ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 193 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Prices paid for "Vermin" in Mull in 1825. The following 

 list of prices paid for " Vermin " on the estates of Torosay and 

 Lochbuie, in the Island of Mull, in the year 1825, taken from 

 documents in my possession, may be of interest to the readers of the 

 " Annals": An Eagle, los. 6d. ; Corbey or Glade, is. 6d. ; Hawk, 

 6d. ; Hooded Crow and Owl, 3d. ; Magpie and Jay, 2d. ; Kingfisher 

 [Dipper ?], 3d. ; Fox, Marten Cat, and Wild Cat, 53. ; Badger, 23. 6d. ; 

 Polecat, is. 6d. ; House Cat (at large), Stoat, and Weasel, 6d. ; 

 Hedgehog, 3d. ; a Crow's Nest with the birds (not less than three), 

 6d. MACLAINE OF LOCHBUIE, Lochbuie, Mull. 



The White Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail in the Clyde Area. 



On the 1 4th of April of this year, on the Clyde at Farme, a few miles 

 east of Glasgow, I saw several White Wagtails (Motacilla alba, Linn.). 

 On the 1 8th I again saw several birds, and on the 2oth, accompanied 

 by Mr. John Robertson, Thornliebank, I saw between Eastfield and 

 Dalbeth on the Clyde, a distance of less than a mile, a dozen kinds 

 of this species. For two miles above Dalbeth no more were seen, 

 but the Pied Wagtail was not infrequent. Mr. Robertson went over 

 the ground on the 3oth April and saw four White Wagtails. Since 

 that date I have been on this part of the Clyde several times but 

 have seen nothing of this species. Attention being directed to this 

 matter, we found solitary examples of the White Wagtail at Roseneath, 

 Dumbartonshire, and at Balgray Dam and Hangingshaw, in East 

 Renfrewshire, during April. 



The entire absence of any mention of the Yellow Wagtail (Mota- 

 cilla rait (Bonaparte) in the reports on the movement and occur- 

 rence of birds in Scotland published in the "Annals " in recent years, 

 together with the remark in a footnote on p. 67 of Mr. Harvie- 

 Brown's " Vertebrate Fauna of Argyll " that " it is certainly a scarce 

 species even where most abundant in Scotland," calls for some notice 

 as to the status of the Yellow Wagtail in the Glasgow district. 

 Credence will no doubt be readily given to anything that Mr. Harvie- 

 Brown says regarding the distribution of birds in Scotland, but the 

 assertion above quoted is totally inaccurate for the ten mile radius 

 around Glasgow. Gray may have understated the case for the 

 Yellow Wagtail in his " Birds of the West of Scotland," but in the 

 Notes on the Fauna and Flora of the same district (Blackie and Son, 

 Glasgow, 1876) he states, p. xi. : " Ray's Wagtail is abundant on the 

 banks of the Clyde on its arrival, and a pair may be seen nesting in 

 almost every park enclosure, even if surrounded by houses or streets." 

 I have observed the colony on the banks of the Clyde on its arrival 

 for many years past. But many remain there during summer. 

 This year on the i4th April they began to put in an appearance. 



