The Scottish Naturalist. 93 
was to be seen in Locliearnhead Hotfel garden, in August last. It was certainly 
this species and not a Twite. — J. H. Gurney, Keswick Hall, Norwich. 
An Undomed Nest of the Long-tailed Tit.— While staying at 
Aberlady last May, the keeper at Gosford asked me to look at a nest, in a 
thorn hedge close to his house, which puzzled him. The nest, he said, was 
like that of a Shilfa (Chaffinch), but contained three very small white eggs 
spreckled with minute red dots. On going to the spot I found, as the keeper 
had indicated, a nest which to all appearance was that of a Chaffinch ; but on 
closer inspection it was seen to be occupied by a Long-tailed Tit [Acredula 
rosea). The bird was very reluctant to quit its charge ; and, drawing itself 
deep into the nest, did not leave it till my finger touched the rim. Only two 
of the seven eggs laid got the length of hatching, and the tiny young ones dis- 
appeared also before they were many days old. I then took the nest, which, 
with one of the eggs, is now before me. It is exactly like that of a Chaffinch, only 
a little deeper, perhaps, in proportion to its breadth. The outside is beautifully 
covered with lichen, and the inside warmly lined with a profusion of Pheasants' 
feathers. In depth it is fully 2| inches inside, and 3^ outside ; across the top 
it is 3I inches. The rim is uniformly finished all round and shows no signs of 
ever having had a dome. In none of the works I have consulted is there any 
reference to an undomed nest of this species. — William Evans, Edinburgh. 
"QittevniBotaurus stellaris) in Berwickshire. — On 24th December last, 
I saw in Mr. Hope's Shop, George Street, a fine specimen of this bird which 
had been shot the previous day at Lowhau^hs on the Whitadder. It proved, 
on dissection, to be a male, and is the property of Mr. W. A. Miller of Berwick- 
on-Tweed. — William Evans, Edinburgh. 
Little Bittern in Shetland- — An example of this bird killed in the 
island of Whalsay so far back as 1883, was recently forwarded to me for 
identification. The sender was under the impression that it was a Little Egret, 
but though the specimen was in a very dilapidated condition, Mr. Harting, 
who kindly compared it for me, had no hesitation in confirming my identi- 
fication of it as Ardetta minuta. It was shot by John Lawrenson, on Whalsay, 
in the " middle of August, 1883," and roughly stuffed by him. This is the 
first record as far as I have been able to ascertain of the occurrence of this bird 
in the Shetland Islands.— H. Raeburn, Romford. 
Bewick's Swan on Loch Lomond.— During this winter a flock of 
Bewick's Swans {Cygnus Bewicki) have frequented the Loch. On 
the 26th December, 1890, as I was standing on the public road 
about 4.30 P.M., a pair (both old birds) passed close over my head. 
The same evening a gamekeeper shot a pair quite near the same place. They 
came over his head as he sat at the edge of the loch waiting to get a shot at 
wild ducks. This pair are now in my collection of local birds here. The one 
is a fine old bird and the other a young one in immature plumage. It is only 
in very severe winters that Wild Swans of any kind are met with on 
Loch Lomond. This winter has not been very hard here. There has been a 
