The Annals 



of 



Scottish Natural History 



No. 15] 1895 [JULY 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES MADE IN THE 

 ISLAND OF BUTE IN MIDWINTER. 



By WILLIAM EVANS, F.R.S.E. 



IT is not without considerable hesitation that I venture to 

 give publicity to the following notes on birds observed by 

 me in the island of Bute in the course of a few weeks spent 

 at Rothesay in December and January last (1894-95). 



Bute, as everybody knows, is famed for the mildness of 

 its winter climate, 1 and it was mainly this fact that attracted 

 me to its shores. Nothing was further from my thoughts 

 than to write on its ornithology ; and my notes were made 

 more from force of habit, and to give a zest to outdoor 

 recreation, than from any other motive. As furnishing an 

 " object " in one's walks I know of nothing superior to this 

 habit ; and, as the list of species detected grows from day to 

 day, it is surprising how fascinating the search for some 



1 The ease with which many plants from warmer climates can be grown 

 and kept through the winter in the open air in Bute is well known ; and the 

 kangaroos imported some years ago by the Marquess of Bute seem to thrive 

 wonderfully well in their enclosure in the woods at Mount Stuart, where I saw 

 them under rather novel conditions, namely when there was snow on the ground. 

 Incidentally I may mention that the Marquess's Beaver Enclosure is now un- 

 tenanted, the last of the animals having died, it is supposed, about five years ago. 



15 B 



