THE ORNITHOLOGY OF BERWICKSHIRE. 251 



bits, the latter affecting the mountainous inland districts, from which 

 it rarely strays. Of the osprey (Pandion haliaetus), a species still 

 more aquatic in its habits, only one instance, within our limits, has yet 

 occurred : its rarity, however, is sufficiently accounted for from the pau- 

 city of the bird throughout Britain. The honey buzzard (Peraw api- 

 twu#)and ash -coloured harrier (Circus dneraceus) are equally rare; a 

 single specimen only of the latter has yet occurred. The peregrine 

 falcon (Falco peregrinus) is more frequently seen, and one eyry, at 

 least, is known to most of our members, in the lofty precipice a little 

 to the north of St Abb's Head. Of the Strigidse or owls, there ap- 

 pear to be four species, three of which are resident, and one a peri- 

 odical winter visitant : of the former, the Otus vulgaris^ long-eared owl, 

 and Stria; flammea, barn owl, are both well known and abundant ; the 

 third, the Ulula stridula, tawny owl, though formerly a common spe- 

 cies, is now rarely met with. The short- eared owl, Otus brachyotos, 

 arrives in November, and is frequently met with upon the moors or 

 open fields in rushy ground, where it roosts concealed during the day, 

 except in dark foggy weather, when we have frequently seen it hawk- 

 ing at noon. 



Of the Fissirostral tribe, belonging to the order Insessores, the list 

 contains five periodical summer visitants, and one occasional visitant ; 

 of the former, four belong to the swallow family, and one to the goat- 

 suckers. The occasional visitant is the kingfisher, more remarkable for 

 the richness a,nd beauty of its plumage than the gracefulness of its 

 form. The window swallow, or, as it is frequently called, the white- 

 rumped martlet, breeds in great numbers in the rocky precipices north 

 of Eyemouth, and at St Abb's Head ; these appear to be the natural 

 breeding situations of the species, the eaves of houses and comers of 

 windows being only resorted to where the others are deficient. At 

 Inchnadamff, in Sutherland, we recollect observing the species breed- 

 ing in great numbers about the precipitous face of the limestone or 

 marble mountain of that district. 



Of the Dentirostral tribe of the same order, we enumerate fifteen 

 permanent residents, seventeen periodical summer visitants, two peri- 

 odical winter visitants, and three occasional visitants. Among the re- 

 sidents, the missel-thrush, which in our younger days was considered a 

 very rare bird, has now become common, and during spring and sum- 

 mer may be heard around every residence uttering its broken lay, 

 which, though loud and sonorous, is greatly inferior in compass and 

 sweetness to that of its congener, the gentle mavis. 



Among the periodical summer visitants, the Sylvidee, or warbler fa- 



