A LIST OF THE BIRDS OF BERWICK-ON-TWEED 77 



takes in the townships of Tweedmouth and Spittal. It has 

 a coast-line of nearly five miles, and its situation at the mouth 

 of a large river no doubt places it in a favourable position in 

 respect of migration. 



The completion of Mr. Muirhead's long-looked-forward-to 

 work on the "Birds of Berwickshire" may perhaps be regarded 

 as a not inopportune time to give a list of the birds of the 

 borough ; and something of this kind may be the more useful 

 to ornithologists inasmuch as Mr. Muirhead has confined 

 himself strictly to the limits of his county, and has not touched 

 upon the little corner lying to the north of the Tweed, which 

 is comprised within the " Liberties of Berwick." In going 

 over my notes of the last nineteen years, I am also enabled 

 to add a considerable number of species to the Berwickshire 

 list ; and, for the sake of comparison, reference will likewise be 

 made in this paper to the occurrence of some of the rarer 

 birds in the surrounding districts. 



That such species as the Merganser, the Turnstone, the 

 Sclavonian Grebe, and several others of the sea and shore 

 birds, are not included in Mr. Muirhead's book, is no doubt 

 owing to his having a more minute personal acquaintance 

 with the interior of the county than with its sea-board ; while 

 the fact that such birds have not been referred to in publi- 

 cations like " The History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' 

 Club " is rather apt to be misleading to any one seeking 

 information upon the avifauna of the district, although it no 

 doubt arises in many cases from their being regarded as 

 common, and not, therefore, requiring any special notice. 



CREAM-COLOURED COURSER, Curson'us gallicus (J. F. Gmelin). 

 This rare British bird has twice occurred on the Northumberland 

 coast only a few miles south of our limits viz. on gth November 

 1846, when one was shot at Cheswick, and is preserved in Mr. 

 Brodrick's collection ; and in the first week in November 1870, when 

 another was obtained at Goswick, and is now in the Berwick Museum. 

 These our only records are both well known, and are referred to 

 in " Yarrell " and most other recent works on ornithology. 



GOLDEN PLOVER, Charadrius pluvialis, Linnaeus. A common 

 winter visitant to the borough ; breeding on the moors on both 

 sides of the border. 



