Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/458

430 between Lough Ewe on the mainland, and Lough Seaforth in the Outer Hebrides. The larger of the two islands is divided nearly equally into two heights, connected in the centre by a bank of coarse gravel and large rounded boulders. On a recent visit we climbed the northern mound, which is fairly steep, reaching a height of 528 ft., the only side that one can ascend, being covered with short slippery grass, which renders it somewhat dangerous. We saw thousands of Puffins flying backwards and forwards from the face of the cliffs and rocks below, where they would settle for a few minutes, then fly away again for another cruise round and round the cliff. It did not appear to be fright that made them fly, but a love of exercise, as I approached within a few yards of various groups of them with my camera, when they did not seem alarmed, but sat looking at me with a ludicrous stolid gaze, their large beaks appearing to interfere with their sight, as they nearly always turned one side of their heads to look at me. When close to the top of the hill we came on their nesting-places, which were just like rabbit-burrows, but not so deep; there were Puffins in some of them, but we saw no eggs or very young birds, the month of July being rather late, as they are said to lay their eggs in May. They bite fiercely, and I remember seeing one of our sailors getting his finger badly cut by one that he caught hold of. There seemed to be a scarcity of other birds in these islands; we saw a few Guillemots and Gulls swimming about, but the Puffins were everywhere in the majority. The inhabitants were pleasant clean-looking people who could not speak a word of English, and consisted of an old man, some women, and children, the younger men being all away at the fishing. We obtained some Puffins' and Guillemots' eggs for a few pence each from these people. The Guillemots appear to breed in the more inacessible parts of the island.— (Lismore, Windsor, Belfast).

Sand-Lizard in Berkshire.—In answer to your correspondent (ante, p. 392), a Sand-Lizard (Lacerta agilis) I gave to the London Zoological Gardens (vide List Vert. Animals, 9th edit. 1896, p. 594) on June 25th, 1886, was caught in the neighbourhood of Wellington College, Berkshire.— (Director, Government Zoological Gardens, Ghizeh, Egypt).

A Dipterous Parasite in the Plumage of Birds.—I was much interested in the notes referring to this subject (ante, p. 357). In my younger entomological days I sent a note of a somewhat similar kind