84 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



GREENFINCH, Ligurimis chloris (Linnaeus). Abundant at all 

 seasons, nesting commonly in the gardens of the town. 



HAWFINCH, Coccothraustes vidgaris, Pallas. Has been increas- 

 ing its range northwards, during recent years, and has bred in one 

 or two stations, in Northumberland, where I had the pleasure of 

 seeing it nest, near Alnwick, in 1895. Mr. Thomas Darling, of 

 Berwick, saw one on the sea banks a little to the south of Spittal, on 

 28th October 1880 (see "Hist. Berw. Nat. Club," vol. xiii. p. 348). 



GOLDFINCH, Carditelis etegans, Stephens. A rare visitor, but 

 appears to breed, occasionally, within the borough. In June 1880, a 

 pair were reported, by the gardener, to be frequenting the garden at 

 Gainslaw House, and to have had a nest there "two years ago," 

 when he " saw the old birds carrying food to their young" ; and, on 

 25th July 1 886, I saw a bird there, which was very noisy, and appeared 

 to have young ones near at hand, though we could not find the nest. 

 The gardener reported that a pair of them had appeared during the 

 previous winter, and had remained about the garden ever since, and 

 that he often saw them together. On yth May 1882, and again on 

 1 3th September 1883, a single bird was noticed in the garden, at 

 Ravensdowne ; and on loth December 1890 my sister Edith found 

 a dead bird, with a wound on its back, floating in the Tweed, near 

 the ruins of the old castle. On 3oth May 1886, a pair were seen, by 

 my brother, feeding upon thistles, in Tibby Fowler's Glen, near 

 Edrington Castle, just over the boundary into Berwickshire ; and 

 when the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club visited St. Abb's Head, on 

 26th June, 1895, the lighthouse-keepers reported that they usually 

 saw a few Goldfinches, about the Head, every winter. 



In the adjoining parts of Northumberland, small parties of 

 Goldfinches sometimes appear during hard weather, and are caught 

 in snares, or with limed twigs ; the neighbourhoods of Ancroft, 

 Lowick, and the young woods between Scremerston and Unthank, 

 being favoured localities. 



SISKIN, Carditelis spinus (Linnaeus). Occurs locally in winter, 

 in small flocks, in both the adjoining counties, where plantations of 

 alder and birch are present. In the deep snowstorm of January 

 1879, I met with a single individual, upon the sea beach, a few miles 

 south of our boundary. 



SPARROW, Passer domesticus (Linnaeus). Common everywhere, 

 and does considerable harm in gardens, etc. They consume 

 quantities of insects, and their larvae, no doubt, particularly during 

 the period when they have young, but in early autumn they betake 

 themselves in large flocks to the fields, and there show a decided 

 preference for the ripening corn. 



TREE SPARROW, Passer montanus (Linnaeus). A resident, and 

 nests commonly in the town, in holes in the walls of the old ramparts, 



