CONTRIBUTION TO ORNITHOLOGY OF KINCARDINESHIRE 147 



B. Wings all the primaries new, the first from the outside not 

 exceeding one-fifth of the full growth ; 



second from the outside is longer than the pre- 

 ceding, but shorter than the next ; 

 third from the outside, the longest in the wing, 

 and reaching the middle of the whitish patch 

 on the upper tail-covert ; 

 fourth and fifth as in "A." 



Tail with three new rectrices, a fourth having been ap- 

 parently lost through rough treatment, for the new 

 feathers are very tender, and one came away as I was 

 handling the specimen, all the others old, and two of 

 them much worn and broken. 



The lowest tier of outer wing-coverts new in both specimens, and 

 some (though not many) new feathers appearing among the old on 

 various parts. 



MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 31 st March 1900. 



CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF 

 KINCARDINESHIRE. 



By A. NICOL SIMPSON, F.Z.S. 



THE county of Kincardine, or the Mearns, is a maritime 

 one on the eastern seaboard of Scotland. It is bounded on 

 the north and north-west by Aberdeenshire, on the east by 

 the German Ocean, and Forfarshire adjoins it on the south- 

 west limit. It is an irregular triangle, according to the 

 Ordnance Survey, with the north-east angle at the mouth 

 of the river Dee, the south angle at the mouth of the river 

 North Esk, and the west angle near Mount Battock. 

 The east side is 30^- miles, the south-west 1 8|- miles, 

 and the north-west 29^ miles, measuring in a straight 

 line. The distance of seaboard is something like 35 

 miles. The greater portion of this coast -line is rocky 

 and picturesque, and the cliffs in some places rise to a height 

 of over 200 feet. The area is about 383.4 square miles, or 

 248,195 acres, of which 1463 are inland sheets of water and 

 1385 are put down as foreshore. There are about 6000 



