234 I'UOCEEDINGS OP THE 



glacial deposits of Norway by M. Sars, where also the Rev. Mr. 

 Crosskey and I found it. It has not often been taken alive in our 

 seas. Prof. E. Forbes observed it on the north-west coast of Skye 

 in 1850. The Rev. A. M. Norman, in 1861 and 1867, caught 

 great numbers in Shetland, of different ages, from the fry to the 

 adult, in the towing net as well as the hand net, close to the 

 shore. Mr. A. Agassiz says that it can creep about by means of 

 its wing-like appendages — a circumstance which Dr. Grieve says 

 he did not observe, and further inquiry may perhaps ascertain 

 whether it behaves similarly under similar circumstances, or dif- 

 ferently under different conditions. Such questions as those raised 

 by Dr. Grieve have again and again resulted in valuable additions 

 to our knowledge. 



III. — Collected Notes on the Birds of Buchan. 



By Mr. William Horn. 



The district of Buchan, which occupies the north-eastern corner 

 of Aberdeenshire, was formerly supposed to consist of the thirteen 

 parishes of Aberdour, Crimond, New Deer, Old Deer, Fraserburgh, 

 Longside, Lonmay, Peterhead, Pitsligo, Rathen, St. Fergus, Slains, 

 and Strichen, but now the name is applied indiscriminately to the 

 whole country between the rivers Ythan and Deveron, including 

 several small bits of Banffshire. Looking at this district from any 

 but an ornithological or sporting point of view, it is the reverse of 

 interesting. The scenery is poor in the extreme, and there is 

 scarcely any wood except some young fir plantations surrounding 

 some of the larger mansion houses, such as Philorth, Pitfour, Aden, 

 and Brucklay. The country is gently undulating, and the only 

 hill or rising ground of any importance is Mormond Hill, 810 feet 

 above the sea, on the estate of Strichen, while the only rivers 

 worthy of the name are : — the Ythan, flowing into the sea at Ellon, 

 and forming the southern boundary of the district ; the Ugie, 

 which flows through the centre, and reaches the sea at Peterhead ; 

 and the Deveron, flowing into the Moray Firth at Banff, which 

 forms the western boundary. As the country is very thickly 

 populated, the holdings are small, and the fields — consisting for the 

 most part of small patches of corn and turnip, interspersed here 

 and there with small bits of moss — are admirably adapted for par- 

 tridge shooting, and there is no other district in Scotland where 



