus.) A pair nested in 
an oat field on the farm of Little Ythsie in the summer of 
1890. This attracted considerable attention in the neigh- 
bourhood, for no gulls had been seen breeding there previ- 
ously, and the situation of the nest^ though on boggy land, 
was comparatively dry. 
Common Gull. {Lams canus.) Occasionally visits the grass 
fields. 
Herring" Gull. {Lams argentatm.) Sometimes seen on the 
pasture lands. 
Little Grebe. {Podicipes fluviatiUs.) Has been occasionally 
seen on the Ythan. 
THE GREAT GREY SHRIKE (Lanius excubitor), 
CONSIDERED AS A SCOTTISH BIRD. 
By Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A., M.B.O.U. 
"^HE March number of " The Zoologist " contains a short 
X summary of the habits of the Great Grey Shrike. It 
occurred to me when epitomising a large amount of materials for 
that paper, that it might be well to separate the Scottish notes and 
to arrange them under their proper faunal areas. While English 
naturalists are content to work on with artificial political 
boundaries, Mr. Harvie Brown has emancipated Scottish naturalists 
from the thraldom of such unnatural ties, by taking the lead in 
writing vertebrate faunas of the natural areas into which Scotland 
falls ; and hence within the next few years, we shall possess a com- 
plete vertebrate fauna of Scotland, each natural division being 
undertaken by Mr. Harvie Brown or some other Scottish naturaUst. 
It seems to me, that this plan of following natural divisions should 
be apphed to each individual species of bird or mammal. It only 
