36 
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 
Badger in Lanarkshire.— On the i8th of April last a full-grown 
female Badger {Meks taxus) was captured on the Dolphington Estate, the 
property of John Ord Mackenzie, Esq. This makes the third Badger got 
there during tlie last two or three years. — Charles Cooke, Edinburgh. 
The Haunts of the Lesser Shrew (Sorex minutus)— This 
small mammal appears to be rather common in the Edinburgh district ; and as 
so little seems to be known of its haunts and habits, I venture to place the 
following note on record. 
On the 22nd of November last I captured a specimen among heather at an 
elevation of over 1200 feet on the slopes of the Pentland Hills at Colzium. 
When first seen it was in an open grassy patch among the heather, but 
quickly sought shelter in a thick mass of the latter, through which it threaded 
its way with surprising rapidity.— William Eagle Clarke. 
Black and Alexandrine Rats at Leith.— I have lately had 
several specimens of these rats brought to me alive which have been captured 
on vessels while in Leith harbour. The Alexandrine Rat {Mus alexan- 
drinus) is abundant on some of the Scotch coasting steamers, indeed, so much 
so, that the aid of a professional rat-catcher has to be periodically sought to 
keep its numbers down. The Black Rat {Mus rattus) is not so common, 
but in June last many were captured on a Leith steamer, and specimens 
brought alive to the Museum. — William Eagle Clarke. 
The Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Marsh Tit- 
mouse, and Woodpeckers, as Scottish Birds.— To "The 
Ibis " for October last, Mr. Seebohm contributes a paper on Irish 
Ornithology, in which, among other things, he contrasts the avifauna of the 
Sister Isle with that of Great Britain, and proceeds to draw some interesting, 
but speculative, conclusions therefrom. 
I beg to draw the attention of Scottish Ornithologists to some of Mr. 
Seebohm's statements concerning the status, etc., of certain species in Northern 
Britain — statements which it is thought they will scarcely accept as correct, 
although emanating from so high an authority. 
Regarding the Reed Warbler, and the Lesser Whitethroat, Mr. Seebohm re- 
marks: — " The Reed Warbler {Acrocephalus streperus) and the Lesser W^hite- 
throat {Sylvia curruca) are very doubtfully recorded from Ireland, though 
they are common, if local, in England and in many parts of Scotland." That 
the Reed Warbler is common locally in many parts of Scotland is a very sur- 
prising statement. Indeed I make bold to ask if there is a single thoroughly 
reliable instance of the bird's occurrence in the country — an occurrence backed 
by an example of the bird, or by the examination of a specimen, undoubtedly 
obtained in Scotland, by a competent ornithologist ? As to the Lesser W^hite- 
