138 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



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comparatively common bird such as the Dipper or the 

 Woodcock for instance becomes. 



Observations made during flying visits to outlying and 

 little frequented localities are always worthy of record ; but 

 the case is very different when we are dealing with a place 

 like Bute, perhaps the most accessible and popular island 

 resort on the west coast of Scotland, and therefore, no doubt, 

 well known in its ornithological aspects to many of the 

 naturalists and sportsmen resident in " Clyde " the faunal 

 area within which the island lies. Nothing in the nature 

 of a list of Bute birds exists, however, so far as I know, if 

 we except that quoted by Gray in his " Birds of Arran," 

 from a manuscript account of the sister island written by 

 J. Blain about the year 1800. This circumstance may 

 perhaps be offered as a partial excuse for the appearance of 

 the present notes in print ; but their main justification lies 

 in the fact that they were made in midwinter the season 

 when, owing to the mildness of its climate, the island may 

 be expected to attract a large contingent of the wild-fowl and 

 other birds wintering on the west coast of Scotland ; and 

 when, probably, ornithologists visit it least. 



Besides comparative mildness of climate, there are other 

 features about Bute which combine to draw birds to its 

 shores. Roughly speaking, its length in a straight line is 

 about fifteen miles, and its average breadth between three 

 and four. The character of its coast-line mostly a low, 

 rocky foreshore, with here and there a sandy bay is, 

 especially along the west side, just such as many species of 

 wild-fowl and shore-birds delight in. The character of the 

 land, also, is sufficiently varied to suit the habits of a large 

 variety of species. North of a line drawn across the island 

 from Kames Bay to Ettrick Bay we meet with little but 

 heather-clad hills and moorlands of considerable elevation 

 (Kames Hill attains a height of 875 feet), the lower slopes 

 of \vhich, including the broken cliffs of the ancient " raised 

 beach,' 1 are in many places well clothed with natural birch 

 and oak. In this section, known as North Bute, Grouse and 

 Black Game, with an occasional Kestrel or other hawk, were 

 the characteristic birds at the time of my visit. South of the 

 line mentioned the country, though still moorland in some 



