Volume 9 - Electric Scotland

ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 247
sent in for preservation by Mr. J.
N. H. Grant, Carron House,
Carron, Strathspey. T. E. BUCKLEY, Inverness.
Great Snipe in Stirlingshire. On the i5th of this month
(September), when driving grouse on the Denny Hills, a Great Snipe
(Scolopax major} flew past, but scarcely within range. The large
size and the woodcock-like flight made it easily recognisable. This
is the second time I have seen the Great Snipe upon this same
ground ;
but the previous observation I did not record, because I
was not perfectly certain of its identity. It was too far off from me
to make me feel sure of it.
The question arises : Is the Great Snipe a regular migrant to
parts of this country, or only occasional ? From what I have heard,
though not seen, in Shetland, I am inclined to think that the Great
Snipe comes with some amount of regularity to the south end of
Shetland, but only remains a very short time before resuming its
journey.
I
may mention, in case any one may feel inclined to doubt my
ability to identify the Great Snipe on the wing, that I have had
plenty of experience of them both in Norway and in Russia, and
have seen them and shot them, plentifully, when they certainly
belied their name of Solitary, as hundreds arrived en masse at their
breeding-places, and scores were seen dropping down out of the main
A. HARVIE BROWN.
flight, amongst the willow scrub of the delta. J.
The Protection of the Great Skua in Shetland. In June last
the Society for the Protection of Birds received information that
eleven clutches of the eggs of the Great Skua, taken in 1899, were
to be sold by auction in London on the 2oth of that month. The
only known breeding-places of this bird in the British Isles are on
Foula and Unst, outer members of the Shetland group, and in 1891
the then owners of both islands, Mr. Scott of Foula and Mrs.
Edmondston of Unst, were awarded the Silver Medal of the
Zoological Society for many years' protection of the breedinggrounds.
As there was reason to believe that the eggs in question
came from Foula, letters were immediately sent to the present
owner, Mr. Ewing Gilmour, to Mrs. Traill, to the Scottish Office,
to the Zetland County Council, and to a number of gentlemen
likely to give information and assistance, the Society offering to
bear the expense of a watcher if necessary. The replies received
show that the present proprietor
is
equally anxious with his predecessor
to preserve the birds. At the request of the Society, Mr. H.
Nugent Colam also undertook to visit Foula and investigate the
matter ;
and leaving London on 25th June he reached that distant
spot on the 29th. Mr. Colam, who carried out his part of the work
with much energy and tact, reports that, so far as he could tell,
there was no attempt being made to watch the nests at the time of
his visit, but the egg season was then practically over and the young